"Carolyn's stories are like a cozy blanket, a pair of stretchy pants, a lifetime movie, and a pint of ice cream to come home to after a DUMB! dating experience. It makes you breathe a sigh of relief and think "Phew! Its NOT just me!!!!!!". -- Ozlem (my hairdresser)

Love the blog Carolyn!! Just read every entry - it's all great! really interesting and a lot I could relate to-- it's hard for me to imagine you having any trouble meeting guys, but I love the honesty and openness of your voice.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Transforming Lives... and 57 Orgasms (Part 2)

I met a friend for an early dinner last Sunday at Baby Blues on Santa Monica. He knew I had a lot of work to do later, so he offered me a vitamin capsule that would provide the energy I needed to get everything done. "I get these at GNC and take one before I work out," he said. I didn't want to drink coffee this late in the day so I swallowed one, thinking it would only last a couple of hours. "Oh no Sweetie, that one capsule lasts about ten hours". It was 5:00pm. "Are you kidding me? I'm going to be up until 3:00am?" I exclaimed, completely unhappy by this news. "Call me. I'll be up too," he said. No! I needed sleep before starting another busy week.

I went home and not only did I accomplish all my work, but I cleaned my kitchen, cleaned the bathroom, did laundry, walked my dog, organized my closets, spruced up the back yard, watered the plants and still had energy to burn. So when Scott arrived at 9:00pm, I was ready to have a cocktail, hoping to mellow out my wired buzz. Completely amped on this energy pill, I walked quickly and talked faster than normal, en route to a neighborhood restaurant.

As we sat down, I said to Scott, "Listen, a friend of mine gave me this energy capsule and it's really making me edgy." "I'm glad you told me," he said. "That explains why you were walking so fast. I can clear that out of your system if you like."

Scott wrapped his hand around my leg, just above my knee and squeezed really hard. "This will open up your spleen," he explained, as I winced in pain. He talked me through an exercise, telling me to visualize energy rising up through my body to my head and then back down to my toes, which I then imagined the energy sinking into the ground, with roots sprouting from my heels and growing deeper into the earth. "Imagine a golden shower pouring over you and cleansing your entire body," he said. He repeated the whole sequence a couple of times and then asked me how I was feeling.

Whether it was psychosomatic, or if the process actually worked, I do not know. However, my speech slowed and I no longer felt the urge to grind my teeth. "I have a bag of Chinese herbs in my car that might help open you up later," he offered. "We'll see how you're feeling, and then decide whether or not you need the herbs."

When the bartender arrived, Scott suggested I order a margarita. Apparently, certain alcohols perform particular functions in our body and tequila is very good for opening yourself up. (This is not news for anyone who has ever drank too much tequila!). I really did not want alcohol, but Scott insisted the tequila would help mellow out my body.

We started talking about relationships again. Scott was explaining that society needs to understand that women drive relationships. "If there's an accident, it's the woman's fault," he said, explaining that fault has no right or wrong, but since the woman is driving the car, it is always her fault-- and then it becomes the man's job to fix the wreck, so the couple can get back on the road to finish their journey. I wasn't buying Scott's simplified version of relationships, however, I did realize I've been in relationships where I was the driver and the fixer.

"Well then you're with a pussy," he said. "You don't want to suffer with Joe Pussy, especially when there's a smorgasbord right here in front of you." Hearing a grown man say 'pussy' repeatedly, and describing himself as a smorgasbord was quite disturbing.

He continued, "If you don't pick at the smorgasbord, and eat it and drink it and take it into your body, then you will walk out of here starving and go look for a pussy to beg off of." I felt like I was suddenly caught in a Seinfeld episode about "The Pussy Guy".

"Do you get it?" he continued. I got it, but I didn't want to eat off his plate. I checked the clock.

"What are you looking for in a man?" Scott asked as I looked around the restaurant, planning my escape. I thought of another way to answer the same question I am always asked. "I want connection, friendship, love and commitment. "Well," Scott said, "you're looking in all the wrong places, because you haven't found deep love and friendship within yourself." Yes, Scott spouted the same answer that every so-called guru, metaphysical healer and pop psychologist claims. What we seek outside ourselves, is what we lack within, and somehow whatever we lack, instantly shows up once we find whatever 'it' is, in ourselves.

I grew weary of Scott's diatribes. I fantasized crawling under my comforter, my head laying down on my fresh sheets and falling into a deep sleep. Scott walked me back home but before we got to my door, he retrieved the chinese herbs from the trunk of his car and brought them inside.

"So what exactly do the Chinese herbs do?" I asked. "Well they open you up," he said. "They open up your mind, your head, your eyes, your lungs, your pussy, your heart, your legs..." he continued. The more Scott talked, the more every molecule in my body tightened and lifted a shield of armor. "But I'm feeling your vibe and I'm feeling the vibe of the herbs and I'm not feeling you need the herbs tonight," he said. Was it because I was sitting at the other end of my sofa with my arms folded across my chest?

I stood up and opened the door for Scott. Another night had passed, this time with talk of golden showers, open legs and pussies... I agreed with Scott. I have been looking for love in all the wrong places.

We will have millions of relationships in our lifetimes, and whether our relationships last a minute, an hour, two years, four decades or a lifetime, every relationship will eventually end and my 'relationship' with Scott had reached its conclusion.

Maybe the right man will come into my life now that I am "clear" of the shadow on my lung, say goodbye to pussies, vow always to be the driver and not the fixer in a relationship, and love myself exactly as I am... or maybe not. But what I do know is to love, appreciate, nurture and enjoy the relationships I do have in my life, for as long as I am fortunate enough to have them.

4 comments:

  1. Ha -- Seinfeld ep. 'The Pussy Guy'! I am still taking in the fact that you went out with this man a second time ... The first experience was like a big red flag waving furiously -- and that was reading _your_ (hilarious) account of it.

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  2. Scott sounds like he has enough love inside himself for two people to share. He's using the 'guru' technique in order to sleep with women. Show his superior knowledge in a subject, in this case Traditional Chinese Medicine, overwhelm you with a little help from accupressure points and herbs, then try and move in for the kill. He also tried using some Neural Linguistic Programming by being the 'Pussy Guy'. This guy would never treat you as an equal in a relationship, you would always be the 'student' thirsty for the knowledge he'd dole out and you'd adore him for. But he forgot that even in TCM the mind controls all functions and that your bullshit detector turned on and stopped all his nonsense.

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  3. What does it say about you that you went out with this jackass a second time? This is a kind of self-defeating behavior on your part -- assuming, of course, that this isn't a work of fiction or merely a script treatment, in which case its a brilliant way of gathering material for your eventual payday.

    You've mentioned here that your friends don't believe there are any genuine men in LA. Your posts seem to prove them right. Of course, there are lots of genuine men in LA, just as there are every place. Some of your friends have married them. But relationships are challenging, and what you do -- meeting cute guys after work for drinks and small-talk, knowing ahead of time they're attracted to you because they wouldn't have responded to your online profile if they weren't -- has all of the fun of flirting without any of the challenge, disappointment, or pain of an actual relationship. I suspect your friends -- who, suspiciously, share the same characteristics as spec script readers in LA (smart, young, attractive single women who work too many hours to have time to date)-- envy you more than they pity you. Nonetheless, if what you're after is the fun without the work, then you'll stick to buffoons like this, for whom you don't have to worry about developing feelings. A second date? Sure. You have absolutely nothing to lose, also nothing to fear, no effort or pain or disappointment to worry about.

    Genuine men smell this lack of serious intent on you. It's unattractive.

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  4. @Robert: Cookie is just chronicling her experiences in trying to find a man in LA who matches her criteria. Like Wayne Gretsky said, you don't make 100% of the shots you don't take, so she is going out with these men to see if a relationship can develop. So far it hasn't happened. Would you rather she not open herself to somebody in hopes of meeting her mate? You think she is not genuine in her search and is just using it as an excuse for commercial content. Let me tell you, she is not alone in trying to find somebody in LA, or the rest of the country. My friends and myself are in the same boat, kissing a lot of frogs to find a princess or prince. And none of us is using our experiences for a deal. War in the trenches type of stories yes, but nothing in the way of a tv show.

    Your cynicism is unattractive.

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