A friend and I were talking the other day about how I only ever have first dates, I never get a second date, well almost never. So today I was talking with him about an up-coming date for this weekend and I began to wonder just how many first dates I've had. Now this is really only in the past year, because before this I wasn't really concerned about how long I had been single and hadn't been trying to date. Hmm, thinking back now, .... ...... I'm at about 12. One a month and of them only one has been followed by a second date. I find this amazing for myself for a couple reasons. First I'm very out going but very shy around a woman that I like, and 12 different dates (people) is more in one year than I've had my entire life before. The other amazing thing is that of the twelve only one had enough mutual attraction to produce a second date. What am I a leper? I don't think I'm picky, granted I would like the other person to be attractive, but attractive to me is not Hollywood attractive.

So I guess I wonder, how many tries do I need before I find someone that is compatible for two and more dates and on to a real relationship. So far I'm not even really one for twelve, because the one person that I had more than two dates with didn't go very far beyond that (for reasons of personal beliefs). To me it seems that most people find someone compatible within 7 to 10 people, but how far do I have to go, I don't know.

Today was my last swimming lesson, I started lessons in mid August with the basic class and have just finished the advanced class. I feel really good about my swimming now, I can even do the famed butterfly stroke. What amazes me, is how well I've gotten to know the staff at the local pool. Heh, I even asked out one of the instructors, partly because I think she is hot and fun, but her colleagues sound like she doesn't go out much. Which amazes me, but I don't mind. The only draw back, she is a bit younger than me, but she is still older than most of my classmates, so from that stand-point I don't mind.

I also had a nice dinner with one of my classmates. She is such a beautiful young woman, that just happened to recently break-up with her boyfriend, so she has been down a bit of late. So it was nice to see her quite happy at dinner. To my surprise she also reveled some very personal aspects of her high school years that has me a bit more amazed at how far she has come to get to this point in her life.

Last night I went with a friend to a church service. While for most people this is no big deal, I consider my self an atheist most of the time, and sometimes I might stretch myself to an agnostic. Despite this, I'm still a moral person, and I don't want to be a hypocrite. But I really liked the people and the group, despite the evangelical nature of the church. I would like to go again, and I know they would try to "save" me, but I also know I never would convert.

So how wrong is it for me to go, even though I have no intention of ever joining the religion, even though I do like the community which is often the main emphasis of a church.