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The Extended Weekend Date (While Being a Gentleman)!

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I know that I have been yapping about dating and online dating in a few past articles, and actually have decided to document one of my most recent—and very amazing experiences that is relative to dating—because I feel it to be ever so noteworthy of an endeavor. Seeing as there are plenty of strapping single young lads like me out there (as well as plenty of ladies), there will always be daters seeking some form of advice, hints or tips, or just looking to find out more about what other people have been able to secure through their online dating adventures. For me, after a gnarly divorce, and a marriage that spanned the good part of a decade, I found myself suddenly flung into the dating scene; go figure!

Not being the frequenter of many bars, pubs or clubs, abhorring date chat lines, and really not into local match making services, I decided to go with a free—yes free—online dating account; as I think it’s silly to pay to meet someone when you can do the same thing for free. So I feel it ever so necessary to document my experiences with this wonderful person that I have met, which is turning out to be the seedlings that have some great potential to blossom into the long term, nurturing relationship that I have been diligently seeking over the past year and a half of being single.

The Timeline of my Dating Experience with this Wonderful Person

Meeting on an Online Dating Website

So I started a profile on a free online dating site called Plenty of Fish (you can find it by searching for it online, but I will refrain from brandishing their URL, as I am not trying to advertise for this free dating website). I made sure to write a great profile bio, upload recent pictures of myself, and then I started emailing and chatting with fellow online female daters. It took about a week before I met just a fantastic woman (who I will also keep her name private because I wish to preserve her confidentiality, and it is of no consequence to the nature and the premise of this article). In short: we exchanged several emails, then used instant messaging, finally sharing our Facebook pages—and this all led up to a set date night—all within the first five days of getting to know her!

The First Date

The first date was awesome. We broke all the rules, too; like talking about our exes, politics, our views on religion and so forth. We hit up a few great Arizona nighttime hotspots and quickly realized that we were a pretty darned good match. From there, it was all cream and sugar my friends.

Text Messages, Chatting, & Following Up

Over the few days from that Wednesday that followed, plenty of text messages were sent to and from one another and a few phone calls were made. Behold: We now had a weekend date set to meet up on Friday. But I never thought it would be nearly as extended as it turned out to be! And who says online dating doesn’t work? Oh yeah, I did!

Boy was I wrong, and in the very best of ways, too!

A Weekend Rendezvous Like-Never-Before (No Sex; That’s Being a Gentleman)!

Then Friday of the same week hit. She and I met up for sushi at this cool little hole-in-the-wall and decided to go bar-hopping following that. We met up with her girlfriends at a total dive pub later (so they could get their one-up on me and make sure I was not some maniacal serial killer; I love eating cereal, so please!). After a night on the town Friday that was truly hard to top, she ended up staying the night. We hung out, watched TV and movies, drank some damn good mixed drinks and I gave her a half-hour sensual massage. I cannot emphasize enough that there was NO SEX, and there is NOTHING wrong with taking it slow. If you are looking for a one-night-stand, that’s another story, however.

Come Saturday, it was a dreamy day where we slept in. Then hunger hit us on the head, and we embarked to a local spot to dine on some Mexican fares and get some drinks. Our day kicked off smoothly, and back to the house to hang out we went. We cuddled and were ‘bedroom junkies’ for a bit, watching TV, chatting, and snoozing. Come the night, we were on the hunt for yet another dating adventure. To the local Arizona casinos we headed, and we were greatly disappointed. We found ourselves back at a few choice dive bars, and then capped the night off with mixer drinks we picked up at a grocery store on the way back home. She stayed the night with me on Saturday as well, another massage was offered and accepted, and again, I was not ready to take that next leap into full sex; still too early.

Now we talk and text daily and have plans to meet up again a few times this week. All in all, it has been the most exhilarating dating experiencing I have yet to encounter. I am ever so confident that this person may indeed be the ‘one’ that I have been seeking all of this while. Only time will tell. And in time, perhaps, I will take things to the next intimate level.

But there is never anything wrong with playing your cards right and being a true gentleman!

To Tan or Not to Tan

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As the summer winds down, there are more people than ever laying out hoping for that last minute tan. The ideal of being pale is horrifying for some people. Which, this does make sense. If you are able to devote time to lying out in the sun, you appear thinner, your outfits tend to look better and the sun does provide the much needed Vitamin D. However, lying out in the sun can cause serious problems as well. Too much sun can cause burns, frequent sun can cause cancer, sunspot and wrinkled skin.

Benefits of the Sun:

Pale skin looks good in some cases. A fair face with blue eyes can be captivating. However, pale legs and arms can often appear larger than they actually are. This is because the eye is drawn to the pale skin tone and appearance. In addition, the pale color often emits a warm light, making this appear more forward and exaggerated. This can make even a thin person appear to have large legs and arms. The same is true for the stomach region. In addition, the pale skin often enhances any shadows caused by cellulite, making them appear bumpier than they actually are.

A touch of a suntan is often all that is required for a person to appear thinner. This is due to the cooler color pallet of the tan and the lack of a highlight point for the eye to focus on. In addition, since the body is darker, shadows appear more subdued and the small marks caused by cellulite seem to dim or become invisible. This allows the individual to have a more streamlined appearance, appearing thinner and smoother than ever before.

Most outfits are designed around the tan individual. This is because society has begun to shun those who are very pale. Since the outfits are designed around tan individuals, the color pallets used with the outfits are often ideal for the tan rather than the pale. People who are very pale and wear those outfits often find that they appear to be washed out and unattractive in them, while the same individual with a tan may find great success with the same outfit.

Vitamin D is an essential vitamin that is needed to convert Vitamin C in the body. Without this vitamin, it is quite possible to develop conditions such as Shingles and Rickets. These conditions can greatly reduce a person’s quality of life. However, it should be noted that a person does not need to get a lot of sun to feel the beneficial effects of Vitamin D. The effects are present with just a few minutes of sunlight exposure a day.

Consequences of the Sun:

Too much sun can have some very serious consequences. The sun can cause the same tanned skin to take on a leather-like appearance. This is due to the sun drying out the skin over a long period of time. While the application of lotion can be used to limit the leathering of the skin, this does not work to prevent it in totality. In addition, sun spots and marks can appear on the skin as signs that the sun is causing damage to the skin. A darkening of the pigment cells within the skin can cause the appearance of freckles on skin that is not known for having freckles.

Cancer can occur if a person is burnt seriously by the skin or if they consistently expose their skin to the sun’s rays. There are tanning booths that claim to reduce the incidents of skin cancer due to tanning, but there is no evidence that these booths are effective at reducing the potential for cancer. The only way to prevent skin cancer is to limit the exposure of sun to unprotected skin.

Sun burns are painful burns caused by the exposure to the sun. These burns often cause the skin to turn red and be painful to the touch. In sever burns, the skin will blister and peel. This can be incredibly painful and takes a while to heal. Damage to the skin at this point can cause scarring and it is possible that the scratching that is done in response to the itching feeling that the peeling skin causes can cause serious scars. The breaking of the blisters can also open the skin up to infections, potentially opening the skin to serious bacteria such as Staph bacteria.

Tanning Without the Sun:

It is quite possible to get all of the benefits of a tan without the harmful effects of the sun. This is done by using a sunless tanner. In previous years, the sunless tanners often caused an orange hue to the person. However, in recent years, the sunless tanner has become more realistic. It can be applied as a lotion or it can be sprayed on in a sunless tanning booth. This truly is an ideal way to have your cake and eat it too. Be tan, but remain healthy and beautiful in the long run at the same time, what could be better than that.

BK Family Restaurant

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BK Family Restaurant is situated in a hidden sliver of businesses or former businesses tucked away behind office buildings and a small cemetery in Coon Rapids.

Locals here know the location well.  We arrived on a Saturday morning to a crowded parking lot and even more crowded dining room.   The owner didn’t really give us a choice of where we wanted to be seated as he placed two menus on the table behind the cash register/hostess stand and said “you sit here ok” not a question, but not a statement either.

The dining room lacks any kind of intimacy or sections.  Like a large room with tables and chairs, you feel like you are at a church social or family reunion rather than a restaurant.  If you like a quiet time with your coffee and eggs, this is definitely not the place to be; because once the place is full the din and cacophony vibrate through the dining room like the buzzing of bees.

The service is quick and impersonal.  But the day we were there we did get to see what happens when the wait staff forgets to shout a time tested server caveat: “coming out” as they leave the server area into the dining room.  Trays, glasses and ice cubes did a merry dance in the air before landing on the carpeted floor in a symphony of crash, tinkle and bang IL concerto for the red-faced waiter.

The menu is a cook’s nightmare.  The breakfast items alone tally up to fifty one choices. That doesn’t include the specials board, the table tent with specials and the children’s and senior menus.  The rest of the menu reads like a deli/lunch counter/diner/ from the 1980’s with Its diet plate of cottage cheese, tomato slices with a hamburger patty and the dreaded half sandwich and soup choice that plagued chefs sanity everywhere during the Reagan years.  There are items on the lunch special area of the menu, and the same items are listed above them under specialty burgers at a lower cost. It all seems a bit too confusing and busy.  I can only imagine the work that goes into ordering the food, the prep work to get it ready and tempers flaring during service when uncertainty of which burger, sandwich or omelet off the countless choices the customer actually ordered.

The food is satisfactory but you get the idea that the owner is cutting corners on quality to save money.  My wife’s skillet had some sort of processed, shredded ham product that any food establishment should be ashamed to use, and there was a thimble full of cheese buried in the uncooked recesses of green pepper, onions and hash browns.  My chicken fried steak and eggs was fine, but equivalent to anything you would find at any Perkin’s or Denny’s, but at least the potions were larger.

Of course there are salads, burgers, dinner items like pasta, steaks and chicken, wraps, hors d’oevres and the above listed senior and children menus.

BK also boast catering for in house and outside parties, and all weddings, banquets etc.

All in all the food was enjoyable, and certainly enough to satisfy the biggest appetite, just make sure you have enough time to look over the menu.

BK Family Restaurant is located at 11496 Martin St in Coon Rapids MN.

National Poetry Slam In St. Paul

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National Poetry Slam

The National Poetry Slam has been swarming all over downtown St. Paul this week, with preliminary events taking place at multiple venues, including the Artist’s Quarter, Fitzgerald Theater, Lowry Lab, POP!, and Roy Wilkins Auditorium. Qualifying slam teams from all over the country throw down their best pieces, competing in heated bouts against some truly impressive performers in a quest for the top spot.

There’s always one venue that sits somewhat outside of the main hub of big events like this, and Camp on Robert Street is a bit of a walk from the above mentioned locations. I’ve been volunteering at Camp, an intimate stage with great drink specials and amazing poets coming in and out to prove themselves. The local Minneapolis team held it down on Tuesday night against teams out of Texas, Oklahoma and Arizona, but team Nuba out of Denver took the propers for the evening, bringing the team’s diverse and powerful individuals together for a few insane group pieces that blew the roof off.

Slam poetry at its best

For those not familiar with Slam Poetry, now is the time to check it out. This is the best of the best and a great introduction to the style. Slam is loud, energetic, boistrous and engaging. It often deals with heavy subject matter, like racism, identity politics, sexuality, and violence, but the best poets also know how to approach lighter material (one of the best poems I saw at Camp on Wednesday was a duo piece about how being a comic supervillian is so much better than being a hero). To see so many progressive people all in the same building pouring their hearts and souls on stage in front of a live audience is some affecting stuff, so prepare to feel some intense energy if you decide to check out the semi-finals.

Each night, five judges picked randomly out of the audience decide whose poetry was the most powerful of the bunch. Tonight’s semi-finals, taking place at the Artist’s Quarter, Fitzgerald Theater, History Theatre and McNally Smith, round up the top scoring teams and pit them against each other to see who will make it to the finals, going down Saturday at Roy Wilkins. This is going to be epic.

Visit the official site for more info on the event.

“Smell The Glove” – A Tribute To Spinal Tap At CO Exhibitions

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The recently opened CO Exhibitions returned last night with another unorthodox art show, “Smell The Glove”, a tribute to the mockumentary Spinal Tap, curated by local illustrator and musician Michael Gaughan.  If you haven’t seen the classic film about the ficticious 80’s hair metal band Spinal Tap’s fall from grace, one of the classic scenes involves the band’s label censoring the controversial cover for the upcoming release “Smell The Glove”.  Originally intended to depict a woman on all fours wearing a dog collar and smelling a glove, the new cover is simply an all black LP.  (“How much more black could this be?  The answer is none.  None more black”)  The original cover is never actually seen in the movie, so Michael Gaughan decided he’d like to see what the cover would/should have looked like and offered an open call to artists to do their version of the cover in any media.

The show is a scattershot collection of everything from drawings, paintings, screenprints, and photgraphs, to crochet, video pieces, and soiled socks (um…)  Fans of metal art will be pleased by the artists who played it straight, fans of script-flipping will be happy to see the men in the band on their knees in some depictions, and and fans of quirky visual collections will be pleased by basically everything.  There’s a great range of pieces, from professional to less-studied, plain-faced to ironic, and many just plain weird. The show is labeled PG-13, and there are some naughty bits as one would expect.

Live Spinal Tap karaoke

As with last month’s Doomtree art show, the night culminated with live music.  The live Spinal Tap karaoke encouraged audience members to belt out their favorite Tap tunes, and some of these amateur performances were truly inspired.  The whole event was a lot of fun and a great place to catch art, people-watch, and revel in 80’s inspired schlock.

If you missed the opening, the show will be up for a few weeks. CO Exhibitions can be found at 1101 Stinson Blvd in NE Minneapolis.

Keys Café

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Our first visit the Keys Café in Spring Lake Park, at 8299 University Ave NE was not a pleasant one to say the least.  The waitresses and the supporting staff passed by our table numerous times before any kind of recognition or inquiry about coffee or juice, which I found interesting since once you are seated by the hostess, your waitress is informed of the seating and presumably greets you ASAP.

As a breakfast diner, I like to be greeted and have my coffee within five minutes of being seated, but this experience infected the whole dining endeavor.  And to top it off, my wife was rudely cut in front of by a certain state senator and his entourage trying to pay the check.  A fact I was not made aware of until afterwards, luckily for everyone, as I am quite protective of the fetching Mrs. Politte.

Months later, we decided to give Keys another try.  So with open minds and empty stomachs we made our way back to the famous Twin Cities eatery to give it another try.

Seated immediately, and acknowledged instantly by our waitress, I had coffee and juice on the table in less than a minute.  I know this because I timed it.

The food was exceptional.  The Florentine Benedict was a cleverly designed toasted English muffin layered with tomatoes, fresh spinach, basted eggs and topped by a creamy hollandaise, with crispy hash browns and toast made from bread baked in the back of the house.

The farmer’s omelet is definitely one made for eating before milking the cows or harvesting the crops.  Literally stuffed with ham, onions, hash browns and cheese, this breakfast entrée is also served with homemade toast and preserves, and can feed 2 people or a hungry Border collie that is mad that you left her at home.

In 1973, the first Keys Café opened for business in St. Paul on Raymond Avenue. Barbara Hunn founded this first adventure, refining and improving her successful formula until the second Keys opened in New Brighton in 1983.

Together with her family, the Keys Cafés have expanded to nine Twin Cities locations and have been recognized and awarded both locally and nationally for their fine food.

The Keys Café philosophy is simple: memorable service and absolutely the best food … breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and desserts created from scratch recipes “you grew up with”.

As noted earlier, Keys has a full bakery and a display case that shows of their wares.  From cookies, pies, cakes and bars, there is a dessert to please everyone.

Check out the website at keyscafe.com to see all eight Twin Cities locations and the one in Wisconsin, yes Wisconsin; where you can enjoy the home made family atmosphere and food.  And if it doesn’t work out the first time, by all means give it another try-you’ll be glad you did.