Ravioli Alla Napolitana

That's what I ate for supper with the New Guy. After waiting an hour for the metro (only to find out I was 15 minutes away by foot) I was kind of pissed, and kind of worried that things wouldn't go well. But I called him an hour late, saying I would call him when I was ready to leave.

We met up in the center of Berri-Uqam metro. I got there 5 minutes early (thanks http://www.stm.info/) and he got there right on time. We gave each other la bise and went on our way to St-Denis. We walked and talked, it was easy conversation. He suggested this place on St-Denis, I think it was Napolito something, a few doors north of de Maisonneuve. The decor was christmas kitsch. It was really funny. At some point he said something like 'So, your name, it's germanic. It's funny, I never met an Adl before, but now it's popping up all the time: yesterday I went to go see Synecdoque, NY and the lead character is called Adl. Then as I was cleaning my apartment, I picked up the pamphlet from the awards last year, and I was looking through it and there you were!' I thought that super sweet and so awesome that he told me that. The food was surprisingly good! I had Ravioli alla Napolitana, really really good. We ate and talked. I was trying to be polite (i.e. not talk with my mouth full -- i think i did ok, but i also think i should be more conscious about stuff like that.) then we were sort of waiting. At some point I thought, 'i have no more water left, i'm not going to eat the rest of this, I feel like going somewhere else' so I said 'should we go?' and then we talked and waited for the people to bring the check. He said 'j'vais prendre la facture' and I said 'ah non non' and he said, 'yeah' and then i said 'ok, I won't insist too much'.

It was somewhat strange. Everything felt natural but I felt sort of polished. I was nervous, but not to the point where I lose my words and ramble on aimlessly. I could say smart things, use nice words (like ambivalent and discerning), and felt like he got what I was saying. We went to the exhibit, which was outside, what a great surprise! It was actually really cool. He introduced me to his friend. It was sweet; he would nudge me sometimes, like an accomplice. His friend was really nice too. The show was about interactive art. His friend created an instrument, a big thing with pipes. When you stood in front of it would send a signal to some thing that compressed air and then released it and a little ball would hit the pipes, which were cut at different lengths, making different sounds. It was really cool, but I was freezing my ass off. (I wore my Christian Dior tights with the weird pattern, the beige wool skirt Vnss gave me, and my soft black sweater and sneakers.)

Then from the art show, I was like, 'I need something warm in me quick, cause I'm freezing' so we went to the Scnd Cp on the corner. We went in, found a table and I was like: 'I'll get this'. It was also really sweet, I said: what do you want? and he said something like, 'I think.. I want a hot chocolate.. I mean, it might make me look like a kid but..' and it was funny because, that's what I wanted. So we both got hot chocolates and some cranberry pastry thing. Went to the table, continued talking. I forget about what, but film stuff a lot of the time.

At some point, I had my hand on my lap under the table, and I was sort of leaning over. Then I felt his hand and it was magical. I was in the middle of a sentence, and then, I just couldn't talk. I was completely and utterly at a loss for words. It was a really nice surprise. So we (insert funny hand motion here) for like 20 minutes.

There was lots of looking in the eyes. Not in a corny way, but maybe.. yeah, in a corny way. Then, we stopped the under the table business. At some point I made him touch my legs of steel, which was funny. Then the (insert funny hand motion here) continued, but now on the table. There more talking, laughing, and gazing. Towards the end, we weren't really talking, but it was nice to just be there.

Then we looked at the time and it was 12.07. Four hours, gone! just like that. We got on the metro. I took the green line to Place des arts, but that left us with only two stops... there were a few 'so..' moments, which were cute. As we were talking on the metro he said: 'so.. i'll see you next week, when you're done?' and I said: 'yeah.' I was thinking 'I really want you to come home with me.. but i really don't want to sleep with you (for responsibility's sake)' so I decided I wouldn't say anything, but I was like, 'is he gonna kiss me? What’s going on?' (but I was also sort of avoiding his face..) Then as we were approaching the station, I was like, 'fuck it, i want to kiss him' so i did! I did, I did! He kissed me back and then, pouf! I was gone (luckily I turned the corner before he --in the metro -- passed by, so it was a perfect moment).

I'm thinking the ball's in my court, which doesn't stress me somehow. This dude is just so easy to be around. It's strange. Maybe it's because he shows some pretty clear interest... Which puts me at ease, but not so much that I feel like I have all the power.

Nice. Reallllly nice.

We also came up with an idea for a children's book based on his childhood fear.

This is pretty much how I feel.