The Internet is for Porn. And Dating.

(614): We all know the best way to start a relationship is greeting while at least one of you are intoxicated, dual facebook stalking, and a two week long game of 20 questions via texts to 'really' get to know each other. In that order.
(1-614): I wouldn't have it any other way. It's like a fairy tale!

This was taken from textsfromlastnight.com (one of my most favorite websites in the world) and it got me thinking. In my short (only 2 or 3 years) dating history, this is pretty much the only way that myself, and most of my friends, date people nowadays. Even if you meet in a bar, one of the first things you ask is if they have a FaceBook account. So then you can drunkenly log on with your cell phone and friend them immediately. Because, really, you need to accumulate friends through drunken situations.

Case in point: started talking to a guy on a really lame dating site (plentyoffish.com...don't recommend it. Creepy crazies are on that site...including me...*shudders*)...he IMs me, and then about 5 minutes into the conversation, we're FB buddies. He even added me to his "top friends" (should have been sign #1 that he was completely INSANE). I come from the early FB users, where only college kids could log on with their college email addresses and your mom couldn't look (or log on, for that matter) at your pictures from the party the night before where you were doing shots off of your best friends chest. That being said, there is ALOT of information in my FB that I've added over the years, giving my friends a full idea of my interests, my jobs, my daily thoughts and ideas...and now...this random kid can see it, too. And I can see everything about him.

In less than 10 minutes, you can learn all you need to know, things that you would normally talk about the first couple of dates. So when you finally meet, what else is there to talk about? "I saw that pic of you doing a kegstand in an ice storm...that must have been interesting..." I mean, seriously? The good thing about it is, I know pick and choose who I want to date. If all of their pictures are of them drinking, touching people inappropriately, or passed out...well, I know to pass over them. And if their interests are listed as: partying, drinking, smoking weed, injecting heroin into the few veins I have left...well, I know for sure that he and I aren't going to be compatible.

What I'm really trying to say is that FaceBook may be the downfall of the mid-20s dating scene. Everyone I know has one, I can see everything they do on the site (Thank you, FB newsfeed), and I know when they're emo, thanks to the trusty Status Update. It takes the fun out of stalking your prey the old-fashioned way: sneaking around their job, figuring out where they live and driving by their home at every opportunity, and showing up at their hangouts as if it were a coincidence that you were in the same place at the same time. FB, you're throwing off my groove.

I Won't Grow Up...

I've had this thought plaguing me for some time now. I'm 24 years old. I went to a fairly decent college, from which I did not graduate (damn you, 2 credits! Not even a whole class!)...yet, I feel like I'm not an adult. I don't drive for multiple reasons (namely that I couldn't afford a car even if I did have a licence, and that I've scared everyone who's taught me how to drive). So that knocks me down to at least 15 and a half years old. I also work in retail. Not that it's as bad as working in the mall (which I've also done), but working at Wal-Mart isn't my dream job.

See, the thing is, my dream job isn't something reliable. I'd love to do theater for the rest of my life. But unless I find myself becoming as talented as, say, Sutton Foster overnight, I couldn't land a steady job. I need stability in some form in my life. As much as I'd love to drop everything and try to stick it out in the city, sleeping on friends' couches and eating Ramen noodles for months at a time...it just isn't realistic.

This brings me to my next point. See those last two paragraphs? Those are me, making excuses, something I'm a pro at. I could complain all day and give you a million reasons why I can't do something...but it's just an excuse. There's no real reason I can't go to NYC and audition for things. Yeah, money might get tight, but I think about all of the stories I've heard of people going there with nothing and ending up making a pretty decent living.

That's why I can't grow up. I can't face my fears. I just run from them. And it's depressing me, because it's just once sick cycle that I can't break. I don't want to be a "lifer" at Wal-Mart. They get another year out of me, tops. After that, come hell or high water, I am going to get out of retail. Hell, I'll work in an office 9-5 if it means I don't have to wear a name tag and smile at people all day.

Maybe admitting all of this is some form of personal growth. I've always liked avoiding my faults, pretending they don't exist so I can go on with life as usual. But I've got to face reality. I'm a 24 year old woman who needs a license, a car, an apartment, and a job that doesn't make me borderline suicidal.