Wednesday, January 07, 2009

But first...cuteness!



Pete the Kitten says hello. Don't you just want to eat him up?

Now...about that dating/vegetarian at the potluck comparison. I guess there really isn't all that much "expounding" to do. It's pretty straight forward.

It's challenging to be a vegetarian at your average potluck. Oh, there are generally plenty of dishes lined up there on that table. And sure, some of them can be ruled out instantly--the fried chicken, for example. Or the green beans glistening with fat from those chunks of ham they've been cooked with. But aside from the obvious carnivorous choices, and the occasional bright green salad (sans bacon bits), there are also a lot of mysterious casseroles. If I can't discreetly inquire of the cook "ooh...what's in this?" then I generally skip them, since otherwise I've got to do a little poking and prodding, looking for cleverly concealed chunks of flesh. And don't even get me started on chicken broth--it's in everything.

It's not impossible to have a satisfying meal--it's just not always that easy. And, for me, an artsy/liberal/vegetarian girl in a predominantly conservative and often rednecky part of the country, online dating provides a similar challenge.

Oh sure, there are plenty of choices. And many of them can be dismissed out of hand: the guy whose profile picture features him proudly holding aloft his recently killed deer. The one whose marital status says "ask me later." Most guys on Harleys. Anybody who is shirtless in his picture, unless he is literally standing in the surf, and even then it's a toss-up. (I mean...if he looks really, really good shirtless...heh.) But shirtless in your bathroom mirror in what is obviously a self-portrait? Ew.

Sadly, I hardly ever see an online "salad." But there are all these "casserole" guys--they look okay on the surface, but you get to poking and find an unexpected little piece of neoconservative. Drat! Or it turns out that "I love animals" means "except for cats" or, worse, "stuffed and displayed on my wall." Darn! Or they think a theater is where you go to watch the latest big-budget movie and never to see a play. Sigh. Or--gasp!--their idea of good Asian food is sweet-and-sour pork from a fast-food Chinese drive-through. Heh.

Now, I'm not saying these guys aren't right for SOMEBODY...they're just not right for ME. Like that fried chicken at the potluck.



11 comments:

3carnations said...

Wait a minute - You have drive thru Chinese food available? Oh, not your point?

Noelle said...

Sadly, we have the shirtless guys in New York as well. But on the other hand, you can usually count on a fair number of vegetarian or even vegan dishes at your average pot-luck.

Maddie said...

Shirtless guys have infected all areas of internet dating. Be careful of the guys who take shirtless self portraits while wearing a hat...double suspicious!

stinkypaw said...

Could not see any picture :-(

In all the examples you've given, they only ones I would still look into are the guys on Harleys... maybe because I have a few friends who own Harleys, and do think of them as potentially datable.

Like at any good pot-luck, diversity is key! ;-)

Anonymous said...

Aw, Pete is adorable. And I love the adjacent pile of cats as well.

I guess it's good that guys don't have the kinds of body issues that women have. But still, put a shirt on, dude.

shelleycoughlin said...

Shirtless conservative portraits?! Ugh. You are a brave woman, Liz, and I salute you. You deserve an educated, shirted East Coast man.

Stefanie said...

I have never seen a photo of a guy with a dead deer. I've seen plenty of "Look at this big fish I caught" photos, though. And, sadly, also the occasional "shirtless in his living room" shots. *shudder*

Anonymous said...

Pete the Kitten is beyond cute....he looks like he purrs really load too :-)

lizgwiz said...

3car, is that not a nationwide thing? I had no idea. They're all over here--the most common is Eggroll Express.

Noelle, several vegetarian dishes at one potluck? Be still my heart. ;)

pants, yeah...no picture without a hat? Dude's balding. Which, really...I don't mind. It's just the efforts to cover it up that bug me. Hee.

stinky, I suppose I wouldn't rule someone out ONLY because of the Harley. Wouldn't want to be closed-minded. ;)

flurious, some day I hope to get a picture of the complete cat pile. It would be adorable--and completely prove my insanity.

npw, I DO deserve it! Do you have one you could send me?

stef, I don't think I've seen that more than once, but maybe that's because I haven't clicked on enough of the additional photos. Heh.

Mousse, you are correct--he purrs like a motorboat. You can hear him across the room. :)

Sauntering Soul said...

There is a local artist here in Atlanta (named James Dean) and his entire body of work is based on "Pete the Cat". Sadly, his Pete the Cat ran away but is still the star of his art. I have a "Pete the Cat" t-shirt that I bought at an art festival a couple of years ago. http://www.petethecat.com/

The cat in the middle looks like she has the same coloring my cutie, Bailey, has.

Thankfully, Hot Brazilian had no shirtless photos on his profile or I might not have ever agreed to meet him. Why do guys do that? I really don't get it.

Anonymous said...

I don't get the shirtless thing for when you're looking for a serious romance. My old roommate had his shirtless picture on a website but he was admittedly cruising and looking for other guys to cruise with. So I hear shirtless and I think "yeah, not in it for the long haul."

I loved your analogy. It has made me think that the next time we have a potluck, I'll have to bring veggie pizza. I'm not a vegetarian but you're right, it has to be hard for vegetarians/vegans to find something good to eat and bonus, I love veggie pizza.