Bachelor #2

The start of my dating adventure with Deux was marred by the fact that I have never in my life been involved with two guys at the same time. I mean....well, that time doesn't count. Anyway, I was going into the date with some guilt at "dating behind another guy's back". But Un and I had only been on one date - we were hardly a couple.

Deux invited me to join him for dinner at Uchiko, a fancy Japanese food restaurant across the street from ASH. I hadn't ever been and so I was thinking it was just another sushi place like Odaku on Parmer Lane. Oh, how wrong I was.

My Jessa texted some lyrics from a classic Pete Yorn song, so I drove over to Uchiko listening to his first CD and had a musical epiphany while listening to "Lose You": The synth/piano background part of the song is nearly identical to Blue October's "Come In Closer". It was a stunning realization.

The date with Deux involved food sharing and chopsticks - turns out the food at Uchiko is like tapas - one dish will simply not do. We got some fresh japanese fish (raw), had some beef slices that you self-cook on a heated rock, drank some $15/glass sake, and had a couple other dishes and dessert on the side. Deux is a major foodie - the majority of our conversation revolved around food and cooking (and cooking shows). It was neat to have dinner with someone that was so knowledgeable!

He and I had sent each other a plethora of messages between mid-November and date night, and we'd gotten a couple of the important questions out of the way. Deux is an Italian from Brazil whose company brought him to Austin to be in charge of a department of computer folk. He's 32 (Did I mention that Un is 28? I don't think I did) and has a delightful portuguese accent. He likes to travel the world, and one of his quirks is that he likes to take pictures in the subway stations of all the cities he's been to. Also, he's Catholic.

A brief aside - I had hesitations over the Catholic/Protestant issue based on my experiences here in Texas. I asked him about the religious stuff in a little bit of depth, since I didn't want either of us wasting our time if we couldn't have a peaceable future. Happily, it seems that most of the Catholic aggression and exclusion bullshit that I've experienced (forbidden to take communion, my ASS) is probably due to the Spanish influence in the region. After all, Spain did have this little thing called the Inquisition, so I should've put 2 and 2 together. Or maybe Deux is just a very tolerant man. He has a fun little saying: "It is what it is".

So yes, we had a lovely dinner, but then the bill came. I had seen the menu and the $15/glass sake special and knew that it was going to be an expensive date. None of you should be at all surprised that I wasn't comfortable with being taken out on a first date for a $150+ tab and offered to split the bill. He was a little taken aback but he didn't fight me on it, for which I was grateful. Even if he does have the means.

We paid, sipped our sake for another hour or so, and then headed off into the evening. Another goodnight kiss (also with cheek-kiss), but no walking me to my car. Not that I'm too broken up about that - my current vehicle is a little on the rough side after spending over a decade with me.

Did I mention that I was getting a new car? Because I am. Today, in fact. Nothing too fancy-schmancy, just a cute little hybrid - hopefully in blue. I've saved well over 3/4 of the cost of the car and my parents are helping out with the rest in person. I insisted that I didn't want to buy a car by myself because I've never done it before. (You could argue that I bought and negotiated the price of my house by myself, but I still sought my parents' approval before closing the deal.) So I am armed with facts and quotes and in a few short hours I will be possessor of a brand new car. Yipes.

Next time: Naming my new vehicle. Jeeves (as in, "home, Jeeves")? James (a trite reference to a Blue October song)? Beauregarde (after Violet Beuregarde from Willy Wonka that swelled up into a blueberry)? I haven't the slightest clue.