This Date Blows My Sox Off. Get It?
It's time for the big date report. I'm sure you were all on the edge of your seats all week, what with our normal programming being pre-empted by the all-Buffy format, but I think it was justified. She's been a very important part of my life these last few years, and if UPN wouldn't give her two hours on air, I think she deserves a whole week online.

Now, on to the men.

First, see the picture of this hunky guy right here? He wasn't a contestant. That's just my boy Tim in Australia. He's lovely and cuddly and more man than you can handle, and I thought he deserved a shout-out since this is a column about the men in my life. Mostly men of the present and future, but some of the past ones have been pretty awesome, and I really like that picture.

But let's talk about Nick. Jason bailed on our date due to graduation and commencement related activities, so I was down to one bachelor for the week.

Nick, it so happens, graduated from BU the same year I did, so automatically we had some stuff in common. This was helpful. Also helpful is that Nick planned a great night out. We met in Kenmore Square and walked over to Fenway Park for a Red Sox game. (They beat the Rangers, like 15 to .75 or something ridiculous.) It's been forever since I was there and I was very happy to find myself in the bleachers, among the real people, like Peanut Man with his six huge bags of nuts that he passed out in between screaming at outfielders.

I know this article would be much more interesting if I could say that Nick smelled like broccoli, or that he had some kind of nervous twitch or other obvious flaw, but he didn't. He was a wonderful conversationalist (despite being an engineer, which I found even more impressive because most of them don't come with personalities), he was well groomed, polite, funny, and laid-back.

We enjoyed the game, although I don't think either of us would ever get aisle seats again. There were dozens of people smooshing by us every two minutes to get beer, go to the bathroom, return from the bathroom, get more beer, return with hands full of beer splashing on us, and then just standing in large groups right in front of us so that we couldn't see anything. All the booing and screaming and throwing things at Carl Everett was entertaining though, and we got a healthy dose of Nomaaaaah.

Post-game, Nick and I headed to B.B. Wolf's where one of my roommates was working the bar. This resulted in free drinks and nachos, and slight drunkenness on my part. You know, when you add a little cranberry juice to a Stoli and Sprite, the alcohol is barely detectable, until you try to stand up, and then quickly sit back down. Nick handled this well and didn't seem too put off by my increased honesty, brashness and overall willingness to talk about things best left unsaid. (Wow, that girl has the weirdest elbows... and ears... and could her pants hug her crotch any tighter? Slut!)

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by what an enjoyable time I had with Nick. There may not have been huge sparks and fireworks, but he's a very cool guy and I could see hanging out with him again and doing my best to find a girl worthy of him. Maybe we should have a new contest to find him a swinging bachelorette. He might even volunteer to cook.

Next week: I let one of the guys do the talking about how hard it is to find a good woman these days. Apparently he wants one who can both walk and talk, and will give him her real phone number. Picky.