Everything just came up Charlie today.

I had a great call with a smart investor who turns out to know one of my angels through the BYU alumni network.

I used by super amazing powers of interweb stalking to track down a Fordham grad who is an investor at a private equity firm--through his son who turns out to have had my old job at GM.  Only put two and two together because of autocomplete on Thunderbird--it matched the last names.

I got the most amazing e-mail from a new old friend--someone I'd gone years without seeing and have recently reconnected with.

My Fordham softball team won and made the playoffs in a do or pretty much die situation in the last game of the season.  I drove in three and had an outfield assist as we won 9-7.

I spoke at Ignite and apparently did pretty well...  

Funny, because when I was speaking, I noticed that the crowd actually seemed to be listening.  I thought maybe everyone had left, but the attention was confirmed by Eric and Adam.

And then I biked home and it was a beautiful night.   Everything's coming up Charlie!

When I have a softball game in the city, and we're the home team, it is our (my) responsibility to bring the bases. I can't bike into the city with the bases on my bike because there's nowhere to put this unwieldy base bag. So, I usually bring the car in and put it in a garage. Sixteen bucks and wasted gas all to get a bag of bases to a softball game.

This morning, I gassed up, but had second thoughts because of the price of gas. I turned around and tooked the silly bag out of my trunk and lugged it to the subway. It's not heavy... just sort of awkward.

What I really need to do is to get a little luggage thing for the side or back of my bike. Then, I'd never have to bring the car in and I could maybe bring my favorite bat in as well.

I like the fact that I've been avoiding using the car lately. I'm going down to Philly on Thursday and might try to grab the train there, too.

Does anyone have any recommendations for good quality racks for carrying things on their bikes?

I went to the supermarket late this afternoon.  I thought about relationships...  and cheese.

The single Charlie has three types of cheese in the house: Extra sharp cheddar, pepper jack, and grated peccorino romano. 

I didn't have anyone to suggest any other types of cheese in the supermarket.  No one else was going to eat cheese in my apartment but me.... so I got the types I normally get.

In college, I went with someone I was dating to the Dominican Republic.  The resort we stayed in had an all you can eat place--and one whole table dedicated to cheese.  We started off our meals with whole platefuls of cheese.  It was a special bond. 

I would like someone else around to affect my cheese decisions--to spice things up a bit.  An ex used to bring baby bel paise into the house.  It was so conspicuous in my fridge--obviously not mine but a nice reminder of the presence of someone else around. 

Last week, when I posted my "Top 10 Reasons to Date an Entrepreneur" I got a response from someone who was actually interested in going on a date.

It's funny, because that wasn't the intended purpose of the post--it came out of a conversation I was having with someone about entrepreneurs and what working on a startup does to your personal life.  Then I realized, that in my 4+ years of blogging, that was the ONLY time I've ever been approached that way.  2,246 posts and, before that, not a single person has stepped forward and said, "Hey, you seem like the kinda guy I'd want to go out with."

Now, I suppose for half of that time, I've been seeing someone, but I don't think that's always been apparent.  Still, what about the other half??  Perhaps there's the fear of the spotlight--as if I blog all my dates here, which I obviously don't. 

The one thing I think I can say is that, while there's a lot of content here on this blog, it really does only present just a side of me.  I think a lot of blogs are like that--where the professional person comes off in such a way that might be different from the person you'd get to know if you knew them personally.   So, I thought it would be interesting to start a meme encouraging other bloggers to share a little something about who they are and what they want when it comes to their dating/relationship life.

So here are the rules:

Write 5 things about either a) what you value in a counterpart or b) what someone needs to know about your dating/relationship personality.

Then, link to 5 people of the OPPOSITE SEX that you want to see answer these questions (to ensure that it doesn't just look like a bunch of dudes trying to get a date.)  If you're already in a relationship, you can still answer of course.  This is more about getting to know a different side of you, or just getting to know you better.

Ok, here's mine:

1. Despite my strongly held opinions and outspoken nature, I'm actually quite openminded and really desire that in someone else.  I like new ideas and perspectives, and it is exactly this desire for feedback, pushback, etc. that helps me form such strong opinions--because I do feel like I do what I can to be surrounded by tire-kickers.
2. I'm much more of a 1 on 1 person than I am about big groups.  I'd rather get to know one person pretty deeply than meet 30 people and just get names and what they do for a living.
3. I want to meet someone who is passionate about something--anything.  It doesn't have to be their career (although if you're going to spend 8-12 hours a day at something, that might as well be it), but I just can't relate to people who can't get really really psyched about at least one thing in their lives.
4. I need someone with a calendar--someone who understands how to stick to some kind of schedule.  That's really different than someone who needs a routine.  Being spontaneous is fantastic, but I also can't deal with last minute cancelations or leaving things too up in the air.  I don't see my friends enough.  I don't see my family enough.  So, if you can't tell me whether or not you're free Saturday afternoon at least a few days in advance, don't expect me to cut out possible family time to leave it open for whenever you figure out where the wind will take you that day.
5. I take care of myself and find it difficult to date anyone who doesn't respect their own body.  I don't think I could date a smoker, and while you don't have to be a gym rat, getting some kind of exercise at least a couple of times a week shows that you care about yourself and your body--that you think enough of it to keep it up.   I do, however, love desert, so ice cream is a big exception to this--Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia... rrrrrggggg.

Ok, I'll tag Shri (even though she's married) , Rachel, Tik, Tara, and Whitney (although you can learn a lot about her here).   Funny, there were a couple of other women that I wanted to tag, but I knew they'd never repost this, because their blogs are solely professional.  I think that's very telling, because a lot of women don't even want to open that door at all and let all the crazies in.  :)

No news yet...  Arnold the car guy asked me to come down and reorder my company vehicle, which is due for an update.  I'm avoiding him for the moment.