One step back

Craigslist update:

X-mas company party guy wrote back. Erm, well, he did a "Hi, my name is [insert monosyllabic name]" with an ellipsis and attached a B&W picture. By comparison, I wrote a short novella so I'm guessing he wants to know if I like what I see before expending any kind of time and energy. Savvy move but it oozes laziness.

Plus: he's 41...and has all his hair. That's no small feat.

Minuses: I'm not crazy about the goatee. Apparently, he didn't get the memo: Unless you're Viggo or Ryan Gosling, scruff will not look good on you! Also, I know this sounds super nitpicky but his eyes looked old and tired.

I thought of responding and saying something like, "How weird, I just got a photo but not much else. I don't think your email came through" but thought that was a bit too coy. Especially since it doesn't appear he's even my type. Why bother?

One step forward and 2 steps back with English Tom. I threw him a bone--okay, okay, I missed him. A lot. So, I sent him a message via WWF that we should finish our game. Before the message, I think I implied he could go to hell and he assumed we'd never talk again, so he enthusiastically said, "Yay!" and went his turn, then tentatively asked me how I was doing. I lied and I said I was good, then asked him how he was doing and he said he was just "okay." Then, we engaged in a relatively benign convo where I didn't gush, didn't pry, didn't use any smiley faces, didn't say "lol!", and I don't think I really asked any questions in return. I could tell that he could tell that something was off and that things had changed, which suited me just fine.