Reciprocity

I had my fourth date with Mr. Show Biz last night.  It was fantastic!  I drove up to his house in L.A.  It's a three-story townhouse, pristine and well-decorated... he makes me feel like such a loser and a slob when I think of how I live!  He really has his ish together.  I gave him a small gift I made (the author of "Be Your Own Matchmaker" says that for every four nice things he does for you, you should try and reciprocate by doing something nice for him so that he doesn't feel taken advantage of).  So, I have this "idea book" where I put all my so-called million-dollar ideas, and he's been telling me that he wants one, too, and that I should help him get one started.  So I bought a small binder, paper and spent hours making a guide on construction paper with all these colorful pages to help him get started that said things like, "What are problems I see in society?  Are these fixable?  If yes, how so?"  Etcetera.  But then I woke up the next morning and realized that the whole thing might be a bit too pedantic and most guys hate getting advice from girls.  They get insulted or something.  ALL the relationship books advise against this, so that you don't seem too mother hen-ish.  So I took out all my inspirational pages of questions and prompts and just gave him the binder with empty white pages instead.  It ended up being kind of a lame gift without it, but better than nothing I suppose.  I did decorate the cover, so that's something...  But I think I'll finish up the apron I started in sewing class and give that to him since he's such a great chef and all.

But anyway, he's funny when I give him things.  This time he said thank you, and then he just put it on his table.  He didn't open it right then and there.  He's the only person I've ever met who does that (unless there's a big pile of gifts or something).  Who doesn't want to tear into a gift right away?  I guess he has more restraint than me, but I found it odd and surprising.

Anyway, after he gave me a tour of his place, we drove downtown to see "Oleanna," a play by David Mamet, starring Julia Stiles and Bill Pullman.  It was a pretty shocking and interesting play, and Stiles and Pullman were both excellent in their roles.  Stiles had to pull off a pretty crazy role and did so with conviction, and Pullman was a very charming and foppish asshole.  I really enjoyed myself!  It's crazy, though, because people in L.A. don't dress up for the theatre! Not like New York.  Practically everyone else in the audience was over sixty years old and wearing jeans and a blazer (women included).

We were hungry afterwards, so we went to this amazing restaurant in Hollywood.  It was the best I've been to in years.  The food absolutely melted in my mouth.  I ate SO much, I was a little piggy and didn't care.

He drove us back to his house and he told me he had a gift for me downstairs, so we went to his room and made out (kept it tame).  I asked him if that was the gift he had for me (a la "Dick in a Box"- although I didn't see any of that).  He laughed and said no, and handed me a boxed set of Season 1 & 2 of one of my favorite shows, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."  He said he saw it at Target and thought of me.  I love gifts and I love that show, so I squealed when I saw it.  He's so thoughtful!

His family is flying in next weekend, so we won't see each other for two weeks.  I miss him already!