I had my second date with the French guy who plays softball and it can be summed up in two words: SUPER GAY. It also technically lasted about 30 hours.
I should point out that although his parents were born in France and he says he loves wine, he does not speak with a cute and/or irritating French accent, as he grew up here in BC. He decided that for our second date I would be subjected to a ‘trial by fire’ where I would meet up with him at his place then head off to a local gay bar mid-afternoon to help decorate for an end-of-the-year drag show for WESA (West End Softball Association). Later we would be attending a get-together with some of his teammates followed by the show itself, then concluding with entertaining his 24 year old straight nephew and his girlfriend who had come out from Grand Prairie to watch the UFC show in Vancouver (the nephew later reported that people in the mens room were ‘doing rails’ on the tops of urinals, along with crack cocaine and other things, so it sounds like it was a grand old time).
That would be the first part of the date.
The second part was today where we would head out to the ball field at Brockton Oval in Stanley Park and he would play a game (position: first base) while I cheered from the stands (actually a red lawn chair with beer holder), after which we would retire to the clubhouse for drinking and eating with a bunch of people I don’t know (the recurring theme throughout). His team won 9-6 and after foolishly declining his offer of sunscreen before the game started, I won a free sunburn on my arms and legs.
So my weekend was spent almost exclusively around ‘you people’ (as they call us in Grand Prairie) and I’d almost forgotten how much gay men just generally kiss and hug all the time. Not that I’m objecting. The super-fit stereotype was also well-represented at the softball game. Not that I’m objecting to that, either.
The drag show was as expected – lots of guys dressed up as (un)intentionally scary-looking women. A few pulled off more convincing looks and some of the acts (the WESA show is built as a competition with each team – in this case 11 of them – each having someone representing them) were pretty elaborately staged. Crowd favorites included one who looked a bit like a German dominatrix, the one representing the team my date is on (an Asian guy appearing as ‘Gaping Ho’ – he won 2nd place), someone dressed as Cher from "If I Could Turn Back Time, complete with cane and a sign announcing “2040 Reunion Tour – I’m Back, Bitches” and the one that brought down the proverbial house – a Lady Gaga number with a pair of criminally cute guys dancing alongside the Gaga clone (she was wearing police line tape). The choreography was amazingly well-done. She went on to win first place and the cheers contributed to my temporary deafness after.
I haven’t been to a gay club in about a million years and my ears are still faintly ringing 24 hours later, probably because I was standing too close to some of the speakers in order to stay away from the nozzles spraying strange cotton candy-scented fog onto the dance floor. I had two cups of cider at the teammate meeting before the show and another during the show which, if you recall from a previous post, is normally enough to put me on the floor, sans dancing. I paced myself better this time and was eating, so I remained fully in control of my faculties, not to mention I could still feel my face at the end of the night. I even danced. A bit. Toward the end of our stay at the club my date introduced me to Bill, the youngest and cutest veterinarian I ever expect to meet. He also described him as his ‘sexless boyfriend’. I was then introduced to his partner John, presumably the boyfriend who provides the sex part.
The French softball guy is in many ways the opposite of me – an extrovert who loves to dance and mingle, really super-outgoing, whereas I tend to be rather quiet, especially around people I don’t know (read: this entire weekend). I think I made it through the ‘trial by fire’ okay, though. We established a rapport almost immediately and because of that we never had that awkward dance around whether or not we were on a date (in my experience, first dates often feel more like job interviews). I’ve also not felt so physically comfortable with another date before – and I’m not referring to the ol’ sex thing. We just seem to click that way.
Our schedules next mutually free up on Wednesday so that’s when we’re getting together again. I think I am officially dating now. It’s kind of weird and could blow up like before, but right now it’s a nice feeling and I’ll take it.
