The runup to...

September, just around the corner.

So much to be said about it. So much to reflect on. So much that still needs to happen.

But none of that at the moment...I have one more frivolous post first.

Flash back to Friday night, sitting in a semi-circle with a bunch of friends from high school, celebrating a birthday. Things are going well, if not a little slowly, but we all end the evening on a good note. I arrive home to an empty house, get naked (because it's just so damn comfortable) and check my messages.

I'm not anal about checking my 'gay sites' messages, because not only am I unable to just randomly meet people when I please, I rarely get messaged. But tonight, my inbox has a number beside it. Mildly interesting.

I check what's there, one of which is a proposition from an older gentleman. Next, I read a small snippit from someone, and am intrigued.

It was just a simple "hey" message, but the profile attached to it was anything but ordinary. It made me laugh out loud, and the picture made me smile. Rosy cheeks, cute lips...witty one-sided banter in the text box. And I'm sold.

So naturally, I message back, not really expecting to hear anything more. Flash forward to late Saturday afternoon, just arriving home from a lateish lunch with people and eager to check my inbox.

What transpires over the next hour, via several intermittent messages, was semi-flirtatious, courteous and intelligent banter. It was fun, and lit that small flicker of hope, leaving me wanting more talk. What was nice is the fact he acknowledges he doesn't want 'just sex'. Really, nowhere is sex mentioned.

Again this afternoon after getting home, I check my inbox to find yet another interesting profile response. Same situation, another guy who specifically does not mention the desire for sex. Responding to me, because I have written the same thing.

But these guys trap you in a corner so unlike the hookup ads. With the just sex searches, it's simply a matter of finding a body you like, who'll do the things you want done to you, and the hard part is over. Not so with the nice guys.

Throughout the messages back-and-forth with the first guy, I can't honestly say what he's looking for, mostly because he didn't himself. It was mentioned that he dropped me a line because of our close ages, thinking that we'd have more in common than with others. I agree, but for what exactly? A friend to have coffee with? Or a date for next Friday night?...

Truly impossible to tell, because the ambiguity of the online written word means that one can be both flirtatious and completely aloof at the same time. Couple that with the anxious, over-analytical mind on the receiving end, and the truth often gets washed away in a torrent of scenarios playing out in the imagination.

Why it can't simply say, "Lets have coffee and discuss this further," is understandable but frustrating. And it makes it difficult to determine when the appropriate moment a flirtatious comment should be made for fear of coming off as the typical oversexed male.

It surprises and delights me to see this increase in interest in me, even though I have changed nothing in my profile for months. Whats more, with it being so close to September, I can hopefully keep this streak of good things coming long enough to perhaps take advantage of it.