#NerdsUnite: Comfort zone be gone!

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Chelsea. She's a newbie to our loverly state of California and is currently trying to find her own voice and find her own way. Gosh, aren't we all??? She's here today to talk about her journey in life, love, and all things nerd.  I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT CHELSEA!!</editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @chelofthesea

Dating is a totally new thing for me. But before I dive right in to my current situation, let me give you some background…

Growing up, I was always the girl dudes wanted to be “just friends” with. Time and time again, I helped boys I was hopelessly smitten with figure out the right things to say to the girls they liked, who were usually my friends. As much as it totally sucked at the time, it helped me develop a thick skin, and learn to deal with rejection. So I’m thankful for it!

When I was 16 though, I got into a pretty serious relationship that consumed me for the next 3+ years. After that, not knowing how to deal with the fact that my ex had already moved on, I rebounded with a dude who was NOT the right fit for me. Once I managed to escape that situation, and trust me, it felt more like an escape than a break-up, I entered what I like to call the “Perfectly Lonely” phase. (Anyone get the reference?)

For the next two years, I was totally content being single. I went through college without even having a crush on someone. It was a period of focusing on myself, and trying to get over all the relationship baggage from my past. First loves aren’t easy to let go of….as we ALL know.

So, when I moved to California, I hadn’t even thought about dating. It wasn’t until some of my friends proposed the idea of online dating that I realized… Hmm, I might actually enjoy spending time with a male in non-platonic setting! So, I set off into the OkCupid universe, with my best photo forward and the wittiest description of myself I could muster up.

Dating has proven to be a more growing experience than I ever anticipated. What I expected to happen was: Go out with dudes, not really like any of them, make out at the end of the night, then delete their numbers and move on. But in reality what happened was: I went with really awesome guys, who seemed totally into me, and for the first time in my life I was dating multiple dudes at once, flirting (something I totally suck at), and having no idea how to handle a problem I kept running in to… My “problem without a name.” (Another reference, anyone get this one?)

For the record, I’ve spent the last few months trying to figure out why this keeps happening to me but I have no idea. So nerds, please help! I’d love to hear your insight!

I’m getting ahead of myself. Before you can understand my problem, you have to understand what led up to it. And what is that, you ask? Oh, it was GOOD DATES. Yeah, I know, how crazy is that? All of my first dates were awesome. Many ended in a goodnight kiss, even! Guess what the next step leading to this problem is? A GREAT SECOND DATE. Yep, you read that right. I found myself going out multiple times with really great dudes, who definitely seemed to be picking up what I was putting down, and who made the effort to contact me each time after our rendezvous.

Now this is where the trouble hits. Two out of three times this has happened after the second date, the third time it happened after nearly a month of seeing each other. The guy will call or text to make plans. Not passive, trying to drop the hint that I’m not into you plans…like…very specific plans! For example, “Let’s go to a movie Thursday night, I’ll call you later this week to confirm it.” But then I never hear back! They never give me a reason why we didn’t go out. I just straight up don’t hear back from them.

I’ve come to attribute this to LA guys being flakey, but c’mon, that’s not a good enough reason. This has happened with three guys who are not originally from LA, but from totally different parts of the country! And while I’d love more than anything to blame it on them all being assholes, who don’t know what they want; the reality of it is that I need to look inside and figure out what this means about me

Why am I attracting these guys? What about me makes me equally as appealing as I am disposable? What can I do to change this pattern? What keeps leading me to this weird place?

Guess it’s time for more reflection. And more dating. Ya know what they say, when you fall of the horse it’s best to get right back on!

#nerdsunite

click here to follow Chelsea on twitter!

Fun with #OkCupid: Local broadcasts, FTW! (actual broadcasts from this afternoon)

 The following is an actual screen shot from the location based OkCupid application that is now available for download on the iPhone and Android operating systems.

Create an account, download, and you too can see wonderful updates like these ...

Yes, because butt cheeks and lunch TOTALLY go together.

Oh and I love the dude that's down to fuck ... or you know ... whatever ... we can like make a paper mache volcano and shit too .... I'm really just down for anything I can stick my penis inside.

REALLY ??? REALLY??

WHO. DOES. THIS. WORK. ON.

baahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

#thatisall

#Tonight: Beer + Boobs + Brains = @GoalSportsCafe

It's Tuesday nerderinos!

That means it's TRIVIA NIGHT AT GOAL!!!!

Come flex off those nerdy muscles with some random trivia - and it's SO GOOD AT GOAL!!!

Goal is located at 8334 West 3rd street in LA (zip code: 90048), and because you guys rock it so hardcore, the owners are also going to be giving us specials!!

Yep, we have $5 stellas, $5 vodka drinks and $5 appetizers.

So come on down tonight! Festivities start at 8:30!!!

Everyone in LA is invited. So come on down for all things awesome, and I can't WAAIIIITTTTT to kick it with you guys tonight.

Tweet me if you have any questions, problems, or whatevs - @JenFriel

SO MUCH FREAKING LOVE!!!!! See your faces tonight!!

#nerdsunite

#NerdsUnite: Around the world with @HeatherReusz

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Heather. She's a nerd who is currently living in Japan by way of Chicago. Yep, talk about a culture shock. She's here today to talk about her life, love (which she is currently balancing long distance) and all things nerd. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT HEATHER!!!</editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @HeatherReusz

I’ve just had one of the best weekends ever! Mainly because my boyfriend came to visit. I’ve been counting down to this day for months. I can’t even describe how amazing it was to finally be together after nine and a half months apart.

It was especially sweet because I wasn’t even sure if he was going to be able to make it out to Japan. As a freelance artist he wasn’t sure that he could make the money to come. I begged and pleaded with him to just get out here and I would pay for everything. Hell, I even offered to pay for his flight out here as well as all the food and traveling costs. He refused not wanting to be a bum. I offered to make it a loan that he would have to pay back. Again, he refused. I was crushed. How was I supposed to get through a whole year without him? Finally, in about February, he had saved enough to comfortably make the trip. He immediately booked a flight and the countdown began.

Unfortunately, he did have to come while I was working. We had only three whole days together. It didn’t matter though; we were both so excited about getting to be together again.

His flight landed on Friday afternoon. Since I was working, I couldn’t pick him up from Narita. I had to give him directions to my place. It involved two train transfers and a two and a half hour commute but he made it. He arrived just as I got off of work. I found him at the main entrance of the station just waiting against a pillar. My heart leapt into my throat and I full on tackled him with a bear hug. We both tried to hold back the tears as we embraced. It’s not culturally appropriate to show extreme emotions in public in Japan. I was pushing the cultural expectation as was with our huge embrace. I had explained this nuance to him before he had left so he would know that we couldn’t really kiss or cry without me being ostracized. We had our first meal in Japan…at Burger King since all other restaurants were closed and we were both exhausted.

We had an amazing night. It made me really see all the things that I had been missing. I don’t just mean the sexual stuff although that was pretty amazing. I relished in everything: the way he smelled, how his eyes sparkled, how safe I felt sleeping next to him again.

I had to go to work on Saturday but promised him a great date night as I get out of work on Saturdays at a relatively early time. After work, I took him to Yokohama. We had a great meal in the Yokohama Chinatown and took a night time stroll down the pier. It was romantic and beautiful. Perfection.

The next day was a big sightseeing day. I took him to one of my favorite places in Japan: Kamakura. Most of you probably have not really heard of this town. It was the seat of Japanese power in the Kamakura period which was in the 13^th century. I love it because it has a ton of old temples and castles mixed in with the more modern beach resorts since it’s on the coast. We spent the morning on an island walking through caves and enjoying the great view of Mt. Fuji. In the afternoon we took the historic train line, which is over 100 years old, to two of my favorite temples. Another fun and perfect day.

Monday and Tuesday were a bit of a change of pace. We’re both nerds so we focused on doing some super nerdy things in Tokyo. First stop was the Studio Ghibli museum in Mitaka. We both grew up on and adored the works of Hayo Miyazaki. Those of you who aren’t even anime nerds may know some of his work: Totoro, Spirited Away, Ponyo, Princess Monoke, etc. It was a fantastic experience. The museum made you feel like a child again. It was set up in a way that just captured the imagination and absorbed you in. We walked through rooms designed after his movies, saw some of his original sketches and storyboards from the movies, and saw an original animated short. After the museum, we went to Akihabara which is the anime, manga, video game, and electronics capital of Tokyo. We shopped around at my favorite places grabbing some really sweet anime collectibles. The night ended with dinner and drinks at the Gundam Café, an café themed after my favorite anime franchise Mobile Suit Gundam.

Our final day together was another nerd extravaganza. We headed over to Odaiba, Tokyo to see the life size Gundam. This is the third time I’ve seen it but it is mind blowing every time. To put it in perspective, it’s about 8 stories tall. It stands in front of a new mall. The top floor of the mall is a Gundam theme park basically. We had tickets and spent all day nerding out. I also had a lot of strangers randomly ask for my picture. This happens kind of frequently here for me especially when I go to Gundam events. Most fans are guys so the hard core otaku freak out a little bit when there is a girl let alone a foreign girl going to these things. At least Lucas thought it was hilarious.

The days passed as wonderful blurs. Nerd love is the best kind of love, you know. I wish that he was still here but then I remember that I only have a month and a half left here in Japan! My how time flies!

#nerdsunite

click here to follow Heather on Twitter!

Weird Al Says: #WTF

The increased activity in the nervous system is what causes some men to get headaches and sneeze after having an orgasm.

This has been a moment of ... WTF?