The horror of being surrounded by attractive men - OR - I may need to work on my self-esteem

I also may need to work on coming up with shorter post titles.

People often sing the praises of Portland's scenery. The trees, the flowers, the river, Mount Hood, etc. It's all lovely, this place is truly beautiful. But there's another aspect to the landscape that I wasn't really aware of before moving here.

The men. Of all ages.

I probably fall head over heels in lust with someone new every time I leave the apartment. Sure, that sounds great, but it's not! Even though I'm fully aware that they're out there, I am still caught off guard by attractive men. It's like wandering through a cheap carnival haunted house and jumping out of your skin when a cardboard ghoul pops up. It's the Haunted House o' Hunks!

I love how my butchering of this photo doesn't take away from Jason Lewis AT ALL.
It's my fault, really. I tend to run errands without putting on more than the absolute minimal makeup required of me to keep from being confused with a zombie. My bad! You'd think your safe just running to the bank, the grocery store, sitting in traffic, random places. Wrong! You know what the worst place is, though? Co-ops!!! Must be all the local, organic, healthy food or something. Co-op guys tend to be really nice, too, or at least that's been my experience.

There's another sure bet. I shop at Fred Meyer on Friday mornings, and if I go early enough I get to catch... the firemen. Yes, plural. I see them in the produce area and around the bulk bins.

You sure do! (source)
So what's the problem? Well, I feel inadequate. In my early 20s I used to prance around like a show pony, but these days? I'm a little more utilitarian. Read that as: I feel like a frumpy lump. The obvious solution is to don an evening gown every time I step out. Or, maybe, you know, try not to worry about it so much. Ha.

In unrelated, yet wholly relevant, news... I'm working on myself these days. I started doing yoga again (two days in a row so far! WOO!). I'm growing my hair out. I'm considering cutting out refined sugars from my sugary diet. Trying to pull myself out of the slump I've been in. This isn't about dating, it's just about me. Dating doesn't figure into any of my plans right now. But it's good to know that there are indeed plenty of fish in the sea.

In the meantime, I guess I should just enjoy the view.


Wait! What about the ladies? Aside from my longstanding lady crush on Gina Gershon (honestly, was there any other reason to suffer through Showgirls?), I may not spend quite as much time ogling the lovely women of Portland, but they're totally out there. A quick browse through the personals will tell you that. ;)