So I walked into The Arsenal in West LA after work today because I had forgotten to close out my one-drink tab from Saturday, and the place was set up for 8 Minute Dating. Speed dating. I've seen it on TV but never up close so I was captivated. I asked the organizer if I could watch and he said yes. Then I asked him, "Is it okay that I'm treating this like a spectator sport?" The ratio was probably three women to every man. Most of the women were fairly attractive, young and stylish. The men on the other hand, were like the Bad News Bears of the social scene. No one was under 30 and they all looked like they had crawled out from under some Rock of Social Ineptitude. I saw that one guy was sporting a jean shirt tucked into jeans pulled up to his nipples. The whole ludicrocity of the scene (yes, it was so bad it deserves a new word) made me wonder if maybe this was some candid camera stunt to mess with the women. It took too long to get started and so I ended up getting bored and leaving. Seriously. It was like the bottom of the barrel of internet dating in there. By the way, The Arsenal sucks now. It used to be moderately entertaining right after they opened up that patio area, but the overall crowd is pretty lame, the way Liquid Kitty has gotten.

Anyway, so I left Arsenal and went over to Unurban Cafe for a poetry showcase. THAT started an hour late, too, because of technical problems, so I only stayed for two poets. One poem was titled, "Why Poets Make the Best One Night Stands." I guess these people meet a lot of one night stands at poetry readings. Maybe that's subconsciously why I left right after that poem. Was afraid some mass orgy would break out. Tomorrow's open mic there and I don't know if I've built up the courage yet to do one. I know I'll need to eventually, but it's really intimidating to be in front of people. If I do it, I'm just going to go and not tell anyone, because I wouldn't want anyone I know to see me freak out. I think I'll check it out tomorrow and play it by ear.