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comment by ButterflyEffect
ButterflyEffect  ·  441 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: February 1, 2023

oh pubski

things with girl a (girl from Dec.) I think I ended a few nights ago - told her I cannot be in a space with so much uncertainty, and no expectation of receiving any amount of affection/attention/affirmation, and not even knowing when i would see her again. that all of that is not a tenable situation for what i need and want. we ended with "let's figure out a timeline that's comfortable for both of us to reconnect over a cup of coffee or lunch in the future, and in the interim, not have contact". it was a challenging hour long conversation. i returned a couple of small things to her two days ago. but then last night she called me on facetime...i'm about to call her back to see why...

girl b - surprisingly awesome date at one of the local spots to catch concerts, just hung out in the lounge/bar and walked around for a while after. soooo much in common. made out in the streets at the end of the night. seeing her again tomorrow night, and i kind of want to try and take things slow with her, i feel there could be potential to build something with her. trading music suggestions over text messages the past couple of days.

girl c - also a fun climbing night date, going to see her again after i go on this trip to canmore, alberta, for a week of ice climbing. she's a bit older (6 years older than me) and seems to have a different perspective on some things. it's very unclear at this moment if she's looking for a climbing partner or more than that, but i'm fine with either.

edit: girl d - also fun, not as physically attracted to this person I don't think(???), but super interesting, very mountainous, and is an underwater photographer for the smithsonian??? (have i mentioned all of these girls are very intelligent, driven, etc.)

so, i'm managing...it's been a very challenging, emotional month of january. i've had a lot of anticipation for girl a, and now trying to not make the same mistakes twice with girl b in particular, and have also had a lot of anticipation for this trip to canmore. where it's looking warm, almost too warm...highs in the mid-30s for ice isn't super great...

somebody asked me what would be my ideal for all of this dating. it made me uncomfortable to say "i want a relationship". trying to unpack why that is.





user-inactivated  ·  441 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I am more invested in your emotional health/dating success than I expected to be.

I really hope things work out for you. But I do think you've handled the 'Girl from Dec' saga as best as you could. You went in excited, hopeful and willing to be malleable, can't ask for much else.

    for a week of ice climbing.

Sounds terrifying. Are you scaling a wall like normal climbing, but it's also ice?

ButterflyEffect  ·  441 days ago  ·  link  ·  

It was a good experience for me to seriously think about what I want from a person and relationship. I do, however, remain bummed about how that conversation went down and how it feels like I saw two very different versions of the same person. Going to talk to therapist about that.

It will be terrifying and will look like this!

https://www.mountainproject.com/route/107112924/grotto-falls

But I'm also going with this guy (and a bunch of others):

https://www.outsideonline.com/health/training-performance/steve-swenson-mountaineer/

user-inactivated  ·  441 days ago  ·  link  ·  

God, I'm glad you enjoy it. I wondered about picking up climbing, there's a cool venue in my city dedicated to it and those I know who do it, absolutely love it. Scaling shit? Exercise? Mad forearm pumps? Hell yeah.

Would my weight be a struggle, do you think? I'm certainly fit in a general sense, but I know climbing is something else entirely. I'm like, 95kg usually and I can do pullups with ease, but not sure that would transfer well to actually climbing a wall. I assumed I'd have to lose weight and drop my overall strength to actually do it.

ButterflyEffect  ·  440 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    Would my weight be a struggle, do you think? I'm certainly fit in a general sense, but I know climbing is something else entirely. I'm like, 95kg usually and I can do pullups with ease, but not sure that would transfer well to actually climbing a wall. I assumed I'd have to lose weight and drop my overall strength to actually do it.

Unsure! How tall are you?

user-inactivated  ·  440 days ago  ·  link  ·  

About 5ft 7. I am, in all honesty, a very solid person. 8 years of religious weightlifting, and years of rugby before that. Just a dense mofo.

ButterflyEffect  ·  440 days ago  ·  link  ·  

You’ll be totally fine. Unless you want to be a world class climber, you can get up some very challenging, engaging, and/or just plain fun stuff at a gym and outside with your build.

Strength will be really helpful but it’s a lot of technique, flexibility, and muscles that you don’t use in a lot of other scenarios.

user-inactivated  ·  440 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Awesome good to know! I'm tossing up between one of two things. Climbing with pals, or boxing with another group of pals. Both would ask a lot of my body, in very different ways than I'm used to.

elizabeth  ·  440 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I'm no climbing expert, but i've once seen a beginner (as in never climbed in her life) lady absolutely brute force up a wall and leave all other beginners in the dust - looking like an absolute beast stuck to the wall all muscles engaged the whole way. It was impressive. Climbing is lots of technique actually so while strength and flexibility are a factor, i feel anyone generally fit can get a start. The easier routes are almost just going up a ladder type exercises.

dublinben  ·  439 days ago  ·  link  ·  

If you have the upper body and grip strength to rep out some pullups, then you'll be in good shape to give climbing a try.