If I could do the things I want to you, you'd be changing all your plans...

Good lord, she's amazing.





Joss Stone, that is. Talented. Gorgeous. Utterly charming on stage. And just 20 years old.

Yeah, I'm a little jealous. But I like her too much to hate her. And she put on an incredible show, even though she didn't do a full version of this. (You gotta love a girl who covers the White Stripes!)

So before her concert the other night, my "date" and I went to the Taint for a couple of pre-show cocktails. While I was waiting at the bar for the round I was buying, I noticed some random guy eyeing me.

He suddenly says, "Is your name Terry?"

Uh, yes, I reply... puzzled. Do I know this guy?

"Smith?"* he asks.

Uh... yeah. Now I'm even more puzzled. I don't know who this guy is.

Until he said his name.

Turns out he's someone I knew in college. He was the lech, the Guy Who Hits On Everyone Who Has A Vagina. But he was a good person to know, because he was already working in our field, and knew a lot of people. It was easy enough to ignore his advances then because I had a boyfriend (yeah, the ex-hub).

I'm still stunned he remembered me, and even recognized me. He said my laugh was familiar. Oookay.

"Is it still Smith?" he asks.

And then I realize he's still a lech, 20 years later**, because he's trying to figure out whether I'm married.

Instead of just saying yes, I say, "It's always been Smith... even when I was married."***

Apparently, I am too prideful not to tell this bozo that yes, I was married once. I SHOULD have challenged him about why he was asking.

Instead, we engaged in some small talk about what we're each doing career-wise (and I was more than a little surprised to find that he knew where I worked until last summer). Turns out he works in the same 'hood as I do, and, of course, he thinks we should get together sometime!

Yeah. Great. I'll be working very hard to make that happen.

See, this is the type of guy who typically approaches me. I catch other guys checking me out from time to time, but they don't approach. But the guys who hit on all women? Yeah, they'll make an effort.

There are few things that make me feel more like a leper.





*clever pseudonym, eh?

**it struck me as i wrote this that i was dealing with this particular lech around the same time ms. stone was born. holy moly...

***i kept my name for many reasons. his name was ridiculous. it didn't flow well with mine, and you have to spell it for everyone. i'd been a "smith" for 26 years before i got married, and i didn't feel like giving up my identity to take an unpronounceable name (not that i judge other women who DO change their names; this is all about me). and finally, i kept my name to honor my father. i feel like that's a tangible reminder of him.