hmm, if only ...

[fox]

i have this spot on my neck, the appropriate stimulation of which can turn my knees to jelly and reduce my vocal output to mainly vowels rather than recognizable words. i'm sure this is not unique; everyone has hot spots. this one's over on the left side of my neck, below the ear but above the shoulder, right over the jugular. there's another one in the vicinity of my right collarbone. (the left collarbone and the right side of the neck are, for some reason, not created equal. [shrug]) and others in various locations.

which i mention because of the boy who sits on my left in this one class, and who wears his stubbly beard at what looks (not having done a tactile investigation) like just the right length to be ideal. and this is in addition to being funny and smart and pleasant and all that ...

... and twenty years old. not that there's anything wrong with being twenty. personally, i enjoyed it. but the number of things i had no reason to have thought about when i was a junior in college was quite large. a five-year age difference is nothing (intrinsically) to get bent out of shape over; in my experience, though, even a two-year difference can make for a biggish disparity in priorities, world view, and so forth. [all this makes a lot more sense in my head than i can actually articulate.]

not that it matters, really, because i'm so chickenshit the odds of my making the first move are infinitesimal. so unless he approaches me, which i have no reason to think he might, it's all academic.

so to speak.

Comments

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

Oh, Fox. You're looking & noticing details that would not matter if you were THAT strict about the 20-ness being a problem. :-) I say go for it, ask him if he has notes on something, whatever the kids do these days. If he turns out to be an immature goof, well, then you'll know. But if he's NOT, you'd never find out unless you try...

[glasshouseslive.livejournal.com]

notes - that's probably still a good one! "The cat ate my notebook, can I xerox your notes for XX days?" Small talk on the way to the copier, what do you really think about this class, etc. He's 20 in a master's linguistics class? He might be fairly mature...

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

it's a course that's offered for undergrad or graduate credit. we old folks had more questions on the midterm and will be expected to write more substantial papers (cf. the entry on ditransitive verbs, etc.). there seem to be very few courses around here -- at least not in my field -- that are exclusively or even primarily for grad students.

as for le boy: all the friendly neighboring-desk stuff is there -- the yoiks-someone-was-up-all-night-studying, what's-the-big-news-in-the-campus-rag, do-you-have-any-idea-what-he's-talking-about, not-enough-handouts-to-go-around-read-over-my-shoulder, are-you-really-from-south-dakota stuff. we're not total strangers; we're probably up to friendly acquaintances. the next step, if there is one, will have to be -- unless i'm really mistaken on, like, all about how things work -- at least mostly social.

which, historically, is where the floor falls out from under me.

Re:

[glasshouseslive.livejournal.com]

well shoot. Here's hoping there is some kind of public function you can suggest the both of you attend

[diagram THAT sentence! :-]

Or maybe suggest lunch or a coke. Or if he's a fan of anything you are a fan of, bring him a small trinket (I found this pin from the box full I have from Media West).

Or just ask him to have sex :-)