who are you?

have you googled yourself lately? omg, it's frightening! i found an assortment of things including my high school home phone number, my parents names and birthdates, my acl schedule from 2009, an old work email, my old personal cell phone number and other random tidbits of information about my previous employment. apparently google doesn't know that i've moved west, just yet, but give it time.

now why would i google myself, you ask? funny story! let me back track. i have been meeting an assortment of new people through friends of friends, but i've also just been meeting randoms at neighborhood places of interest. ya know, striking up convo's with people sitting in close proximity to you. i can't say that's a regular thing i used to do, but i find myself chatting it up with strangers fairly often these days. i think i may have finally gotten myself into a bit of a pickle. i am sorry mama p, i know you taught me 'stranger danger.'

as many of you know i have been planting myself at starbucks multiple times during the week, just so i can get out of the house and have a new change of scenery whilst knee-deep in the job search. on monday, while i was sitting by my lonesome, a boy my age (we'll call him florida bux) asked to share my table. totally cool, no worries. so after a bit we got to chatting and he said that he is from florida and he's also new to the area. he said he used to live here a while back and was into acting but he decided to head home for a bit and now he's just returned. he's also on the job hunt. further into the conversation he tells me that he used to be a motivational speaker and a physicist. kind of seemed a bit strange for a 26 year old to have such a diverse professional background and still have a hard time finding a job. hmmm... strangely enough i decided he seemed friendly enough and we swapped contact info.

the next day i worked from home. i usually sit in our dining room with the balcony blinds open. whilst typing away, i saw him walk right by the house. woah, i just met that guy yesterday! not totally weird, i guess, because we're kind of close to starbucks, but my street is strictly residential. i thought it was just coincidental, but i did remember that when he asked me where i lived i vaguely pointed 'over there.'

i'm back at starbucks on wednesday and here he comes. i really wanted to get some work done, so i pretended like i didn't notice him (yeah yeah, i'm a biatch, sorry). he ends up sitting at the table next to mine, facing the opposite direction. sneaky little devil! i keep my head down for a solid ten minutes while he just sits there. i figured he'd give up, but he's stubborn. i gave up and we chatted again. he started the convo saying he was in the works of creating a non-prof. 'a 501(c)3?' i ask. 'yes' he says. i wished him luck with that one, but thought it was totally random. we start talking about hobbies and i mention that i really like music and going to concerts. he says that he doesn't go to shows and the convo kind of dies. then he shouts, ' my favorite band is incubus!' wtf? for realz?? i honestly looked around to see if i had any incu paraphernalia lying around (very likely), but i didn't. then he mentions that he makes ringtones and he's written lots of piano music and wants to know how to sell his stuff on itunes. 

i usually believe everything people say at face value, but he was just a little off. idk. maybe it was the fact that he regularly sits at starbucks and just orders water. or that he was wearing shoes for crews with a white t-shirt and khaki shorts, very similar to a work uniform. or that he admitted that he always thought darkroom photography sounded erotic. who says that to a stranger?? 

now it's probably because i just watch those stupid criminal minds marathons or too much csi, but i started to get a little paranoid. i told my roomie about our convos that evening and she yells, 'maybe he's stalking you!' i will say that she's also into crime shows, so i guess that's just how our minds work. she guesses that he probably googled my name and that's how he knows so much about my interests. google search 'shannon' enter and viola! madness. the blog and facebook didn't pop up, but myspace did. while i'm discovering all of these creepy info tidbits available to any internet browser, my phone rings. it's him! i didn't pick up but he left me a message:
'hi shannon, it's florida bux. i was thinking about going to starbucks and i wanted to know if you wanted to join me. i'm just dropping off a movie right now, so i'm right next to your house. call me back if you want to hang out. or call me back if you don't want to hang out, you can just call me back. okay. bye.'

no, i didn't call him back. i decided to do some reconnaissance work. i went to starbucks outside of my usual window and asked my new barista friend about him. she had the same general info (florida, new, unemployed) but she did mention that he's super friendly. like overly friendly and maybe a bit socially awkward. i guess when he does decide to order something he'll stand at the order pick up area for a good 30 minutes and just watch them work. 

i haven't had any encounters with him since the voicemail, but i'll probably cut back on my starbucks visits. i'm sure he's just socially awkward and maybe a bit of a grand storyteller, but i'm posting this video just because i like it. i'll keep you updated on any new sightings. and yes, i am keeping my balcony blinds closed.