Looking for Normal

Why is it that so many of our great epiphanies and brilliant ideas come to us whilst doing the most mundane tasks? Man discovers alternative for crude oil while shampooing his hair. Young law student realizes she would much rather be an acrobat in the Shrine Circus than a lawyer while folding her dish towels. Mother of four finally finds the courage to tell her husband she never loved him while wiping her newborn's ass.

My great epiphany? Today while washing my dishes, scrubbing the chicken grease off the plates, I had an Oprah 'A HA' moment. About dating, obviously. Let's see if I can retrace my thought process:

I wondered if I was too picky, only willing to date a certain type because really, that is one of the very few reason and excuses we are allowed to have for being single and 30 and female. The rolodex of faces and names started whizzing through my mind. Let's see, in no particular order, there was:

the latino artist (who had severe control and trust issues),
the industrial designer (who had a hankering for illicit drugs),
the Christian school teacher turned fire fighter (who may have been a 33 year old virgin),
the Venezuelan PhD student (who couldn't figure out why a girl would say no to sex and who was likely gay),
the transplanted military firefighter (who admitted he would never have called me again if we had sex that night),
the 25 year old landscaper (who wore really tight Tee-shirts and loved to get drunk),
the emergency room doctor (who took being compared to Charlie Sheen as a compliment),
the musician that had three other jobs (he was just grumpy),
the entrepreneur from Milan (thought he was my boyfriend after one date)
the German translator from Newfoundland (very angry and sweat a lot, profusely)
and let's not forget that strange fellow who wanted me to come to his house (on the north end) to give him a haircut for our first date.

So, these just being a handful of the fantastic dates I've been on and men I've put a little faith into upon meeting, I am sure that I am not picky. I am also certain that I have kept an open mind to any possibility in dating and that it doesn't take much to please me, or at least to keep me interested for more than two dates. And who can blame me (or any woman) for feeling that dating is a chore and often a bore, that it is exhausting to put any amount of energy into such disappointing outcomes and that my attitude towards it is not full of lollipops and rainbows (and dreams of white picket fences and a growing old together)?

To put it simply, I will give you vulnerable if you give me normal.