BLAIR PAIR: the first date of '08

A guitar "shredder" meets a programming girl who's got it together. Will Carr hand over the keys to her heart? Or will Hans fly solo?

Keisha Carr, senior, and Hans Perkasa, junior

blair pair 1

Photo: Keisha and Hans bravely committed to the first blind date of 2008.

Keisha and Hans bravely committed to the first blind date of 2008. Photo courtesy of Gili Perl.

Obsessions:
Him: Food, guitar, breathing
Her: Internet (webcomics, Facebook, GMail)

Three desert island must-haves:
Him: A working boat, food, my best friend
Her: Wireless Internet connection, laptop run on solar power, guitar

Greatest fear:
Him: Anything that makes me nervous
Her: Public humiliation and climbing down ladders

My best friend would describe me as:
Him: Hans like to shred on his guitar and work out but is very laid back and always in the mood to do something fun
Her: Quirky cool

May 6, 2008

A Tuesday afternoon doesn't exactly ring "hot date." But Cupid shoots his arrows at the most unexpected times. Keisha and Hans kept this in mind as they floated to nearby Fajita Coast for some after-school grub.

Keisha: "I'd seen him around school but I didn't know him."
Hans: "We started by just talking about school… She was really, really shy."
Keisha: "It was sort of awkward at first. We ordered our food and after a while it got more comfortable."

Indeed, it was love at first bite - between the diners and their plates, at least.

Hans: "We were confused about what to order – what food should we order since we barely go to any Mexican restaurant...other than Chipotle or Taco Bell of course."
Keisha: "The food was good! I'm definitely going back to Fajita Coast."

Unfortunately, Keisha's enchilada was the highlight of the date.

Hans: "I tried to maintain the conversation about school, college and whatnot but she was shy, so it [didn't] really go anywhere."
Keisha: "We had different tastes in music, activities and stuff...We were just talking and finding out we had nothing in common."
Hans: "She loosened up after we ate our lunch…it was evenly toned."

The lack of common ground shook any hopes of a solid romantic connection nonetheless, and after two hours both had had enough.

Hans: "[It was] more like a normal sort of 'good bye' since I had to catch my bus."
Keisha: "It was still a little uncomfortable at the end."
Hans: "She see seemed like a really good person, good qualities, just not my type. She's a good person, just too shy."
Keisha: "It was probably just because we don't have much in common."

Hans and Keisha shared an overall impression of the date; they both rated it a 3 on a scale from 1 (terrible) to 5 (amazing).

Keisha: "I was pretty much expecting what happened."
Hans: "It was a bad, really bad date, since she was quiet, really quiet at first, and even after 'warming up,' I was expecting more, but she was shy…But she's a cool person."
Keisha: "Maybe if I see him in the hallway I'll say hi but not purposefully seek him out…I think I won't be going on anymore blind dates anytime soon."