This is nothing to do with anything really
but your new blogmeister, Marc with a c, was having a partee at his lovely home yesterday, to celebrate his birthday. I wouldn't normally mention this kind of thing, but in the space of one minute I met two couples there who both met each other through speed dating. I had never met anyone who'd successfully speed dated then four came along at once.
This greatly annoyed someone else there. She's been looking for the ideal man through internet dating but says they're all drips.
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Ah ha, comments button now working. And, as I'd suspected, Eddie has now rectified his typo.
Anyone who wants to see the original may be able to see it shortly on the Beach. If the moderators aren't too much on Eddie's side, of course. But I count on their total impartiality.
BTW, Eddie, did this woman really men that all ideal men are drips?
Did I really type: "did this woman really men that all ideal men are drips?"
I meant "mean" for the first "men" .....
Not mean men, but meant "mean".
I once edited a book about internet dating for over-40s, written by a woman who'd actually met her ideal match that way in her 50s.
Dating, like business networking, can be seen as a numbers game. I get paid sometimes to talk about it to business people.
The more people you meet, the greater your chances of meeting someone with whom you are compatible. Never go out, and you'll never meet anyone.
However I think it's a pretty juiceless way of hunting down a life partner. Personally I would rather develop a hobby or interest or sport I enjoy for its own sake, that has a social aspect to it.
You wouldn't believe the offers I've had, since I started becoming more active on the folk music circuit! (And not all from aran-jumpered beardies with vast bear guts... as Bill n Ben has witnessed!)
Of course it could just be that men are weird....
Fifi ;o)
Bears wear weird beards while drinking beers on the pier.
No wonder students of English as a Foreign Language find our spelling rules so difficult!
BTW, Fifi, is a bear gut a big belly caused by eating lots of honey? ;o)
It's just occurred to me to wonder whether, if you meet someone at a speed-dating event, you can only ever talk to them very fast for two minutes without taking an elongated break . . . in the same way as, if you meet over the internet, you can't actually talk to each other at all, but have to sit back-to-back typing away madly on your computer?
Enlighten us, Lord Muir?
xx
LadyPen
Happy Birthday Marc with a c!
So, is she going to try speed-dating then?
Btw are you on commission, Eddie, from the ASDA (Association of Speed Dating Agencies, in case you think I think you find these dates in the supermarket)?
Marc's birthday carrot cake should be ready for eating on The Beach by about 12.30.
Do help yourselves.
..so are you going to set up a dating thread on the blog for your friend then?
'Mair's Matches...'
I am a practitioner of speed dating but not in the generally accepted way. My form of speed dating consists of the date leaving speedily soon after meeting me.
I tried speed dating once, but it was a disaster.
I didn't dare take my eyes off the road and I got caught by seven cameras!
...Mair than friends...?
No wonder students of English as a Foreign Language find our spelling rules so difficult!
There was once an episode of I Love Lucy where Lucy was listening to Ricky read a children's book. The sentence he read went something like: "The rough man with a cough had enough with the tough bough and so, with a sough, made some dough."
I found this hilarious as it took me solid years to understand the difference between the pronunciations of all of these words ("I have a cuff!") and even now, I still get them wrong occasionally. I ended up sitting down for several days memorising the words and yelling out their pronunciations at random intervals and asking surrounding people what I just said.
Big Sister, your beady eye has caught me out.
Of course, instead of 'bear gut' I meant to say 'beard gut'.
There was an enormous gut at Whittlesey. A tall and - yes - bearded man seated to my left stood up to have a conversation with a new arrival in the pub. He stood right in front of where I was sitting, and normally I'd have turned away or moved, rather than stare into the acres of flesh...
However I was at that time engaged in playing guitar along with the whistle players across the table from me, and was stuck there till the tune finished. After which the whistlers and I peered around the gentleman's ample bottom to check everyone was still present!
Eventually he took the hint and sat down. And the sun came out again; what a coincidence!
Fifi
Are you sure your weren't referring to my beardy eye, Fifi? You know, the one with the very very very thick eyelashes?
I'm wondering just how lovely Marc's 'lovely home' is.
On a scale of 1- 10 Eddie where does it rate?
Eddie, tell your friend that there's no such thing as the Ideal Man (or Woman). There's someone that you wouldn't mind having around for the long-term, probably, and that's the best any of us can hope for. Romance does not last forever. Friendship can.
Belated Happy Birthday, Marc with a c.
admin annie (15-ish)
If a person's beauty is measured in milli-Helens (the amount of beauty required to launch a single ship) what would be the unit of measurement of the loveliness of a home?
That's funny - wasn't it FF's strapline there before I went out to the dentist? Surely I haven't been away a whole day, have I?
Nice pic of Marc with a c - happy birthday, Blog Prince, btw. He looks to be busy solving techie problems on the blog. Or maybe he's internet dating.
My daughter met her husband on the internet (as I think I mentioned here once long ago). They spent several weeks getting to know each other by emails and webcam (so LadyPen at 5 - they can talk to each other if they have the right gismos) and discovered they only lived about 2 miles apart. He found out she likes "Morse" so booked a trip on the Morse Experience in Oxford the day after John Thaw died and invited her along. They first met on Slough Railway Station because she wanted it to be somewhere public (i.e. not in his car) and we met him - as Mr Right - the next day. He's absolutely lovely and they've been married 3 years.
On the other hand, they have speed dating evenings at the hotel where we take my mother for supper. The people who pay to do these evenings look utterly dreary and down at heel and tend to require large quantities of falling down juice in order to take part at all. Of course, they may not be typical. But I have to conclude that the internet meeting seems to be far less contrived.
Still I'm glad Marc's friends are happy - I guess their speed dating evenings must have had a much better class of prospect attending!!
Who says Slough Railway Station isn't romantic?! Although as Belinda (13) knows, they coff in Sloff.
Jason (12) how about (Val P & Frances turn away now - innappropriate apostrophe alert!)
Mair's & Stallions ....?!
actually Eddie, two of us you met yesterday had also met through internet dating too. Aren't we all so modern and urban? (unless of course that was my girlfriend telling you I was a drip.... hmmm.)
I met my SO through the internet too. Long story but we ended up meeting properly at a party in London thrown by an ISP.
She recounts the tail as it was her first visit to London and partway through the procedings she got off a tube train at about 8pm only to be amazed to find a shop open. As Lissa will discover, this is rare indeed in these parts.
Fifi (14):
Are you sure it wasn't a bare gut?
Makes a change from builder's crack ....
(and, Moderator, I'm not making any references to drugs here. I've noted your moderation of my 'speedy' posting ....)
SSC I don;t know what the unit of measurement for loveliness of home is but I suspect it has something to do with the ghastly Hello or OK magazine. (Possibly other shiny mags full of mindless drivel are available) I'm sure one of the reasons I hardly ever go to the hairdresser is that all there is to read there is an ageing pile of those and somethinn even worse called Chat. Many years ago I used to leaf through these looking at the frocks that actresses were wearing to parties but these days I don't recognise more than 5% of the names attached to the pictures. At least the dentist carries F1 Magazine. And I do know who the people in that are.
An ex-housemate of mine used to occasionally buy a magazine with the oh-so-achingly-hip name of "Wallpaper*" (sic, with some pretentious slogan asterisked to the bottom), which appeared to be some kind of interior design porn for uber-trendy upper middle class types with a fetish for beige and chrome. To this day I am convinced she never actually read it but merely bought it as coffee table decoration.
My other housemates would contribute the likes of FHM and Maxim: I would add New Scientist to the pile once I'd read it. I'm sure a social anthropologist (like Kate Fox of "Watching The English") would read stacks about how we see ourselves and how we want others to see us into what magazines we put on our coffee tables.
Admin Annie: I always assumed Chat was a French feline magazine.
Electric Dragon: I only recently got a coffee table, and don't actually drink coffee. I digress. The current issues on display are the Disney Princess comic and a utility company's brochure that came through the post this morning. Both simply for the pictures.
They will be joined by the local paper for a nano second on Thursday until I find my MPs weekly blather and get angry and throw the entire thing across the room.
I once got a second hand copy of Wallpaper given to me, but all the pages were stuck together.
Plus ca change.
4.15 p.m. and no sign of the newsletter.
Electric Dragon - Private Eye, & that's it. What does that say about us?
admin annie - I know exactly what you mean. On several visits to hospital over the last decade, I've spent the tedious hours waiting to go to theatre reading the piles of ward magazines. They are all as you say, & by the time I've gone through the pile, I'm practically begging to be given the drugs. Anything to get away from that unreal world. It's truly ghastly, shallow, celebrity-& appearance- -obsessed.
WHICH brings me back (again) to why we had the item on the Beckhams inflicted on us last week. If "Editorial par" (I quote Lissa ) is something below which the programme should not fall, then how on earth did we get several minutes of Eddie discussing Victoria with someone who writes for one of these cr*ppy magazines?
Not that I didn't like the final comment, as I said before, but it's hardly important. Cut their oxygen- of- publicity- supply I say, & see how well they do under their own efforts.
Don't know about speed dating, but have played for weddings where the couple have met via the internet. Of course, I'm not really best placed to say how long the relationship lasts after that!
Feeling in need of a rant having just worked through one of those automated menu phone things to (finally) reach a human. During the wait given loads of unwanted advertising for the website which can't answer the questions I need to ask. Finally speak to "Steve". He reassures me that parcel (we're talking hundreds of pounds in postage here) will indeed be picked up tonight. When I say I'd like to make a feedback comment about the long wait & amount of drivel there is to listen to before speaking to someone, he said "I can give you the phone number of our customer service centre if you'd like to call them about it" AAAARGGHGH! NO! I'll just leave it. Forget I ever spoke.
I think I'll just go & cook something. Very hot probably.And wait for Eddie to turn up at 5.
All the BEST coffee tables sport copies of , of which this issue contains a profile of as well as some nice .
;-)
ed
AND (co-incidentally?)
I'm staying clear of this discussion re dating!
As I only seem to find hopelessly unavailable men attractive, speed dating just wouldn't work for me, I'm afraid!
In any case, I talk to much...2 minutes is only just long enough for my opening sentence!
I consider speeddating a sport and love to compete. I think the fact that I am not a drip probably sways the favour very much in my direction. Although my job revolves around briefly meeting people and adjusting my character to the personality I perceive. I've been three times and dated one long term, had a fling with another and snogged one that night. This is isn't because I lack any form of taste in my women either. All were of a suitably high calibre both employment wise and the looks department.. Oh and I am so egotistical I tick every the box to every girl (post speed) just to see who chose me. It should be an olympic sport I tell you. Wouldn't marry one though "Oh, you two are so well suited and dynamic, where on earth did you meet. Trekking through Borneo, stumbling into a clearing where upon you met one another? A game reserve whereby over many months you realised you felt an affinity for one another you have never felt so strongly before or perhaps via your ever climbing careers where you would compete in the courtroom but enjoy passionionate lovemaking when court was in recess?"
"Nah, speeddating at the 'Three Horsed Antler', well, I figured like, better than bein' single innit"
Just doesn't quite have that romantic ring to it, now does it?
Big Sister, it was definitely not a bare gut. It was, I was grateful to see (albeit at horribly close quarters) amply covered by a yellow teeshirt of vast proportions.
Fearless, I think you are right to steer clear of this thread till the subject changes!
Having worked for years with magazines, I now ban them from the house unless they are useful. SO gets a computery one, and a motoring one, both of which have saved us money at various times. I quite enjoy the one for blood donors, and my friend edits a leading magazine about cats which I enjoy when I occasionally see a copy.
Other than that, mags are unwelcome in my home, on or off the coffee table.
Is it too early to start warming the oven for the roast chicken, I wonder...?
Probably.
Fifi
My coffee table (strictly speaking should be called a wine tale I suppose as I usually drink my coffee elsewhere) is currently displaying an attractively arranged montage of TD's current topic of prelim study - I said arranged, not necessarily dipped into, she learned, at her mother's feet, how to look as if you're hard at work.
Also, the two most recent copies of Planet Hearts newspaper, (will try to insert cunning link to a sample digi-version which we made available over Christmas, whatya think?) because
a) I'm a football fan
and
b) I'm non-exec director of the publishing company that produces it!
Ta-da! How's that for a plug?
Complete ineptitude on my part stops me from doing a seamless link, so you'll have to cut and paste (should you be so kind :o))
Kate Fox - Watching the English - an excellent book. I laughed and laughed.
I once saw that mag called wallpaper on the shelves of a newsagent. I did have a quick flick through it but couldn't understand what it was all about - I'm obviously very unhip. But do I care?
So it is more important to preserve a pristine World Heritage Site than to allow the exercise of the democratic right to protest within sight/sound of our lawmakers?
Bring on the Doomsday Clock midnight then because if we allow this, we deserve nothing less...
(Depressed)
Eddie: You sounded a bit croaky today.
Wrap up!
First Happy Birthday Marc for yesterday.
Second, speed dating strikes me as potentially great fun although I'd be like Jo and have to have a bit more than two minutes. The chap wouldn't get a word in.
A friend of mine is very happily married to a lovely woman he met over the internet. It can work. I have another friend who has had two relationships started that way the first one fizzled out but they remain friends, the second one finds her engaged and planning a new life in the US.
I think it's probably nicer to meet that "ideal" partner in a more natural way but our world is getting more complicated, and frenetic and I understand completely the use of the internet to find a partner.
Anyway, you go to far more interesting parties than I do Eddie. Actually you go to far more parties than I do, even if Marc's was the only one you've been to in the last few years. *sob*
Mary
Sister Mary: re parties, it isn't the quantity, but the quality which counts.
Bad parties are a total waste of time.
SSC, we have a full Helen quotient in my house! Nothing milli about it, but no launching of ships; only lurve (-:
I talk too much for speed dating as well.
Stainless steel cat (38), I couldn't agree more.
Fundamentalists, like those we saw in the dock today, will have won if we allow protestors to be swept away, out of the ear shot of our representatives in Parliament.
On a lighter note; Happy Birthday Marc.
On the other hand S.S.C. (38) it has given the protest a new lease of life, in that not only has it generated fresh publicity but the man himself has been heard to speak.
Mrs Trellis (10) :-) - but how could they not be enchanted by your easy wit?
On my coffee table is
'Trio' - the Port Isaac & Port Gaverne Newsletter
(special christmas lights edition) 'The Journal of Small Animal Practice' (still in wrapper) and an old copy of 'Private Eye'
I saw a fishing magazine the other day which was almost worth buying for the coffee table just for the name....... 'Total Carp'
Ed I - thank you for the excellent links to Resurgence and the Carbon neutral myth:-)
Valery P - This blog must be frequented by incredibly polite people. I can't think of many other places where you would have got away with your (36) without someone asking "Well, how do you reconcile being a fan of football with supporting Hearts? (. .. sneaks off with hands protecting his head . . )
SSC (38) Come Doomsday the Clock will be wrong unfortunately. But come Doomsday it won't matter :-(
Have image of DIscworld's Death stanbing next to this clock.
Happy Birthday Marc. Best Wishes to ´óÏó´«Ã½ PM.
Late happy birthday, Marc!
Has anyone seen the "Options" advert. I've just seen it on the TV. It's a take on speed dating. Spooky!
Mary
madmary - yes I just saw it, how weird was that? In more ways than one.
RJD - ouch. You and I need to have words. I hope, for your sake, that you meant that as a cheap shot?
Well, I've been out of the loop for about a fortnight and I come back to find Eric on about dating. Is that a hint, oh debonair one? Where would you like to take me? (I would prefer a whole evening than a quick 3 minutes, thank you).
Aperitif - that's the weirdest thing! I've just left a message for you on Get Carter. How spooky is that? Good to see you back.
Valery P - Sorry I couldn't resist it. I quite like Hearts.
Aperitif - I think he started the subject to see if he could tempt you back.
NEWS FLASH: Miami Florida 15-I-2007@9:00PM Miami Time: Telemundo 51 Reporter Maria Montoya just reported that according to the Spanish Newspaper EL PAIS: Fidel Castro's Condition is serious. Further information will be available in my blog or here with my family at ´óÏó´«Ã½.
Valery (36), you said: "My coffee table (strictly speaking should be called a wine tale I suppose..."
Couldn't resist asking you to tell it?
RJD - that's ok then :o)
Well I miss one day and find there is all this chat about dating! Welcome back Aperitif - but do you mind if I join your queue for a date? I suppose I should check with SO make sure its ok with him......"can you look after the children tonight while I go on a date with our Lord Muir darling??"...........ok perhaps not!!
Oh and Fearless Fred (32), why??
Well, Fiona, the explanation is buried under the sand back on a previous beach somewhere. Suffice to say I am not saying anything about dating as I've a potential of two dates possibly being lined up for me with two different women. I think I likened it to a Whitehall farce! And, as the situation has yet to be settled, I thought it best to keep my mouth shut(or in this case fingers stationary)...
Frances - O the wine tale, that's a long one that is.. where would I start? I know where I usually finish though.
Ah now I understand FF (59)! Well as long as the two different dates with two different women are on two different evenings then you should be ok! Good luck. Perhaps I should introduce you to my sister, who found herself (not through choice I might add) single again after a fair few years of marriage. Her ideal man would be cross between Johnny Depp and Michael Palin.......if that sounds like you let me know :)
I wouldn't be cross between Johnny Depp and Michael Palin. :o)
Oops sorry, couldn't resist that one Fiona!
Was somebody looking for me?
Does it speak ill of me that I prefer Michael Palin over Johnny Depp? All that travelling intelligent Monty Python goodness, phwroah.
ROFL :o) actually Johnny Palin's more my type.
Well, make up your mind please. I'm getting dizzy with all these quick changes.
Ooh I've started something here haven't I. And no Belinda (64) it does not speak ill of you at all, that's exactly the attraction - all that "travel intelligent Monty Python goodness" as you nicely summed it up - all bundled up in a nice Johnny Depp shaped package!!! Although that said she is very partial to the Michael Palin twinkly eyes. So in a nutshell Michael Depp or Johnny Palin? Not fussed - either will do nicely thank you very much.
Right! - Michael Palin in a Johnny Depp shaped package.
Can I have a rest now?
How can I contend with either of them?!? *sigh* wanders off into the kitchen to make a coffee...
How can I contend with either of them?!? *sigh* wanders off into the kitchen to make a coffee...
How can I contend with either of them?!? *sigh* wanders off into the kitchen to make a coffee...
I think you deserve one!
Whoops! I got error messages all three times I tried to post that message, so I thought it hadn't gone through! Oops!
Valery P - Which one of us deserves one and did you really mean to say that?
Fearless - You're replicating yourself - but there are three of us as well.
We seem to be replicating all over the frog today.
Oh you all deserve one, or even three, after all Eddie was going to have more coffees today wasn't he ;o). Although originally I did mean you all deserved a rest, what with all the shapeshifting etc.
Aperitif, you're back!
* mwah *
Unfortunately, I'm not. See you tomorrow....
Fifi xx
Valery, RJD, Fiona, Thanks, it's nice to be back.
Valery, I've just seen your comment on Get Carter -- spooky indeed! You don't half look glamorous in the very small pic, btw.
Fearless, don't complete with Johnny Palin -- just be yourself. You're a star.
Michael/Johnny/Johael, Can I join your waiting list too? (Don't tell Eddie!)
I have spent the last 10 minutes cutting out a picture of Johnny from last year's calendar and blutacking it over my desk as it was so lovely I couldn't bear to throw it anyway. Sadly, most days in this office are not like this...
Fifi! Mwah to you too dahling!
Speak tomorrow...
On the spelling and pronunciation front, is it correct that what I would call a 'hiccup' is actually correctly spelled 'hiccough' ? Answers on a postcard..
Philip - it certainly used to be spelled Hiccough in the olden days, perhaps hiccup has wafted over from our American cousins?
Aperitif - I nearly fell off my chair after I posted last night, then clicked on the Frog and there you were!! Then moved to the next thread, and there was Whisht - same scenario. Honestly, I hadn't had any falling over juice! Yup, dat's me, mwah to you too for the "looking glamorous" remark! I had "scrubbed up" for a wedding. You're too kind, maybe I'll let you share Johnny Palin.
Ooh thank you Valery -- I need a cheering up and a nice chap like that might just be the thing...
hrrumph!
not only do I have zero dates but I was even modded off this thread last night!
and no swearing, no inferences, no mentioning of a SO, nothing. nada.
Lucky I'm not the type to take it personally
However, thankyou Val and Madmary for continuing to look out for me...
:¬)
Glad to see you back, Appy, but can't help asking if you meant to write "O" when you put "oh".
Heard a preacher once making much of a scripture containing "O Lord", when he should not have done. "O" indicates the vocative case (addressing), while "Oh" indicates surprise or some strong emotion ('Oh, Sir Jasper, do not touch me,' as she... for example)
End of today's 1st max pedantry lesson.
Vyle - phew, and I thought I could be irritating??? :o)
Hello Vyle (how odd that sounds),
Thank you for the welcome, and, nope, I meant exactly what I said, which was "ooh" -- that is, "oh" but a bit drawn out (perhaps I should have put "oooh" or even "ooooh", I suppose). I intended to convey the strength of my thanks to Valery), and for it to appear in a languid fashion, redolent of being somewhat overcome by the strength of said emotion.
:-)
Oh, I replied to Vyle ages ago and wholly inoffensively. Why has't it shown up?
Look - one question:
SLAs and our messages.
thoughts?
Gosh, I'm glad I was out all afternoon, everything seemed to jam up at lunchtime. Why does that happen?
Whisht, I've just been reading your blog and I tried to leave a comment but I don't think I've been successful. "Great blog" anyway! (Channelling Roberto!)
wow, thanks Aperitif!
I put that 'word verification' thing on it as otherwise it just gets spammed mercilesly - hope it wasn't that that stopped you posting.
didn't see any comment from you - try commenting "anonymously" and it allows you to type your name (I've just found!)
and you're very kind....
;¬)
Whisht - 87 - SLAs? I'll give you my thoughts if you explain what you want me to think about? Am I being unnecessarily dim?
uh oh - apologies Val,
I was in a mood that postings were not appearing from lots of people and also the Newsletter debacle etc.
Sank into work mode and thought that PM must have a Service Level Agreement (SLA) sorted out with its service providers (internal IT team and moderators) as to quality of service (how many emails moderated per hour; hours of availability, understanding of what to moderate, how many Newsletters sent etc etc etc)
SLAs are the way people like Eddie (and his boss) beat up the service providers (don't hit the levels we agreed and we won't pay...)
I guess I was wondering if PM were doing this with their IT people and how that was going.
However, I don't think we the audience have SLAs with the Beeb though....
;¬)
Hi Whisht,
Yes, I think it may have been the word verifcation thing, because I kept typing it (and carefully, so that I was sure I was putting the right letters) but when I tried to preview/post my comment it would just ask me to type in another verifcation code -- I did it three or four times and then gave up! I'll try again soon.
btw, I am allergic to SLAs -- I used to be a civil servant (but I'm OK now).
Ahh, that all sounds a tad technical. Don't know about word verifications either.....
Had trouble dating since broke up from a 4 year reationship last year. Unexpected, and dumped over the phone during an attack on the base when i was serving in Afghanistan. Didn't take it too will, and something that's gonna be a stain on my heart for the rest of my life.
Last night i took it easy instead of getting drunk and not remembering much other than being a drunken fool. Ended up with two girls phone numbers! Put my confidence through the roof! And they're both really nice too. Hence i'm writing this.
The first one, same age, a lot in common with career ambitions. Really pretty, quite hot and really seemed to like me. Played it cool as it was a lads night out and asked for her email to continue the conversation sometime. Ended up swapping numbers instead. But then, near the end of the night, was introduced to a friend of some friends. Quite a nice girl too, and started getting to know things about each other. Turned out she had to catch a lift with some friends but really wanted to see me sometime. Cool, swapped numbers at which point i felt the urge that i really wanted to kiss her. And with a cheesy line thrown in, won't repeat the technique, we kissed. And she was a real nice kisser too. What a night!
Now i can't stop thinking about either of them. First girl seemed perfect, second one i just got really attracted too, just happened.
Texting both the next day, first girl only a few texts as she was busy with family and friends stuff, but was still perfect and really nice and still wanted to see me. The second girl, it turned out we enjoy similar things. After a few slightly flirty texts i managed to arrange a date. But now i have a date with the first girl too. I'm seeing the second girl first, who i'm starting to like more and more and i'm more attracted to her simply from time spent chatting alone and that one kiss.
The first girl though, something's telling me she could be the perfect one, and i can't let that chance go. So i'll see girl no.2 first, but what if things go amazingly well, what about girl no.1? I'd kick myself if things go wrong. DILEMMA! HELP!
Regards,
Jack
Jack:
Not sure how the froggers can help you, other than to wish you luck, and to feel happy for you that, having felt so low, you now can see that you never know what life holds for you - So, good luck! And if neither of these works out for you, just remember that hope springs eternal.
Big Sis x
Just one further point, Jack, that I've found helpful in the past.
Yes, girl no. 1 clearly is plucking your heartstrings. But I notice that girl no. 2 is a friend of friends. Always a good sign.
But - as you might always 'wonder' about girl no. 1, why don't you meet up with her for a drink to get to know her a bit better. But be clear about what you're doing. While another meeting may confuse things even more, it might equally raise issues with her that weren't originally apparent.
It's a bit of a gamble, but your dilemma is understandable and somehow you need to 'manage' it.