::This is me, scratching my head::

So a cute boy from match and I have been emailing back and forth for a little over a week. I will call him Slot, because he is an engineer for a slot machine company. Our emails are generally never more than a sentence or two...for example, I mentioned something about trading stocks, he said he was into that, so I'll email him with a stock tip...that sort of thing. Every once in a while, he would say something about how match is sort of just entertainment for him, and he prefers to meet people in person, like this:

"I never take match seriously or people on it. I just wanted to try it out as another source of meeting someone who isn’t a party girl or drunk…lol someone normal. I don’t have any expectations on it at all."

So I was pretty much just assuming this guy was not interested, but since he seems intelligent and somewhat engaging, I figured I might as well continue with our little email conversations. That is, until earlier this week, when he made another comment similar to the one above. Okay, I can take a hint...so I decided not to email him back. Well, two days later I get this an email from him, saying good morning and wishing me a good day. So today I emailed him with a a hot stock tip, we start discussing weekend plans, he says he has lots going on, and I say I am going to be out of town (which I am). So I just got the following email from him:

"Have a wonderful trip and a nice weekend. Let me know how it was when you get back :) "

Now, I assume if this guy were interested he would have suggested meeting by now, but he hasn't even hinted at anything like that. I was 100% ready to just close this case, but then he'll email me something like that. Is this weird? Any people who are not dating-retarded care to shed some light on the situation? I barely know him so there's no attachment, I would just like some clarification. Is this a classic example of "He's Just Not that Into You?"

A Gold Star for eHarmony!

I just read an amazing statistic- every day, and average of 90 people (45 couples) from eHarmony get married....that's 33,000 people a year! I know there are millions of people on the site, but ignoring ratios and such, that is a pretty amazing number. To all of those single people reading this, check out this link to eHarmony where several success stories are mentioned...I promise, it's motivating!

On another note, I feel it's time for a poll. Check out the poll in the top left of this page and give me your honest answer. Thanks!

Little Tidbits

So you could all fully understand what I'm dealing with, here are some excerpts from Psycho's profile:

"Who would I like to meet?
Of course I enjoy the company of those of like mind and disposition. But my perfect woman? In a word, I'm looking for "candela." I'm after a quick-witted and gracious woman, who is emotionally-viscerally-cognitively connected, engaged and composed. She is inquisitive, vibrant, sophisticated (in all the best ways), and optimistic."
--If anyone knows what a candela is, please leave a comment...google search results in something about lasers.

"I also have an abiding penchant for smart, confident, and hard-headed women - no wallflowers for me. I love tough and discerning women who are self-assured enough not to be overly pretentious, impolite, dismissive, or inconsiderate: a rarefied woman with so much confidence, poise, spunk, and intrepidness that she simply radiates - like a supernova!! "

"Of course, you can't be mean, overly negative, myopic (intellectually or philosophically), or unable to trust and be trusted. So if you're thoughtful, gracious, and possessed of a certain generosity of spirit, then I'm sure I'll find you endearing and our time together pleasant enough."
--This guy uses more adjectives than anyone I know.

"My ethnicity: Race and Ethnicity are psycho-socio-fictions, and have little meaning or predictive significance, and if even if they did, ethnic purity is historic/mathematic/genetically impossible. "
--Just say you are white and get over yourself.

"Favorite things:

In no particular order:
A well-prepared meal, on a warm sunny afternoon
Fresh Air
Altitude
Real Communication
Sharing a moment of honest laughter
Wise words
Original and innovative music that isn't self-gratifying pseudo-virtuosic nonsense"

--Aww, so you won't be going to a Wheezer concert with me? So sad...

"Last read:

Today: Federal Administrative Procedure Act, The Trib (aka. the Chicago Tribune), Books on International Taxation and Natural Law Jurisprudence.
Avocationally: History, Historical Fiction, Philosophy, Satire (political and otherwise)."

-Excuse me for a second, I can't type while I'm laughing uncontrollably about how much of a tool you are!

Yes, he replied!

Continued from the previous post...psycho guy actually responded to my email:

"Just to clarify, since you asked me to "Please tell me how my profile is negative." Here are a few examples of statements in your profile that are definitively negative, dismissive, or just curt:

"Liberal propagandists need not apply."
"If you can't handle that we'll never work out."
"[I]s chivalry dead?"
"Looks are important and anyone who says otherwise is kidding themselves."
"Absolute date breakers would be if the guy was rude, crude, or cheap."
"Also, I just wanted to say upfront that I am not looking to date someone with kids, sorry."

Further, and I don't mean to insult you by saying this, the overall tone of your profile is rather shrewish, and my impression is that you define your "match" by watch you dislike or do not desire, rather than by what you do.

And even what you do say you want, you say in an unnecessarily discourteous manner that is plainly off-putting. Regardless, here is what you say you want, line by line:
A Conservative Republican, conversationalist who can handle your "opinionated" nature, is not an arachnophobe, is intelligent, funny, likes Dr Laura, is well-mannered, generous, attractive (at least to you), is honest and forthright about his feelings, and is currently childless.

Well, that's FINE; all perfectly reasonable desires which, for the most part, I share. I just think you go about communicating those desires in an unnecessarily negative, dismissive, and mandatory way. And it that all you want? Surely there are other subtle qualities that you like and desire in a man other than these. You are obviously bright, so I doubt that you "don't really know what else to say." Perhaps you fear revealing these desires, as we all do, we must ourselves vulnerable in many ways by doing so. Indeed, "sometimes what you think you want and what you actually want is quite different." But what you think is all you have, however ill-conceived or mistaken. That's all I was saying."

I am going to start a contest here...everyone post a comment with their response to this jerk, and I will send the winner's to him...I'm too much in shock to respond on my own. I mean it's a dating profile, not a novel- if you don't keep these things short, sweet, and to the point, people won't read it...any hackers out there who can go into his account and see how many responses he's received? :)

A Gold Star for the Psycho

Today marks an important day...I have received my first psychotic response from someone off match! Yay! Oh, wait...
I have had many winks/emails from weirdos, but they are harmless. Until now, I never had any really weird, off the wall emails that someone took time and effort to write. Here's the story...

Today I had a message from a guy on match, so I checked out his profile. He seemed fairly normal except that his profile is really, really long...and not long and breezy, I'm talking long and painful like an academic journal on the fertility of bees or something. Now, being somewhat sarcastic, I replied:

"Well, you emailed me about 12 hours, and it took me that long to read your profile...whew!"

Normally, I would receive a response that would be equally joking in nature. Nope, not this guy. Here is his response:

"Is reading so terribly hard for you? Twelve hours?!? It took me only 37 seconds. Perhaps you should have stopped reading when the words got too difficult to sound out.

I read your profile a few times and, though you seemed interesting to me, I suspected that you might not be a very nice, positive or upbeat person; there is hardly a single light-hearted sentiment to be found in your entire profile, only negativity, mandates, and dismissiveness, which suggests that you are indeed "opinionated," but rather in all the worst ways. Perhaps you should change your tack, brighten things up a bit (in your profile and in your general approach to meeting new people), and you may meet with more success."

I am stunned. Really. Wow. I mean seriously, what a jerk! Of course I just had to respond:

"Wow, wasn't expecting that...the thing about your profile was a joke...it's called sarcasm...It was nice to see someone who actually took time to fill out their profile, and that's what I was trying to say. Perhaps lightening up a little will help you be successful in your search.
That is also a very interesting take on my profile. I don't really see what you are talking about, but I do know, based on your response, that you are unlikely to see humor in any form other than knock-knock jokes. Please tell me how my profile is negative; I would really like to know, since the other hundreds (yes, hundreds) of people who have emailed/winked at me have never said anything about it. In fact, most compliment me on what I have said and offer their bug-killing services and such. I guess you will not be one of them..."

It's really weird this guy is single, don't you think? Marwiio is looking better and better every day...

Myspace or yours?

Ever since changing my relationship status to "single" on myspace, I have been getting a lot of messages and friend requests from random guys. Here is one such example (wonderful spelling and grammar):

"u are Beauteous female and i could see just from the pic that u have a very good heart.lol dont ya have difficulty in knowing the right guy and a guys intentions because of ure immense beauty.....U know i have a gift,, where i can see persons heart just by the pics. Its just wonderous that u have both. any ways hope god finds ya best of luck and clear horizons."

Keep in mind this is about 1/10th of this guy's email...he sent me a follow up a few days later, concerned that I hadn't received is first message, since I hadn't replied. Yeah, that's why I didn't send a response.

One thing about the town I live in is although the population is over 200,000, it is a really "small" town. By small, I mean you run into the same people all the time....like the guy who saw me at a bar and recognized me from match.com. Yes, that is weird. Anyway, yesterday I get a message on myspace from another seemingly random guy. Turns out it's a guy who works at a place the ex and I used to go to regularly...without giving away where he works, let's just say it is the equivalent to manager at a restaurant or something like that, but the kind who wanders around and greets every guest. So he mentioned that he hadn't seen us there lately and I told him that the ex and I are no longer together. He then proceeded to tell me the following:

"WOW...he is absolutely NUTS......the first time you walked into the room.....I told my boss (my best friend)..Steve..I said WOW...she is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen..I'm not kidding either..you are GORGEOUS........"

Needless to say, I don't think I will be returning to that establishment any time in the near future. At this rate, I am going to end up not being able to go anywhere in this town...

A small island in a sea of nothingness

Weird post title, right? The title basically describes my weekend. Don't get me wrong, I'm loving my 3 day weekend of nothingness, especially since I am going to be out of town (again) next weekend, and again two weeks after that. Plus I've got my new friend, Mawiio (clever name, thanks to quasi-boss #3 for that) to keep me occupied. As for the small island, last night was my online "date" with Maverick. It actually went really well. We talked about stuff people would normally talk about on a first date. I think eharmony does do a pretty good job matching people...I mentioned a few items on my platform for when I run for president in 2016, and he fully agreed with them; actually, he said he would get to work on an amendment that would lower the age requirement and allow me to run sooner. Haha...He seems like someone who really knows what he is looking for in a relationship and is done with his playing around days, so that's a gold star for Maverick. Of course, it does totally suck that he won't even be back in the country until July, and even then he will be an hour flight away from me. I've done the long distance thing before and am willing to do it again (for the right person), but it isn't an ideal situation.

For all of you psychoanalysts reading this, yes, I am aware of the possibility that I am interested in this guy because it is pretty safe, seeing how I won't even be able to meet him in person for two months. But maybe that's what I need right now...maybe an online relationship is as much as I can handle, seeing how I haven't had a huge connection with any of the guys I've met in person. Although, there have only been three of those, and you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince, right?

Some sad news, it looks like Dilbert is done with its dating story...boo...

Good times, good times

Last night was my date with TA, we met at a local wine bar. It was nice meeting someone that I sort of knew already, it made it so I wasn't nervous at all, even though I knew him only for a brief time ten years ago. We were only there for maybe an hour and a half, but were able to talk pretty easily. Most of our discussions circled around the university we both attended, but we covered other topics as well. I don't know if there was a ton of romantic chemistry, but he was definitely someone I would love to hang out with again.

I got an email from Atlanta yesterday asking how my day was going. I also had a missed call from him, but he didn't leave a message, so I didn't call him back. I'm sure I'll hear from him today though...

A friend of mine is in the process of buying a car. She found one listed online, and the guy selling it claims he is in the military (same branch as Maverick). He is selling the car for way under its value (like less than half of what it's worth). There are also some other weird things with his story that makes it a little fishy (like where he says he is stationed and his rank). So I email Maverick and ask his professional opinion, expecting a short answer. Instead, Maverick tells me he looked up the guy's name and some other stuff, and asked me to ask my friend to get more information and he will do more thorough research. I was pretty impressed that a guy I don't really even know voluntarily went out of his way to do that, especially since I know he's really busy; it was refreshing, to say the least. He also suggested times for our "date" and it looks like we will "meet" tomorrow.

And now, for the comic of the day:

Who needs a man...

...when you have a Wii! I am the proud new owner of a Nintendo Wii. I have wanted once since they came out, but the release of Wii Fit was the catalyst for me to actually buy one. The console was pretty easy to find, but it took five stores before I finally found a Fit in stock. I have my date with TA tonight, but really I just want so stay home and play my Wii! I know, that is really sad...almost as sad as the fact that I think I pulled some random muscle while playing Wii tennis last night...

Anyway, nothing really to report today. I texted Atlanta yesterday to thank him for dinner and he responded fairly quickly, asked how my day was, etc. I am running low on dates so I'm trying to make some new connections on Match, we'll see how that goes.

Dilbert is still doing the dating thing, so here is today's comic:

Dilbert 2

I find it very interesting that Dilbert, a comic strip about office happenings, is doing a dating arc at the same time I am doing a dating arc! Haha...

Atlanta date recap

Last night was my date with Atlanta. After giving two people his address and instructions to come looking for my hacked up body and/or unlock me from his basement if they hadn't heard from me by a set time, I headed over to his house. His house was big and new...he was still in the process of decorating it and getting furniture, but all of the basics were there (I don't think there was a single piece of furniture upstairs). When I got there he was cooking dinner- chicken parm, bread, veggies, and rice. We sat around and talked while dinner was finishing. Once dinner was finished we sat at his table (nice that he had an actual table, I'm used to just sitting on the couch) and ate and talked. There was a random lightening storm outside which I could see (but he couldn't because of where he was sitting) which was fairly distracting. He has to get up at some ridiculous hour for work, so I left at around 9:45. The conversation flowed pretty well, but I wouldn't really call it a "fun" night. I mean I had a good time, I think it was more that we basically just talked for two hours. I've never really had a date like that where we didn't actually do anything...he had dinner all ready, it just had to finish cooking, so it's not like we were cooking together. I also don't feel like I really know him any better than I did after our first date, which is strange. I do think he's a nice guy and if he asks me out of course I'll say yes, but it also won't be the end of the world if he doesn't....it would be a sort of "that sucks, oh well" type thing rather than an "I really liked him I can't believe he doesn't want to go out again" thing. Maybe it's just me and my heart isn't really into dating yet...Anyway, overall I'll give the date a B...good but not great, could have been a whole lot worse though.

Next up, Thursday night drink date with TA...

Dating Humor

This chick has the right attitude:

Mmmm, cookies...

Tonight is my date with Atlanta. I couldn't decide what to make for dessert, so I finally settled on my famous (well, maybe not famous, but people do like them) chocolate chip cookies. I thought it would be weird to bring a whole cake or something, so this should work. As it turns out he lives very close to me, 4.6 miles to be exact.

I am meeting TA on Thursday. We are going to a local wine bar. We aren't going until 8pm, which is a little late, but at least that way if it's not fun I have a good excuse (gotta be bright and shiny for work on Friday!).

Well, I guess that's all for now...stay tuned tomorrow for a recap of tonight's date!

Date with Bean and Coming this Week...

I had my "date" with Bean on Friday. I use the term loosely because it was really more of a chance to just meet than an actual romantic date. For starters, we met at Chili's...his choice, so that sort of set the tone to casual. It's funny, I was just reading an article on MSN about the worst places for guys and girls to choose for a date...on the guy's list were generic chain restaurants like Chili's. I swear I just read that article like an hour before he called and suggested we meet there. Oh well. I will say he was a nice guy and would probably be fun to hang out with, but just as friends. He wasn't really my type, but I did appreciate that in the time it took me to go to the bathroom he had asked for the check and paid it. Good guy, just not for me.

I was invited to a barbecue at Atlanta's house tonight. He texted me this afternoon with the invite...he said he knew I was out of town, but just in case I came back early. I wanted to go but decided not to for a couple of reasons: 1) we've only been on one date, it would be a little weird to be at a bbq with him and his friends when I barely even know him; 2) I had a 3.5 hour drive ahead of me and knew I would be tired, and; 3) I bought my friend's old XBox from her over the weekend and was looking forward to a night of Karaoke Revolution. Okay, so #3 is a lame reason, but that's the beauty of an anonymous blog. I didn't even end up getting home until almost 8 anyway, so it was too late (since my bedtime is around 10:30...yes, I am 12). So instead I am going to his house on Tuesday and he's cooking me dinner. I am in charge of dessert, so any suggestions on what to make would be appreciated.

Maverick and I have arranged our first "date." Once again, the term is used loosely, since he is still overseas. We are meeting online to chat, and that will have to do for now. There is a 16 hour time difference between us so hopefully we can figure out a meeting time.

In related news, over the weekend I went to a party of my friend's friend. I was talking to her friend and that friend's boyfriend and it turns out they met on eharmony, and have been together almost 2 years. It's nice to hear encouraging stories like that!

So this week it looks like I have a dinner date with Atlanta, a coffee/drink mini-date with TA, a dinner date with Gandhi (which I may seriously regret, but I have to give the guy a chance), and an online date with Maverick. Thank goodness this is a three day weekend, I may need the recovery time!

Oh, several people have asked if they can forward this to their friends/coworkers/whoever. Yes, please do! The point of this blog is to share my experiences in an anonymous way with my friends or whoever (or is it whomever?) may be interested in reading it...so forward to your friends and comment whenever you feel the need!

The "No Update" Update

Not much going on here...I have my date with Bean tonight, and then I am leaving directly from there to head out of town for the weekend. If I were going to be here I would have a few dates, so sorry boys. Atlanta texted me last night to see if I wanted to hang out (go shoot pool), but I already had plans. And by plans, I mean it was the 1 hour Office season finale, so I couldn't miss that...I do have my priorities, after all.

Several of you have left comments about what I should do about Gandhi. I've decided to give him a chance...I mean maybe he's just not good at the online thing and comes across weird. And maybe he just seems too nice because he's from the South and actually has manners and stuff (shocking). I figure at the very least I will have wasted an hour or so of my time. Plus, I don't want to really focus in on one person quite yet, I want to really see what's out there.

Speaking of, I have been emailing back and forth with Maverick. We are trying to figure out a time to actually chat online, which is hard because of his schedule and the fact that he's on the opposite side of the world. Ironically, a good friend of mine (who lives nowhere near me) is doing eharmony, and he got matched (and is going on a date with) a girl who lives in the same place where Maverick will be moving...I told him we'll need to set up a double date.

I probably won't update this until Monday, so please, try to cope until then!

We all know what happens when you assume...

As of quittin' time yesterday (5pm), still no word from Gandhi. We were supposed to meet at 6:30 and because I hadn't heard from him, I really just wanted to head to the gym. After consulting with several people, I decided to send him an email saying that because I hadn't heard anything I am assuming he needs to reschedule. When I got home an hour later, I see an email from him...apparently he thought I would be contacting him with details, and when he hadn't heard, he assumed I was not interested (which is true, but beside the point). Since I was no longer getting a free meal, I had to throw something together to eat. In true singleton fashion I pulled some 5-month old turkey sausage out of the freezer, and added it to some Rice-a-Roni (the San Francisco treat) for mock jambalaya. It was gross, so I instead ate some cereal and my three left over ravioli from the night before.

Over the course of the evening I was also in contact with Atlanta...he was working late and we were emailing/texting back and forth. He ended up calling me a little after 7 and we talked for 15 minutes or so. And of course, while thoroughly enjoying my conversation with him (and his cute little southern accent), I get an IM from Gandhi. I tell Gandhi to hold while I finish my conversation with Atlanta (not that I rushed, I just made Gandhi wait a long time). Atlanta asks me if I want to get together this weekend, I say I can't, but that I'm available next week, so it looks like I'll have a date #2 with him. Yay!

So I hang up with Atlanta and start chatting with Gandhi. He asks if I am busy this weekend (Yes, I am) because there is some "party" he wants to take me to. I use the term "party" loosely here, since this is also the same guy who was surprised that I was okay with the type of humor in Knocked Up (Um, yeah, love it and own it). He then tells me he's disappointed in me (yes, he actually used that word) because his birthday was a couple days ago and I forgot. Stop laughing, I am totally serious. A guy who I have "known" know for about two weeks is disappointed because I forgot his birthday. How is it possible to disappoint someone you don't even know?

The good news is I now know that if I ignore him he will assume I'm not interested and leave me alone, so I'm seriously considering going that route. Or, should I give him a chance, just because everyone deserves a chance (ie one date)? Please leave comments with your opinion!

I'm Not Atlanta's Frat!

Well, I got an email from Atlanta today, so it turns out that I'm not a dating retard (after being out of the game for so long...what if it's not like riding a bike?). No plans yet, but he said he had a great time, so that's good...I'll keep you posted!

Now I Remember...

...why I hate dating! The wait, it's horrible! You go out with a guy, have a good time, and then have to wait for them to contact you. Boo...

I have some updates from the e-harmony world. With e-harmony, you don't just get to start talking to people, there is this whole process to go through. There are four phases, the first is where you choose 5 multiple choice questions for them to answer, the second you send them a list of must haves/can't stands (you pick 10 of each from a huge list), the third is where you pick 3 questions and they have to actually write answers (mini-essay question), and the final stage is open communication, where you can basically email back and forth.

I have finally made it to the final stage with a guy on there, who I'll call Maverick (please note the Tom Cruise reference is pre-him going psycho). Maverick is military pilot currently stationed overseas, but will be coming back to the US this summer. While he will not be in my town, he will be fairly close (anything under an hour flight is okay by me). So I broke the rules and gave him my email address, so that we wouldn't have to communicate through e-harmony's system, and today I got an email from him. We haven't emailed back and forth very much yet, but there is something reassuring about meeting him through e-harmony, since I know we were matched based on personality. Of course I will keep you posted...

Tonight I have my date with Gandhi. Well, I am supposed to at least, he hasn't emailed me to tell me where we are going yet. I'm not really looking forward to it, just because he seems like too nice a guy and not necessarily my type. But I would obviously love for it to surprise me and be a great date, we'll see. Hopefully I won't spend the whole date wondering when/if Atlanta is going to call.

Yeah Right and Surprisingly Great

Okay, this is a two part post. Part one - I told you that I sent Frat a message saying I was not interested. He texted back and thanked me for my honesty, and said he felt the same way. Interesting, how he just asked me out again...He did say he would still like to hang out as friends, since we are both new to the area. On to more interesting things...

Part two of this post is my date with Atlanta. It was actually really good. We met at an Italian place...I had asked him for his cell number earlier today, in case we couldn't find each other (or his pics were from 10 years ago and I didn't recognize him). He said he would arrive early and be waiting outside so that we could find each other easily. I got there about 10 minutes early and he was already there. He was much cuter than his pictures, not that he looked bad in those. He had these awesome blue eyes and was just a good looking guy. I was instantly impressed by him because he made a reservation- that 2 minutes of effort is way more than a lot of guys put in. Dinner was great, and so was the bottle of wine. Actually I am still feeling the wine as I am typing this, so sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors. Conversation was good, although I could tell he was a little nervous at first (the 2 glasses of wine cured that for me...plus I think I am more relaxed since I just got out of a relationship and don't quite know what I'm looking for. It was one of those dates that I didn't really want to end, but of course if eventually did. Oh, and when the check came, he immediately took out his credit card and stuck it in the bill holder thing without even looking at it. This guys is from the South, and those southern manners did definitely show. Hopefully I will hear from him (and not get a "no chemistry" text, that is just so harsh...). Overall, I will grade it an A- (don't want to give an A, since I don't know what's out there...gotta leave some room).

Here's the thing though...what if I was his Frat? I mean what if the whole time he was thinking "when is this going to be over," while I just wanted to continue talking? I was just reminded why I hate dating...

Just Pull the Bandaid Off Fast

I got a text message from Frat today. He asked when he could see me again (well, we texted back and forth a few times, then he asked that). I don't really want to go out with him again, and I didn't want to pretend that I did. After several drafts of a text, I just told him that I had a good time with him, but didn't feel any chemistry...honesty is good, right?

It's Raining Men

You know that expression "when it rains, it pours"? Sooo true. I have four dates this week, and since I am fully booked, am now planning stuff for next week. Yes, I'm serious. This next one is sort of an interesting story.

Flashback ten years, I am a freshman at a major university. I take a generic political science class. I show up to my first section and have this really cute TA, I'll call him TA. He's not cute in the normal sense, like he's not model cute, but there was just something about him. He also almost always looked like he had rolled out of bed 10 minutes before, grabbed a shirt from the bottom of his closet, and showed up for class. Your typical TA for my school, actually.

Fast forward to Saturday...I'm online, scoping out my matches on match.com, and I get an IM. I look at the guy's profile, and notice a shirt he's wearing that says "My school name, political science." Hmm, what a coincidence. So I look closer and realize it is the TA! I ask him his last name, and sure enough it's him. Very random that 1) he is moving from across the country to my city, and 2) I remember him.

We've been emailing back and forth, and it looks like we are meeting up next week....since I'm obviously booked for this week :)

Slave Labor?

I have confirmed my 4th date of the week with Bean. This is a set up (not a random guy from the internet) so I am really looking forward to it.

Tonight is my date with Atlanta. We are meeting at an Italian restaurant. I've already scoped out the menu and will be getting the ravioli :) I see dates as a free meal...anything above that (like if I have a connection with the guy) is just a bonus, that way it's hard to be disappointed. Don't get me wrong, some of those "free" meals I've really had to work for...I mean my 2.5 hour date with Frat only works out to about minimum wage, if you consider the price of my meal (it was lunch, so probably under $12 including tax and tip) and the time I was there...let's see, $12/2.5 hours = $4.80 an hour! Waaaaay below minimum wage, that's practically slave labor! I might as well be sewing shirts in Cambodia...

One down, Three to Go

I have been fairly amazed at the response I'm getting from match. I get at least 3 emails/winks a day. Not to say all of the guys are my type...my favorite so far was a 61 year old who described himself as a "great lover." Yuck. Or the guy, who after chatting with him for all of two minutes, asked me what I was wearing. Yuck again. But there have been a few guys with potential. As of Saturday, I had set up three dates through match.com for the week. I potentially have a 4th date with someone a friend is setting me up with as well. Date #1 was yesterday, with a guy I'll call Frat.

We met at a local restaurant. I hadn't really talked/emailed him much, so I didn't know a ton about him, other than his profile information. I did know he was 35, pretty cute, and fairly new to town. Everything went pretty well, the conversation flowed. He was interesting, but didn't really have that "it" factor. Sort of like when you order a dish that is okay, and you liked it, but wouldn't order again. The check came and he just let it sit there for about 30 minutes. I wasn't about to reach for it, so we just kept talking. He finally paid, and I was thinking it meant that I got to leave...nope. Finally, after being there for 2.5 hours, I sort of motioned that it was time to go. Frat wasn't a bad guy, he was nice, and he had some good stories. But he was a 35 year old frat boy- I think if given the option he would go back to his college years. So I'll rate date #1 a C+, not horrible, but could have been better. I think if he calls I will do the mature thing and let it go to voicemail. :)

Scheduled for this week is a date with Atlanta on Tuesday (he's a baseball fan) and Gandhi on Wednesday (seems like a really nice guy, maybe too nice). I think I'm going out with Bean on Friday (he's a CPA), who is the friend of a friend. It is going to be a very busy week!

A New Beginning

Hi, I'm hope...at least that's what I'm calling myself on this blog. I have recently found myself single after a nearly three-year relationship. As I start exploring the world of dating, I thought it would be fun to chronicle my experiences.

A few weeks ago I signed up for eharmony.com...it is the place to go if you are looking for an actual relationship, not just a hook-up. Even though I just got out of a relationship, I am looking forward to being in another one. I'm not going to rush into anything with the wrong person, but I do know that being single is not my thing. Dating is like going on a job interview, and who likes those? After a couple of weeks on eharmony I had been matched with only one person in my area (for those of you not familiar with it, you take a personality profile test and the system matches you...no searching on your own). So, I decided to sign up with match.com as well.

I am going to try to keep this blog as anonymous as possible, without sparing any of the good details. So, wish me luck, and happy reading!