What NOT to Post

Alright, I am a blog addict now...TWO postings in ONE day! whew! =)

I am just worried that my previous post is going to inspire some of you dim-whits out there to go all willy-nilly and post a douchey profile. NO, DONT, STOP!! Before you do, please take some advice from me:

1. First and foremost: DO NOT PUT ANY PICS OF YOU TAKING YOUR OWN PICTURE IN YOUR BATHROOM MIRROR!! Really?!? You want to impress someone of the opposite sex. If the only pictures you have of yourself were taken in a bathroom mirror, flash reflecting out the side and all...this makes you look like you have NO FRIENDS!! Ladies - this goes for YOU TOO! I went out with this one guy who told me he saw the funniest site ever when a girl took the same picture in the same pose in a full length mirror in her bedroom (he knew it was her bedroom because he could see the disheveled bed in the mirror - bitch couldn't even make her bed). What tops it off is that she must have changed into ten different outfits to snap the shots. Yup, her own personal photo shoot. Ridiculous. Needless to say, cute or not, he was not impressed.
2. To add to the photo advice - Dudes: its bad enough that you had to take a pic of yourself in the bathroom mirror. Please do not add insult to injury by lifting up your shirt with your free hand. If your abs are the most interesting thing about you, you are not all that interesting, are you? So, you can do lots of sit ups, WHO CARES?? The same goes for you, ladies. I have talked to plenty of guys who absolutely hate it when a chick takes a pic of herself in a bikini or has some professional photo shoot up. Now, if all you want is a booty call, ok...do what you want. Act as slutty or as douchey as you want...who cares? Go get you some in the best way you know how. But, if that's how you do it, why not just skip the website and go to a club?  Oh, and dude that takes a picture of himself in bed -WHAT THE HELL?!?! REALLY?!?! bwahahahahah...
3. Good ideas for pics are you with your pet, SMILING (I hate when a guy has 15 pics and not one of them he is smiling in. Either you are miserable or have really fucked up teeth. Either way, I don't want any part of it), with your friends, or doing something you like (maybe running a race, sky diving, horseback riding). Make your pictures show how interesting you are, not what a loser you are. Oh, and while we are on the subject of pics...PLEASE no pics of you and your ex or what could be perceived as your ex. We do not care how hot your ex was, ok? Most females are jealous enough as it is...no reason to go and make it worse!
4. Now onto the profile advice. Don't spend forever writing an autobiography. Let's face it, they are going to look at your pics first. If they like what they see, they will read about you. But, I guarantee that they do not want to spend more than five minutes reading about your life story. What do we know about people? That we LOVE to talk about ourselves. So, if you are looking for an outlet to talk about yourself, write a diary. If you want to meet someone special, keep it short and sweet. Tell them what you are looking for in a guy/girl (keep it BASIC... although we would all love to believe that Prince Charming is out there somewhere, you know DAMN WELL that you are no Snow White), what is important in your life and what you do in your free time. Keep in mind that you are going to need some conversation material on the first date. So, sprinkle tidbits of information that you can elaborate on during the first date. But Lord PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not mention anything about what your MOM thinks about you. I hope that your mom thinks that you are an awesome guy. If she didn't, you might just be a serial killer. 
5. Don't use words like "honest", "trustworthy", "hard-working", etc. These are all things that you think about yourself. Let your date decide for him/herself what kind of person you are. I would love to see myself as the most logical choice to win the Nobel Peace Prize, but don't see that happening in the near future. Keep it simple, talk about what you do and where you see yourself in the next few years.

OK, whew!! I feel a little better now. At least I won't have nightmares tonight about someone reading my blog and going out and creating another horrible profile. There are more than enough out there as it is!! Now you have five good pieces of advice on how to get your blog started. Next up: what to expect and how to prepare for the first date!

By the way, feel free to ask questions, comments, whatever.

Why Internet Dating?

Many people hate on the idea of internet dating. But, I really don't get why. It works for so many! I will admit that I was hesitant at first. So, why did I start? Well, why did you decide to read Twilight? Why did you decide to go see The Avengers? Well, because a friend told you, of course!

I was having dinner with my friend Suzanne in a local North Park eatery, talking about work, life, and love, (what else do women talk about?)! Right there, at the table, she decides to show me what the online app for one of the free dating sites looks like. But, we were at one of those cool restaurants that has the communal dining tables. So, I laughed as she cupped her hand over the screen of her phone as to cover up the site!! This baffled me!!

Look, rule numero uno ---if you are going to do the online dating thing, go ALL in, and be PROUD! Sit in the middle of Starbucks on your 15" labtop screen and work on your profile right there. Who cares who sees?!? Look, if you wind up meeting the right person, you will spend the rest of your life (well, hopefully) explaining how you met, right? So, give up the charade and don't be embarrassed!! Plus, who knows, maybe there is a cutie right there in Starbucks who notices you are on a dating website. What better way to say "check me out, I'm SINGLE" than being on Match.com?

Anyhow, she thought that I would enjoy it. I thought "oh, no...it sounds like so much work!" She showed me questions I have to answer, a bio that I would have to write, pictures to upload...ugh!! Doesn't EVERYTHING link to Facebook these days? Can't I just link it to there somehow? Nope! But, Suzanne says that it isn't that complicated, not a lot of work, oh nooo....so much fun!! =/ So, I thought about it for a long time and then went home with a full belly and decided to sit my happy ass on the couch and let my food digest while I create an OKCupid profile. Hey, we all give into peer pressure eventually, right?

Now that I have been on the dating sites for over a month, I am glad that I started off on a free site like OKCupid. HOWEVER, I highly recommend switching to one of the paid sites like Match.com once you get your feet wet. The quality of guys and number of matches are much more qualified and more my type. On OKCupid I get three matches sent to me daily versus 10 that I get on Match. On OKCupid, I am only interested in an average of 2 out of the 3 measly matches they give me. But, on Match, the percentages are much higher. However, if  you start the Match.com profile, just be sure that you are ready to pay for it. Yes, you can sign up for free, spend all the time in the world making a perfect profile, but all you will be able to do is "wink" at the prospective matches. ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)................................

Let's face it, winking ain't shit without getting a number or meeting up. Without paying, winking is the only communication you have. So, if you are worried or weary, see how you like a free site. If it works for you, go ahead and pay for one of the good ones!

So, that's how or why I got started. Check out the next blog for my do's and dont's of profile creation. I know all of you folks who are in a relationship could give two shits about all of this, but stay tuned...the re-caps of my dates so far are coming soon!!

Intro

Welcome to my blog. A little over a month ago, I entered into the intriguing world of online dating. At one point in time, finding a mate on the internet was taboo, but now it is becoming more common. Since I have embarked on this digital dating journey, I have heard from at least ten different people that their friends or family members met on a dating site and are either still dating or are married. 


How did we get to this? I remember the days of writing notes in pretty pink ink, folding them up in some creative way, misting some fruity smelling body spray on it and handing it to my crush while passing him in the hall. Then, chat rooms came around. You can't exactly spray your favorite Bath and Body Works scent on a chat room (although, I am sure that smells coming from your laptop will be a thing of the future). I guess I am not that much of a stranger to the world of internet dating because I met my first  in an AOL chat room. Yup, 14 year old Sandra and her 14 year old best friend posing as 17 year old hotties (hell, we were hot and could totally pull off 17). Next thing I know, I am dating a boy who lives a half an hour away whom I would have never met if I wasn't in that chat room at that time. We were together for over two years, I lost my virginity to him, and we are still friends to this very day. 


Here I am, a decade later, trying to find Mr.Right on an internet dating site. Don't get me wrong, I have had my fair share of relationship that didn't start over the net, but we have all heard the saying about "plenty of fish on the sea". However, I think it depends on how big the sea is that you are fishing in. If you keep looking to meet someone in a bar, at the gym, or a coffee shop, that isn't much of a sea at all....its more like fishing in a pond!! Why settle for less when there is so much out there?


Anyhow, I decided to start this blog to inform and entertain. For those of you who are thinking about or already are on a dating site, I want to share my stories with you and give you some advice. It kills me the amount of guys that don't have a clue and I have heard from my dates that some of the women are the same. If you are already in a relationship, just live vicariously through me. Either way, I hope you will be captivated, inspired, or maybe just tickled.