Friday, February 10, 2006

Where Did That Five Hours Go?

Yes, I have successfully wasted my entire Friday afternoon.

I also signed up for Internet Dating.

I'm not sure whether this makes me desperate or something else that is less negative than desperate.

What the hell. It's worth a shot, right?

And really, isn't this something that I really should at least try in this particular historical moment as a woman in my particular age bracket?

I'm still quite horrified by the whole thing, really. I remembered - after the fact of course - that I've always hated dating. It is very anxiety-producing. Though, of course, one of the benefits could potentially be that I will stop being such a workaholic because I will be distracted by boy-craziness.

Ah well, happy Valentine's Day to me, I suppose. Now I'd better go find me a copy of this book so that I don't make any critical missteps that ruin my internet dating chances. (I'm totally kidding.)

10 comments:

La Lecturess said...

I'm a huge proponent of internet dating. I did it for a short while, before I left the city where I was then to go to grad school, and I found it a great and really empowering way to meet people. (Nothing worked out long-term, but I had some fun times and met some cool people.)

For one thing, if you've put up a profile, you have quite a lot of control: just wait and see who comes to you, and delete messages with abandon. It's nice to have that veto power. For another, for academic or literary types, I think internet dating is potentially much BETTER than meeting people at parties or in bars (even apart from the element of convenience/quantity): despite what everyone says about how you don't REALLY know who you're corresponding with, I think that for those of us who spent our time writing and analyzing writing--and for whom verbal facility is hugely important--it's extremely easy to weed out the dubious or creepy people and easy to spot those people who are most likely to get you and share your sense of humor.

And this way, you don't waste time on a guy only to find out, on the third or fourth date, that he's the kind of person who punctuates every sentence with smiley faces or multiple exclamation marks.

Good luck!

jo(e) said...

I have no idea whether or not internet dating will lead to good companionship, hot sex, or true love ... but I am positive it will lead to some great blog posts.

So I am all for it.

You are going to share the stories with us, right?

EmmaNadine said...

I met my husband online. Oddly enough, our first email was on Valentine's Day. Just under six months later we were married, and we've been married five and a half years now. He's my best friend, and it's been wonderful.

bitchphd said...

Yay internet dating!

I recommend chat rooms. Make sure and use chat rooms. Writing well = stands out, and right there you've weeded through most of the chaff.

(Ok, one doesn't weed through chaff, whatever.)

Chaser said...

Good luck with this! I have good friends who met this way, and now they are hitched up.

Cheeky Prof said...

I don't think it makes you desperate. And hell, I met Mr.Cheeky online!

Good luck!

k-slice said...

I suggest okcupid.com-- they use crazy science to match people (as friends and as potential dating partners), and it's just a really quirky fun environment. And it's free! Mail and instant messaging are included, and a bunch of quizzes. I have met some people in my area through it-- and the funniest thing was when my friends and I were all taking these quizzes together, and the service matched me with someone I used to date!

Good luck at any rate--

Dr. Crazy said...

Thanks for all of the support, my peeps. I will certainly post about my foray into this brave new dating world, though I'm not entirely certain about what form those posts will take. I do know that I don't want this blog to turn into some sort of confessional about my dating antics - that was what the old blog tried to be at times and it sucked ;)

helenesch said...

My sister (who I think is around your age) has been doing internet dating for years (ok, maybe that suggests that it's not working!). But she's had really good experiences--met quite a few interesting guys that way, some of whom she dated and others who she just ended up having as friends.

I'm too chicken to try it myself, but I also live in a college town where there are few people who aren't profs (most of whom seem to be already married) or else grad students, who I don't want to date. Let us know how it goes...

Limon de Campo said...

I met my husband via internet dating. There, I said it.

Have fun!