How did you meet? online, Match

Name: Jonathan, the guy who called me on the phone

Height: 6'2"

Age: 30

Occupation: web developer

Good quotes from date:

"I date crazy people."

"Are you normal? Just tell me now."

"Well, you're 5 minutes late and you live around the corner." (First thing he said to me. Kind of not so funny. Patience, mister.)

Why is he still single? I heard several stories about his numerous "bad" dates, which were funny but all centered around how they were the woman's fault.

Did he pay for the date? we each bought a round

Did he contact you after the date? When he got home he texted me something funny that we talked about

How many dates did you go on? 1

Would you recommend to a friend? well...see comments

Comments:

I have to apologize for my tardiness in writing up dates recently. Work, Improv and dating having gotten in the way of blogging, which is probably why I'm home sick today. I need a rest.

So had I written about this date the day after I would have said that Jonathan was cute, funny, very sarcastic (which I usually like), and that I have no doubt that we'd go out again. But I'm writing about it two weeks later and I havent' heard from him so I think it's safe to say the latter part of those observations are false.

Maybe I put too much stock in him because he picked up the telephone and actually used it to call and not text? I still commend him for that. It was most definitely a good date in the moment, which is how I define good dates these days: a philosophy that is helping me stay sane.

I walked him to the subway by my place and he immediately went in for the kiss. I had a good time so I was happy to embark on yet another public make out by the train, although I'm starting to wonder if the neighbors think I'm a sex worker - no, people, just a serial dater.

I thought he was going for the brief goodnight lip kiss, but he was in it for the long haul. Eventually I had to break away and say "Hey, let's save some mystery for the second date." Which he talked about during kissing: "Do you want to hang out again?". "Yes" I said.

Maybe he thought 'yes' means 'no'? Clearly, I'll have to change my wedding toast and my choice of future husband.

How did you meet? Online back in July (but he is offline now)

Name: Ken

Height: 5'10"

Age: 31

Occupation: PhD candidate in biology

Good quotes from date:

Him: "So I have this really old bicycle that is falling apart but I can't bring myself to sell it."
Me: "Why not?"
Him: "Because I'll feel really guilty if someone buys it, tries to ride it and gets killed."
Me (in my head): This might be a real man with feelings. I'm intrigued.

Him: "I'm doing cancer research"
Me: "so you're curing cancer?"
Him: "Haha, sort of"
Me (in my head): I'm definitely intrigued.
(oh, did i mention he has a british accent? well he does and it's kinda sexy)

Why is he still single? To refresh your memory see date 16. He and his ex still had some emotional baggage to sort through, but according to his email he is over that now (I'm discovering that 3 months is usually the magical amount of time to get over someone). He is back in the game.

Did he pay for the date? yes

Did he contact you after the date? Yes the next day via email asking to hang out again soon

How many dates did you go on? 1 real one

Would you recommend to a friend? I need to see how this plays out for myself first

Comments: Because ken pissed me off back in July for canceling three hours before our rescheduled date, after multiple calls and texts, I showed up with absolutely no expectations, which I'm realizing might be the answer to all of these dates.

Dressed very casually with minimal make-up, I ordered tea while he drank beer. He asked me if I drink. Oh boy, he has no idea...yes, I said, just not tonight. Conversation (he is smart, well traveled and down-to-earth) was interesting but trying at times because were both extremely tired from work.

At one point we stared across the table at each another while sipping our respective glasses during one of those awkward-silences-because-are-actually-strangers moments and I wondered if either of us were having a good time or if we were just faking it. I truly couldn't tell. Then he laughed, then I really couldn't tell.

We hugged goodbye and he said he would like to do this again, just maybe not on a tuesday night. I didn't really believe him, but the more I thought about it on the way home...the more I thought i would like to do it again too.