RAD, the Next Generation! in Open Diary 2001-2018 (Pre-Prosebox)

I took the plunge and created a profile on an internet dating site that is not match.com just to take a peek around at some of the possibilities. Not completely ready for this, but then again, I am. I really want to get back out there. If nothing else, for posterity. And my ego. And laughs.

I don’t know how many of these I will do in the near future. I’m not taking this too seriously, and there are not a lot of prospects out there, at least from my current vantage point. But, what the hell, right? Somebody got my interest, so I met him last night.

With that, I present Rate-A-Date 2009!!

Name: Leo

Age: 46

Occupation: Some kind of internet sales something-or-other. Works from home.

Length of Date: almost 3 hours

What We Did: Drinks at a poolside bar I used to love. Used to be a super hot nightspot. Not so much anymore. Or maybe it is. But it was Thursday night, and eh…whatever.

He Wore: Short sleeve plaid woven shirt, jeans, non-descript shoes

I Wore: White Grecian bustier (not as sex-ay as it sounds…really pretty, fairly casual), jeans, gold strappy flat gladiator sandals

Conversation: Pretty funny. I knew he was creative and funny from the get-go because his emails were clever. His humor is really dry, and I love that. He asked me a MILLION questions rapid-fire, and didn’t wait for me to ask him any. I didn’t really mind all that much because I didn’t have to work very hard…but I kept having to interrupt his question-asking so that I could find out more about him. I didn’t want to give up all MY deets without learning what he’s about.

High Point: It was nice how he nearly fell over when he saw me. We talked a lot about internet dating and how people misrepresent themselves all the time [ed note: don’t I know it!! Hello, lying ex-fiance?]. He told me that I look even better in person, blah, blah, blah. And that was nice to hear (ego, ego, ego!)

Low Point: Welllllll, speaking of misrepresentation, he really didn’t look like his pictures. It was weird. He had posted two pix in his profile, and they were both nice, but taken at an amazingly flattering angle. I think girls do this really well (and I hear guys say that all the time: “she looked nothing like her pictures!” But in this case, he looked a little like his pictures…if I squinted and cocked my head at a certain angle. Whatev. I tried to overlook all of this and just go with the flow. But to be brutally honest, I knew that there was no attraction the second I saw him.

Even Lower Point:Yes, he is a really funny guy. And yes, we talked about a LOT of funny stuff. But when he told me about how his last girlfriend made him pee sitting down (IN HIS OWN HOUSE!!!) so that he wouldn’t miss the pot anymore. Um, yeah. That’s when I heard the record scratch.

How It Ended: He walked me to the valet and waited with me for my car. He’d parked around the corner to avoid the valet, I guess. I got a hug, turned around and he was gone! Weird.

Chances I’ll See Him Again: Less than 10%. The experience was weird, and I didn’t feel any attraction, and he kept asking me (no less than four times) about our second date and when and what we would do. Very strange. I didn’t give him an answer, and I asked him to give me some time to process our date before I gave him a yes or no.

After I got home last night, I checked my email and he’d asked me to be his facebook friend (arrrrggghhhh!). I poked around on his profile. His friends are very attractive, and I even know a couple of them, but I don’t want to be his friend just for his friends.

Bottom line, I’m glad I got that under my belt. I chalk it up to another experience that will help me move on. I don’t know if I’m doing it right, but at least I’m not sitting at home crying.