Last June I wrote about an episode of "Silver Spoons" from back in the '80s and speculated that Ricky Schroder was television's first computer dater (http://www.bestdatesnow.com/2008/06/ricky-schroder-tvs-first-on-line-dater.html). But I was wrong. When the Nicest Guy in the World came over the other week, he brought his DVD of the TV show "The Odd Couple," which featured an episode from 1972 (the year I was born!) called "Gloria, Hallelujah," in which Oscar joins a computer dating service at the suggestion of his secretary, Myrna. Of course, in the paperwork (which he has to fill out by hand) he describes himself in the most flattering light possible, to Felix's chagrin. How can the highly scientific computer-matching process work, after all, if Oscar stretches the truth? Maybe Felix was right, because Oscar gets matched up with Gloria -- Felix's estranged wife! So of course Felix gets all jealous. Then at the end, Oscar tries meeting someone from the dating service again -- and he gets matched with Myrna. It was pretty funny, and worth watching for the cool '70s outfits alone. ;)
Nicest Guy and I had a lovely two-year anniversary of our first date on Wednesday. He took me out to dinner at the Renaissance Diner in Manhattan, where we'd first met for lunch on January 21, 2007, and he gave me a rose -- made of the Dove milk chocolate that I am addicted to! Then we promptly killed the mood by going to see the movie "Revolutionary Road." ;O Well, not really, but that is not a happy film! But we'd already seen a romantic comedy the week before ("Last Chance Harvey" -- really sweet, even if Dustin Hoffman is a whopping 22 years older than Emma Thompson), and "Revolutionary Road" looked so good. But we both thought it was overrated. Some of the dialogue and even some of Leo and Kate's acting seemed so fake and soap opera-ish. As Nicest Guy put it, "Sometimes it felt like we were watching a parody of the '50s." I can see why it didn't get nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. I'm curious to read the novel it was based on, though.
January 24, 2009
January 18, 2009
Man Panel
I noticed on Facebook the other day that one of my friends RSVP'd to attend something called "The Man Panel" (http://www.manpanel.com), an event in which you "join the CEO of OkCupid.com, an online dating expert, and a panel of male online daters to find out how to increase your odds of meeting someone online. Bring in your own profile to get feedback from the panel!" It's in Boston, so if you're in the Boston area you might want to check it out. The next one is on January 30th, and tickets are $8 on-line or $10 at the door.
The other day, the Nicest Guy in the World said, "I hardly ever use the pockets in this jacket, but today I did, and guess what I found?" He showed me a Metro North ticket stub from January 21, 2007 -- which must have been when he came into the city for our very first date! So he suggested we go out to dinner this Wednesday for the two-year anniversary of our first date...even though our second official "date" wasn't until January 1, 2009. ;) Isn't he sweet?
The other day, the Nicest Guy in the World said, "I hardly ever use the pockets in this jacket, but today I did, and guess what I found?" He showed me a Metro North ticket stub from January 21, 2007 -- which must have been when he came into the city for our very first date! So he suggested we go out to dinner this Wednesday for the two-year anniversary of our first date...even though our second official "date" wasn't until January 1, 2009. ;) Isn't he sweet?
January 11, 2009
Weird
Remember I.T. Guy from eHarmony (http://www.eharmony.com), also known as "Eye Infection Guy" because he cancelled what should have been our first date in October due to an alleged eye infection? He dropped out of contact for two weeks, then resurfaced, and we rescheduled for the Monday three days before Thanksgiving. He ended up cancelling again because he was still packing for his trip to visit his family in Florida for the holiday. In December we re-scheduled yet again, but this time I had to cancel because I was sick. Then we rescheduled for Sunday Dec. 21st -- or so I thought. Here is our exchange of e-mails:
On Fri, 12/19/08, The Dating Guru wrote:
Hi I.T. Guy!
How are you? On Sunday I may go to a Christmas concert from 3 - 4:30 PM or so, but otherwise I'm free. And on Monday I finish work at 7:30 PM, so I'm free after that.
Let me know what works best for you.
The Dating Guru
On Sat, 12/20/08, I.T. Guy wrote:
Dating Guru,
I am around later tonight (Saturday) and tomorrow , so if you are going to be in the city tomorrow early afternoon, we could meet then. Either way...whats your tel # ?
On Sat, Dec 20, 2008, The Dating Guru wrote:
Hi I.T. Guy,
Sounds good! My phone number is XXX-XXX-XXXX [NOTE: He actually already had my number, since we'd talked on the phone back in October, but whatever]. The concert I want to go to starts at 3:00 PM, so maybe we could meet at 2:00 or so? There's a Starbucks right nearby, so we could always meet there. But give me a call tomorrow and we can discuss.
Thanks!
The Dating Guru
And what happened? Not only did he NOT call me, he never even e-mailed me back! Just silence on his part. Christmas came and went, with no word from him.
Until New Year's Day, when I received this:
On Thu, 1/1/09, at 2:31 PM, I.T. Guy wrote:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
I was like...huh? He didn't even apologize for not contacting me about 12/21 or anything. Weird!!
Obviously I didn't write him back -- I have a much more thoughtful guy in my life now, thank God!
On Fri, 12/19/08, The Dating Guru wrote:
Hi I.T. Guy!
How are you? On Sunday I may go to a Christmas concert from 3 - 4:30 PM or so, but otherwise I'm free. And on Monday I finish work at 7:30 PM, so I'm free after that.
Let me know what works best for you.
The Dating Guru
On Sat, 12/20/08, I.T. Guy wrote:
Dating Guru,
I am around later tonight (Saturday) and tomorrow , so if you are going to be in the city tomorrow early afternoon, we could meet then. Either way...whats your tel # ?
On Sat, Dec 20, 2008, The Dating Guru wrote:
Hi I.T. Guy,
Sounds good! My phone number is XXX-XXX-XXXX [NOTE: He actually already had my number, since we'd talked on the phone back in October, but whatever]. The concert I want to go to starts at 3:00 PM, so maybe we could meet at 2:00 or so? There's a Starbucks right nearby, so we could always meet there. But give me a call tomorrow and we can discuss.
Thanks!
The Dating Guru
And what happened? Not only did he NOT call me, he never even e-mailed me back! Just silence on his part. Christmas came and went, with no word from him.
Until New Year's Day, when I received this:
On Thu, 1/1/09, at 2:31 PM, I.T. Guy wrote:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
I was like...huh? He didn't even apologize for not contacting me about 12/21 or anything. Weird!!
Obviously I didn't write him back -- I have a much more thoughtful guy in my life now, thank God!
January 6, 2009
Another NYC speed-dating company; and New Year's Day
A few days ago I received a nice e-mail from Rich, the president of NY Minute Dating (http://www.nyminutedating.com/). He said that he enjoyed reading my blog and offered to let me register for one of his company's speed-dating events for free! I won't be doing that since I'm now dating the Nicest Guy in the World, but any of you NYC-area readers who want to try speed-dating may want to check it out. I thought I'd tried every speed-dating company in New York City, but NY Minute Dating is new to me. On their web site, they promise you will meet up to 15 other singles and have a five-minute "date" with each. In addition to more general events, they have some niche events coming up, including Asian Singles, Russian Singles, Latino Singles, Interracial Singles (one event for white women to meet black men, one for white men to meet black women), Middle Eastern Muslim Singles, and single parents. If you attend, let me know how it goes.
Nicest Guy and I had our second official date on New Year's Day! I'm sure it comes as no surprise that the Nicest Guy in the World has the Nicest Family in the World, so for our second date we went to his sister and brother-in-law's place and played with the new Wii Fit they'd given their kids for Christmas. It was so much fun because his sister and her family are really great, AND it turns out I'm a much better athlete on the Wii than in real life. For example, I've never bowled above a 74 in an actual bowling alley, but on the Wii, I bowled a 130! The only Wii sport Nicest Guy and I didn't enjoy was boxing -- you couldn't really see what you were doing, so it felt like we were just flailing our arms around (and my arms got sore!). I also wasn't very good at the ski jump. But bowling, tennis, baseball, and yoga were all pretty cool. If only I could've had a Wii gym class back in school, I might've actually gotten an A in phys ed once in a while.
Since his sister's place is a little tricky to find, especially for someone like me with 'directional dyslexia,' I had driven to the nearby mall, Nicest Guy met me and left his car there, and we drove to his sister's in my dad's car. When we left, we drove back to the mall to get his car, so we shared our second kiss in -- where else? -- a parking lot.
"We have to stop kissing in parking lots," I said.
"I know," he agreed. "People are going to start thinking we're trashy!" ;)
Nicest Guy and I had our second official date on New Year's Day! I'm sure it comes as no surprise that the Nicest Guy in the World has the Nicest Family in the World, so for our second date we went to his sister and brother-in-law's place and played with the new Wii Fit they'd given their kids for Christmas. It was so much fun because his sister and her family are really great, AND it turns out I'm a much better athlete on the Wii than in real life. For example, I've never bowled above a 74 in an actual bowling alley, but on the Wii, I bowled a 130! The only Wii sport Nicest Guy and I didn't enjoy was boxing -- you couldn't really see what you were doing, so it felt like we were just flailing our arms around (and my arms got sore!). I also wasn't very good at the ski jump. But bowling, tennis, baseball, and yoga were all pretty cool. If only I could've had a Wii gym class back in school, I might've actually gotten an A in phys ed once in a while.
Since his sister's place is a little tricky to find, especially for someone like me with 'directional dyslexia,' I had driven to the nearby mall, Nicest Guy met me and left his car there, and we drove to his sister's in my dad's car. When we left, we drove back to the mall to get his car, so we shared our second kiss in -- where else? -- a parking lot.
"We have to stop kissing in parking lots," I said.
"I know," he agreed. "People are going to start thinking we're trashy!" ;)
January 5, 2009
I told him!
The Nicest Guy in the World and I drove up to Albany on Dec. 27th to visit a good friend of his since childhood & his wife, and their five-week-old baby. By then I knew I wanted to tell him that I liked him as more than a friend, but I didn't know when to bring it up, so I kept putting it off. We had a really fun visit with his friend and his family -- their baby is so cute! Nicest Guy had brought some great Christmas presents for the baby, including one I had suggested -- since his friend was a big fan of the rock group Twisted Sister back in the day, Nicest Guy got a Twisted Sister onesy for the baby, with the Twisted Sister logo and "I Wanna Walk!" printed on it. His friend loved it!
The other funny thing happened when Nicest Guy and his friend exchanged Christmas gifts. As Nicest Guy was opening one, his friend said hesitantly, "I don't know if you'll really like this or not, I just thought you might find it interesting...."
Nicest Guy laughed and said, "Well, I definitely know someone who'll want to borrow it." It was a PAUL SIMON DVD! His friend had no idea, but I am one of the biggest Paul Simon fans around. So it will be the perfect gift for me to steal when Nicest Guy's not looking, er, I mean, watch with him. ;)
We finally left at around 9 PM, and Nicest Guy drove me to NJ, where I was staying with my dad for a few days over the Christmas/New Year's holiday. The closer we got, the more nervous I felt. When we finally arrived at my dad's apartment, the street had enough parked cars and snow piles to prevent us from parking there, so we had to park way in the back of the complex by the Dumpster. We went inside to chat with my dad for a few minutes, and when Nicest Guy said he'd better be going, I said quickly. "I'll walk you to your car."
We walked quietly through the parking lot. It was a cold night, raining so lightly it was really just mist. I looked up at the moon, blurry in the fog, my hands jammed in my coat pockets. I was so nervous. I thought, what if I've misread every signal, misunderstood every sign, and he doesn't actually want to be more than friends after all?
As we got to his car and started to say good-bye, I almost chickened out, but I knew if I did I would regret it. So I finally blurted out, "Remember like a year ago when you said we should start dating and I said no?"
"Yeah," he said.
"Um -- I've changed my mind," I said, and held my breath.
He blinked. "Oh!" he said -- and then he broke into a grin. "Wow! Well -- wow! That would be -- that would be -- wow! Yes! Yes!"
We kissed then, between the Dumpster and the cars in the apartment complex parking lot. And that is how it came to be that two years after he first sent me a wink on Match.com, and one year and eleven months after our first date in January 2007, the Nicest Guy in the World and I planned our second official date -- for January 1, 2009.
:) :) :)
The other funny thing happened when Nicest Guy and his friend exchanged Christmas gifts. As Nicest Guy was opening one, his friend said hesitantly, "I don't know if you'll really like this or not, I just thought you might find it interesting...."
Nicest Guy laughed and said, "Well, I definitely know someone who'll want to borrow it." It was a PAUL SIMON DVD! His friend had no idea, but I am one of the biggest Paul Simon fans around. So it will be the perfect gift for me to steal when Nicest Guy's not looking, er, I mean, watch with him. ;)
We finally left at around 9 PM, and Nicest Guy drove me to NJ, where I was staying with my dad for a few days over the Christmas/New Year's holiday. The closer we got, the more nervous I felt. When we finally arrived at my dad's apartment, the street had enough parked cars and snow piles to prevent us from parking there, so we had to park way in the back of the complex by the Dumpster. We went inside to chat with my dad for a few minutes, and when Nicest Guy said he'd better be going, I said quickly. "I'll walk you to your car."
We walked quietly through the parking lot. It was a cold night, raining so lightly it was really just mist. I looked up at the moon, blurry in the fog, my hands jammed in my coat pockets. I was so nervous. I thought, what if I've misread every signal, misunderstood every sign, and he doesn't actually want to be more than friends after all?
As we got to his car and started to say good-bye, I almost chickened out, but I knew if I did I would regret it. So I finally blurted out, "Remember like a year ago when you said we should start dating and I said no?"
"Yeah," he said.
"Um -- I've changed my mind," I said, and held my breath.
He blinked. "Oh!" he said -- and then he broke into a grin. "Wow! Well -- wow! That would be -- that would be -- wow! Yes! Yes!"
We kissed then, between the Dumpster and the cars in the apartment complex parking lot. And that is how it came to be that two years after he first sent me a wink on Match.com, and one year and eleven months after our first date in January 2007, the Nicest Guy in the World and I planned our second official date -- for January 1, 2009.
:) :) :)
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