The age-old, “I’m too busy to be dating” excuse just doesn’t work anymore. Not while people like Matt Prager are around. New York-based Prager is what you call a Cyber Cyrano, but instead of whispering to you from a bush, he’ll tell you via email. It’s all part of his business of online match making. Prager meets with clients to figure out what their interests are, then manages their online dating profiles. You may think you’re talking to Mr. Smooth, but it could very well be just Prager. More »

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From New York, NY. Craigslist Ad #1687464179: There was glitter in my shoes and my lips smelled like whiskey - 22:

Looking for someone to share a bottle of vodka and bedtime stories.

The christmas lights in the ceiling would make you glow. Balloons would start falling. The music is getting louder and we would have each other.

Adventures are waiting for adventurers. Lets smoke weed in a loft in Brooklyn; lets do coke at a pool party in LA; lets take X at a dance party in Berlin; we will do acid in the middle of the forest in Portland.

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‘Would telling the truth or telling a lie bring about the better consequences?’

I came upon the article above and it got me thinking about my dating life.

I lie. Technically a sin but there are philosophical debates about “appropriate” times to lie and what lies are “white lies.” I don’t like to lie. I’m not very good at it which is fine because in all areas of my life I don’t need reasons to be deceitful…except when it comes to lack luster dating. The following are some of my most often used and/or favorite excuses to use in order to flee a scene.

1. “I have to cat/dog/baby/plant sit.” This excuse has come in handy during those dates that start off ok and then sort of turn into something I want to escape from. You can just as easily pretend like you forgot and suddenly jump up and rush out after looking at your watch and realizing the time. More »

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To be up-front, this is the story of a Speed Dating Event I attended recently; but it’s prefaced by a few thoughts on what it might mean to find love these days, and just where the heck the concept of Speed Dating might come from.

I studied abroad in India my junior year of college, and I remember vividly a conversation with the father of my host family. We were drinking liqueurs on the back porch of the house and discussing love; the subject of arranged marriages came up and (quite drunk) he asked me if I would consider an arranged marriage myself.

My answer was: Yes, definitely. More »

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I hear this quote quite often, “It’s better to love and lost then to never love at all.” That phrase and I do not see eye to eye. While the highs of love bring great elation, the breakups bring indescribable pain far greater than any mortal wound. I am desperately afraid of being heartbroken, but I fear even more the thought of growing old alone. My life would be empty without having a family. I yearn to be a father, though I often wonder if I can be a good one. I was raised by an amazingly loving and supportive family. Because of that, I’m not afraid of commitment. I seek it out. More »

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I didn’t go on my first date until late in high school. Until then, I had been your fairly standard loser, more interested in books than girls; yet I harbored the suspicion that somewhere within me lurked a great romantic. The date (or so I thought) was a success; it was she, and not I, who initiated my first kiss. Later that week, she broke up with me on the grounds that having a boyfriend would interfere with her violin lessons—and in spite of the words of cynical friends, I’ve always believed this was the truth. What motive is too silly to ascribe to the half-formed personalities of high schoolers? More »

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“To say ‘I love you’ one must first be able to say the ‘I.’ ” -Ayn Rand

It seems like a fairly simple rule to live by and after many failed attempts to love and be loved, I understand fully, the importance of the statement.

In 2004, I picked up and moved from a small college town in the midwest and away from my boyfriend of three years to reach for my dreams of becoming a big city architect. The relationship was, and still is, the happiest, healthiest relationship I’ve ever been in. It lasted another year after I moved away. In the end, it did not work out because I chose New York City over moving back to be with him in the midwest. Yes, my heart still aches over his absence, but he is now married and there is nothing I can do but keep on moving on. More »

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In my 20+ odd years of existence, I can say with confidence that I’ve never been in love. There isn’t a single song, poem, story or film about being in love that I can identify with. When people speak of love, it’s a foreign language to me that I’ve only just been casually studying out of curiosity. I feel like I understand some phrases, a word here or there — but not enough to qualify as fluent. From what I’ve observed in my life thus far, no one’s ever fluent in love.

Regardless, love is a place I’d like to go to someday, and it’d be really helpful if I was at least close to fluent. I’ve always been told it’s better traveling that way. By this point in this paragraph, its natural to wonder if I’ve got any baggage on me. The answer is no. I’ve got no baggage. The best way I can describe my situation of never having been in love is that I’ve just never had opportunities. Whenever I’ve thought I’ve had opportunities, they’ve always been false. More »

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