Join Me in my Journey of Humiliation!

I have decided that the focus of this blog will be to document my ongoing rejection/humiliation as I swim through the murky waters of online dating. Please feel free to laugh with me. If you laugh at me you're a jerk.

Some background: I ended a 10-year relationship (with seven of those years married) in December of 2007. Or, more accurately, my ex-wife ended the relationship. While there are several things about my ex that makes me angry, the one thing that really sticks in my craw is the fact that she took a balding middle-aged man (me) and thrust him into the world of being single. Something I was not at all prepared for. My dating knowledge was gleamed in the 1990s, and seeing as this is the 21st century, completely antiquated.

It took several months after the marriage ended before I was ready to even attempt dating again. By July of 2008 I was ready. Now, if you know me at all, you know that I'm a tad introverted. Okay, more than a tad. Extremely is a better word. As such it seemed to me that online dating would be the way to go.

I hit up some of the major pay sites. Eharmony is known for its exhaustive personality test. I took that test and was informed by Eharmony that I couldn't be matched to anyone. Seriously.

As I'm cheap, I hit Google to see about free dating sites, and I found OK Cupid. It has a good reputation, is always mentioned in top-10 dating lists and is well reviewed. I signed up and prepared myself for an end to being single!

In September of 2008 I received a notice that someone was interested in me. A user I shall call...Woman #1. We chatted via IM and sent many e-mails back and forth. We talked about meeting in real life (if you're hip to online lingo that would be RL). Things seemed to be going well and then...she stopped responding to messages and e-mails. This, I would discover, is a very common thing in the world of online dating. I guess people just lose interest and move on to the next available man/woman. I was disappointed at the time. And now? I'm used to it.

OK Cupid has continued to vex me. It seems that most of the people there aren't really interested in meeting anyone. Which is a theme that would become increasingly obvious.

Next time: more OK Cupid rejection! And how about Plenty of Fish? Hint: rejection.

Adventures in Dating

At the end of 2007 my marriage came to an end, and by April of 2008 my divorce was final. I'm ready to start dating again but am finding the whole experience to be a bit off-putting. First of all, being a balding middle-aged man is not helping any. I participate in two different dating web sites and have sent out roughly 30-40 messages. None have been answered. I try to be witty and intelligent but that apparently doesn't make up for the lack of hair on my head.

I've also tried using the Craigslist personal ads and have had the opposite experience: I'll get into an e-mail exchange with someone, and as soon as they ask to see my photo and I send it, the e-mails stop. It is a bit discouraging to say the least.

I will keep plodding ahead, however. Who knows, maybe someday I will meet that special someone.