First online date

Friday, April 24, 2009

I went on my first online date last night, and it was... blah. There was nothing wrong with the guy, he was nice, funny, smart, not bad looking - everything I want, you'd think. And yet... it just wasn't there - that spark, that indefinable thing that makes you want to stand on a street corner and makeout with someone for hours, the mysterious quality that makes you throw caution to the wind and grab the guy by his belt buckle to pull him closer, closer, until before you even articulate it as a coherent thought, you're dragging him back to your apartment.

We had a perfectly pleasant evening out, low-key dinner at an Irish pub (I'm a sucker for their sausage and curry fries - read into my love of sausage what you will), lots of good beer, and great conversation. We hit it off instantly - he was almost like a male version of me, we had that much in common. I don't know why I didn't feel any tingle with Mark, I just... didn't.

It was really too bad, because had I met Mark under any other circumstances, we could have been great friends. Although, I've found that the male/female friendship dynamic can be fraught with tension, it's hard to find a member of the opposite sex who truly does want to be just 'friends'. But because I met Mark in the context of online dating, he definitely wasn't interested in being just friends.

So my evening was, on the one hand, very enjoyable and on the other, totally awkward as I tried to nicely hint that I wasn't sexually interested. I'm not great at being direct sometimes. So today, when he emailed me to ask about a second date, I told him I just wasn't interested. Which sucked, because I feel like Mark would be a great beer buddy. Sadly, he is definitely not interested in being a beer buddy.

Oh well, back to square one I guess. I was supposed to go on another date this weekend with this guy I've been chatting with a bit, but I've rescheduled for next week. I decided a girl's weekend is in order and am about to hop on the Chinatown express bus up to Boston to see my college friend Grace. Should be a fun weekend, Sox are playing (I grew up in New England so I'm a Red Sox fan) and Grace is always a good time. We've got plans to get sexied up and hit the town, maybe a little light flirting with Boston guys and scoring some free drinks will make me more enthusiastic about trying my next online date!