The 15 Minute Dating Blog

by Ritesh Manglani.

I am a 28 male software engineer from Gujarat, India. It was recently when I gave in for marriage after resisting it for years and my parents started searching a girl for me, and as expected within a few weeks they fixed my meeting with this girl who was, according to my parents, a good wife material. My parents were really impressed with her and they were repeatedly saying “the girl is very beautiful” but is it just the beauty you look for in your life partner? I knew there is a lot more one wants. So like any other educated, wise man I decided to spend some time with this girl to know her better and then take the most important decision of my life.

People who don’t know much about Indian culture and the way matrimonial things work here. Here is some insight. It is being considered taboo if you are above 25-26 and still single (however this trend is changing these days thanks to the youngsters like me). We still have a system of arrange marriages, our family looks for the suitable boy/girl, once they find someone appropriate, they usually fix the meeting of potential bride-groom and leave the final decision to them but some families don’t even allow boy and girl to meet before marriage, and the family only takes the final decision.

I could just thank the god as my family falls in former one. People from western countries may find it absurd but that’s the way things work here.

After plenty of efforts, my dad managed to get one hour of time from the girl’s family. Being a rebel I protested as I knew one hour would not be enough but eventually my parents convinced me and I decided to just go with the flow, as somewhere back in mind I knew that I always have an option of saying “No” for the marriage after meeting.

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Popularity: 10% [?]

by Caron.

As a transfer student at the University of Minnesota, I was always looking for ways to make new friends. I decided to take a Tae Kwon Do class where I could meet people while also tucking a new skill under my belt.

One of my girlfriends in another class of mine urged me to say hello to her friend “Bob.” I decided to wait until we were sparring each other so as not to seem to eager.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

by Anonymous.

The date was going pretty well thus far. My partner had not yet screamed at the sight of me and run off into the night (always a good first indicator) and here we were, moving on to our second venue of the evening.

I had one problem: this girl was a Christian. The reason this was a problem was twofold. One, she was highly unlikely to let me get my hands on her sumptuously gigantic breasts at the end of the evening, no matter how well I thought the situation was progressing; and two, she didn’t drink alcohol.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

by Patricia Pazsint.

I thought I had seen it all. During my years of on-again, off-again online dating, I felt as if I had earned an honorary phD in dating psychology (or should I say a purple heart?). The upfront-leech, the alcohol-pushing leech, mama’s boy, social odd-ball, bitter misogynist, you name it, I’ve dated it. Albeit not for long.

“Tony” had seemed charming on the phone, and his Match.com profile seemed refreshingly honest. The photos were obviously scanned in, the quality of which wasn’t the best, but he had a full head of hair, warm smile, and an athletic physique. A sales manager at a high volume sales firm, he regaled me with stories of a quick ascension up the career ladder and remodeling his home no expenses spared. Having dated a career pothead in college for a year and a half whose idea of planning for the future meant having enough money left for the next stash, Tony impressed me thoroughly.

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Popularity: 8% [?]

by Matt.

I just heard a funny story from a friend of mine that met a girl on a popular dating site. We’ll call it yardmatch.com. You’ll see why. My friend, we’ll call him Gerry, received a response to his ad on yardmatch from Cindy (not her real name). They arrange an early lunch at a romantic, yet casual little restaurant in Boston. Gerry tells me that there wasn’t any uncomfortable silence at lunch, which can sometimes happen on a first date when you find the person’s real life persona differs markedly from their online personal ad. Gerry did note, however, that Cindy kept bringing the conversation back around to yard work.

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Popularity: 5% [?]

by SGLoughlin.

“I dated a guy who was a bit of a handful. His emotional stability varied hour by hour and often swung wildly between loving euphoria and numbed depression. We broke up, got back together, broke up, got back together ad nauseam for more than a year and a half. It only recently ended when I received several text messages asking for my hand in marriage.

“Taking new course, trying somethin new. Marry me. I love u, want 2 be with u 4ever.” Sent 6/22/08 at 3:32 A.M.

My response:

“Um. How is that helpful? We can’t even talk without fighting.” Sent 6/22/08 at 9:15 A.M.

His response:

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Popularity: 6% [?]

by Allen Smith.

Anyone who’s dipped their toes into the murky waters of the on-line dating scene will sprint away from the tide after learning that while there are plenty of fish in the sea, there are also plenty of nets. While learning about how the seamy underbelly of electronic dating is really manipulated, this investigative journalist found himself expelled from Match.com after going deep undercover into the popular Internet dating service.

I enrolled at Match.com using the pen name of “MrMarvelous” to judge the waters for myself. After blowing off an entire day’s work perusing the women within 100 miles of my zip code, seven major metropolises and all of the neighborhoods I’ve ever lived, it became readily apparent that of the 40 million single men and women who subscribe to on-line dating services, most are looking for the same thing and their profiles all read the same. So, to leverage myself against my male competitors and attract more than my fair share of the lovelier sex, I decided to create the following original member profile to flaunt my rapier wit. After all, isn’t that what women want: a man with a sense of humor?

Dating headline:
Tom Selleck Look-a-like In Search of Love

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Popularity: 14% [?]

by Leora Klein.(edited by Alix Strauss)

Dan sounded great on paper: Upper East Side, Fieldston, Brown undergrad, NYU Law, formerly a corporate lawyer, currently a CEO of a nonprofit that seeks to foster peace between Palestinian and Israeli children…My mother met his mother at a charity dinner. Seated next to each other, nibbling on raisin nut rolls, patiently waiting for their salad plates to be whisked away, they noticed that neither woman ate the shaved fennel. By the time the blackened sea bass was served they were dear friends. She didn’t wait for dessert to show my mother a photograph of her son, and my mother called me from the car on her way home to tell me the great news.

“She had a photograph of her son in her evening bag?”

“Actually, she had it on her cell phone, and he looked very handsome with a nice head of hair.”

“Did you inquire about his height?” I am 5’9″.

“I did and she said he was taller than her husband, and her husband was tall.”

He sounded too perfect. My mother always taught me perfect doesn’t exist.

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Popularity: 6% [?]

by Tina “Knowledgeable” Peden.

Hey guys, did you ever take a date out to a restaurant and an hour later you knew that the girl was not for you so you decide to do the gentlemanly thing and dump her and dump her ass fast but you were stumped on how to do it?

Guys relax, because help is here! I’m gonna’ tell you two surefire ways how to dump a girl in a restaurant, fast!

SUREFIRE WAY NUMBER 1:

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Popularity: 5% [?]

by Gregory Smith.

As a single person, we all make mistakes out in the dating world. If you are freshly single, you tend to make some fairly stupid mistakes related to etiquette – like assuming too much about a woman or a relationship, or being nervous, or not really knowing what you are doing, etc. For those of us who have been around the block once or twice (ha), being someone’s WORST DATE EVER takes on a whole new meaning. Although it can be quite an accidental art form, in most cases it is just flat out stupid. Part of the majesty of being single is one’s ability to go out and make dumb mistakes … not repeat them … and hopefully laugh about them later. As long as you learn from your mistakes, you’re fine.

I’ve lived with my present girlfriend for several years – and I’d say this relationship (among other things) brings me stability. Prior to her, however, I went through phases where I found myself in various highly entertaining situations … not all of which turned out well. For example, what I’m about to describe is an evening where I’m quite positive I turned out to be THE WORST DATE EVER for the woman I was out with. I, myself, have been out with different women who could compete for being MY worst date … but I thought it would be fun today (New Year’s Day) to write something critical about myself. ;o)

Cindy was a tall good-looking redhead – several inches taller than me, in fact. I had known Cindy for roughly ten years … and for quite some time our relationship consisted of us hooking up maybe once or twice a year for a date which almost always ended up in screaming hot sex. I didn’t see her more than maybe twice a year because she lived in Santa Barbara – which made her “geographically undesirable” in terms of being a regular girlfriend or lover. Neither of us wanted to trade in our respective jobs and move – as we just weren’t that interested in one another. We had sex … great sex … but that was where our mutual interest ended. She was also pretty fun to party with – we’d usually go out to a restaurant or club, and party pretty well before the real entertainment got started at either her place, or at my hotel.

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Popularity: 6% [?]

by Samantha Jacobs.

He was a few clowns short of a circus, and had a mop of curls on his head that could easily be mistaken for a miniature poodle. Nonetheless, I was attracted; apparently, so was he.

We started dating in my sophomore year of high school. We were hooked up through a particularly heinous form of online dating: the “Instant Message Blind Date.” Here’s how it works: a (hopefully) well-intentioned mutual friend sells you on each other and exchanges your screen names. Voila, dinner and a movie via AOL.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

by Andy Cowan.

As with the early days of live TV, the early days of “live women” are starting to seem like a quaint remnant from yesteryear, yet another golden age we didn’t know was golden until it faded away with our memories. I admit that most of the ladies who’ve been “communicating” with me lately have been prerecorded – as when I recently answered the phone and heard, “Hi, this is Wendy! Great news!” It would be greater news if the Wendy in my life wasn’t an automaton.

My most serious relationship with a virtual woman – My voicemail secretary. Unfortunately, I know she’s been two, three and four-timing me with other guys, and women, after I reach their voicemail and hear her busily answering their phones while busy not answering mine. But at least she sounds as detached with them as she does with me. (I was starting to take it personally.)

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Popularity: 2% [?]

by Karen Rodriguez

I was 24 years old and divorced living in a house with six other flight attendants, with only a laptop and a suitcase as my real processions. However, that wasn’t the worst part. I was now at the airport being picked up by my first date via Myspace, which is a current site being used by people who were too broke to pay any fees at a real dating site. Surely, this was a recipe for disaster, but having found love and marriage so quickly at a young age once makes me an eternal romantic.

His name was Peter. He was 26 years old, divorced, with a 5 year old daughter, and working at a hardware store. Amazing the potential suitors you can find by just typing in your zip code while including a twenty mile radius. Even if we did not have movies, passions, and interests in common, we had divorce, starting over and heartache to dwell on. Soon after, what followed were the awkward first phone calls. After the second week of phone conversations he let me know he told his daughter that he had a new girlfriend. This should have set off an alarm in my head. Instead I was flattered. A flight attendant’s life could at times be very lonely, and a friendly voice during a layover in Alaska or Kuwait was better than watching an episode of the Golden Girls.

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Popularity: 5% [?]

by Ed Attanasio

Because I am a writer, many of my friends ask me all the time to write their online profiles to post on dating web sites. I always feel like it’s a big commitment — kind of like writing someone’s resume or biography. There’s a lot at stake and the pressure to write something really good about someone can be very exhausting, because many of my friends are highly dysfunctional. How do you effectively describe the essence of a human being in just a few paragraphs? Without lying or opening yourself up to a civil suit?

I must admit, I have gotten pretty adept at it over the years. The secret to writing a great profile is to emphasize the good things about people while minimizing their shortcomings. Stretching the truth slightly is no crime and many people do it.

No matter how bad or messed up some people are, you can usually find something positive to write about them. They say that Attila the Hun was really nice to his elephants (“loves animals”). Hitler was a vegetarian (“healthy and fit”). And legend has it that Genghis Khan took really good care of his fu manchu (“well-groomed”).

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Popularity: 13% [?]

by Paul G Akins Jr.

Dating can be summed up in one word, annoying. The whole process and all of the games involved irritate the hell out of me. Which is why when my friends suggested that I give online dating a try I politely said hell no.

But after about a month of harassment and ridicule I signed up to a few sites to test my luck. I was surprised by the shear number of sites and how many lonely and horny women there are out there. All just waiting for Mr. Right, but for right now they’ll settle for Mr. Big Johnson and Sir Quick Tongue.

I met a few women online but one stands out. Her names was, well you don’t really need to know her name—besides it was bootyluscious or lickous or something. Her real name wasn’t important, however her butt was. From the pictures she had on her site this girl had a nice big, juicy, yet firm butt.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

by Sara Hodon.

Online dating is not for the faint of heart. It’s good if you post a profile but don’t have the highest expectations in the world, because more often than not, you’ll be disappointed. But if you’re considering trying it—congratulations! You’re far braver than about 80% of the single population out there.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m no stranger to the world of online dating. Though I haven’t met a bona fide, “Okay-I-must-be-leaving-now-because-you’re-too-weird-for-words” wacko, I’ve definitely had my share of bad experiences. The hard part is just getting through the date itself. This can be tricky, particularly if you seemed to hit it off so well when you first started talking. Sadly, my friends, a person can post as many pictures as they want, but until you experience the real thing, you can truly only take a picture at face value.

So the real question remains—how do you make it past those awkward moments on a first date?

Unfortunately, I really don’t recommend jumping out of the bathroom window—that is, unless you absolutely have no other choice. As a wise man once said, sometimes you just have to suck it up. It is possible to meet The One online (I know plenty of people who have), but it’s a lot like shopping for bargains—the trick is to sort through the rejects until you get to the one worth keeping.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

by E. Tracy Coker.

After several weeks of searching through the internet dating site I subscribed to, “Carl” (whose name has been changed) sent me a little message saying hello; from his profile and the things he said, he seemed like a nice guy. After a few days of e-mailing and a single phone call, Carl asked me to meet him at a subway station for a first date.

I was looking forward to this date. Carl not only seemed enthusiastic to meet me, but he was intelligent and seemingly down to Earth, as well. The real test was going to see if he looked anything like his picture.

I was a college student looking for a stable and loving relationship. He was a college graduate staying in Boston to attend dental school with the desire of becoming a dentist and opening his own practice. I’m no gold digger, but what girl doesn’t love an ambitious suitor?

Standing outside of the subway entrance, I watched people passing by, anxiously wondering which one of them would be Carl; finally, he emerged. He was handsome, just the right height for me, and I could feel our chemistry click. What I relief! Or so I thought.

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Popularity: 5% [?]

by Jason Nellis.

A warning to men everywhere: Don’t be stupid. I’ll be the first to admit, I am not, nor can I ever be, the perfect date or boyfriend. In fact, sometimes, I’ve been downright moronic. Chalk it up to being male (a commonly-blamed attribute), young (though this tends to shift—the older I get, the younger I claim to be), or impetuous (or, really, more like ADD, because—hey, look, a kitty cat!). Whatever the case may be, I’m not without faults. Most of the time, I end up getting myself into heaps of trouble by ignoring them rather than admitting to them.

Let me explain:

At the beginning of my junior year of college, I met a girl named Deanna. She was a freshman straight out of the South, twang and all. She was only four foot eleven, so I towered about a foot over her, but I found that more endearing than funny. She also called me on whatever BS I happened to be spewing (usually when I made outrageous claims to get attention, like “I invented the stapler.” I’m like that sometimes).

She was very cute, and I was very interested. So, of course, I made a move.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

by Andy Cowan.

WHY does perpetuating the species seem to hinge on hooking up with a person who inevitably has at least one major character flaw? Maybe it’s because if you stumbled upon someone who was absolutely perfect, you’d die.

But what if you lived? Like a dog chasing a car, would you even know what to do at the end of the chase?

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Popularity: 1% [?]

by Deb Preece.

I have been on-line dating for years and my experiences have been everything from instant infatuation to the most horrendous escape out a bathroom window you could possibly have imagined. The one date that comes to my mind was a dance I was meeting a gentleman at whom I had spoken with on line. We had a most wonderful time and after we escaped up into the canyons of Utah for a view of a waterfall and a couple of “smooches”. He took me back to my car (which by the way had just had its breaks done the day before the 50 mile travel to meet my new “beau”).

Driving home, dressed in black hose, red (sexy to say the least) dress and 2 inch heels, I was approaching a light, when all of a sudden the left front tire of my car falls of, sparks are flying everywhere, my car axel is dragging on the ground going 40 miles per hour, and my tire proceeds to roll across the center of the street, across the opposite traffic and down an embankment. I slam on my breaks and for a moment really wondered what had just happened. As I got my wits about me, I opened my door and saw that my tire had actually fallen off my car. Of course, with my deep knowledge of tire and car repair (if it can’t be fixed with a band aid and a pair of high heels, I’m in trouble). I just stood in the middle of University Avenue at 1:30 AM in the morning and started to cry.

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Popularity: 2% [?]