The 15 Minute Dating Blog

by Rose Johnson.

Wow! Not only is your online date good looking, suave, well-dressed, but a rock star/investment banker/rocket scientist? Sounds too good to be true — and, chances are — it might not be true at all. From my year or so of online dating, I’ve learned how to sort the good apples from the bad and I’d like to share some of the tricks I’ve picked up to background-checking potential dates.

It’s human nature to inflate our accomplishments, pat ourselves on the back, and brag a little, especially when you’re speaking to an attractive member of the opposite sex. In the context of online dating, it’s even easier to create a false persona, to portray ourselves in just the right light. It’s so easy to change a B.A. in English to a M.A. in Physics with just the switch of a single letter. It’s even easier to add an extra zero added to your yearly income. And when the time comes, it’s still easy to carry out this persona. A rented car to impress a date? Just make sure the Budget sticker is inconspicuous. A borrowed apartment? Not to worry, just insure that your date doesn’t notice the Metamucil in the medicine cabinet or the six bottles of vodka in the recycling – “it’s not mine! I swear!” might not cut it.

White lies are fine, we all want to impress our dates, but I want to give you the advice that I’ve learned for some good back-ground checking to make sure your date is really who they say are. On my first online date, after an hour of good conversation flirtatious eyelash-batting with “David,” the “stable Physics graduate student,” it leaked that he had been a “graduate” of college for ten years without a job, without a relationship, and was currently couch-surfing between friend’s pads. I’m not here to pass judgment on those couch-surfing unemployed guys – for all we know, they could be the one! – but I am here to pass judgment on liars. An unemployed creep with a thing for feet could be disguised as an upright investment banker and I’m here to tell you just how to distinguish the two.

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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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Ever wonder what’s a good DVD to pop in that will turn your date on and generate chemistry?

Well, look no further. Here is a list for 50 best date movies ever. My favorite from the list? It’s got to be Dirty Dancing and Casablanca!

However, I’m not quite sure how some of them made into the list. Movies like “The Descent”, “The Science of Sleep” are IMO just too bloody or too weird to be considered good date movies.

What do you think of the list? Do you think it missed anything?

One movie I think that should definitely be on the list is “A Knight’s Tale”, with crazy tale mixing jousting and classic rock songs. Heath Ledger was just amazing.

Another one is gotta be “Fatal Attraction”. Michael Doughlas and Glenn Close was really great! I like that scene when she sneaks in their house and she’s holding a butcher life cutting herself now isn’t that creepy!!

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Do you spend hours adjusting your dating profile in online matchmaking sites and browsing through endless profiles? What if you could outsource the task of finding your dream date to a team of people working 24 hours a day around the globe?

Tim Ferriss, a man who lives in San Jose and believes in outsourcing mundane tasks in one’s life, did just that.

After failing at several attempts to find love online and as a social experiment, Tim decided to contract out the work of finding him a date to various outsourcing teams. The teams he hired were located all over the world in India, Jamaica, among other places.

Some problems encountered during the process including one of the team just got too “creative” and decided to impersonate Tim in online conversations. Also, some outsourcing teams just plainly gave up as they couldn’t grasp the concept.

Publicity stunt or not, it seems like the team of contractors did actually deliver around 20 potential dates for Tim to pick from at the end.

Here’s the link to the original article in San Jose Mercury News.

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by Rick Fulks

Dating really sucks sometimes. Boy meets girl. Boy takes girl out to dinner. Awkward silences ensue. Hopefully the meal was good even if the conversation wasn’t. Afterwards you say goodnight and all you have left to look forward to is another date– just like this one–with a new person. I bet you can’t wait.

Maybe the cure for the dating doldrums is to spice things up a little bit. Do something different, something maybe even a little bit crazy. You’ll certainly have some stories to tell afterward, hopefully with your friends rather than with the police and media.

Do you think you and your date are up for some adventure? Good…here are some ideas to get you started.

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