1000 web dates an in-the-trenches view of dating and relationships today

My Favorite Date

Several years ago, when bored and visiting Vancouver, a friend and I decided to dare each other to get a date. The rules were simple: talk someone up online, and meet them. She - being the much more artistic and creative of the two of us - chose to use Craigslist, and posted a quirky note basically asking to meet someone new via their iPod: bring their tunes and she'd bring hers for an exchange.

I went the more "traditional" route to finding a date: the online dating sites. I'd just recently discovered OkCupid, which a gal pal of mine had been touting for years. Think of it as a combo social networking site (where you can list your friends and post notes on each other's profiles), wiki (where you can change people's profiles if you think someone isn't accurate) and quiz/test site (where users create the matchmaking questions to see just how compatible you are with others). And since it's a free dating site.... well it was cheap and cheerful. Good enough for me.

So after answering a whole swack of questions, I messaged the top ten men in Vancouver that matched up with me on the compatibility scale. Or at least that was my intention, until I saw some of their pictures. To this day I still have no idea if the dude sporting the Pharoah costume, mullet and acid wash jeans was joking when he said in his profile he was into "very unusual" forms of interpretive dance. I mean, you'd think he was joking. And yet, he had an awful lot of photos that made it sem he was quite serious about his hobby. One even had him holding an award for it.

Of the remaning "normal" people, two profiles immediately jumped out at me. One was a 37-year-old man who had a striking resemblance to an ex of mine, although he had dark hair and the ex was blond. Oddly, OkCupid even told me the two of them were quite closely matched in the personality department. I sent him something witty yet dry, and hoped to hear back. I didn't hear a peep from him for over six months however, as I was later told he was out of the country at the time.

The second gent was a bit harder to pin down as to why he resonated with me. He was 30 years old, with short cropped hair, what looked to be a strong physique and only the faintest hint of a smile. His picture wasn't amazing and yet... it was very sexy in a subdued, "I have no idea I'm sexy" sort of way. He seemed intelligent yet quirky (listing two of his favorite things as being string and lego), sarcastic yet witty, and.... what was this? We both had recently spent time in Alberta and a couple of the same smaller BC communities. Is that perhaps why he looked so familiar to me?

So I sent him a quick email, which unbelievably I still have:

I'm in Van visiting family/friends after a stint one of the smaller islands, thinking perhaps I should take in the 'local color' a bit since I've been in Alberta for the past four years. Thus why I'm messaging you. Plus, we have an unusually high 'match', and I'm curious as to it's efficacy.

Then I read your profile! Seems we have a lot of locales in common. And now, I'm here.

Well, perhaps I'm grasping at straws. Would you be open to hitting a haunted house or something equally creepy/juvenile while I'm still perusing this lovely city?

For whatever silly reason, I was holding my breath for a response. So instead of waiting to hear back from the guy, I sent out more messages to my top candidates. Which, incidentally, I never heard back from any of them. Not a one.

But I had nothing to worry about, because the gent quickly replied:

I don't know of any haunted houses, as I guess I missed the ghost migrations this year. Though Playland is doing some SCARY(?) rides. Even better, we could go to Yaletown and check out what people would pay for furniture. Or see if people are still tanning at Wreck Beach! Or... something equally terrifying, I'm sure.

In short, I am intrigued to see how well we match up. I don't know how long you are here, so here's my msn...

Like I said: sarcastic yet witty, smart yet quirky. My kinda guy!

But wait. There was yet another message from him, saying:

ok, in case of dire emergency

Just after sending the last message, the internet went down in my area for a few hours... Dang construction.

So, for that reason, and you may leave at any time, and I am really curious as to who you are, and I don't think you are some creepy stalker... here's my phone number.

And if you ARE a creepy stalker, cool! We can compare notes!

After excitedly telling my friend about my online email encounter, she informed me that she too had "met" someone, and was making plans to meet them down the street at a local coffee shop shortly. Did my guy want to come along too?

Why not? I thought, so I checked MSN to see if he was around. He was. And so, an hour later, we'd have our first 'date'.

Stay tuned for what happened... I'll post the rest of the story soon.