Some of my early online dating adventures

If you follow me on Twitter, occasionally I will share some of the "interesting" characters I've found while online dating.

Yeah ... aren't you dying to have dinner with these guys?

((In light of yesterday's post, I feel like I should point out that I'm not saying these guys are bad catches, I just don't think they chose their main profile photos very wisely.))

I guess it's time to admit that I am not new to online dating.  In fact, you might say I'm somewhat of a veteran.

I dabbled in online dating in college and connected with Eric.  He was pretty cute and we had a lot in common.  Conversations flowed easily, so we decided to meet.  We got together for dinner and a movie. Cliche, but it worked.  I thought we had a good time, but nothing much happened after that.  Kind of disappointing, but it was just as well. I moved to Texas not long after that.  

My job as a newspaper reporter presented me lots of opportunities to meet people, but there weren't many I wanted to date (with very few exceptions), so I decided to give online dating another try.

My first meeting was Stephen.  He was very polite and funny.  I was kind of taken aback that he had no clue who Justin Timberlake was.  It was 2003.  Honestly.  The kid was everywhere.  Did Stephen live under a rock?  Apparently so.  I tried to talk to him about other current events, and he simply had no idea what was going on in the world.  I don't know what he did when he wasn't working.  We quickly ran out of things to talk about since he lacked any pop culture or current event knowledge.

Next up was Jason.  I actually got two dates with him.  One dinner/drinks.  And one night of fireworks (the literal kind ... in the air).  I met some of his friends and we had fun together. I liked him, but he kind of faded away after just those few dates.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Adam, the 19-year-old who was quite enamored with me.  (Please keep in mind that I was 23 at the time.) When we started talking, he'd just been dumped by his long-time girlfriend after they had sex for the first time, so his ego was pretty bruised.  He was nice enough though, and I really liked the fact that he was a semi-professional football player.  He was hot too.  Hotter than any guy I figured would give me the time of day.  But Adam was pretty persistent and relentless.  More than once, he called me late at night and asked me to "come take advantage" of him.  I never did, and I'm not sure if I regret it or not.  I really don't, actually.  Although it could have been fun.

I was pretty convinced this online dating thing was bogus until I met Tanner (yeah, another guy with that name).  We had similar tastes in music, and he absolutely understood my desire to drive all over the state to see John Mayer.  He'd never seen the man, but he enjoyed him, and at one point he mentioned that we should go to a Mayer show together.  I was geeked up.  Mayer was my biggest passion at the time, and to share it with someone cute would have been a dream.  Tanner and I met for dinner twice, and each time, we'd sit there for hours.  He called a few times a week, and our phone calls were marathons.  I've never been a big phone person (except with my mom and best friends), so the length of my calls with Tanner were significant to me. A month or so later, two friends from high school came to visit me, and Tanner met all of us at Billy Bob's for a Darryl Worley concert.  He wasn't a huge country fan, but he came anyway, and he got along well with my friends.  I thought it was going really well, but then Tanner dropped off the face of the earth.  One night, shortly before Christmas, we talked and he said, "I'll call you this weekend."  I guess his week was longer than mine becase I didn't hear from him again until April.  I was a little perturbed, but I took his call and gave him a chance to explain anyway.  He'd had a death in the family, which I accepted as a reasonable excuse for an absence (if only I'd seen "He's Just Not That Into You" back then) and agreed to meet him for dinner again.  We met a few days later, and, again, had a great time.  We talked about getting together again, but then he never called again.  Hmm.  Ok.

It's been eight years since I last heard from Tanner. I wish I could say things have gotten better since then, but that would be a lie.

Dating is hard. The single life is so much easier, and I'm kind of tempted to stick with that.  Until I hear another Tyrone Wells song that makes me think maybe I want to spend my life with someone. Maybe.