When I was getting my hair cut last week I had a bewildering conversation with my hairdresser. She is a friendly, chatty young woman who talked to me about all sorts of things including how she had once been forced to run down the hallway of the mall to get away from a stalking ex-boyfriend. […]
I have a friend in her late thirties who has many friends in the same age group. They are single and looking for life partners but finding that the dating world is not as rewarding as they would like it to be. I have known my friend for several years, and in that time she […]
I have been nominated for four blogging awards in the past, and I am pleased and honoured to have been considered. The process, however, requires a kind of chain-letter nomination of other bloggers, and this makes me a little uncomfortable. In the spirit of recognizing great blogs, though, I do want to thank the people who […]
I’m best before dates, too.
This morning, I had coffee with a new friend and in talking about travel he asked me if I had ever been to Italy. I said that I had, but the most striking memory I had of the place was of the pinching, patting and propositioning that I experienced while walking in the streets. That […]
I have been travelling with a laptop that is smaller and lighter than my usual laptop, and it has been driving me slightly crazy. At one point I was tempted to throw it out of the window of a high-rise in Chicago. Aside from the fact that I am still familiarizing myself with its capabilities, […]
I just cancelled a hiking date, and now I feel so much better. I like taking long walks in cities or in parks, alone or with friends, so this event made sense. It was a Match.com Stir event, which means that it was set up to introduce subscribers to each other. It was a good […]
I recently asked one of my children to search my name online to find out what bubbled to the surface. It turned out to be more-or-less what I expected: my Facebook public profile, some comments I posted in the Globe and Mail, some student feedback on RateMyProfessor.com, and so on. I wanted to know what […]
I just read a dating site profile of a man who chose to illustrate his page with two pictures showing him holding a dead fish. Think about it, guys. If there were to be a sexual connotation to this, what would that be? Exactly. I’m pretty sure men don’t see the same things in their […]
It wasn’t until the third phone call that he said “I have a confession to make. I’m older than I said in my profile.” “By how much?” I asked. “Eight years. I’m 79. Did you tell the truth about your age?” “Yes, I did.” “Oh, that’s too bad,” he replied.
I signed on to another dating site. It was an accident, I swear! It came about because I joined AARP (American Association of Retired Persons). I did that because they have all sorts of good discounts and good advice on things like health care insurance. I only went to that website because I was looking […]
When I meet a man at a family gathering, he sees me in an atmosphere of comfort that goes back decades. My family members and I know each others’ histories and we know how to tease each other safely. When I meet a man at work, he sees me surrounded by people who know what I […]
As I get ready for my return drive to Alberta next week, I find myself with a quandary. I have a decision to make about where to live in Canada and I’m seeking your advice. I usually have a difficult time making choices, and the more selection I have the more difficult that becomes. I […]
The Internet, among its many blessings, has given us Meetup.com. For someone like me who wants people to play with, Meetup.com is wonderful. I know someone who has signed on with fifty-two groups. Fifty-two! In fact, I met her today at a meet-up. We were on a five-mile walk. She was wearing four layers of […]
I had thought that trying to see the good in people was a positive trait, but it turns out I’m only seeing the 75% friend and not the 25% enemy. The online dating site OKCupid has many interesting characteristics. It has quizzes to take, questions to answer, and lots of ways to filter profiles. One […]
Recently, I dated a man who approved of me. He didn’t like me, exactly, but he approved. We got along really well. We shared a similar family background and interest in post-secondary education. We were the same age, laughed at the same things, and enjoyed some of the same music. He was delightful company and […]
I never learned how to barter. I never needed to. Nearly everything I have bought was sold for the price on the sticker. Oh, I did learn how to negotiate for cars and houses, but the expectations of the deals were pretty clear to all concerned. There was no real need for posturing or threatening to […]
A woman recently mentioned to me that she had a copy of the Beatles’ white album in mint condition. I speculated that it was probably worth a lot of money now. It took only forty years for the Beatles’ white album to change its meaning from being a symbol of revolution to being an investment; […]
Today, I checked my workplace email and yelled “Oh no!” very loudly; my neighbours upstairs probably heard me. My work-related email, that I had deliberately kept free of personal mail, now included an email from Isaac. This is a circumstance as unwelcome and unexpected as spilling red wine on a white blouse during a first […]
I’m easy to talk to. I like to find out about people, what makes them tick. I am quite good at asking open-ended questions that encourage descriptive answers. These, I think, are good characteristics. What I am finding, though, is that after a “first date” with someone, he nearly always thinks that we have bonded because the conversation […]
Snowbird of Paradise 