Well y'all things have changed pretty drastically for me in the past few months. Suddenly single I have found myself weighing my options for dating and wondering what approaches might be best as I don't find meeting dudes in a bar very appealing. I'm entirely sure that "shitfaced" is a first impression I'm not inclined to favor thus leaving me to think that the bar should not be more than a once in awhile venture. My job is not exactly a hotbed of available men either. Well, they may be available but due to the fact that words like retiree, geriatric, walker and senior citizen are not on my list of desirable attributes so that's not gonna work either.

So, you are welcome to laugh if you'd like but I decided to try online dating. I'll not divulge what site or sites I'm using but I thought I'd give it a try...what have I got to lose? I did try this approach once before in my early 20s and found several of the weirdest people I've ever met but I'm going to be all "glass half full" and hope that the quality of people is directly proportionate to the increased popularity of online dating.

So far so good. One date with a nice guy that I would absolutely spend more time with. He did it right....a few emails...a phone call....the first meeting/date. So, I've got one that has done it right. I consider that a success. Will it go any where? I guess that depends on him....

Now having one success also means that there have been many misses. This leads me to some advice I have for guys out there who are thinking of making a dating profile..

1. Your pictures. Let's face it guys the ladies want to see what you look like. Shallow? Yup. But you know that goes both ways so get over it. Here's some picture advice:

• don't put up more than one pic of yourself and a group of people, you don't need to convince me you have friends and it's annoying to try to figure out which one is you.
• don't put up pictures so small that they require me to squint, makes me think you're probably ugly and you know it
• don't put up pictures of you in your underdrawers - leave me something to look forward to please. Also, it makes me think you might be a manwhore
• pictures of you with children can work for you or against you...just depends on what you are looking for. 
• make 'em recent pics fellas. If you're profile says your 37 and your pics showcase your 27 year old self we know and our first thought is that you either got fat, didn't age well or have no life and therefore no recent pics.
• save the mirror pics taken with your cell phone for Facebook...can't afford a digital camera?

2. Don't make me a "favorite" without sending me an email or some form of communication. it's like being stalked by some freak afraid to talk to you.

3. Don't email me with nothing more than "hi" or ":o)". If you don't have anything more than that to say we probably won't get along so I'll just delete your email.

4. Don't tell me you'll call and then you don't. Just say...sorry I'm not interested. Easy. I'm not going to throw myself off a bridge if you don't like me.

So there it is. Stay tuned as I dip my toes back in the dating pool.