To date or not to date?

Oh my God I'm bored! Sadly I've been very poorly this week, to the point where I ended up in A&E on Monday, not ideal!  So now I'm stuck in bed for the week, feeling physically exhausted and mentally frustrated!  Why is it you recover mentally so much faster than you recover physically?  I've got so much I want to do (including going back to work), but I'm knackered walking 10 steps to the kitchen - that's the kitchen in my flat, not the one downstairs - how completely ridiculous!  I'm not happy!

So, let's chat!

I hate internet dating sites, it's like Carry On Loving, but without the comedy and the distinct risk of ending up with a psychopath!  I hate the idea of 'talking' to someone and seeing static images of them, before you even know what the moving image looks like or what their voice sounds like.  I hate the idea of my grandchildren asking how we met and me saying, well, luckily my internet connection was working that day and while I gazed lovingly at my mac, I realised the 2D image looking back at me was the man of my dreams...!  Not exactly the fairytale story I was hoping for; my idea of Prince Charming did not come via fibre optic broadband!  So, you may now scream hypocrite at your screens, because I have joined up!  Yes, sadly I have several friends who have met online and being in the position where I just don't meet nice guys, I've succumbed to the temptation and created a profile!  I like to think of it as my online, emotional/mental CV - please read with care!  I still hate everything about this impersonal way of meeting people, but I have realised that there may be some ok ones out there thinking the same as me.  Firstly I was surprised at just how many people there are who think the same as me... there were, quite literally, hundreds all saying the same thing "I just don't meet the right kind of people on nights out".  I'm very sociable, I get on with anyone, I can chat to anyone, I have lots of friends, put me in a room full of people and I'll get on with 90% - the problem is, I don't meet nice, funny, genuine single guys anymore.  They're all married, living with someone or gay.  The worst part is that when they say they're attached, they still give me their phone number and suggest we meet up! As if not meeting anyone was bad enough, meeting perspective cheaters is even worse!

Beware the one's who say they're normal!

I met one guy; really nice, funny, very very cute, good job, lived quite far away, but that's ok, lots in common, got on really well, we'll call him Pete.  Arranged to meet up, but then he got last minute football tickets to see West Ham - not ideal, but ok, it was a good match, he apologised, rearranged, I agreed a second chance (I am, after all a semi-nice person).  The we arranged to meet up in Windsor one night after work; he text as I as getting in the car to say he was tired!  Hmmm! Second chance and he spectacularly bombed!  The point being, he had no idea what he'd done wrong.  He said such gems as "you won't have made special effort though, I bet you look the same as you do any night" and "well, I'm free the rest of the week or the weekend" - yeah I bet you are... wonder why!  After a few well-worded/advisory texts I told him exactly where to go and to stop wasting my time.

I met another guy who was very graphic about how he's like to meet me and what I should be wearing... enough said!

I've been emailing several people who all seem very nice and normal and take an interest in me blah blah blah, but no one who really makes me go WOW (except Pete, sadly he did - look what happened there)! So how successful is this 'dating game' likely to be?  Ordinarily you filter the men in your life through visual, auditory and mental clues when you see them, speak to them and get to know them.  It can be as simple as when they walk across the room (think rude-boy swagger), open their mouth and say something ridiculous (think Joe Pasquale's voice), or when they text "hows u doin m8" (grammar snob alert)!  But how much of an informed decision can you make when your computer filters the results for you??  This also begs the absurd question of what on earth do I sound like online?  My profile says I'm interested in the theatre, socialising, dancing, wining and dining and F1.  Some have said that I sound 'reassuringly normal and honest' because I don't go on about how important my family is - so do they assume I'm a cold-hearted b*tch?  The truth is I do care about my family and friends more than anything, money is so unimportant to me that I spent 3 years volunteering doing the job I get paid to do now, I make an insane amount of lists and have slight/moderate OCD.  If I put that on paper, who am I going to attract?  The fact is, no profile is an honest review of your personality, you need to meet in person and get to know someone before you realise any of this stuff is true/false/right/wrong.  Profile's are like Facebook - you're in danger of representing the person you want to be, not the person you are.

Question: do I keep the profile, see what happens, meet some people and get back in the so-called dating game? OR scrap the profile, keep going out and meeting the wrong people, hope that something works out?  Is either way better than the other?  Is either any more real than the other?  Does either make me more or less of a loser?  Hmmm, I'll keep you posted!