First Person Singular by Wendy Braitman

End of Dating Week Zen

I’m grateful for your stories and encouragement during this first week back on Match.

Image via newyorkshitty

Does Match.com Really Think This Man is Right For Me?

Today, I got an email alert with 9 potential matches. This is from one of the profiles:

Why? by Lee Jung

CONTEST deadline tomorrow!

How To Stay in the Game

Favorite new quote:   “If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate.”
– Thomas Watson Sr., former CEO of IBM

The artwork above is part of an exhibit called The Happy Show in which graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister visually explores his journey in cognitive therapy, meditation and mood-altering pharmaceuticals to train his mind to be happier.

Report from the Dating Front: Can You Hear Me?

I recently had a meet and greet with a man who didn’t ask me a single question. Maybe he was nervous. But I was too. By the end of our 75 minutes together, I’d learned where he was born, grew up, went to college, what foods he likes, the car he drives, what his father did for a living and where his daughter lives. I got a sense of his taste, the books he reads and the last movie he saw. If asked, I don’t believe this man could answer a single, substantive thing about me, except maybe what I looked like, and even that I’m not sure. On a human level, wasn’t he the least bit curious? I haven’t been on a date in awhile. But this felt so familiar. And it made me want to scream.

Image via Stuff & Son

Enough Questions. Give Me Poetry.

Emily Dickinson was born on this day in 1830, and she said: “If I read a book [and] it makes my whole body so cold no fire ever can warm me, I know that is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.”

Check out our contest. Entry deadline, Friday, December 14.

Artwork (2nd post in a row) by the great Barbara Kruger

End of Week Zen

Enter our CONTEST for a chance to win a copy of The Round House by Louise Erdrich.

Artwork by Barbara Kruger

Dating Safety Zone

Now that I’m back on Match after a long break, I’m feeling rusty and protective, as I try to get up the nerve to meet someone for coffee. When did I become such a wimp?

Contest: How to Survive the Holidays If You’re Single

Christmas decorations are up, festive parties begin, and the 2012 holiday season gets underway. This is a high stress time of year, whether you’re overextended or underinvited. To sweeten the experience, FPS has a new contest, and the winner will get a copy of The Round House by Louise Erdrich, which just won the National Book Award. To enter, answer the question: what is your best single tip for surviving the holidays. Submit your entry using the Comments section. Include your first name. If you win, we’ll email for your U.S. shipping address, and telephone number. By submitting you’ll become an FPS subscriber (if you’re not already). Please submit only one tip per entry, though feel free to enter as often as you like. Deadline is December 14.

Safety in Numbers by Matthew Quick

So You Think You Can Dance?

It’s the season of hope and miracles (see my post from yesterday). This 1942 photo by Gordon Parks is of young dancers at the Frederick Douglass Housing Project in Anacostia, Washington DC.

Tomorrow, I’m announcing a new contest. Please check back.

Getting Back to Online Dating While Grumbling

Match.com just reeled me in. I hadn’t subscribed for a while, but they continued to send emails of potential matches. I’d occasionally glance at the profiles, only to be reminded of why I hate online dating. But home alone this Saturday night, I came across a profile that intrigued me. He was cute, seemed decent, we share political values and he’d just finished reading War & Peace. I winked (my only tool as a nonsubscriber). Sunday morning, I got an alert from Match that I “sparked someone’s interest.” My heart fluttered. And so I reregistered for 3 months, which will take me through the beginning of March and cover my annual New Year’s resolution to get back to online dating. Wouldn’t you know, not a word from War & Peace guy. Keep you posted.