Original cover art by the talented Jenn Guo

This is part 3 of a 6 part series about my personal experience with online dating. Click here to see other parts to this series. Stay tuned for more!

I have to admit, signing up for an account and browsing the profiles for the first time was pretty exciting. It was like… how can I make a comparison? Let’s see, it was like I just discovered a bunch of new blogs, some of which were really cool, and some of the bloggers were hot, and there was the potential of hooking up with them! (Seriously, blog readers, don’t you wish you could hook up with all the interesting & hot bloggers out there? You know where to find me. )

Well, that was the feeling at first anyway.

But after a few days, it felt like… let’s find an appropriate simile. It felt like it was elementary school all over again, and we’re picking teams for the next game during recess, and I’m the last to get picked…. again. Except, instead of one team getting stuck with me, the meanies decide they should just play without me, and I’m left to cry silently by the wall while trying to hide my gushing river of tears. That’s exactly what it felt like.

No replies. After putting my heart and soul into those witty, brief, and charmingly written messages, I received nothing! Not even a “No thanks!” It was like sending messages into the void. Honestly, I think if I had built a radio transceiver out of toothpaste, pre-chewed gum, and a paperclip, MacGyver style, and tried to contact possible extra-terrestrial life forms in Alpha Centauri to get a date, I might have gotten more replies.

What’s the problem? Was I going at it all wrong?

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Original cover art by the talented Jenn Guo

This is part 2 of a 6 part series about my personal experience with online dating. Click here to see other parts to this series. Stay tuned for more!

When I started this online dating adventure, I ran the idea over with a few of my friends and got a mix of reactions.

There was “Oh, I think this will be a very interesting scientific experiment. You should try to separate the variables and see how each one affects the success rate. For example, change your profile picture around or alter your height and tally the ratio of messages sent to messages received.” (Did I tell you all my friends are engineers?)

Of course, there was also “Ugh, I don’t know man… think about it: how many hot, intelligent, attractive, non-serial-killer chicks do you know who are single? Do you think they need to resort to online dating to find a date? You’re going to meet lots of ugly chick and freaks.” (Yeah, thanks a lot dude. Let’s see, if I did know a ton of hot, intelligent, attractive, non-serial-killer chicks who are single, we wouldn’t be having this unfortunate conversation right now. I’d be on a date.)

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If you find yourself looking for a bit of fun this Saturday evening after stuffing your face at the Taste of the Danforth, might I suggest an evening of head-nodding hip-shaking fun at the Silver Dollar Room, with the incredibly talented and – most of all – fun Mr. Something Something.

Mr. Something Something is a Toronto band, currently in the midst of a cross-Canada tour (I stumbled upon them in St. John’s NFL a week ago – the lead singer sporting a “Free Newfoundland” shirt no less). They’re an afrobeat band, whatever that means: groovy, jazzy, throbbing beats, and so fun they’ll have you on your feet dancing to the music in no time.

WHAT: Mr. Something Something
(Careful: the preceding link will play a song when you open it so mute your speakers if you’re at work!)
WHEN: 10pm, Saturday August 11, 2007
WHERE: Silver Dollar Room, Spadina and College
$$$: $10

Original cover art by the talented Jenn Guo

Let’s see… I’ve been single for exactly… ah, we’d better not get into that. Let’s just say it’s been a while. Okay, a long while.

Why? I probably shouldn’t touch this one with a ten foot stick, but… I’m feeling reckless. Sure, I don’t have Brad Pitt’s chiseled jaw line, or Brad Pitt’s picturesque pecs, or Brad Pitt’s fame and fortune. But all that means is that I’m not Brad Pitt… how many people are anyway? (One. And the last time I checked, he was getting it on with none other than Angelina Jolie… but back to me.) I think I’m pretty datable. I have a face. The mirror doesn’t crack when I look at myself in the morning. I have hobbies (other than blogging). All in all, a fine catch, if I do say so myself.

I think the main problem is my line of work. Big surprise, graduate school in Electrical Engineering isn’t the cornucopia of women I imagined it to be. (And dear reader, if you are a female in grad school in electrical engineering, you’re either taken, or you should send me a note. You know where to find me). Outside of school, I do go to bars and clubs. And then there are house parties and friends of friends. But so far, I’m still a veteran MVP of Team Single.

So, anyway, since I’ve always been curious about online dating, I figured I’d give it a try. Sure, it still had a bit of “oh, are you that desperate?” taboo… but come on, what do I have to lose?

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Dear readers, I’m sure you have noticed that the frequency of postings here on blogUT has been rather sparse. For that, I’m really sorry. Unfortunately, being in Japan and all, I’m running short on time and energy to update the blog as frequently as before.

However, we do have other intrepid bloggers on the prowl, and occasionally, they’ll be bringing you cool, awesome content. Also, I’ve started my series iDate: A Personal Account of My Venture into Online Dating. If you haven’t done so, please subscribe to our RSS feed so you can keep updated on our content without having to check back every time. If you’re not sure what RSS feeds are, please read our guide to RSS.

As it stands, there’s not a whole lot going on at the University of Toronto over the summer. And I trust our good friends over at Torontoist and BlogTO to keep you up to date on Toronto happenings.

Please enjoy the summer everyone! We’ll be back and better than ever in the new school year! Oh and by the way, we’d love it if you’d join us!