Goin' Shopping

I've often asked myself whether I am doing everything I can to find a husband.  The answer is invariably "no".  (I don't smile enough, I don't wear lipstick (according to my mom, this could be a key to getting dates), etc.) One of the things I haven't done is on-line dating.  It's always seemed really odd to me, as I wonder what is wrong with those men that they can't find someone in "real life".  But then, what is wrong with me, that I can't find someone in "real life"?  I've also got issues with putting myself and my personal information (which is whatever I don't feel comfortable sharing with anyone other than my few closest friends) out on the web for total strangers to see.  (Yes, this could explain why I write as "Fran"'.)

Anyway, for a while now I've felt like, if I'm really serious about wanting to get married, I need to actually start looking for a husband.  And what better place to look than in the man store, otherwise known as on-line dating?  Seriously, I finally signed up a couple weeks ago, and after figuring out that the men weren't going to start hunting me down simply because I signed up, I actually signed in and did some browsing.  It is the weirdest thing - kind of like on-line shopping.  You can browse the merchandise (search for men) for whatever you're interested in, make a wish list (flirt), but you don't have the ability to singlehandedly put merchandise in your shopping cart. You have to ask the merchandise if it wants to get into your shopping cart.  If the merchandise agrees, then i suppose you'd have to ask the merchandise again at checkout whether it was OK for you to complete the purchase.  Or maybe somewhere in the process the roles shift, and you become the merchandise in someone else's cart, and he will ask you if it's OK to complete the purchase.

However it works, it's certainly a different experience.  Will it work for me?  Who knows.  I've heard plenty of stories about people who have met on-line and have wonderful relationships.  Perhaps the most convincing story is one I discovered myself - as I was "browsing the merchandise", I came across my cousin's profile.  This particular cousin hasn't had a serious (or possibly any?) girlfriend for far longer than I haven't had a serious (or non-serious) boyfriend.  His profile now says something along the lines of "I'm now in a relationship with a lovely lady, thanks for your interest".  If he can get merchandise in his shopping cart, so can I.

The Importance of Being Happy (and Earnest)

My brother once told me, "if you're not happy, you're doing something wrong."  As you might imagine, hearing this did not make me happy.  Although I eventually accepted that he was right.  And I am learning that he was right in terms of meeting men as well.

Through my incredibly scientific research (watching the men at the homeless shelter where I volunteer), I have discovered that being happy (or at the very least appearing to be happy), can have great benefits in terms of developing relationships with the opposite gender.  I don't do much at the shelter besides open lockers, so a while ago I decided that my real job there is to be nice, which I accomplish mainly by smiling at the clients.  The response is wonderful; of the ones who are aware enough to notice me smiling, I'd say 95% smile back and either attempt to engage me in conversation, or respond to my attempts to engage them in conversation.  Lesson learned?  If I want a guy to talk to me, I should start by smiling at him.

On a completely unrelated note, notwithstanding all of my great efforts, my shower still leaks.  But I can still be happy because a) my renovation scab has healed, b) my dad may be coming to visit soon and he can fix it for me, and c) (probably the best one) I have another shower I can use.