Flying, Strangers and Anxiety Medication
Jittery as I was before the Hawaii flight, Megan marched me to a cafe at the airport and told me to get a drink. While she sipped a respectable Earl Gray tea, I powered through a Bloody Mary (not typically my morning brew of choice) and prayed the empty stomach I’d awoken with meant the […]
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Preparation HI
When I was 10-almost-11, I flew to Hawaii by myself to visit my grandparents. As one of eight grandchildren (one of seven granddaughters, my brother blessed with being the only boy) it was a treat with sprinkles, a whipped cream and multiple cherries to get to spend a week alone with Betty and Bill. I […]
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Interviews : Dating
If only there were an SAT ratio question about dating, I’d probably have at least a few more points on the standardized test that terrorized me. You can tell just how well I did at that exact test based on the fact that I can’t even remember the fancy-pants name of those trickster queries. Clearly […]
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Dating Facades: Good Idea or Bad Idea?
Anyone who didn’t meet the love of their life in grade school has, at some point or another, sought advice. Some of us picked up a Cosmo or a GQ, some of us Googled “How do I attract another person?” and some of us discussed endlessly with best friends and strangers alike the nuances of […]
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Meeting Neil Strauss – Actually
If it wasn’t clear yesterday, I’ll say it now: I had a severe case of ‘fan-girl’ syndrome descending upon me as we pulled into Neil Strauss’ driveway – not the best way to enter any situation, let alone one where I’m supposed to be composed and in charge. Megan was busy assessing space and filming […]
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Meeting Neil Strauss – Preamble
The morning after Disneyland and Craigslist dating, I was a bit of a wreck. See, before I left on the 50/50 road trip, a friend of mine who has asked to remain anonymous handed me his copy of Neil Strauss’ The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pick Up Artists. “You might be interested in this,” my […]
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The Dark Matter of Breakups
One of the downfalls of dating – and of being a human who goes outside (or even of the Boo Radley variety for that matter) – is the aftermath of breakups. Since the whole fifty dates project was inspired by a heartbreaking work of breakuppery, ghosts of relationships past have certainly wafted through my mind […]
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Memos About Dating You Missed While You Were Married
Divorcee’s and singletons who recently exited over five-year long relationships, take heed: a brave new datingverse emerged while you were coupled up. Whether you’re the wring-your-hands-and-fret type, or the cool-cucumber-pretend-dating-doesn’t-exist type, it is clear that you’re going to want to meet someone special eventually. While I can’t tell you what the dating landscape will look […]
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Craigslist Personals: A Sample of LA Responses
Before we were even near the Grapevine, Megs and I had decided to try a new dating tactic: speed dating in Disneyland. Which meant I needed a date (or two, three, four, five) fast. And in order to not feel weird about suggeting a five minute to hour long date with someone, I needed men […]
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A Detour to Shangri-L.A.
As previously noted through two separate posts (here and here,respectively), the final dates for 50/50 were spread out a bit due to about ten gagillion things. One of those gagillions was a long-awaited trip to Los Angeles to interview pickup-artist extraordinaire – and incredibly likable human being and menace of a critical thinker – Neil Strauss. Once […]
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