Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Bachelor # 2

So two guys remain from my three day trial on Match two weeks ago, and it looks like I'm going to meet one of them this Sunday. Let's call him Dale. I think I initiated contact on this one. His profile read well and met my basic requirements, and he's very cute; he has lots of photos, so you know he isn't using the "one" good shot from two years ago.

Perceived upsides: He seems very excited about God and his relationship with Him. From our e-mails, it seems that there's nothing casual about his faith, and that's a huge plus. He asks a ton of questions (more than me), and we share some interests like traveling (everyone on Match seems to travel all the time though; one guy's profile read as follows:

"{advice to single women} Stop traveling. Having read quite a few profiles, uh portraits or whatever, on this site I've determined that travel causes singleness. I mean, EVERY girl on this site likes to travel...the correlation is undeniable. So, my advice to people that want to meet someone is to stay in one place. I'm kidding of course (I love to travel too) but I do wonder if people that like to travel are worried that they need to see everywhere first before the settle down. Maybe they need to date everyone before they settle down as well. Hmmmmm. Deep thoughts. Jack Handy would be proud.")

Hilarious. So anyway, Dale is 35, well-educated (and we attended the same undergrad), and seems like a genuine guy.

Perceived downside: Nothing important so far (since we've only e-mailed). I kind of hate to write this, even though it's the truth, but it's a slight negative in my mind that he's so into car racing (we're talking about a myspace page with a race car as the background). He races/owns cars himself and loves going to races and all of that. And I guess I have a negative attitude toward that kind of stuff--for no real reason. And what he does sounds better than NASCAR--where they just go in a circle, which seems dumb to me. He does actual routes with variables like turns and whatnot but still. What do I know? I do lots of things that I think are dumb (maybe I shouldn't be so judgmental:). I've never been to a race, and when Dale Ernhardt died, I thought he was a player for the Braves. Oh, by brother-in-law Billy Bob and his dad, however, went into mourning. I digress. I have several good friends who love those races--even more reason to keep an open mind.

So anyway, all of that is non-essential since hobbies are not deal-breakers (cats don't count as a hobby do they?:). Just thought I'd share my limited thoughts on Dale, so that I'm not keeping anyone in the dark or as GLB suggested, wasting valuable blogging material.

p.s. I never heard from Mr. 5.9, so maybe he thought I asked too many questions (as AM suggested). Or looked too exhausted. Anyway, it's almost Friday!! Yeah!

17 comments:

ReadItDaddy said...

LOL at "the one good photo from 2 years ago" - do people do that?

Dammit I'd better start cycling my profile pic on a regular basis then.

Good luck, hope it goes fantastically well AllyJack :)

Peej
x

Aaron said...

I agree with "that guy". I've noticed an incredible amount of people in online dating (even in my limited experience) that love to travel. I think so many correlations can be made between that and other topics. Perhaps failure to commit, spending money, etc. Or maybe they're just adventurous, like to have a good time, or who knows?

And to answer Peej's question: Yes and you had better believe it.

GreenLineBoy said...

NASCAR. Another reason to move north.

I can see your concern. I always get weirded out by people who are too into something.

I've never really understood traveling. I enjoy it but yet it's such an intangible. I enjoy people more. I'd rather sit down and get to know a person from another country and know them for a lifetime rather than visit their country for a week.

Allen Madding said...

hmm, as I raced stock cars for 12 yrs and still work a sideline covering NASCAR as a journalist, should I take offense? LOL

You thought Dale Earnhardt was a baseball player? Do you live under a rock? Probably not considering the terrain in your area :)

Give the guy a chance, he may expand your horizons. Racing has a lot more class and money involved than you might think at first blush.

Ryane said...

Yeah, give him a chance. He sounds like a good guy and you will never know. Besides--I think it's a good thing when couples aren't ALways into exactly the same stuff, you know?

anne said...

Give it a go - got nothing to lose really.

What did you decide after 5.9 called? Willing to give that another chance?

Have you considered the Christian dating sites? Wondering if those have any reputations/success stories?

Douglas said...

As someone that grew up in racing and even worked for a bit in Charlotte in the racing biz...I take offense. You just stereotyped the guy. (I am the king of stereotyping..btw) I know tons of really smart, driven people that race. And LOTS of RICH ones too. Do you want to be lumped in with "Lawyers"? Or even more specifically "Female Lawyers"...I think we both understand those stereotypes well.

At least he's passionate about something. I must confess, I have met VERY few "christian racers"...although my best friend was one...but anyway.

Yeah..."I like to travel" is trite as hell. Who doesn't like to go places and who is gonna market themselves with "love to stay at home with my cat and eat breakfast at Denny's EVERY Saturday morning."? ?

megabrooke said...

Good luck on Sunday- looking forward to the recap.

Ally said...

Peej: Well if you look the same, it's not as big of a deal. But when you're hair has changed colors or disappeared, you've gained 30 pounds, etc.....it's a bit misleading.

Aaron: I'm not even sure there's a correlation; I just thought that guys' hypothesis was hilarious. His entire profile was fun.

GLB: I know what you mean about people who are obsessed with something (some golfers, hunters, etc.), but on the flip side, sometimes I wish I had a passion like that too. As for traveling, I definitely love it; connecting with individuals is always a bonus.

Allen: Like I said, I'm keeping an open mind because this is honestly not something I've been exposed to. And yes, I think I thought that b/c Dale Murphy was a player at some time....

Ryane: I totally agree. I could never be with someone who didn't have some independent interests.

e.b.: Mr. 5.9 didn't call, so nothing to decide:) The three day trial on Match was enough for me. Online dating makes dating feel like a chore to me (at least it does right now) and just one more thing I need to tend to.

anne said...

Oh I misread - so much for attention to detail.

I totally agree and I found it very time consuming with diminshing returns.

Anonymous said...

Dale, its he who can make the sell.
His commentary and questions are swell.
He likes to drive his car.
He may have taken the racing thing too far.

Dale is the man
He's the one who will understand.

Ally said...

Anon: HILARIOUS. I'm impressed. Thanks for my first laugh of the day!

e.b.: I think I skim everything and often miss details.

brookem: Thanks!

Billy: I don't even know enough about racing to form a stereotype of racers, although I do admit that I have an unfounded negative perception of racing generally. And the fact that rich people do it doesn't matter to me. I'm just being honest--and actively trying to have an open mind about it since I know that might unfounded feelings aren't "right." Not sure what else I can do. Hence the date on Sunday. And I get plenty of the "female lawyer" bit, but things like that don't bother me so much. The stereotyper is the one losing out, after all. And believe it or not, I've seen profiles that include a bit too much detail about one's cat.

Allen Madding said...

WOW, how did Dale find your blog? :)

ella said...

Definitely try hard to keep an open mind. Dale might be nothing like his profile or e-mails once you meet him in person. So maybe he likes to race a bit....but it's always good to have hobbies that are different from you mates.

Ally said...

Allen: Ha ha, lets hope not:)

Ella: You're right, and I think I succeeded in keeping an open mind.

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