YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    Dan About Town

    • How to not look cool on a datePeople often read this blog and think it's made up. I counter that with two arguments.

      One: if I was going to make things up the blog would be a lot more exciting than it is. A lot of the stories in the blog are unremarkable, but that's because I'm just telling you what really happened.

      Two: if the blog was made up, I'd make myself look far cooler.

      Now I'm going to tell you a story that reinforces theory number two — a story I am embarrassed to tell, even from behind my cloak of anonymity.

      And before you expect anything salacious, I should warn you that nothing spectacular happens in this tale, it just simply makes me look pathetic. And I don't really want to share it, but I told some friends the story and they thought it was funny — and everyone yearns to be funny. So...

      I met Laura for a date at a stupidly late hour: 11.30pm, at her request. I'd been working late in Soho (nothing seedy) and that's when I was free. I gave her the once-over on her arrival and was slightly disappointed

      Read More »

    • Young couple talking to each other © RexNot for the first time, I've had a million dollar dating idea that I am giving away for free because I can't be bothered to do anything about it.

      It was inspired by a story I read about Parisian women going window shopping for men. Although this appears to objectify men, I decided that I wouldn't actually mind standing motionless behind a window while women perused me. It's easier than having to chat them up.

      It got me thinking about speed dating. I've never been speed dating (although I will clearly have to write a blog about it eventually) but it's always struck me as a clever concept with a glaring flaw: you have to endure lots of awkward conversations with strangers who might be idiots.

      So here is my million dollar idea: silent speed dating.

      This idea is as simple as it is brilliant. In fact, it's so good that I just searched "silent speed dating" to check it doesn't already exist. And for some weird reason, it doesn't. Even though it is The Future. Not a bright and happy future,

      Read More »

    • The first date

      By | Dan About Town – Mon, Sep 10, 2012 10:51 BST

      Online first dates are weird. An evening spent with a total stranger, during which you are trying to work out if you could ever love them. This is an impossible task by definition, yet you can't help but try. So you're constantly re-evaluating their suitability, often on a minute-by-minute basis.

      I became helplessly aware of this phenomenon on a recent date with Connie, of whom my opinion fluctuated more wildly than the weather on a 2012 British summer's day...


      [Related feature: Why women shouldn't lie about their age on dating sites]

      I watch her approach, my eyes and brain hurriedly processing every atom of her being. Is she fit? She looks OK I think. Is she like her photo? Kind of. She is here now and I give her a polite greeting kiss. She speaks. Yes, I think she is fit.

      She has a habit of unnecessarily elongating her laughs. So she'll say something, then laugh for about seven seconds while looking at me. This is too long. I stopped laughing after about three seconds, which is a

      Read More »

    • Not 100% perfect? Next!Y! Lifestyle's serial dater wonders if he's too quick to find fault with his dates

      Last night I was lying in bed flicking through the final pages of Jean Paul Sartre's Nausea. (Forgive me for starting this week's blog with the most pretentious opening line ever.) Don't laugh, I was. In it, a comment about love made a hefty impact on me:

      "It's quite an undertaking to start loving somebody. You have to have energy, generosity, blindness. There is even a moment right at the start where you have to jump across an abyss: if you think about it you don't do it."

      When you put it like that, it all sounds a bit daunting. I'm not sure I approach love with any of the three traits mentioned. And in any case I've ruined it now by thinking about it. So thanks for that, Sartre, you plum.

      The quote brought to mind an argument I have perpetually with friends over whether I am genuinely looking for a loving relationship.

      They say I'm not,

      Read More »

    • Young woman with iPadA girl friend of mine, Anna, is going through the daunting/depressing/exciting task of creating her first online dating profile. Naturally she turned to me for advice, as she knows I've been lurking among the internet desperados for a while.

      I gave her the standard tips: pick a nice selection of photos, don't show off, don't use the phrase "I work hard and play hard".

      But the main question she had was: "What age should I be?"

      I was genuinely appalled, and I told her so. She should just use her real age, obviously.

      "But I'm 33 and the competition is hot, I have to say I'm younger," was her response.

      At this point I feel I should vouch for Anna's character. She is a very nice, honest person. I am certain that if she were to sell you a sofa or a cat, she would never make it sound better than it was in order to dupe you into buying it. Any cat you purchased from Anna would be in good physical condition and would not constantly throw up or attack children. And if this wasn't the case, Anna

      Read More »

    Pagination

    1. 1
    2. 2
    3. 3
    4. 4
    5. 5
    6. 6
    7. 7
    8. 8
    9. 9
    10. 10
    (74 Stories)

    Latest From The Blogs