The Fork in the Singledom Road

The other day I was chatting with a old/new friend (it's amazing how many reconnections I've had thanks to this blog!) about the level of scandal in my recent postings. We both agreed that the shenanigans were an enjoyable part of my past day-to-day rants, but have completely gone to the wayside with my self-imposed break from online dating. In jest, we suggested that maybe I should rekindle my online romance pursuits simply to provide more unbelievable and attention-getting blog material. Hmmm...

Although my brain has shifted gears a bit, tending to lean more towards the pursuit of men in the flesh and less towards a suped-up, photo-shopped online version, I'm cautiously and hesitantly considering it. I know that I've made a lot of mental and emotional progress in the last couple of months and feel a bit more confident in my abilities to find potential partners in the real world. But, what if I dove back into online dating with the single-minded goal of providing not only high quality entertainment to you, my fellow Singletons and Marrieds, but also as continued practice?

Am I overlooking how much I hated the "getting to know you" phase of online dating? Probably. You may need to refresh my memory. It might be like how women who've had the joy of giving birth describe labor pains. The pain is so bad that your brain won't let you keep a memory of it...or so some say. I've heard and seen women in labor, and I know I haven't forgotten the looks of anguish on their faces and that was about all I needed to know that crap hurts! But, I digress. Now that I'm a seasoned online dating professional (just look at that list of Men of Singledom over there...wait, maybe "professional" is the wrong word here...), maybe I could use the experience to try different tactics and dating styles/approaches without putting really any significance into the experience at all. No pressure, no intentions, no expectations whatsoever. Wait...didn't I say that somewhere before? Maybe my break from online dating has provided me with the outside perspective that I needed to realize that it might simply be a way of getting more comfortable in my dating shoes. Making up for lost time in my teens and twenties when I spent more Friday and Saturday nights with my nose stuck in a book than just about anywhere else and eventually making me a better girlfriend when the time does finally come for me to enter Coupledom. Less anxiety, less fear of the unknown, less pressure to be perfect because I've seen so many men who aren't in my online dating experience. Hmmm....might be worth contemplating.

Of course, I'd only jump back into one that didn't require a financial commitment so my choices are narrowed. I think that, by watching the monthly debit fly out of my account at an astronomical rate, I was more likely to get fed up a heck of a lot faster. I could give Plentyoffish.com another spin, which, in all fairness, it didn't really get much of a chance in the first place. I dipped my toes into their ocean full of men right at the end of my frustration with Match, and it got the boot about the same time. I've also heard that a few friends have met reasonable and respectable people on OkCupid, another free option. Urgh, but I SO wanted to meet someone in real life. (<-whiny voice)

Is it worth another shot? Maybe even just for the blog material?