Ok, Cupid. Work your magic...

I finally caved. I joined the world of online dating. (Or as one young chap I was chatting with the other day called it, "the place pretty girls go to lose faith in humanity.") Instead of going with the more notable eharmony or match.com, I opted for OkCupid, for one simple reason: it's free. I figured, what have I got to lose? Besides my dignity, of course. I really don't expect to meet Mr. Right with this thing, but Mr. Right Now will work. Besides, I need to start pulling my weight on this blog.

Thus far, I haven't had to initiate any contact, but as Scarlet tells me, you get a lot of attention when you first join, then it will supposedly die down. I need some friendly advice for a few situations.

The Tennis Ace sent me an email message with the simple question: "Do you play tennis?" That's it, nothing more. So I replied with, "Not very well, but yes, I do." I like playing tennis, but I never get to play for the very obvious factor that I need someone to play with. So finding anyone willing and able to stand on the opposite side of the court to hit the ball back is a good thing. He responded back with, "Well, that's a start. I would love to take you out sometime." Wait, what? I was expecting a 'let's hit the court' or something along those lines. Is playing tennis a prerequisite? I'm confused. Should I ignore his request? Suggest we meet for a friendly game? A little help, please.

Another guy sent me a mesage that started out with a joke about a guy being a teepee and a wigwam (because he's too tents, get it?) and declared this the reason we need to be friends (I mentioned that I like to laugh in my profile). I found this a bit lame, but after going to his profile, I found a mention of the smurfs, and I am a child of the 80s who loves the smurfs, and maybe I should give the bad joke a pass?

I was matched up with a guy who copied and pasted the wikipedia article for ham sandwich in order to complete all 500 characters in his profile (because OkC likes to harrass you about not completing your profile). This made me laugh out loud. I'm thinking of sending him a message telling him he had me at ham sandwich.

This afternoon I signed on simply to check that particular email, when I found myself chatting with three different men. (One of whom I had a promising conversation with on Monday.) A fourth one popped up, but I dismissed him due to his age. He's 19. I know I said I wouldn't turn down dates due to silly biases, but 19! A child. He can't even take me out for a drink. Federal law mandates that I turn him down.