It may be a heart breaking economy but what’s the upside?

According to a survey released by  ING Direct on Monday, (don’t ask me why an international bank would be asking questions about romance on a survey… but anyway…) this recession is breaking American hearts. Apparently, we are weathering the storm less gracefully than our romantically inclined counterparts in other countries.
Survey says

Is Your Dating Life Looking A Bit Too Much Like A Chick Flick?

Thanks to the 100+ temps, I decided that it was a movie marathon kind of weekend. A little behind on my chick flick quota for the summer, I pushed “The Ugly Truth” and “The Proposal” into one weekend. I’ll admit, I liked one much, much better than the other, but I thought they both brought [...]

The American Age Bias

You’re 38 and never married? Why not? What’s wrong with you?
Can we talk about the age bias we have going on in the dating world? There seems to be an ideal age that one, theoretically, gets hitched in this life. While not official, that window seems to be 27-32. I don’t hear very many folks [...]

Is Chivalry Dead or Perhaps Just Redefined?

In the Dark Ages, a code of chivalry sprang up to determine a certain code of conduct for honorable knights. From the Song of Roland, we get a pretty good picture of what kind of behavior was acceptable and demanded from the men of the time… (skipping some of the more combat oriented points)

To protect [...]

How to Resolve Multilingual Dating: You speak text, I speak phone.

While in D.C. a few weeks back, Washington Post’s staff writer Monica Hesse approached me for some feedback about the impact of various forms of communication on today’s dater. The finished product hit the wire today.
She quotes me on page 3 talking about how those of us in our 30’s (and in my opinion early [...]

Keep It Classy America

“Taking the high road,” remaining a “gentleman” or “acting like a lady,” “white trash,” “hitting below the belt,” “reality TV” …we have a lot of terms describing the journey from class to trash. The word “classy” can take on connotations ranging from old world aristocracy (tea rituals and proper dress for any occasion) and southern manners (thank you notes and dinner parties) to social climbing (Eliza Doolittle like make-overs and living way above your means) and non-genuine behavior.

However you do interpret it, having a little class goes a long ways towards attracting quality people into your life. Sometimes cultivating areas that you’ve ignored can begin to deepen and build a classy interior — making it easier and easier to respond gracefully during difficult dating situations. Just in case you’re trying to figure out where you fall on the “classy scale,” I’ve created a quick quiz. The answers are at the bottom of the post…

Does Hooking Up Hurt You?

I found a great article I wanted to share parts of and see if you all agree… I’m interested in knowing if the guys agree that men can engage in “hook-up sex” with little to no emotional repercussions. Do the female readers agree that its hard to disconnect emotionally after a “hook up?” Let me [...]

Public Displays of Affection

PDA: Public Displays of Affection (otherwise known as making out where other people can see you, hear you or just generally be disturbed by you)

I saw a couple canoodling on a very crowded train the other day and thought, “I’m really glad that I’m not standing where that guy’s hand is moving since things are about to get really awkward if he touches the stranger behind his girlfriend in an incredibly inappropriate place…”

Now, I’m not particularly anti-PDA or pro-PDA, but in my humble opinion, there seems to be occasions where it might be more or less appropriate than others. So I thought I would share a few of the less appropriate…

You should probably keep your hands and lips to yourself when:

Should I Pay Or Should I Go Now?

If you are one of millions of Americans who have moved from the North to the South or East to West or even Austin to Dallas, you know that there are dating different customs and expectations about what to do when the check comes. Who pays? Who offers to pay but won’t be expected to? When is the tab split? What does paying the bill signify anyway? And what do you do if you handle it all wrong?

Finance Guys, Gold Diggers and the Economy

Wow, I don’t even know what to say about this one. NYT published an article about the woes of the Banker wives and girlfriends forming a support group that you can join …“if your monthly Bergdorf’s allowance has been halved and bottle service has all but disappeared from your life.”

You definitely need to read the article as it may make your head spin a bit, but this part really made me sad/angry…