The Running & Match Post

Today I went for spring run number two, so tonight will be somewhat of a blog-o-rama. Why you ask? Mainly because I find that running kind of clears your head and gives you time to think of interesting blog topics. Well, at least when you are not focusing on the pain, fatigue, and the fact that your stomach feels like you swallowed a brick because you ate a large, ill-advised snack at two o'clock. So anyway, I am combining my apparently mandatory Match.com update with some random observations I made while running.

* In almost five days so far, I have received a dozen winks, although three of those don't really count. One was Steff, one that looked phony, and one dude. Seriously, I can't stop men from hitting on me even on the Internet even when my profile reads "man seeking women." Seriously do I seem that gay people?

* On a side note, Steff does not appear to appreciate Borat-related humor.

* I have decided that cankles are a deal breaker for me. Due to the amazing weather, there were a lot of people wearing short socks out today so I ended up doing a lot of ankle watching. Maybe I have an ankle fetish or something, but I don't think it's just me. I thought I remembered reading something about this on Mindy's blog and I was right - read more about it here.

* Since the only listening device I have that I can use while running is my 15-year old Walkman, I am pretty limited in my music selection. My usual tape is a Led Zeppelin mix. Today I decided that Robert Plant is pretty much the only musician who can sing every song in an "orgasm voice" and still be considered a legitimate artist. It is even more amazing when you consider the fact that half of Led Zeppelin's songs have overt LOTR references in them.

* I don't know if this makes me a sappy romantic or a complete lunatic, but sometimes I like to dedicate my workouts to theoretical future girlfriends (or TFG's for short). It helps me get through the tough parts of the workout which today was pretty much the entire five miles.

* On a related note, I appear to be in the minority in the sense that I work out more and eat healthier when I am dating someone. I think there is a high correlation between how well I take care of myself and the likelihood that a woman will see me naked. That and the fact that it is hard to consume, say, an entire bag of pretzels and a couple cans of Diet Mountain Dew in front of your date without being seriously self-conscious.

* Back to Match. Maybe it's just the Match "community," but most of my responses have been pretty straight-laced. I think I should add body piercings and tattoos back to my "turn on" list. But no lip rings people!

* Seriously the women in Minneapolis appear to be turned on by everything. I swear some people must have checked the entire list. I was a little disappointed at the number of women who selected money as a turn-on, but at least they get points for honesty. As previously discussed, women in Minneapolis seemed almost unanimous in their dislike of long hair.

* I have to say that some of the winks I've gotten have come from people who appear to have very little in common with me. Although they don't appear to be crazy, it makes you wonder why they are sending me a wink.

* Speaking of winks, what is the best way to handle winks that don't interest you? Notice I did not ask what the normal way of dealing with the situation was, since I can guess the normal way is to ignore them completely. I think there is some kind of "no thank you" function but I haven't tried it yet.

* As previously reported I have now sent two e-mails, and plan on sending two more in response to a couple winks. I haven't decided what my criteria for scheduling a first date really is but I'm going to try to keep an open mind. Also, I can't fall into my normal dating psychosis, generally referred to as omigod-it's-been-twenty-four-hours-and-she-hasn't-responded-to-my-email-nobody-finds-me-attractive-I'm-going-to-die-alone syndrome. Even though that's probably true, it won't help the whole situation.