Well, it's a start...

Double click dating. Not particularly romantic sounding is it? But then neither is online or internet dating and they’ve both done alright as terms that rapidly entered into common usage. How that happened I’ll never know, but my guess would be that everything else to do with being on the web is so impersonal, solitary and unsexy that adding dating for sad loners no longer seems out of place. Just a thought.

It could well be just me, because I can still remember a time when ‘personal ads’ and ‘lonely hearts’ were an excruciating embarrassment. And I grant you that online dating does sound positively cuddly in comparison.

But anyway, frisson free and hollow sounding though it is, online dating as a phrase is here to stay whether I like it or not. So, that’s what my oh so clever title is meant to represent - online dating. Haha, bet your sides are splitting.

You may have dabbled yourself, or have recently become single and decided that it’s time to start ‘getting out there’ again. I’ll tell you something else about yourself if any of those are true. You’re probably at least 30, spend most of your time at work with people who hardly set your pulse racing and have had at the very least one serious long term relationship (and consequently feel it‘s something you should be doing again even though you‘re slightly terrified).

Yep, that may be you but you have correctly guessed that it sums me up too. So, we’re in it together!

Seeing as it’s my first blog, I suppose it’s time for the awkward intros (for that read ‘dating profile‘ now we‘ve gone techno) so here goes:
Hi, my name is Angela, I’m 37, and I live in East Anglia. I never know what to say in these things lol! I like going to the theatre and walking. I have a great sense of humour and am looking for a kind and sensitive man I can talk to.

Scrap that. Here’s how that should read:
My name is Angela, I live in East Anglia (you’ll never track me down in the midst of all that fenland!) and I’m 37. I have been single for about 2 years, and after a few dalliances, run ins and arguments I decided that it was time to start getting off my arse and become an acceptable member of society again, ie. One half of a couple. Don’t ask me any more questions ok?? I’m just not good in these situations. Bugger off.

Actually, even that’s not strictly true. I find many couples far from socially acceptable. Also, I have actually tried the dating thing before. Last summer in fact I gave the old match.com thing a try but it must be said my heart really wasn’t in it. Even more so 5 or 6 dates down the line, after discovering that I appeal to dull, fat, balding nut jobs, and ONLY dull, fat, balding nut jobs, at which point I simply ceased to care.

But, hope springs eternal, and here I am again. My reason for starting a blog? Firstly, I thought that it might stop me from making too many excuses this time round and force me to actually get out there - so you can be my virtual conscience if you will. And if last time is anything to go by, it’ll give me a sounding board to go off one on when someone pisses me off.

Now, if I’ve come across a little jaded and cynical, maybe that’s because I am. But I’m not all bad. I actually love being in love, and the unparalleled thrill of getting to know someone who genuinely intrigues you. I’m never happier than when hidden away in a corner of a pub somewhere, getting thoroughly engrossed in a deep/ridiculous conversation. I love being with a man who’s good to talk to (grossly under-rated that one). I mean, Moulin Rouge is one of my favourite films for Christ’s sake, I must be romantic at heart!

Succeed I must and persevere I will (try). In with meeting new people, out with misanthropy. Same goes for making an effort versus slippers. And exercise and chocolate for that matter. No more excuses, the journey begins here. Feel free to point at me and laugh along the way.