Wedding cake for Internet daters
Somebody had to do it. Is this cute or what?
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Trick or Treat?
Trick… Or Treat?
Anyone who has done any online dating or listened to other singles knows that dating horror stories abound. What you hear less of is the successes, and there are plenty, believe me. I’m one of them—I met my husband online. If people like me weren’t finding love online, Internet dating sites would have gone out of business years ago.
But if there is ever a time for horror, it’s Halloween. If you need a few lessons on how to scare the willies out of your cyber sweetheart, try some of these Trickster Tips. You won’t even need to yell “Boo!”
How to be a Cyber Trickster:
1. Lie—about your age, weight, height, or marital status.
2. Post an old or deceptive photo. (Most men have learned how far a “glamour shot” is from reality, but not all…)
3. Start writing/talking about sex in the second email or first phone call.
4. Neglect your personal hygiene. Do not have your teeth cleaned in recent memory. Or take a bath. Or clean your nails. Or have your hair cut. Or your gray roots dyed.
5. Treat your first date like a trip to the Laundromat. Dress accordingly.
6. Expect the worse and make it happen.
7. Take your time. Be late. Very late.
8. Forget your wallet.
9. Show up drunk or high, or proceed to get that way.
10. Say that you will call or email and then don’t.
Scary, huh? Well, if you’d like to more of a treat and less of a trick, avoid the boo-boos that so many others have made before you.
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One of my clients with a good sense of humor sent me this chart of the highs and lows in a guy’s life—unfortunately, only up til age 25. What about the next 50 years? Anyway, it is funny and worth a posting here just for the laugh.
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In one of the coolest made-for-the-web videos, collegehumor.com has done a brilliant send up of both “West Side Story” and online dating and social networking. “Web Side Story” is well-produced, closely mimics “West Side Story,” and pokes good fun at looking for love online. Take a look here.
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Valentine’s Day Treat 2009
Everyone should have a few romantic, indulgent recipes for special occasions. I love simple and elegant food. Add the romance and you’ve got a sure winner. Martha Stewart has this one—Rose Water Panna Cotta—below in her current magazine, at least a version of it. I didn’t like the fruits she paired with it—canned lychees? And where do you find edible rose petals, fresh ones, at this time of year? Not in my Publix, for sure. She also suggests raspberries, which I think are a good idea, but the raspberries in our market are not so good right now and VERY expensive. Minding the budget, which we all have to do these days, I went with blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries which are all at bargain rates and in perfect shape. Here is the result:
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Rose Water Panna Cotta
(adapted from Martha Stewart’s recipe)
1 cup heavy cream
2 T sugar
1 tsp unflavored gelatin
1 T cold water
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese
2 - 3 tsp rose water (or 1/2 tsp vanilla or 1/4 tsp almond flavoring)
1 drop red food coloring (optional)
fresh berries for decoration
1. MIx cream and sugar in a small saucepan, heat over medium heat until sugar dissolves and remove from heat. Do not allow cream to boil.
2. Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in a small bowl and allow to soften, about 2 minutes. Add to hot cream mixture and stir until dissolved.
3. Put mascarpone in a medium bowl and strain cream mixture over it. Straining twice may seem silly, but it will make the result silken smooth. Stir until mascarpone is thoroughly mixed in.
4. Add rose water and coloring, stir and strain again into measuring cup or bowl with a pour spout.
5. Pour mixture into 4 demitasse cups, decorative bowls, or pretty wine glasses. Chill at least 2 hours.
6. Just before serving, either unmold or leave in containers, decorate with berries, and serve.
Here’s the hardest part of this very easy recipe—the ingredients. Mascarpone is Italian cream cheese—milder than what we think of as cream cheese—don’t know if you could substitute. Rose water I happened to have in the cupboard, and it has been there for years and is still good. The cream I got was exceptionally thick and rich, which of course made the results even more so:
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The rose water going in—you probably could use vanilla or almond flavoring, but the rose water was really lovely and unusual:
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And now the dishes—Martha used demitasse cups and then unmolded the panna cotta after it chilled. Why go to that trouble? Use a pretty dish that shows it off, like wine glasses. Then decorate with berries. I finished off with a dusting of powdered sugar. Pretty or what? And really very easy.
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Martha’s got lots more Valentine goodie ideas on her website: http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/valentines-day-treats. But this one (slightly revised) is in her February magazine with the gorgeous cupcakes on the cover.
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Cat Lovers Unite!
I checked out this new niche dating site for cat lovers and was in for a treat, maybe you too. I normally don’t cover or recommend small niche dating sites, but this one caught my eye. If you go to Purrsonals.com and wait just a few seconds, what look like a live avatar comes out of the left margin, a woman holding a cat, and both look real. She talks about the dating site, but I couldn’t help but see that she had hired our very own TJ to work with her to promote the site. You can see him relaxing here.
A site like this will probably have a very low sign-up rate and many more women than men, even though it’s a cute idea.
What do you think of avatar? Do you like them or do they turn you off?
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What would it be like to be in the early “in love” stage of a new relationship for YEARS? Have you notice either in yourself or others, that when someone falls in love and it is reciprocated, the couple usually sort of disappears for a year or two, blissfully and totally absorbed in each other? Then the newness wears off a bit and they resurface, both as a couple and individually.
Here’s the interesting story of a long married couple who tried staying within 15 feet of each other, even eating out of the same dish. Click here to watch them talk about their experience.
Interestingly, what they really missed was that since they had shared the same experience all day, there were no “So what did you do today?” stories to share at the end of the day.
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I picked up a copy of “The Economist” in February, probably the first time ever. And what should I see but my very own logo (a chocolate dipped strawberry) as the back drop of a fascinating graph. Not only did I just have to post it here, so y’all could know this trivia, but also, Sweetie Pie Drew used it in his Valentine’s Day lecture to his botany class.
Valentine’s Day Food of love
Feb 14th 2008
From Economist.com
ON VALENTINE’S DAY the relationship between chocolate and sex becomes, at least for gentlemen considering the ideal gift, less a matter of theoretical musing and one of stark practicality. Will a box of chocolates do the trick? In some parts of Europe sex and chocolate go hand in hand, though a causal link is unclear. Mediterranean lovers tend to have as much sex but less chocolateperhaps hotter weather has a bearing on both. The Japanese have precious little of either.
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Heart Cookies
You never can tell when you might need some heart-shaped cookies, right? These gorgeous morsels are tasty and really quite easy to make and decorate, and as you see, they can be very impressive!
Below you’ll find pictures that Drew took while I made these cookies so that you can see the technique I have invented that makes stunning cookies pretty easy to turn out, pretty fast. And I’ll even give you the recipe, with a bonus offer or two included: Just .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
to me ( .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
) and you will get it by return email.
Roll out the chilled dough and cut with heart-shaped cutters (I’ve got quite a collection—I pick them up through the year, but the pickings are particularly good around Valentine’s).
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After baking and cooling completely, I make a frosting glaze with powdered sugar and milk or cream. Starting with plain white glaze, I brush it on the cookies with a pastry brush. I find I even like the brush marks, which make the cookies look even artier. I do about 1/3 of the cookies in white glaze, then tint some pink and do another 1/3, then finish up with more food coloring to make the glaze dark red. Bring on the red dye 2!
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Colored sugars are the easiest decoration of all, and they come in lots of great colors and shapes. Put a few tablespoons of each in shallow dishes and dip the freshly glazed cookies in the sugars. Try different colored sugars over the different color glazes to get more color combinations.
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I like to paint the larger cookies with zig zags and stripes, and I’ve figured out the easiest method imaginable. Spoon glaze in the corner of a plastic sandwich bag, twist the open top and squeeze, then take a tiny snip off the corner, and use it like a pastry decorating bag to paint free-form stripes and plaids. Again, use three colors of glaze for more variety and combinations.
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Leave the finished cookies out until the glaze gets very hard. Store in an air-tight container. You can even make these way ahead and freeze them. How about having some on ice for when the Right Romantic Moment strikes?
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Doesn’t this picture make you want a latte or a cup of hot tea?
P. S. Don’t forget to email me and get the recipe—and more! Send a blank email to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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Oh Lordy, if you want a giggle, trace down the leads in this short piece below. I did, and GAWD, I love the British sense of humor! Match.com in Britain has launched a series of ads about two characters called Fate and Cupid. The main point is “Do you want to leave your chances of finding love to Fate and Cupid?” And with these specimens, for goodness sake, NO!
First, I went to and did a search using “Match.com+ads+Cupid” and got a whole line-up (8) ads featuring these precious inventions. I can just imagine the sessions the writers had when they were thinking these commercials up.
Then I found that Cupid and Fate have their own website, which is even better. All the videos are there, and they even have a game.
Why doesn’t Match.com launch this campaign in the USA? Probably because we don’t have as good a sense of humor as the Brits.
Not only are the ads hysterical, they bring up the best point: Leaving your love life to Cupid and Fate? Come ON! Get real.
Best, Kathryn
Match.com unveils campaign for New Year push
Match.com, the online dating site, is encouraging people to “make love happen rather than leaving it to cupid and fate” in a new advertising campaign that breaks on New Year’s Eve.
The campaign introduces two “lazy, hapless” characters called Cupid and Fate, who spend their time doing their hair and filling in magazine quizzes rather than connecting two star-crossed lovers. It has the strapline: “Don’t wait for Cupid and Fate. Find love for yourself at Match.com”.
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St. Catherines Day Traditions
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Saint Catherine is connected in England with lace makers and in France with seamstresses, both probably professions populated by unmarried women. Catherettes (unmarried women over 25) were pictured on postcards, as above. The caption reads: “When will it be my turn?”
*Catherinette* parties for young girls are common in France, particularly those given by the couture houses in Paris for the *Catherinettes*. Guests wear exotic hats in Saint Catherines colors, yellow and green.
In English lace making villages, *Catterns Day* was celebrated with games and special foods, especially Cattern (or Kattern) Cakes. *Jack be nimble, Jack be quick* is a nursery rhyme associated with a game played on the holiday involving, oddly enough, jumping over a candlestick! Cattern Cakes are seasoned with caraway, and the only recipe I found follows:
*Bedfordshire Kattern Cakes*
A traditional recipe from Anglia
(Also known as Catherine Cakes, after Catherine of Aragon, who once lived at Ampthill Castle. Specially prepared for St. Catherines Day on November 25.)
2 pounds bread dough
2 oz lard or butter
1 oz caraway seeds
2 oz castor sugar
1 large egg
Prepare the dough, then knead in the lard or butter, caraway seeds, sugar and egg. When the ingredients are well mixed, divide in two, kneading one piece to fit into a 2 lb greased loaf tin. Divide the second piece into two and knead each half to fit a 1 lb loaf tin, then cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise until the dough reaches the top of the tins.
Bake 20-25 minutes at 400 degrees.
Serve sliced and buttered.
Doesn’t that sound tasty? Castor sugar is like super-fine sugar. I read one place that the cakes were sweetened with treacle, which I think is a sugar syrup.
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St. Catherine’s Day, November 25
Years ago, I spent a month in the countryside of England. One of my most magical memories was a night in Abbotsbury, a lovely village in Dorset (Thomas Hardy country), right on the coast. After my first dinner in a pub, we walked down a country lane in a beautiful, hazy yellow light, stone walls on both sides dripping with wildflowers. Have you seen Roman Polanskis movie *Tess*? It was probably filmed in this area, and our hike was straight out of the film.
We walked through fields past sheep and up a long hill, up over a stone wall using a style (a first for that, too), heading for Saint Catherines Chapel, high on hill overlooking the sea.
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The chapel was the remains of an old Catholic church, torn apart by anti-Catholic fervor after Henry VIIIs separation from the Roman Church. The stone walls were still there, left as a landmark for mariners. (For more about Abbotsbury and St. Catherine’s Chapel, click here.)
Along with the trek being a beautiful odyssey, I was interested that it was a chapel to Saint Catherine. I knew nothing about where my name had come from, even with its different spelling.
Saint Catherine is the patron (matron?) saint of unmarried women. She was martyred by being tortured on the wheel (not sure of the details here), and is often pictured with a wheel. Usually she is wearing a crown because she was a royal, carrying a book (she was well-educated) and/or a sword that symbolizes martyrdom.
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Single women hoping for a husband still visit the chapel in Abbotsbury. On the old walls there is a copy of their prayer:
A husband, St. Catherine
A handsome one, St. Catherine
A rich one, St. Catherine
A nice one, St. Catherine
And soon, St. Catherine
Saint Catherines Day is November 25. Take a little time to remember Saint Catherine, maybe say a little prayer, and think how much better single women have it now than even a hundred years ago. And see below for other traditions linked to her day.
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Strawberry Card
I get the nicest things in the mail—emails, of course, but this came in the old-fashioned post-office-box-type mail:
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Now is this cool or what? My lovely daughter (who is getting married next month) found this card and dropped it in the mail to me. Since the motif is a chocolate dipped strawberry, my logo, I am surprised that I haven’t gotten dozens, but that may have to do with the company that makes them (Tender Thoughts Greetings—I couldn’t find a web site for them, but Tender Thoughts, if you read this, get in touch—I’d love to carry these cards here on my site!).
Even better: Here are the words inside: “You make love yummy. Happy Sweetest Day.” Doesn’t that sound like me? I even have buttons with my strawberry logo and “Yummy!” below. What could be more fitting?
Now this is the best: On the back of the card is the following: “Celebrated on the third Saturday in October, Sweetest Day started in 1922, when a candy company employee organized a group to help deliver candy and small gifts to orphans and others whose lives needed brightening. Today, lovers and romantics embrace the day as well, but it’s still a time to remember those who bring happiness to our lives.”
My sentiments exactly. How come I never heard of Sweetest Day before? A new holiday! (Stay tuned for “St. Catherine’s Day” which is coming up fast).
Thank you to my daughter Mishelle who has certainly brought her share of sweetness to my life!
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A Wal-Mart Wedding? Maybe next year…
You are probably too late to win this year, but you might get an invitation ...
Wanna Win a Wal-Mart Wedding?
Wal-Mart is giving seven lucky couples wedding packages worth more than $5,000, including rings, wedding cakes invitations and flowers and other related items.
The nuptials will take place in the lawn and garden sections of the couple’s local Wal-Mart Supercenters. The couples are to tie the knot in ceremonies all on July Seventh.
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Let’s Cut to the Chase
If you are male and rich or female and hot, you too can apply to get in a speed dating event to be held on February 7 in Manhattan. In an exaggerated twist on “How to Marry a Millionaire” and with a tipped hat to Darwin, “Natural Selection” could be coming to your town.
An article on ABCNews.com The criteria are stiff. Not only must guys pay $500 and women only $30, but also:
A man hoping to snag the woman of his dreams will be judged by pretty stiff criteria. Guys who are 25 and under must make at least $200,000 a year, and men between the ages of 26 and 30 have to bring home $300,000 a year. Over 30? The required income level jumps to $500,000.
Not gainfully employed? No problem. Men who have at least $1 million in invested assets or a $4 million trust fund can apply.
“The man could be worth $2 billion, be 83 years old, and can attend,” said Abelson, who added that men must show proof of earnings or savings to apply.
Ladies, there is only one guideline: beauty. Five photos are all that’s needed to enter the competition. Education, profession, personality and income will not be considered.
Over 150 men and 300 women have already applied for the 40 or so slots.
Using another scale, Calgary, Ontario, women who like tall men will have their chance: On Valentine’s Day FastLife will sponsor a speed dating event where all the men have to be over 6 feet tall.
From Your Romance Coach, Kathryn Lord
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50 Ways a Winner
Do you know what the most popular page on my website is? 50 Ways to BLEEP Your Lover
I started the “50 Ways” list almost five years ago, when I was a brand new Romance Coach. I noticed that singles had a great deal of creativity in coming up with reasons NOT to look for love, right now, today. I asked newsletter readers and website visitors to contribute, and, wow! Have they! the “50 Ways” list has now hit 100!
I’ve had a contest going on since the list hit 85. The best new reasons to avoid dating (#85 to 100) would compete for prizes:
The author of the best reason not to start looking for love, as judged by her *eMAIL to eMATE* readers, will win four ½ hour sessions of Romance Coaching with Kathryn and copies of each of Kathryns two books Find a Sweetheart Soon! Your Love Trip Planner for Women and Looking for Action? The Find a Sweetheart Party Planner Second and third place winners will a half hour coaching session and copies of her books. And everyone can sign up for *eMAIL to eMATE*.
You can vote, too, and add a contribution to the 50 Ways list: Pick your #1 choice here.
Have you say! Vote, and add your favorite reason to avoid finding love!
From Your Romance Coach, Kathryn Lord
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Sour Valentine’s
and found that the period between New Year’s and Valentine’s Day is prime for break-ups: more than twice as prime. Kindly, Yahoo! Personals has developed a section for Want to read the survey results in details?
Infidelity expert Ruth Houston says that infidelity peaks on Valentine’s Day. Isn’t that dandy? Houston has a questionnaire posted to help you figure out if your mate is cheating.
Want to get even? will help you with that, too. If you’d like to chose from the most creative ways imaginable to get back at your ex, try www.Poisonpen.com “When You Care Enough to Send the Very Worst>’ www.deadroses.com will send… dead roses. And www.ThePayback.com has about everything an angry ex should need.
Not that I suggest actually DOING any of these things. Remember what you do is about you, really, and not you ex or whatever evil they have done TO you. But you might have fun just looking around a bit.
If you are tempted to DO any of these tricks, take two aspirin and go to bed, then think about it again tomorrow.
From Your Romance Coach, Kathryn Lord
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Matchmaker Janis Spindel may be looking for you!
Reportedly the Manhattan matchmaker has been paid $50,000 up front by a “prominent Carolinas bachelor” to find him a mate.
You need to be “27 to 37 years old, well-educated, sophisticated yet understated, a traveler who want to settle down and raise children.” And oh yes, very attractive. “Men are very visual,” says Spindel.
Uh oh. Interviews are scheduled for December 1 to 3. You may be too late. Even if you qualify.
From Your Romance Coach, Kathryn Lord
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In my continuing campaign to get those folks who are interested in “just sex” off the mainline dating sites, onlinebootycall (I’ve written about them before) is having a contest and giving away a 2006 Range Rover as first prize. This is what you have to do to win:
Members with the most referrals who sign-up from September 1 through November 30, will win; there will be three winners. First prize will drive away with the 2006 Supercharged Range Rover; second prize will bring home $5,000.00 in cash; and third will revel in $2500.00.
I could use a new vehicle, but I’m not even going to try on this one.
From Your Romance Coach, Kathryn Lord
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Become a Moving Billboard
Even though the price of gas makes you think twice about getting in your car, more folks all the time are figuring out that their vehicles can help in the search for love. After all, buses and trucks are plastered with ads: Why not your car?
I wrote about the site FlirtinginTraffic.com last April and just added another link in the “Comments” section. And also, here’s a piece about a guy who took matters into his own hands. He got the idea after women commented on the clown he had seated on the tool box in the back of his truck (a real clown, not a figurative one, and a great idea to get attention—always have something with or around you that folks can use to initiate a conversation if they want too).
He (John Weglicki) got a magnetic sing made for his truck that said “Single and Available. Great Sense of Humor. 6’2”, Size 13 shoe. .” He’s getting calls.
From Your Romance Coach, Kathryn Lord
BTW, a “vanity plate” gets a lot of comments, too. I just got my car registered here in Tallahassee and have ordered “4ROMANZ” Cute, huh? Great advertising.
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Well, you know when online dating and matchmaking has hit the mainstream when tv shows come out using them as themes. Last year, ABC did “Hooking Up” which was great fun (and painful) to watch and quite an education. I wrote about it many times on my blog when it was on—you’ll find the entries here.
This summer brings two offerings: “Lovespring International” on Lifetime and “How to Get the Guy” on ABC. We had such bad weather here last night (Alberto) that “How to” did not record, but I saw “Lovespring International” last week and this, and my goodness, it is a hoot.
“Lovespring International” is a comedy and meant to be so, in the same vein as HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” It is so tongue-in-cheek and sharp, I love it already. It’s hard to say who I like best, but when Tiffany the receptionist is on the screen, I am straining for her every whispered word. The psychologist character is too much. If you are in the mood to laugh at dating and matchmaking foibles, you’ve got to check this out.
I’ve already got a negative edge about “how to Get the Guy.” This purports to be a reality show, but the two folks that they call love coaches J D Roberto and Theresa Strasser seem to have much more media experience than coaching know-how.
Here’s what my reader Ben wrote me this morning:
I saw How to Get the Guy last night, and I thought
that it was pretty funny. As a reality show, it
seemed more fake and contrived than others (for
example, the cheesy voiceovers that the women give).
Also, I have my doubts about the “love coaches”.
However, the women and their situations appeared to be
real.
Anybody else want to chime in on these two offerings?
From Your Romance Coach, Kathryn Lord
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Feng Shui to Find Sweeties?
I’ve been married to a scientist for too long. I could not about feng shui and finding your mate without a huge dose of skepticism. I could just hear Drew snickering.
how the proper use of feng shui principals can result in singles finding love. While I can believe that feng shui principals can be visually attractive and improve the looks of your surroundings and therefore your mood, I screach to a halt when this gets extended to somehow magically making your prince/princess appear.
Luck can be enhanced, and an imporved attitude can go a long way, but don’t resign your membership to Match.com in favor of feng shui.
From Your Romance Coach, Kathryn Lord
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KnockKnock Joke
I find the funnest things online.
The info in “‘Rules’ on dating return in new forms,” along with the tasty tidbit that one of the co-authors of “The Rules” Ellen Fein is now divorced, also led me to follow a link to an oddly practical and hilarious site called www.KnockKnock.biz
You’ve got to take a look. All of KnockKnock products seem thoroughly tongue in cheek, and a one note symphony to boot. But I HAD to order “The Dating procedural Kit” which just came in the mail. It’s a stitch.
While the price tag may be more than you want to pay for a giggle ($25.99 for the kit, $7.30 postage = $33.29), believe me it is FUNNY, and eerily, useful. The inside cover starts with “A Brief History of Dating in the Western World,” then moves to the official-looking “Procedural Dater ID Card, and then countless forms to facilitate your dating life. Included are the Dating Dossier tracking system, Exchange Forms for Contact Information, Relationship Resume forms, and date feedback cards. Wait, there’s more: Notice of Non-Exclusivity, Sexual Release, and then the Exclusivity Agreement.
So if you want a laugh, or a fun gift, go to KnockKnock.com and take a look at the “Kit.” And be prepared too to seriously consider using some form of the forms. Hey, it’s a useful idea!
From Your Romance Coach, Kathryn Lord
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Google Plays April Fool’s Joke
Two sharp-eyed readers sent me Google’s April Fool’s joke, which seemed so plausible that I fully believed it and went searching around on the site. and tell me, doesn’t it seem like the next step in online dating?
From Your Romance Coach, Kathryn Lord
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Bad First Dates: Deadbeats Beware
Just as good folks are finding it easier to locate each other via the Net and dating sites, and crooks are finding ingenious ways to use the technology for nefarious activities, nice people are figuring out how to use the Internet to trap the baddies.
A dead beat dad was located and arrested through his online dating action. Brian Lee Todd owed a pile of money in child support and was on the run. Police heard that he was active on a dating site. A female detective posted a profile, communicated with Todd, and they arranged to meet.
The first time, Todd got in an accident on the way to the date, wrecking his 1990 Cadillac. His driver’s license was suspended, so he wasn’t even driving legally. Right after getting out of the hospital, he got in touch with the detective again and set up another date.
Talk about rough first dates: he recognized her, started running, but got caught and arrested.
Lesson: Just because typing away and sending missives into cyberspace feels private, it’s not. Be careful what you write. And it pays to be honest. People can find out if you are not.
From Your Romance Coach, Kathryn Lord
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(of the popular “You’re Beautiful” fame) confesses an ebay addiction that even has included putting his sister up for sale. It’s not as tacky as it sounds.
Blunt’s sister needed to get to Ireland for a funeral and none of the usual ways were working. So Blunt wrote an ebay ad saying “Damsel in distress, needs to get to Southern Ireland. What will you get out of it as bidder? You’ll just get to be a knight in shining armor.” Lots of folks jumped into the bidding, and the guy who won had a helicopter. So she got to the funeral…and started dating the knight. 18 months later, they are living together.
I guess it helps if you have a famous brother, but it is not clear the bidders knew that.
If a single had a particularly good set of attributes to offer, maybe ebay is the way to go. At least it might help pay for the wedding.
From Your Romance Coach, Kathryn Lord
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Let’s hope that “Hook-up” here is not just for sex:
HOOK-UP HOT SPOTS, according to theage.com.au
Top three hook-up hot spots for women:
Lisdoonvarna, Ireland
The Irish have a long tradition of matchmaking, and in Lisdoonvarna, County Clare, the annual September Matchmaking Festival attracts 100,000 international visitors. A healthy 75 per cent are men, and the organisers claim 100 weddings result each year from their efforts.
Anchorage, Alaska
This remote city has so many single men per woman it’s known as “Manchorage”. It’s cold, but you’ll have an extensive choice of human hot-water bottles.
Silicon Valley, USAIn this Californian tech city, single men outnumber single women by almost 5500. And they’re not all geeks. This is one of the world’s most educated and wealthy bachelor populations.
Top three hook-up hot spots for men:
Anywhere in Italy
Surprised? Consider the logic; thanks to all those movies and books about lonely women finding love with Tuscan hunks, Italy now attracts one-third more female single tourists than male. Canny blokes should head there and snap up the surplus.
St Croix, Virgin Islands, Caribbean
With a 54 per cent resident (and stunning) female population as well as thousands of wealthy bachelorettes dropping in each year, a red-blooded male can’t avoid action here.
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Club Dance Holidays specialises in breaks with dance lessons in Latin American locations. The tango trips to Buenos Aires are considered the sultriest, with 70 per cent of participants single and women outnumbering men.
Always trying to keep my readers informed.
From Your Romance Coach, Kathryn Lord
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Think Valentine’s Day is Burdensome?
If you writhe under the pressure of getting just the right Valentine’s Day gift or card, be glad you aren’t living in South Korea. There, merchants have Seen the Light of money-making possibilities in holidays devoted to love and have come up with about 20 per year.
Here are just a few:
January 14 is Diary Day, when lovers are encouraged to buy calendars and mark all their special days.
February 14 is—you guessed it—Valentine’s Day. Only women buy men chocolate.
March 14 is White Day. Now the guys buy candies for the ladies.
April 14 is Black Day. This is the love holiday for singles, who eat black food that day.
Got the picture? Be glad that February 14th occurs only once a year.
From Your Romance Coach, Kathryn Lord
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PerfectMatch.com and Kentucky Fried Chicken???
Okay, first Match.com paired up with Dr. Phil, and then Yahoo! Personals got hitched with Starbucks. But get this one: PerfectMatch.com and Kentucky Fried Chicken are talking romance.
While the survey that the two cooperated on generated some interesting numbers (“More than 66 percent of respondents opted for the crispy chicken as an aphrodisiac they might actually like to eat, compared to oysters and other allegedly romantic fare. “) it’s hard for me to believe that any woman would be thrilled by a bucket of chicken and a video for a Valentine’s day treat.
This had got to be the oddest pairing I have heard of. Colonel Sanders is kind of cute, but he is dead, you know. Probably his cholesterol was out of sight.
From Your Romance Coach, Kathryn Lord
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My mother was great at teaching me the womanly arts of housekeeping. I can cook, sew, iron, and clean with the best of them. But she was lousy at teaching me about attracting boys and men. Her advice? Don’t let them know you are interested. Pretend you don’t care.
(Regular readers know that Mom got married last year at age 81. Believe me, we were all surprised—happy for her, but surprised nonetheless. My mother is definitely not a babe.)
I thought she must be right, so I perfected my stance so well that it is simply amazing that I ever attracted anyone at all. I did get married at age 19 (yes, we used to do that in the Olden Days), but that poor guy had to be really persistent.
I finally learned and changed my ways, but it took me forty years. For goodness sake, what’s wrong with being interested in love? What a crazy message! Putting a profile up and online is a huge matter for lots of singles. And I’ll bet a lot of that worry is that it goes against some lesson like I got from my Mom.
You’ve got to put out some kind of interest. And there is NOTHING wrong with that. In fact, there’s even more to be proud of. Don’t let letting your interest show stop you from getting moving.
From Your Romance Coach, Kathryn Lord
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