The best place to date on the internet

Posted on by 20poorandfabulous

Aside from making a joke Christian Mingle dating profile my freshman year of college, I have never tried online dating. Sort of. If we’re talking specific dating websites like Okcupid, Tinder, eHarmony, then fuck no. I still can’t wrap my head around making a digital poster trying to sell yourself in under 30 seconds to a bunch of people who are superficially judging the SHIT out of you. It’s the digital dating equivalent of the poorly dressed guy with gross teeth and whiskey breath trying to chat you up in the bar after you just spent 2 exciting hours picking out your outfit, curling your hair and applying liquid eyeliner, just to find an anal fissure rain on your pretty parade. No thank you, sir. Why put so much effort into a dating profile filled with hungry rats when there’s a way more effective place to date online?

Are you ready for this shit?

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It’s TWITTER.

For about a year, I gave out my Twitter handle instead of my phone number or Facebook or email. And actually my current bf, who before was a really, really light acquaintance, thought I was hilarious on Twitter and it eventually led to us hanging out, dating and gettin’ all lovey and shit. All of those other mediums are WAY too personal to give out to someone you’ve just met or a cute acquaintance. Here’s why:

  • Texting is never casual and always stressful with new people.
  • Facebook is like inviting a new person into your family dinner, high school reunion and a digital record of your life for the past decade simultaneously
  • Email is like you’re ready to give up and share bills already

Why Twitter is the best place to date

On Twitter, you don’t have to use your real name if you don’t want. I think there is a deep meaning in adopting a user name, because it frees you from the confines of societal norms that your government name ties to you. You can express yourself more freely, which is the kind of communication you should get out there right away when it comes to meeting new people. None of this “so, where’d you go to school?” bullshit and straight to the “corn dogs are fucking AWESOME” jam. Twitter lets people read you and your thoughts as you go about your normal, daily life, (and lets you read them too), which I think is a WAY better dating tool than constructing a profile of your Best And Most Interesting Qualities to lure dates. Dating profile fluff isn’t getting anybody anywhere. Showing who you are on Twitter will get you somewhere (unless you totally suck and in that case ain’t nobody can help you but God herself).

This is you on every OkCupid date you've ever been on
This is you on every OkCupid date you’ve ever been on

Your Twitter handle is also low commitment contact information to give to cute guys or girls in the bar. You both can follow each other, casually fav, retweet (!!!) or reply to tweets, without there being a ton of intimate pressure to text or endure a fucking awkward and outdated facebook chat *shudders*. Plus, there’s already a bunch of random people following you on Twitter anyways, so adding one more isn’t weird like being immediate Facebook friends would be.

And if you’re reluctant to hand out your Twitter handle, get theirs. That way you can see what kinds of things they write about or retweet before you decide to follow them. If it’s a ton of sports stats and inspirational quotes, then you just sidestepped adding a bunch of a “your” vs. “you’re” tweets in your feed. If it’s a bunch of funny complaints, jokes and relevant cultural references? Cool, new material to steal and use on your coworkers.

What’s best is that in the off chance that your prospective date doesn’t have a Twitter handle, you’ll know they suck and can avoid a week of annoying favs and @ replies. It’s a win win. Yes, the argument could be made that there are cool and interesting people without a social media presence. Lemme know when you find one who isn’t also worried about the fluoride in the water controlling our thoughts. It’s 2014, yo.

So next time you think a guy/girl is cute, think about sending over your twitter handle on a cocktail napkin. You never know if it could turn into a brief and fun romance, new jokes to retweet/steal or a lifetime of LUUUUUVVVVVV.

 

The real Minneapolis dating scene: Don’t talk to me unless I know you already

Posted on by 20poorandfabulous

Downtown_Minneapolis_at_night

This New York Times article chronicling the dating habits of Minneapolis residents is missing a few key elements of our *wonderful* dating scene. Here are my thoughts on the article and what they left out:

  1. Minnesota nice? People are jerks here just like everywhere else – except when your car gets stuck in the snow. Then they come out of the woodwork like a beautiful termite infestation of goodwill and camaraderie.
  2. The Minneapolis dating scene consists of going out with your friends and not talking to anyone else except your group of friends. That’s seriously it. Maybe it’s because on some level we all know that everyone else will be just as shitty of a human being as our horrible friends, so why bother meeting anyone new? It’s either smart or incredibly lazy with a side of depressing as hell. But hey, that’s us!
  3. My boss once said something really great about Minnesotans and why our dating scene sucks: if you start talking to someone in an elevator, some light chat about the afternoon or the weather, they get so nervous that you’re gonna follow them to their car or ask for their personal home address that they become extremely paranoid and ruin the entire light-hearted experience all because they think you’re gonna murder them. I don’t know what it is or why it exists, but it is very real.
  4. It’s nearly impossible to have a nice conversation with another person in Minneapolis, possibly the entire state, without it being extremely awkward and feeling like a gigantic waste of time. There’s just something about the look in everyone’s eyes that screams “I don’t want to be talking to you. I have enough friends and I’m probably sleeping with one of them when I get black out drunk/horny/sad enough to make a move.”

So: who’s packin’ their bags for good ol’ MPLS?!

Certainly there are very different realities among the different types of people who reside in Minneapolis. Some may be more romantic; others even more bleak than the sad outline I provided above. bad-first-date

And maybe it’s just my age group. I represent the 20-something U of M grad who is still friends with mostly all her college friends, friends of those friends, and friends from work. If you’re not a constant, forced upon presence in somebody’s life here, there ain’t gonna be no out-of-the-blue phone calls happening to hang out or “get a juicy lucy.” (Which, ew.)

Winter also plays a huge part in our disjointed dating scene. For over 6 months of the year, you are confined to the walls of your home, the numbers in your telephone and your Facebook chat list. Making friends in the winter is nearly impossible. Why would you dig your car out of 2 feet of hardened snow to meet up with someone who you don’t even know if you’ll like? That’s why we tend to stick to our group of tried and true friends and don’t bother to branch out unless we absolutely have to. Because chances are, we’ve already got one of you in our circle of friends:

Gay and love dancing? I’ve got two of those already. Going through a never-ending existential crisis with a side of seasonal depression? Yup. See him once a week. In a band? SO AM I AND EVERYONE I KNOW. (Thingamabobs? I’ve got twenty!) And if you work at Target Corporate, you better keep movin’ pal cuz nobody wants that Stepford/hipster hybrid cramping their heroin chic apartment.

Furthermore, maybe our dating scene really isn’t any shittier than any other city in the US. In fact, I’d be even MORE skeptical if a city was REALLY good at dating. So what, does that mean you’re all a bunch of honestly nice people who like to go out and have fun with each other? Sickening.

These are the dates I went on this year:

Love.
Dating.
  • A shorter-than-me bartender who believed strongly in gender roles. I’m 5’7″ and he wouldn’t stop mentioning our height difference or being really intense about how a woman and a man should act in a relationship.
  • A fun guy I ran into randomly 3 times who I met downtown MPLS and a thrift store in St. Paul. He picked me up the night gay marriage was legalized in MN, we shared a PBR tallboy and celebrated at the Townhouse, and then drank beers on a bridge by the train tracks until it was time to go home. It was the most fun and exhilarating date I’ve had all year, but he was also living in his car at the time. I mean, I’m down for whatever, but it’s pretty hard to date someone who’s living in their car. In the words of Liz Lemon, that’s a dealbreaker, ladies.
  • A guy I met at work where I dj who wouldn’t stop bothering me until he finally broke me down and got my twitter handle, then my snapchat name, and then my number. We had a really awesome date and then he bailed on the second date citing “baseball” as the reason.
  • A brief snapchat romance with a guy I grew up with as a kid. Snapchats turned sexy, sexy turned into hour long phone convos, amazing phone convos turned into an invitation to his hometown for a 4th of July IRL hangout. Not surprisingly, Snapchat had not wielded a magical forum for love through timed photos, and we were set to self destruct from the beginning, just like the photos themselves.

You see, folks? Those weird romances could have happened to anyone in any city across the country, even the world. So maybe we should stop thinking that every time the NYT comes in to town to chronicle our weird dating scene that we’re special or especially fucked up when it comes to finding a mate. I mean, isn’t one of the most common human denominators the fact that dating sucks? Why else would Sex and the City be such a big hit, or How I Met Your Mother? The real truth is that dating sucks no matter where you live; we’re all just uniquely bad at it. WE ARE THE WORLD (of bad daters). Let it bring us together. Hallelujah.

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F me on Facebook punkssss

Dating: Defining the lukewarm lover

Posted on by 20poorandfabulous
Lukewarm_date_with_Rosa_by_shellegg
“Lukewarm Date with Rosa” by shellegg Image via deviantart.com

Telling someone you don’t like them romantically is not fun. And it doesn’t even have to be that you dislike them per se, but even saying you “don’t feel a romantic connection but still think they might be a cool friend” is a really strange boundary to set up when you’ve had maybe one or two dates with anyone. It’s like asking someone to define Yeezus having only heard the opening track. That’s just insane.

I have this theory that may be brilliant or really fucking obvious. It’s that we already know what we think of each other, but we don’t like not having the insurance of a lukewarm lover on the back burner. They’re always there, pretty eager and ALWAYS complimenting your hair. (Plus, it’s always fun to be liked.) But where do we draw the line between leading someone on and keeping them in your cell under “IDK, MAYBZ”?

Reasons lukewarm lovers are still in your cell phone, life

  1. It’s easy to get lonely. Even if the love is lukewarm, it’s something.
  2. Nothing better has come along. It sounds harsh, but you’d be lying to yourself if you say you have never been on a few too many dates with someone because at least it was something to do/entertaining. Of course it’s best to be honest to your lukewarm lover about your intentions. I really like hanging out with you but I’m not sure I see a future together is something I’ve totally said before, and it worked out fine. It feels awkward coming out of your mouth, but people respect honesty a lot more than you’d think. And it’s not like they’re gonna die cuz they can’t have you. People are stronger than you think, too.
  3. What if you need a quick date to a wedding/bar mitzvah/your ex’s engagement party. lukewarm-faucet Of course it’s cool to fly solo, but sometimes that doesn’t feel good and you need someone there with you who’s not your gay BFF or your roommate.
  4. You have no idea what you want. Is there a deeper reason you still have this person in your life? Maybe it’s just a friendship you’d like to continue, or maybe there’s room for romantical shit. Don’t put too much pressure on defining it. Maybe what you need is to NOT define it at all and see where it goes, while still trying to be honest about your intentions. Leading people on sucks, but at least if you’re honest about your uncertainty, they can decide if they can deal with uncertainty or wanna GTFO. Options, yo.
  5. Ego. You want to think that a ton of lukewarm loves are TOTALLY fantasizing about your genitals and sick style, when they are probably not thinking about you at all, or thinking that you’re a huge turd. Nobody likes a turd. Don’t be a turd.

Basically, even though it sucks to talk about uncomfortable shit (hey, adulthood!), it’s best to be open and honest with your lukewarm lover. They can probs handle it, just don’t be a huge asshole because you’re not the first person they’ve ever liked and you won’t be the last. And even if they can’t handle your lukewarm definitions, remember it’s for the best. They’ll move on to find what they’re looking for and so will you. No need to waste your time AND another person’s. Stick to my life mantra which also applies to dating and you should be mostly okay: let’s try not to ruin anyone’s day here, and don’t be a fuckhead.

Dating: The “maybe sometime” relationship

Posted on by 20poorandfabulous

Hate to break it to you, but that “maybe sometime” relationship you’ve been keeping in your back pocket is totally fucked up.

Some people are so into this. They probably saw it in an episode of Friends and thought it was a “real neat” idea. ‘If you don’t find the love of your life, marry someone who’s more pathetic so you don’t feel bad about not finding anyone better.’ Harsh! Why would anyone set themselves up for this amazing disaster?

This will never be you if you marry a fallback person. Image via goodreads.com

Cue Katherine Heigl filming this exact storyline. Except in her version, she actually falls in love with her fallback, and her fallback falls in love with her, despite her bad wigs. A true Hollywood love story.

Face it: It ain’t gonna happen. Why even have a fallback relationship? Would you really be that much happier with someone you didn’t care to date at your best and most mediocre of moments in life? The “maybe sometime” person is just a façade. Someone you think of when you’re afraid of being lonely, but not someone you think of when you picture a happy life and a good relationship.

At this point in our lives, and the way relationships have progressed throughout the years, we have a loooong time to figure out who we want to end up with. Unless you’re one of those 20 somethings that got married at 21, in which case, congratulations (and fuck you. Just kidding! kind of).

So there’s no rush. But I’m just sayin, don’t peg someone as your backup. Give them, and YOU a chance to find your very own Ryan Gosling or Rachel McAdams. Because they are awesome and mostly everyone, save total idiots, deserve a Ryan Gosling or a Rachel McAdams.

Forever Young: Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears

Posted on by 20poorandfabulous
Holy shit. I'm 13 again. Image via fanpop.com

Wow. One of the most famous teen pop couples of all time. Actually, THE most famous couple of popdom. Selena and Bieber are awesome, but there was something sooooooo different and exciting about JT and Brit. Probably Brit’s oversexualized (but shit, I loved her) persona and all of Justin’s amazing pop dance hits with *NSYNC. Girls wanted to be Brit, guys loved her, guys (secretly, you know you did) wanted to be JT and girls luuuuuuuved him. The most perfect pop couple of all time.

No couple could last in that outfit. I don't even think a single person could survive that. Image via asapicnicbasket.blogspot.com

Until shit hit the fan.

It was so tragic (in a first world, small town teenybopper kind of way), because we had been raised on Disney fairytale relationships, and our B and JT were another product of Disney. That’s all a lot of us knew about relationships: You get your prince, a huge castle, sweet dresses and some waiters that dance and sing and shit that’s it! But then the bitchy stepsister of reality rings the doorbell during your Disney-valium-idea-of-life nap and totally fucks everything up.

Granted, the breakup was way good for their careers. Well, Britney’s not so much I guess. She went on to record In the Zone which was awesome. After that it was all barefoot cheeto K-fed shaved head madness.

But JT’s solo career pretty much needed that breakup. Even if it did crush all hope for fairytale teen love for the rest of us. I mean, Cry Me a River was amazing. And outed the alleged reason JT and Brit broke up. And got lots of people to pay attention to his music.

As much as my like, 12 year old self was idolizing a beautiful, popstar couple, it clearly makes sense that these two pop stars were not meant to be. JT tells us what happened:

“We were two birds of the same feather — small-town kids, doing the same thing,” Timberlake said to Vanity Fair. “But then you become adults, and the way you were as kids doesn’t make any sense. I won’t speak on her, but at least for me, I was a totally different person. I just don’t think we were normal; there was nothing normal about our existence. We spent way too much time being the biggest thing for teenyboppers.”

Totally makes sense.

Dear Britney and Justin,

You looked good on covers of BOP and the posters that lined our rooms. And I loved your sappy, kitchy b-side McDonalds CD release, as well as every CD you both ever put out. Everyone I know learned all your dances. I will always remember your pop outfits, songs and dances with the greatest teen adoration and love in my heart. It may have been a dark childhood to teen stardom for y’all, but you were truly entertaining and made fun music to dance to in our rooms. You will forever own the title of best pop couple, and that is fucking rad. Own it. Work it. Please do an album together (yeah right, but we can dream.)

LOVE, 20sum POOR & FAB

P.S. This Britney song “Heart” from the aforementioned McDonalds b-side CD release will help you move on from teen pop and everyday heartbreaks. (Or just drink a shit ton of wine and chain smoke)

Happy Valentimes Day!!!

Posted on by 20poorandfabulous

OR….

Happy Anna Howard Shaw Day!!

Happy League of Women Voters Day!!!

Happy Lawrencium Day!!!!

Happy first diesel-powered submarine Day!!!!!

Happy Asbestos Strike Day!!!!!!

Remember, our dearest February 14th doesn’t have to just be about love. It can be about remembering the Canadian Asbestos Strike, the birth of Anna Howard Shaw, or the first diesel-powered submarine.

Or, you could simply be thankful this is (or isn’t) waiting for you at home after work. (Only if he had a good cabernet sauvignon)

Image via efunlist.com

Or maybe you’re super in love and this is going to be your heart all night long.

Image via tjhsst.edu

Or maybe you’re fresh out of a crummy relationship, and you’d rather pull one of these.

Image via sodahead.com

Or maybe you’ll be sharing these with a “friend”.

Image via nerdnirvana.org

Or maybe you’ll simply curl up on the couch and remember that, more than anyone, the Hoff still loves you.

Image via littleladybigapple.com

No matter what your status is on Valentine’s day, just know that it’s a day to celebrate all kinds of love. Even if it’s your undying love for David Hasselhoff circa his Baywatch years, or wearing a single pair of fundies.

Image via crushable.com

 Valentine’s Day dos for everyone:

Do Watch: 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Downton Abbey, The Walking Dead, Clueless, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Night of the Living Dead

Do Eat: Thai, Italian, French

Do Drink: Red wine, but beware of wine lips

Do for Dessert: Chocolate or whatever is best on the menu (or in the freezer)

Do Sing and Dance: Yeah, you heard me. Have fun. It’s simply a delight!

Valentine’s Day don’ts for everyone:

Don’t Watch: A documentary on civil war or Sophie’s Choice

Don’t Eat: Indian, hamburgers, chicken

Don’t Drink: too much. It’s a Tuesday… and possibly a date!

Don’t for Dessert: I’m drawing a blank.

Don’t Sing and Dance: If your dance moves have gotten you dumped before, start the place on fire and GTFO. And for the love of God, if you must dance, don’t do the sprinkler or any awful straight man dance like that. Nobody thinks it’s spontaneous and carefree. Nobody.