When in doubt . . .

-Seriously, sounds like you're doing fine.

I'm always fascinated to see how these dating services work out for people, keep us posted.

Good start, but for the next date if your really looking to get to know someone don't go see a movie. Its basically you both sitting together looking at the screen (It gets really awkward if your not talking). You might want to try going to a pool hall or bowling next time instead. Keep us posted!

Remember, if you want to make this a relationship, YOU must take it to the next level or it will stay in the friend zone, compliment her and make her feel good. If its hitting off really well let her know that your really like her and if shes leaning in really close sneak a kiss.

I had a hard time with this myself because I'm more introverted but you've got to be the one to do something, she won't because she is probably nervous herself, be the man.

@phantasystarx, I was aware with that for the movie, but I honestly just wanted a chance for me and someone else to get out together. We already did a lot of chatting via messaging (so we know quite a bit about one another).

I think going to movie will work fine, but you should probably get a coffee or something after the movie too. That way you can spend more time with her, and you can always talk about the movie to make conversation if need be.

Wow, that seems like a sudden move! I did not see that coming.

Anyhow, I just want to wish you the best of luck for things to work out ^^;;

I saw your profile. I recommend you use a different picture. Most girls won't be fans of a gaming shirt with PlayStation pants even if they like games. Don't wear that outfit on a date either. A casual outfit that is not gaming related would be the safest choice. Learn to dress for the occasion.

Places to wear gaming/anime clothes: home, cons, game launches, arcades, gaming tournaments, casual day at work, casual outings

Places not to wear gaming/anime clothes: dates, job interviews, clubs, bars, nice restaurants, and general social outings where you intend to meet girls

Also try to get someone to take your picture for you so you don't have to do a mirror pic. Take a bunch of pictures and have friends (female if possible) help you pick the best to use.

good job and good luck Mana! Online dating works. My cousin's boss met her fiance through Eharmony and i know for sure a bunch CAGS here met their significance others through dating sites.

The best advice i can give you is be yourself. Do not be anyone but yourself and it seems to be working for you. I hope to hear more good stories from you Mana.

i have no problems with the gaming apparel. I assume Mana Knight has no intentions of picking up women in clubs and bars so i think he can where it wherever he wants. As long as his girl doesnt mind, than i dont think it matters whatsoever. but then again, its quite obvious when he gets the girl.

Attracting girls i agree with collectordragon 100%. Gotta look presentable in your pictures. Appearance is whats going to get people to start reading your Bio. so put on some nice clothes and put up a decent smile and you should be set.

so collectordragon, how is life after Beauty and Geek? Has the show actually improved the dating scene for you? Im just curious because i do not see the show on anymore and havent ever since your run ended, was always curious how life is treating you afterwards.

TMK, I'm glad to hear you're doing well and think it's great you're taking the initiative to meet new people and go out on dates. I just want to caution you not to limit yourself to a specific type of girl you may want because she meets a certain criteria (e.g., enjoys anime, gaming, final fantasy, and/or little big planet).

It is fine that you both may be interested in and enjoy these things, but they shouldn't define your relationship. In my opinion, you can only have so many conversations on these topics before they get stale and boring. My point is that you should want to be with a girl for the type of person she is; not for this "thing" or "idea" that you may want.

I encourage you to go outside of your comfort zone and try to meet new girls that have different hobbies and interests than yourself. Get to know them for who they are. Be interested in what they do and why they do it. I know it may feel awkward and uncomfortable, talking about something you don't know much about, but just be interested. Ask questions. Show the girl that you want to get to know her.

Hope this helps.

Good Luck Mana Hopefully one of the new jobs you get is close to where I live and we can hit some NBA games together in the future

April Fools' suckers!

TMK doesn't need a woman to make his life complete!

ahhhh man is this an April Fools Joke? TMK should go to Ashleymadison.com and start working on those married cougars.

and here I thought you were attracted to me *sobs*

you really put it all out there huh?

Nah movie is a good place to start. First date you figure has to be awkward, the movie give you a good reason to be awkwardly silent for 60 minute and when it's over if you run out of things to talk about you can talk about the movie. Or start with the movie and move into personal topics.

Your camera has a timer. With a bit of practice you can take a picture of yourself and you don't have to ask someone to take it for you, and explain why.

As far as the attire. I wouldn't suggest going overboard but gaming is a huge part of who you are. I don't see anything wrong with a gaming shirt. Not so sure about the pants though. I remember a pick up you posted with some Playstation PJs and yeah I wouldn't wear those for the picture.

Quote: It is fine that you both may be interested in and enjoy these things, but they shouldn't define your relationship. In my opinion, you can only have so many conversations on these topics before they get stale and boring. My point is that you should want to be with a girl for the type of person she is; not for this "thing" or "idea" that you may want.

True. If you're just getting into the dating game get comfortable with it or whatever but yes to this. Don't reject a girl just off gaming alone. The older guys at IGN are always the most interesting to listen to on Podcasts. For instance Levi Buchanan once discussed the topic and the short version is that his wife isn't into games and it doesn't affect their relationship. They're cool on a level that's outside of their primary interests. It's just something to consider. Just because a girl isn't down with gaming on your level doesn't mean you can't be cool outside of that. She'll listen to you going on about PSN sales figures and because you like her you might find yourself actually listening to her go on about ... i dunno frost bitten citrus crops because I for one would love to date a chick heavy into botany.

Quote: This blog may eventually be gone since I sort of fear a girl I date will find it one day, lol.

You just need a bit of clever social engineering. for instance
1. don't tell her about CAG. She won't be looking for it. and you won't be tweeting your blogs anymore.
2. just visit CAG using "Private Browsing". A touch simpler depending on the browser. Safari requires you to actively turn off whereas Chrome you just close the window.

If you're with the girl for long enough she's not going to go back thru every entry anyway. Based on your posting rate anything past 4 months is beyond what anyone would normally dig. Knowing the weakness: turn off private browsing. My roommate read a rather private entry into my livejournal back in the day because I was logged in and he got on my computer. If I had closed the window he never would have noticed. Your entries are still susceptible to googling, but people in general google your real name not your handle

@dv8mad, this is no April's fool's joke. I posted it yesterday. If you want proof, I can print screen the message.

@Sethra, I didn't think you liked me.

Good job mana. Online dating really works, it did well for me and several others I know, but it MOST DEFINITELY has it caveats. It's no harder or easier then real dating, and it comes with rejections and it's own set of crazy implications on how to "get girls" as real life approaches have. Regardless, I'm still glad you took the step towards the site. It's easily the best I used of all the free ones, and with effort and an open mind, I have full faith you can find someone. Plus, you ARE a good looking guy.

Probably told you most of this before as well, but here's some tips for you and anyone else going down this avenue:


- Have 3-4 profile pics, maybe only have one with a gaming gear, and 2-3 others just casual wear. Maybe have one showing you with snowboardiing stuff? I sort of agree that throwing too much geekiness at once can scare some girls away, even girls that ARE geeky. Just have one geeky photo to give them the hint of it. If they are interested, this will read you're profile and find out geeky you are. It's possible to lose lots though just because some girls may only see 3 pics of you in gaming wear and dismiss you right away before reading the profile. AND IMPORTANT! LOOK HAPPY!

- have a good profile and update often. It's hard to say what makes a good profile. I updated mine 100s of times. Just keep refining it. Try to include points girls can easily message you about. Talk about a variety of topics so girls can hopefully find one they have interest in and message you about. The less you have, the less girls will find interesting about you. Give them something they want to message you about. It may sound crazy, but one ridiculous line I used that got me TONS of attention was saying in my profile how I never dated anyone and I asked girls to message me why if they wanted to know. Lets just say I got LOTS of messages about that, and while not all the conversations led to dates, it got girls interested in me enough to talk to me and share conversation. Also, like I said, update often since updating bumps your profile to the front page making it easier for girls to spot your profile.

- it almost seems there is a very iffy timeline for how you progress your communication with girls. In almost all case though, it seemed with online dating that more messaging before asking out was better then less. Ask a girl to hang out too soon and you risk her stopping talking with you permanently. It's a drag to just have to keep messaging when you really just want to meet, but lots of girls are skittish about meeting guys in real life. Talking via the web is one thing, but I learned meeting in real life is something many of them are very hesitant about. You got to build some trust up. I would say what worked best for me was message back and forth for a few days 3-5. If things are going well, ask for an IM or phone number to text/maybe even talk. After a few more days doing that, and of course depending on how frequent you actually talked, then ask her out. From my experience, I always seemed to have better luck with girls actually meeting me if I waited longer to ask them out, but of course you can't wait too long.

- Messaging girls is also a tricky art in itself. Don't message generic things, but really read their profiles and pick something you truly have a honest opinion/comment on. It usually works best to initiate conversation by turning that topic of interest into a question. Questions almost inevitably force girls to respond, which is a good thing. So find that topic of interest, send a genuine comment and question about it. For example, if they say they like anime and name some titles they like, respond back maybe commenting on said titles, list some titles you like, and ask them something perhaps like what they thought of so and so series of anime. Get them interested in intrigued in you and leave a question on their side for them to respond to and continue the question. Conversation in real life often utilized questions and not statements, so it pertains here too. Just be aware there will be messages you send with no responses, but carefully crafting the way you write and word them and be the entire difference between getting responded to or getting ignored. Also, don't pry to hard to make conversation, if you can't find something in a girl's profile you find interesting, don't try to "fake" some interest in a topic and message it to her. It almost will never work. Find the girls who share some similar topic of interest that you can genuinely comment on.

Lastly, in lieu of me writing my own blog here , I will finish with this. There WILL be hardships and rejections with online dating. I used it seriously 6 months with lots of dates, but also lots of lessons to be learned. Each date though made me a little wiser and a little more experienced for the next one until I finally met my current wonderful girlfriend. There will be rejections though. Ignored messages. Probably most frustrating is the myriad of times you will have sent several great messages back and forth with a girl but once you finally ask her out, she will literally disappear off the face of the earth. There will be girls you love that don't like you, and girl's that love you and you don't like them. Just take it all stride, be optimistic, every little experience is just that.... experience and makes you BETTER. It will get easier and easier as time goes on, and we here on CAG might get to read some fun dating stories from you already Most importantly though, just be serious about it. Don't be creepy serious, but have the flair that you are looking for something real. Check the site every night, pursue as many girls that have common interests as you can and make conversation whenever possible even if you doubt it will work. It's still making you better and giving you more experience. Most importantly, have an open mind and don't judge or dismiss people too quickly because you might pass up on some really awesome people. If a girl messages you and you don't think she is right but she really is into it, tag along with it for a little while. You may be pleasantly surprised or if not, you stop seeing her after a date or two.

Good luck Mana, can't wait to hear some new stories, and message me if you ever need advice.

^ ^ holy hell.... ^ ^ Wall of text.... O_O

Best of luck, Mana!