Well, it’s starting to affect me again. The end of October and next month, Thanksgiving. The start of the silly season, a period of time in which emotions can run rampant with highs and lows until after Valentines Day. I’m feeling the blues! No girlfriend right now to share in the festivities of the upcoming holidays.

I don’t mind not having Thanksgiving dinner (as I dislike turkey!), but then comes Christmas, and that will put me in to a tailspin. I love to give gifts to a girlfriend, and this year will not have the opportunity I feel. Of course, I have been a very good boy, so may be Santa will give me one? If he does, he better not look for a chimney.. I live in Florida! LOL.

Next, comes the two holidays that are the worst when not in a relationship. Spending New Years Eve without female companionship basically sucks, and in February, there is Valentines Day to contend with! Yes indeed, the 2009-2010 Silly Season, will not be a happy one for this author. However, I will have almost a year to make restitution!

I happen to find that particular statement to, at times, be true, as many soccer moms are quite hot. So, what exactly are soccer moms? The answer is simply this; she is usually a middle class woman around 35 to 45 years of age, living a wealthy suburban lifestyle, and who spend much of her time driving her school age children to and from sporting events in their new Land Rover SUV‘s. It doesn’t have to be soccer, but that is where the phrase took off in popularity and has stuck.

I happen to be a single, middle aged guy who had the opportunity to spend time with a buddy at a soccer game in which his tween daughter was playing. To confess, I was never much of a soccer fan, as I did not grow up around the sport, but I do have an eye for attractive ladies. Right off the bat was 3 or 4 gorgeous moms pressed up against the chain link fence, rooting for their children with passion. I mean they were really in to the game. I started wondering why they drove and then stay to watch their children play the sport and not their husbands. It seemed a bit odd to me…. at first!

I decided to try a little pick up maneuver and do a little “research”. I proceeded to that fence, right next to those hotties, and started shouting out my friend’s daughter’s name. About 15 minutes later, and with the onslaught of a raspy voice brought on my shouting, one of those soccer moms initiated the conversation by asking, “Which one is your daughter”? I told this beauty standing next to me who I was shouting for and that she wasn’t my daughter, but my niece! OK, little white lie, so sue me! As she watched the game, I found myself watching her! She wasn’t a kid, she was all woman, and a beaut at that, wearing nice designer shorts and top, and boasting a delicious tan.

We started chit chatting and before long she told me that she was divorced because her husband never had time for anything but work. I asked her if it wasn’t for her child playing, was she in to the sport. She actually told me she was a “soccer mom” in those words, and that it was a terrific way to meet guys. I was at first taken back by her comment. Next week, I’m meeting this mom-babe at the next game. I might even start to like the sport. I already know how to dribble! lol

Social networking has become so very popular in today’s society. Networking sites like Facebook and MySpace and the various blog sites are amongst the most popular. People, unfortunately, put in more information than they should, and many problems can and do occur as a result. This also has a bearing on online dating sites. There is a rise in crime and stalking because individuals just write too darn much about themselves. Remember, this info can be retrieved and viewed by almost anyone with a computer and internet access.

Case in point, I read that a girl was on an online dating site and was emailed by a guy who seemed to show interest in her. Eventually, they met and he turned out to be a creep. But during their date, she told him her true name and phone number, as well as the area she lived. His later emails took a nasty turn, where he started to scare her. It turned out that with the info provided to him, he had all the information he needed. He began to stalk her. He would write emails to her describing the clothes she was wearing. At least she was quick headed. She called the police and he was arrested. Now that example was a bit extreme, but it did happen! In social sites like Facebook and MySpace, people give their whole life history, making it all to easy for evil minded people to prey on them. Come on people, use your head!
Why would you ever put that much personal information on a public site? But people do! And some pay the consequences.

Almost every time I log on to an online dating site, I seem to see the same recurring question line from the female members. That being, “Are there any good men left?” I believe the answer is a big YES, there are! Now everybody has probably gotten burned in a relation. It’s just one of those things that occur in that thing we call, life.

Mostly, it is as a result of a bad past relationship. Perhaps the guy didn’t have money (a very common gripe with women) as they like to feel financially secure, perhaps he didn’t hold the door open for her (another common gripe), thereby failing in chivalry. Oh jeez, execute them right now!

But it is not always the males fault either. We would love to give you everything you want, but it is not always possible to do so. On ther other hand, why do all the women on these sites want to be treated like the princesses they think they are, or the one time the guy doesn’t hold the door open because may be something other than her was on his mind, he is instantly labeled.

Women seem way too quick to judge an individual man, let alone all men. Maybe when they stop believing that they are ultra special creatures to whom the guy has to be worthy, they will get more out of the relationship. Remember the saying, the more you want, the less you’ll get, and the same goes vice versa. So, to you ladies, there is something for you to think about!

Last night was boys night out. It is our gathering of only male friends, both married and single, who get together once a month for socializing, womanizing, and getting snookered! What we noticed was that women do the same thing. Not surprising though! What was funny was the way intoxicated women acted in public!

At the bar we went to, there were a group of women in their mid 40’s, who were having their girls night out. Within minutes of their arrival, we knew them to be mostly married, if you know what I mean!
The more they drank, the funnier and louder they got.

By their third round, they were totally smashed, and singing to the entire bar. By their fourth round, they were falling off the barstools, with one on the floor, and seemingly content to be there!
She was the funniest lush I ever encountered. She was also the loudest of the group and the most flirtatious.

What sticks in my mind most about this night out was one saying that she screamed out to the entire bar:
I’m married.. I drink triples till I see doubles, and I act like I’m single!
They were truly a lush-ous group of gals!

As quickly as it became known to my friends that I was approaching being single…again, the first thing said from girl friends, was awww, so sorry to hear that, followed by get some new threads and git back in the saddle. Why do I need more clothes? It doesn’t state who I am, nor does it make me a better man! Hell, I already have spent over $3000 in clothes which were purchased in 2008 alone, most of which I purchased through the pestering of my now ex girl, and of which 80% I still have not worn yet! I’m not a woman, I have no need for the latest fashions, or what’s trendy, at the moment, nor do I relate to retail therapy. I really couldn’t care less. Give me a couple of suits for work, a few pair of slacks, some shirts, and my sneakers, and I’m a happy camper. I certainly do not need more to make me feel better. I feel fine!

I’m not going to be judged by a female or anybody for my dress attire! I don’t believe that clothes make the man, but the other way around, a man makes the clothes! Take me as I am, or I won’t last long. Although I am chivalrous, I refuse to be some damsel’s knight in shining Armani !

No, not the Doublemint gum commercial, but the Twins. Every mans fantasy, I’m sure. My mind wanders to one of the Austin Powers movies, where he is confronted (and comforted!) by twin oriental gals. How great would it be to have the opportunity to date a brace of twins! It sure would fulfill one of my fantasies, a major one at that! I wonder if I could handle it. That I don’t know, but I sure would love to give it a try if presented with the opportunity!

These are probably dreams (or nightmares). They exist only in my fantasy where they are fulfilling (duh!), outrageous, and remain as my ultimate fantasy, where they probably belong. I am curious as to whether anyone has ever actually had the opportunity to live this fantasy, and if so, has was it. This dirty old man wants to know!

I have gone out with numerous single women, many of whom I have met through the wonders of modern technology. The World Wide Web and its numerous venues for online dating and more recently a miss directed text message in which I was able to give some wonderful dating advice to a young woman; (who then had little problem with texting me her photo), is a great method of initially meeting people.

There is however one fly in the proverbially Internet dating ointment, you cannot tell an individual’s personal hygiene habits from behind a computer screen! There are many things that may be revealed in a real life encounter that modern technology cannot easily pick up, even on the best flat screen computer monitor. I mean really, I understand that plucking out protruding nose hairs is time consuming work, but there are just some things that are worth the effort. The sense of smell, is something so vital to really getting to know someone, and until smellivision is discovered, it’s a crap shoot until that first in person meeting.

Have you ever danced with a woman to a slow, classic beat, held her hand tight in yours and then took a long deep smell of her hair? This can be one of the most erotic moments on a date. Now picture that same scenario, but when you take her hand in yours her nails look like she uses the metal grinder at the local auto repair shop for manicures, and that scent in her hair is actually residue from her morning job at the Fulton fish market! These observations are not meant to upset anyone, they are merely pet peeves of mine.

I guess the reason I am so concerned about online dating and personal hygiene, is because I feel it’s misrepresenting yourself if you come off over the Internet as suave and sophisticated, yet you believe taking a shower is optional, not mandatory. If you don’t take pride in your overall appearance and cleanliness, I wonder what else in your life do you not care much about. It a lot like the girl who beat me out for valedictorian in high school, Mary Jane Stemkowski, whose armpits smelled so bad that to this day I still believe the teachers gave her A’s for not raising her hand in class. And please, do not misconstrue, this goes equally for men!!

Last night, after work, a group of friends went for appetizers and drinks at our favorite watering hole, Flanagans. After the 3rd round had passed our lips, and the world was good, and every girl looked gorgeous, our server (whom we all have known for a while) sat down and posed the following question to us. It was, would any of us ever date a woman with children. Sounded simple enough, but posed more questions than answers. Enough that half of the bar crowd joined in on the now debate. It became a round robin discussion, with everyone putting their two cents in on it.

First off, let me state that our waitress is a single mother, aged 30something, with 3 young children while at my table, we ranged from the mid 40’s to the mid 50’s, and were all single males, me being the oldest. After the initial MILF jokes, we actually, seriously, started an intelligent debate on the subject at hand.

What we first said was unequivocally NO F#@king WAY! OK, that was the alcohol causing snap judgments. Upon further discussion, we all had a similar take on the question. While we really felt that it didn’t matter to us if the girl had children, we first wanted to know if she had any contact or attachment to the children’s father. This was to see the degree of baggage that could possibly follow if dating her. The second point that came out was a consideration as to the age of the children in question.

When you are in your 40’s-50’s, there is a very good chance that her kids might be in the 20’s, and that is not a kid, that is an adult! And furthermore, chances are that an adult kid might not like the idea of mom seeing someone who is not their father! Valid point, huh! So we first are seeing the possibility of baggage, followed up by drama. Alcohol or not, we all agreed that our answer would be NO to dating older women with older kids. Baggage and drama were too much to deal with. Then some younger people joined in to the discussion. They ranged from 21-maybe 30. They had a different perspective on the issue. For them, being younger meant that the children would probably be a lot younger, and a lot easier to win over if they dated mom. Good point!

So, when our waitress came back to our table to have our answer, we retorted with, We would like another round, please and wish to remain single!

Sometimes I get nostalgic about my younger, glory days of single dating. There was no such thing as online dating, in fact, when I was in my late teens/early 20’s, there was no internet! To find a girl for a date, you had to do some legwork, not click a button to see a profile(s) and type an initial email. Oh yea, also no such thing as email! Lol. Now we live in the 21st century, techno immediate gratification world where it is all too simple. There is such a plethora (I like that word!) of faces to view online, from all over the world, a real smorgasbord of looks, shapes and sizes, that even if you get virtually rejected, there is no pain. You easily can just move on to the next!

In the old days you were basically limited to your area’s bars, clubs, markets, whatever. If you lived in more rural areas, your chances of successfully meeting some one new and exciting were severely diminished. But still people found a way to do so. They made it work, they had no other options. They had to work with the situations presented to them. They went to fairs and festivals, and other social events.

People have gotten lazy in dating, and the social graces. They don’t speak, they text on the fly, they don’t write letters, they eMail. They don’t put in the time and effort, but they do know how to press click and delete.

Oh, the good ole days!