Recently, I pledged myself to trying to get out there and meet more people. Ever since The Ex and The Why?, I’ve kinda restricted myself from men so I could finish up school and accomplish some personal goals I set for myself. Well, with those goals accomplished and school finished, I feel like I’m right back at Square One with dating. You see, I’ve never been on a second date. Never. It’s always been first date then *poof* they’re gone. Never to be seen again. Some have flat out told me “I don’t want to see you again”, others strung me along unanswered phone call after unanswered phone call. After a while, I just got the notion that dating for me is just something that’s not feasible. Now was the time to change that. On a whim, I signed up for one of those phone chat services since I was going to be off the whole weekend and didn’t have any plans. Most of the ads were from sex-crazed horndogs looking to get off with anything with a six-pack. Big yawn. Couple of people wanted something a bit more long-term, but when I talked to them, it all boiled down to getting a nut. One guy lived in a gay nudist colony in North Georgia and wanted me to come up there for a weekend. No thank you. Another wanted me to dominate him…you know, some kind of kinky role-playing thing. Not my speed. I did end up talking with one guy who seemed kinda nice, had a good head on his shoulders, and wasn’t old enough to be my father. His name was Lawyer Boy.

He was 22, a first year Emory Law student, had his own place and car in Midtown, and was a native Atlantan. After a few phone conversations, we agreed to meet and go out on Sunday for dinner at Brio Tuscan Grille followed by coffee and conversation at — you guessed it — Barnes and Noble. Doo-Wop had to give me a pep talk to go through with the date when I got off of work. After all, this was going to be my first foray back into the social dating world since…umm…damn, I don’t even remember the last time. But it’s been a while, and I was moreso craving the safety of NNP than the confines of a booth at a HAL 2000-ran Italian restaurant. Nevertheless, I decided to go on ahead with the date, and set out around 8:30 to Brio. I’m dressed to impress and definitely can’t wait to see what will be in store for the night. Five minutes pass. Then ten. Then thirty. Befoe I know it, it’s almost 10:00pm and I haven’t gotten so much as a call from Lawyer Boy. I call NNP and ask Doo-Wop if I’ve gotten any calls. None. I call Lawyer Boy and my number’s been blocked from his phone. Ladies and germs, I have just been stood up. I walked back home and called it a night.

I’m wondering if maybe it was the environment I met him in (a phone chat line, of all places…), but as I’ve been informed by many others, the club isn’t exactly the best place to meet a guy who wants more than sex. My past mishaps with meeting guys from the Internet taught me not to even go that route. And I would do the old friend-of-a-friend thing, but both Taurean and Doo-Wop are unabashedly single and not looking for themselves. I’d do a personal ad, but I take horrible pictures. I can’t dance and I don’t drink, so the club’s out of the question.

So here’s the last-ditch effort. Hurrydate. The event takes place August 5th and it looks like a lot of fun. I just hope I don’t end up being the only brotha there. I really hate when that happens.

Wish me luck!