Dear men of the single persuasion,

I have two rules of advice for you as you seek to date others.

1) Movies do not make a good date choice, especially if it is a blind date and/or we barely know each other. Dates are supposed to provide an environment (and I will not argue that it is an artifical environment. I still cannot figure out how one manages to get to the marriage stage by starting off dating, but this is a detour of thoughts) in which the two partners get acquainted with one another and decide if future dates would be nice or not. You can’t talk in movies (you can, but you make your neighbors very upset and then Roger Ebert singles you out in his online review of the movie and you can’t show your face for shame for months…again, another diversion) and given the limited number of choices of movies, you can’t even tell about your partner’s taste based on the movie.

Rule number 1 is especially true if you don’t like movies. Do not take a date to something that you don’t want to go to–that is to wait until later when you are an established couple and have to suffer through those events for the sake of supporting your loved one.

Likewise, if there are movies that you don’t want to see, don’t put it as a option. The Dark Knight should not have been a choice if you couldn’t stand the first one and think that it’s a franchise that is protraying good as evil, etc.

2) Wear a nice shirt. Not a t-shirt. Not a church shirt. Just a nice, casual shirt that shows you put some thought into the evening. If you don’t have one, find a sister or a random girl on the street to take you to the Gap. (I hadn’t realized how much being around Chris spoiled me for well-dressed men).

Good luck in the future, I’ll be eagerly awaiting to hear of your success.

Julia

The date was okay. He was nervous and I was sleep-deprived (advice to myself – no more dates post-call). We may have had a little in common, but I sure didn’t get a chance to find out. Wall-E, btw, was even better the second time. Any movie that uses “Hello, Dolly” as inspiration is automatically elevated to levels of awesomeness in my mind. Date proclaimed that it was “alright.” Hurmph.

We’ll see if he improves on closer acquaintance (hee!)