Ponyboy Curtis

For the first time in 10 years, I'm watching The Outsiders, the movie based on the classic S. E. Hinton novel. The all-star cast makes up a group of tough young "greasers". Even though this movie is 27 years old and the actors are grown men now, I can't help but have a crush on the main character, Ponyboy Curtis. In fact all the characters have a certain (dirty?) sex appeal.
What is it about bad boys that attracts all women? Even in this movie a super pretty, wealthy young woman has a thing for the roughest guy of them all. Not only do bad boys exude confidence and manliness, they refuse to play by the rules which we all wish we could mimic but don't. Perhaps more importantly, It also feels like a magnificent sense of accomplishment when you "tame" a bad boy and make him your own. And no, I'm not talking about a stallion.
Ironically our standards seem to drop several notches when it's a bad boy - like him just acknowledging your presence is a major achievement. When a bad boy calls you on time or buys you flowers it's the equivalent of a nice guy building you a house or buying you a car. It's not fair, but that's the way it is.

Meet the Parents

I took my BF home to meet my family this month. He'd met some of my family before but had never experienced a weekend living in my former world. We both survived but I don't think I'll hurry to bring him back. After all, it was a bit of a stressful weekend - much less relaxing than when I visit solo. Lucky for both of us my family is pretty low key and there weren't any 35-person Arnold gatherings to suffer through or intense periods of questioning by older family friends.

During the years I've lived in Toronto I've considered bringing people home. Not often, and never too seriously (after all I would need to have a relationship that lasted past two months), but I thought about it. Now I can't imagine putting myself through that with a BF I barely knew. I keep picturing how awkward that would have been - introducing the guy to everyone who matters the most to me, only to break up one month later. Or perhaps without a solid relationship between us he would have been totally thrown off by my dad's eating habits or disgusted by the dingy area around the Winnipeg airport or my house wouldn't live up to his standards. OK that last one probably not - if he could survive hanging out in my TO apartment I'm sure my parent's house would be considered livable!

After saying all this, I can't help but wonder why girls are always in a rush to bring someone home for the first time. Yes it is a huge step forward in a relationship, but more often than not you're putting people you care about through so much only to have to do it all again when your new relationship starts next season.

A Match Made in Heaven

When I was in high school a friend set me up with her BF's friend. This wasn't just a girl helping out a single friend, there was reason behind this particular match. Her BF's friend was short. Along with his name and hair colour, that was about all the information she provided me with. Funny enough we actually hit it off and dated for over a year. Maybe the hours spent entering compatibility information on dating websites isn't necessary after all. The sites could begin to provide only one question: How tall are you? and the rest will be dating history.

Le Sigh

So many people I know are getting engaged - I feel like not a day goes by that I don't see a facebook update, get a text from a friend or hear through the grapevine about another nuptial announcement. Not a weekend seems to pass without bridal shower gifts to purchase or a wedding to attend. I love weddings, and I love that I'm finally at this stage that has been promised (or threatened) to me by my older friends and family for years.
This wedding-intense time makes me consider those women who get married when they're past their twenties. I am so certain that I'll be in this group, and I am beyond confident that there's no correlation between marriage age and fabulousness. Despite my comfort with my continued Miss status, I can't help but wonder if on the day of my long-anticipated proposal, along with the giddiness and excitement, I'll feel a wave of relief for the fact that I won't be a single woman forever.

Sign-up

This weekend is a free sign-up weekend on a popular online dating site. I presume that you sign-up for free, get to experience and enjoy the site for the weekend, and then in order to continue contacting people you have to pay for a month or more. I really like the idea of the essentially no-risk sign-up promotion and I think people should take advantage of these offers more freely. You avoid (most of) the sleaziness of a free site while not paying until you're sure you are impressed.

Anyone who wants to take advantage of this latest offer, please let me know - I'd love to help support you when the time comes to pay, in exchange for allowing me to follow your dating ups and downs. Not only will this make great book material but I'll be able to turn the experience into great advice for women around the globe.