8-mintues? How novel.

I'm up for trying new things and meeting new people. That's pretty much what I was thinking going into tonight. Perhaps a little background is in order. My friend J and I are both single and been on the dating scene for a while. She's a fan of the cute boys, I dig the cute girls. So we decided to take things to the next level and be more proactive. And with that we decided to sign up for 8-minute dating. You know one of those interweb driven things were you meet a bunch of people for a short time and hopefully you develop some kind of instant-chemistry and the rest is a great story for the grandkids, yada yada. So here's a breakdown of the night.

Nothing like having a DayQuil-head and a slight cold to meet women. But it's ok, just the thing I need to take the edge off as I didn't plan on drinking. So running fashionably late as usual, but this time it was because of J and not preening in front of the mirror. We finally arrive and everyone else is mingling, while we are just getting our name tags. Before things officially kick off, they bring out a few appetizer. Nothing special, just some chicken fingers and spinach dip. Although I did score witty banter points with a few local girls, by comparing the spread as very Friendly-esque.

Girl #1: She could have been the sun, the moon and the stars and I wouldn't have known I was so nervous. But she was cute and I did notice her in the pre-game. Foreshadowing things to come: what do you do for a living. I love telling people I'm a copywriter, makes me feel awesome really. And compared to the variety of engineers and accountants I have that left-brain thing on my side. She was nice enough and I think I got the ball rolling.

Girl #2: Ah redheads, gotta love 'em. Although she was the frizzy redhead so she was a bit spastic, but in a cute, good way. And for the life of me I can't remember what she did, although she did go to Bentley. My eyes and heart say probably not.

Girl #3: She's really cool. A teacher, I dig that. We had lots to talk about. I even got to expound upon our fave color of the T. I think that's a good thing. Oh, funny thing she also went to Bentley. Wait a minute, weren't these two girls talking beforehand? Gotta love roommates. A maybe that turned into a yes, with the possibility of a 3-way longshot. Of course I keed.

Girl #4: Boo to odd number of guys and girls. Flying solo on this one which allows me to knosh on some chicken wings and catch the Sox score. We're winning, need a soda. You know the cutest gal here is the waitress. We share witty banter as I think she feels sorry for me. Ding ding onto...

Intermission: Time for a quick bathroom break and to reconvene with J about her prospects. Not so much for her either.

Girl #5: Honestly I have no idea. I'm sure you are a great girl and I enjoyed your company. I just don't recall a thing. Please don't be offended, my mind wanders.

Girl #6: Alright so now I'm feeling like the last kid picked for dodgeball. I see J coming over to my table and we're both like "doh". I bite the bullet and hand her off to the guy who was supposed to be flying solo this time around. Better she meets someone than we just bitch and moan for eight minutes. But again I end up chatting up the cute blond waitress. Seriously who does that? Moving on.

Girl # 7: Alright I think I'm running out of things to say, but this girl is really sweet. Sweet in that girl next door who you sneak a peek while she's changing kind of way. No she's got on this rocking jacket that totally screams style. Plus another teacher, kindergarten so I'm kinda smitten. Hopefully...

Girl #8: Wow she works in marketing at least we'll have that to talk about. I ended up having a drink and it's mixing with the meds pretty good. You know I love hearing myself talk. This girl seems to be a tad older than me and I don't see it working. She is an account person after all, shudder. Oh well a biz contact perhaps.

Bonus Girl #9: I'm playing with house money now, so who cares what I say. "You know this is just like an encore when you see a band play. They make like this extra session is special, but all along we knew it was coming." Wow not caring really works. Lots of good laughing and interesting topics. Wish it started out like this. We'll see how it goes.

Wrap up: Met a lot of really nice people. Some interesting, some not so much. Some cute, some hey, "she's got a great personality". I'm glad I was there with J so we could make snarky comments to each other. Maybe this worked in our favor or maybe we gave off the "together" vibe. I don't know. I regret not talking to the tall brunette with the shoulder pack and the short little Asian girl, well for a myriad of reasons.

I don't know if I would do it again, let alone reccomend it to a friend. I mean everyone who was there has good intentions, but it seems awfully forced. Plus it had that job fair feel to it at first. It's like on your mark, set, emote... Oh well, to the dating gods it goes. And only could I go to a dating event and end up making the best contacts with the bartender. I need a good meeting story and pay-for-play just doesn't cut it. She said she works Mondays, Wednesday and Thursdays so I guess I know what I'm doing this Thursday night.