RIP ODE

Well, just when I was starting to come around on Match.com, just when I conceded that I can be friends with it, it went and stabbed me in the back.

I just found out that it charged me for another month's subscription WITHOUT EVEN TELLING ME.

Not cool, Match. Not. Cool.

So now I have to put up with another month of "cooldude219 has winked at you!" (Totally made up that username, so don't look it up.) But I've been anxiously awaiting the end of the Online Dating Experiment, so I'm just going to pretend it's over. I might even delete my profile on Match, although the cheapskate in me is telling me that would be wasteful.

But even if I keep my profile active, I'm going to give my summations on ODE now because I have a lot to say and I can't wait another month to say it!

As I mentioned before, I received several winks and emails from Matchos throughout the month, but none of them really did it for me, except for the one who contacted me on MySpace. That Matcho and I went on a date last night. Though part of me worried that a dirty 54-year-old man would show up at my door, I just had a good feeling about this guy. And it turns out he was all he claimed to be, which is a good thing. We had fun on our date and we may go out again, who knows.

So in that particular case, online dating was a success for me. I probably never would have met this guy otherwise, so it's kinda cool to think that Match.com played some part in that. The fact that I spent my Saturday evening with a good guy instead of sitting at home doing nothing—all orchestrated indirectly by a website—just goes to show you how influential a role the Internet can play in your life. (I'll be discussing more on that general concept tomorrow. I would talk about it now but I have so many thoughts on it, and I think those thoughts deserve a post of their own, don't you? They can't be sharing space with all of this silly ODE nonsense.)

I'm sure it's been painfully obvious in the past month that online dating ain't my thang. However, I would not discourage other people from doing it if it's something they're truly interested in. I think I went into it with a skeptical outlook from the get-go, and as we all know, negativity begets negativity. So my point is, in this case, do NOT take my example. Just do what you want to do and draw your own conclusions.

So I've done the Scarcity Myth Experiment and the Online Dating Experiment. I'm going to be all lonely without an experiment by my side now, so I'm going to have to conjure up a new one. If you have any ideas, please let me know! This stuff is fun.