Dr. Clooney

Yes, this man will be a medical doctor one day.
No he is not 25. He's had a career before this.
Yes when he looks at me a certain way he looks just like George Clooney.
No these aren't the only reasons why I think he is awesome.

I met Dr. Clooney on the free internet dating site. I don't remember how I came across his profile. His profile picture is a bit blurry but I thought he looked like 劉清雲. His profile was nicely written.

When I come across an internet dating profile, I look at the main profile picture. If it's not terrible, I proceed to read the profile without looking at the rest of the pictures. If main profile picture is terrible or shows skin - I can't believe how many guys put their bare abdominal as the main profile pictures - I will see if this guy has some other pictures that are more representative. If I like how a guy's profile is written, I will also take a look at the other pictures. You know, just to make sure the face/body matches the brain.

I haven't worked out the exact science yet, but there are three general profiles categories:

1. The shallow-ish profiles where a guy lists out his favorite bands/movies/activities etc but nothing profound. If I don't go "hmmm" when reading the guy's profile, it falls in this category. I usually don't message these guys. If they message me I will oblige to see if I can dig something out.

2. The perfect profiles where after I read the profile I go: this man sounds perfect. However, I often don't know what to write in a message to him because all I can think of is "hey I feel the same way about everything you've written". It just sounds cheesy and too good to be true. I usually don't message these guys either. If they message me I am happy to have a discussion.

3. The profiles that are profound but also revealing, but also leaving a little room that intrigues me to find out more. Dr. Clooney's profile falls under this category. I liked what I read; I went "hmmm" a few times; and I have questions after I read the profiles. So I sent him a message.

My experience with online dating is that 95% of the time when I initiate contact, I don't get any reply back. When I asked my male friends about this they were always surprised. One of my friends asked me if I message guys too out of my league. I don't know. Maybe? The other 5% when I do get a reply, the guy usually just answer my questions but doesn't ask me any question back. Obviously he's courteous but he didn't find anything interesting to say about me. I have never actually went on dates with anyone I initiated contact with.

Dr. Clooney is the first one. I messaged him first; he replied with questions. We emailed each other a few times. He said he'd like to experience Oktoberfest, and I hinted that if he needed company I am willing and able to go. So we went on our first date to Oktoberfest. Does that mean I actually asked this guy out? Wow... I am so proud of myself right now.

First impression of Dr. Clooney? He's a bit shorter and stockier than my usual type, but I am not too focused on physical attributes. Does he have the intellects and characters and personality to make up for it? Well he does. He's very forward and constantly tells me how he feels about me. I can't tell if that's just what he does on every date, but it doesn't matter. That's for me to find out in the long term. In the short term I like to deal with a guy who's open about their feelings. If my last boyfriend was Mr. Big, Dr. Clooney is Aidan. I was caught off guard that I didn't have to sell my own kidney to extract a good word from this guy.

After Oktoberfest we went to walk around South Park. We sat on a street bench for hours and just talked and made out. This was probably the longest first date I've been on: a whooping 5.5 hours. Dr. Clooney seem interested, open, available, very smart, confident. All that plus his manners relieve a lot of my anxieties. I felt grounded on the date. I didn't feel the butterflies in my stomach like I felt with Mr. Sparks, but I now believe the butterflies were just a rush I got from figuring something out of a closed man. Dr. Clooney isn't a closed man.

What I learned: My learning style is visual.

Second date: he already asked me.