Funny Exchange

Since I've started trying to meet people online I realized quickly that it is hard to introduce myself to someone with whom I'm interested. In real life it's easy to hide behind the guise that we just happen to be in the same place at the same time so I might as well get to know someone. This could very well happen whether I'm interested or not. But online, if you reach out to someone it's because you're interested. No way in hiding it. So I've been exploring different approaches. Should I be more blunt (i.e. you're smokin hot so let's do this)? Should I try to be sappy and romantic (i.e. I've seen sunsets that take my breath away, though they nay approach your beauty?) Should I try to connect based on something in common between us  (i.e. I see you like cats. I hate cats. Do you happen to like dogs?)? 

With one girl from Utah I decided to take the direct approach:

Me: My name is Ryan. You seem like the type of person I would like to get to know better. Are you interested? 

Her: But you're from Cali

Me: The adventure intrigues you? Ever dated a guy from CA before?

Her: Not while he lived in Cali

Me: Have you ever been in a long distance relationship before?

Her: Yes and it was really tough

What I wrote: Ha Ha yeah me too and it sucked! To be honest with you the only reason I'm even considering girls away from home is because I travel a bit for work so I'm open to meeting girls in other places. In fact I used to live in SLC for a couple of years and loved it. What part of SLC do you live?

What actually got posted:

First, don't judge me for trying to connect with women who use BarbieGirl84 as their username - she is pretty attractive and had a witty profile so I figured I could look past the fact that she's probably an incredibly high maintenance Utah princess and not my type. Second, not sure if LDSSingles.com decided "sucked" is a bad word and screened it out or if it was a glitch in the system, but either way it's pretty funny. I'd love to know what she thought when she saw this, but she never wrote back. Oh well, on to BarbieGirl85...  

Me re-branded

When I started this blog 3 years ago I was a grad student caught up in the adventure and mayhem of the bizarre shadowland of start-ups. My education and career path, if you could call it one, was the kooky, semi-mystical black art of taking a company from inception to commercialization. Naturally I was constantly vetting ideas, one of which was starting a blog (full disclosure: I was also looking for a real job and thought this might help me seem more relevant). Fitting at the time, I chose “Big Ideas” as the theme of my blog and tried to share as many big ideas as possible.

Things have changed. I left my Rockstar guzzling ninja friends and took a real job with a big company and now all my big ideas are proprietary so I try and share as few as possible. This has made my blog pretty irrelevant, and the reason I have been rather quiet lately.

Recently a friend suggested I blog about something a little more relevant: my dating tales – or, as my friends refer to it, as my "international playboy lifestyle.” The suggestion is convenient considering my recent entrance into the online dating scene and rapid expansion into global dating waters. I've gone from being a start-up ninja to international pirate. Based on comments from my previous blog post I've also updated my online profile. 

Stay tuned for the ship ransacking, damsel saving tales to follow...  

Twenty-nine go online

Here's what I did: I turned 29 and I joined an online dating site.

Having a family is pretty big deal to me and as far as changing the world goes I don't think there is a bigger way than through marriage and raising a family. A couple of my friends met their eternal companions on LDSSingles.com so I started there. My name is Irrum (Murri backwards) and you can find me here. I still date a lot, but I've yet to seal the deal with Mrs. Right so I figured what the heck.

The hard part was creating my profile and deciding how to market myself. Being a professional marketer I tried to employ all of the tricks of the trade - tell me how I did!