How To Be An Interesting Date

I'm a person who's easily impressed, I think. For example, I like when people are passionate and it doesn't matter what about, as long as they have that passion. It can be something artsy like music. Or it can be something odd like making art pieces using dead mice (I know somebody saw Dinner for Schmucks). But I get impressed if it's discussed with passion. And when I find a person is passionate, they suddenly become so much more interesting to me. That led me to think of things that I've noticed make for an interesting date. Plus I wanted to balance out the negativity of the post about a passive-aggressive date.

* Be passionate. It doesn't matter what about. One exception: if your passion is fight club, that's not okay.

*Be clever. Intelligence, book smarts, quickness, street smarts, wit, common sense, whatever. Those are all things that describe a way to be smart. But what I really like is cleverness. Show me that you think about things in a different way than normal. If you think outside the box, if you take the conversation in an unexpected direction, or if you tell a quirky story that just wouldn't happen to the average person, I am hooked and I will listen to anything you have to say.

*Be eye candy. Everyone is not a 10. You don't have to be (although that helps). But know what makes you look good and play up that aspect. If you have great arms, show them. If you have great eyes, don't take me to a dark place where I can't see them. Work your assets cause this woman is just as visual as a man.

*Smell good. This should be a no-brainer. Not that I would date a guy with allergies anyway, but even men who are allergic to most colognes can still smell like soap. My favorite smells on a man? Dove soap and spray starch. Seriously.

*Do something unexpected. This is not necessarily covered by the be clever instructions. Pick an unexpected date activity or location or something. Or maybe bring me flowers because that would definitely be unexpected. The point is doing something, on purpose, that it unexpected will show me you put extra thought into the evening, extra thought into providing me with a good time. This usually has long-tern lasting effects on my happiness.

*Ask me questions that don't have one word answers. Keep the conversation flowing. Ask about in-depth things, but please only ask if you really care.

*Give more than one word answers to my questions. Show me that there's more to you than your resume and family history. Playing 20 questions about your favorite color etc. is cool, but I want to know more about your personality and sense of humor and process of thinking than I do answers to questions that will help us win a game show. I want to know your favorite color too, I'd just rather hear about it in the middle of an awesome story about you choosing between two colleges based on their school colors. I'm much likelier to remember it that way anyway.

*Tip Your Waitress! I will not go on a date with a cheapskate. If you can't afford the tip, we need to go to a less expensive restaurant. But I can't even date someone who doesn't appreciate the hard work that waitresses and waiters have to go through. You're depriving someone of their income and lowering their quality of life. What can I say? I'm passionate about this. It's non-negotiable.

*Be Funny. I laugh really easily. Really easily. So make me laugh. You can do it. Come on, I'll probably even laugh at one that starts, "why did the chicken cross the road?" and ends with, "to get to the other side" if you say it with the right delivery. Seriously, if you can't get me to crack a smile, we have no business spending time together.

*The Golden Rule of Interesting Dating: Highlight Your Uniqueness! I want someone who stands out from the crowd, and not because they're an attention hog. The strong quiet type will stand out to me the most if what they have to say when they finally open their mouth is really worth listening to. So whatever your thing is, show it to me (that sounds dirty, haha) and I will be smitten with your uniqueness and dying to see more. Unless of course your uniqueness is an eleventh toe. You might want to save that one for when I like you too much to be weirded out by it.