It has almost been a month since I posted my personal ad on craigslist looking to meet someone to date.  (Please see earlier post -- as creative as it was, I'm tired of reading it.)

To date, I have met four men from that query.  Four men who did not quite "pan out" as they say.  Fortunately, I just went back to my archives and found men I hadn't contacted who may have not sent a photo, their message too brief, etc., and am currently having fun emailing one of those fellows -- an artist who lives in a neighboring town.

I did date one of the four men for several weeks, but the age-old problem of chemistry crept into the relationship, and now I have to break it off with him.  I daresay, he isn't that into me so it shouldn't be a problem. 

He accompanied me to a Hallowe'en party this past weekend.  This year, I opted to wear a non-sluttish costume.  When I was 22 I was the Mad Hatter (where is that photo?) and now 33 years later, what with Tim Burton's production of "Alice in Wonderland" hitting theaters this spring I decided to reprise my role as the Mad Hatter once more.

My date was dressed up as a devil.  We matched color-wise, if not concept-wise.  Oh, perhaps, the Mad Hatter was always going to the Devil, though anyway, yes?

[Oh, and if you are admiring the original watercolor behind my right shoulder it was painted by Austin artist, Peter Ortiz, who I've lost touch with.]

Meanwhile, this is the brief message originally sent to me after my ad posting from the new fellow I mentioned above:

" am a little younger, so when was the last time you wore your little black dress."

I had mentioned the movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's" in my ad and he made a reference to her little black dress.  Perhaps, he's not so good with punctuation, as he should have used a question mark, but we've been having great email exchanges and the chemistry is there.

Which brings us to the topic of romance.  No matter what age one gets to be, romance is a vital part of living.  When I was leaving my second husband and breaking the news to my recently widowed mother, her resonse was,

"Well, I understand, he didn't seem very romantic."

And so the Devil wasn't very romantic either.   I tried.  Steak dinner, champagne, and yet no spark.

For entertainment value, you should "google" "romance" sometime.  Askmen.com is especially interesting:  http://uk.askmen.com/dating/keywords/romance.html

When they begin the article with a quote from Oscar Wilde, "Deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance."  it does set a jaded tone, and they denigrate the idea of giving a woman flowers.

I like the column writer, Jake's take on flowers.   (At work they were throwing away back issues of magazines and I snagged a couple of "Glamour" magazines.  I used to read Glamour in my twenties, along with the long-gone, Mademoiselle.)

I love their column, "Jake -- A Man's Opinion."  In the October 2007 issue he speaks to giving women flowers:

"We care about .... When the flowers we give you die ... Men give flowers in the first place because we are excited about you and want you to feel the same way.  Flowers are our partners, little billboards of us sitting in your kitchen when we're not there.  So when they die, our agent on the inside is gone."

Methinks, Mrs. Jake is a very lucky woman.  Onward through the dating fog.  I'm meeting my artist at an art gallery this Friday!  Wish me luck!  Or should I say, "Wish me romance!"