Why the Weird Title?

A few years ago, a friend of mine started blogging about her online dating misadventures...and the stories she told were hilarious.  But then, she found the man she was looking for, and got married, and the blogs about her misadventures stopped.  After putting a FEW YEARS of online dating experience under my belt, I thought I should give the blogging thing a try :)

As many single girls/women would probably also say, Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite pieces of classic literature.  In the four times I've read it, I've always found myself easily identifying with Elizabeth Bennett (again, as I'm sure most girls/women do, since she's the protagonist).  Elizabeth is snarky, opinionated, and unashamedly HERSELF.  (If you've never read it, don't worry, she also has extremely admirable qualities, such as kindness and compassion)

Obviously, since I identify with the main female character, I have of course always pictured myself with a (preferably) real-life version of Mr. Darcy (with a little bit of Aragorn and a touch of Legolas thrown in, if possible)...that's not asking too much, right?  Darcy is tall, handsome, self-assured, respectable, and he cares deeply for the people who are important to him.

Pride and Prejudice is about two people who learn to see past their pride and prejudices against one another (deep thought, I know) through various circumstances that Austen throws their way.  Before Elizabeth realizes how she feels about Darcy, she meets a couple of very...interesting...characters--men who try to win her affections.  Mr. Wickham, for example, is instantly attractive and new and intriguing...very similar to the way some men present themselves on their dating profiles.  And then you have Mr. Collins.  Mr. Collins is a loner, a little weird, and REALLY clingy...he's the guy whose profile you read and think, "Ah yes, another unemployed parents' basement-dweller."

So, having been in the online dating world for just over 3 years at this point, I think it's time to share some of the stories.  Some of these stories will show how shallow I've become in this whole process, and maybe reveal how judgmental I am--but I have standards, I have reasons for those standards, and if you can't handle that, I am not the Elizabeth you're looking for, and you are not my Darcy.  Maybe you're just another Collins :)