Online Dating: The Username.

I like online dating. I don't know why it has such a stigma attached. Looking at someone's online dating profile is like reviewing an application to date you. What could be better than that? You get to make sure they meet minimum requirements before inviting them in for an interview/ first date. You get to see their grammar and punctuation put to use if that sort of thing is important to you.

That being said, I don't think a lot of people really think through what their dating profile says about them. Case in point is the user name. A user name doesn't have to be spectacular. I doubt that there are that many people who has messaged someone then gave them wild sex and went on to marry them and have their babies based on their awesome OKCupid user name, but I for one, have avoided someone who had a bad one. Here are a real examples.

Givesgooddates - Does this name give anyone else dirty thoughts? How many guys is she giving good dates to? If she gives dates that are so good then why is she still single?

yanks4life - I am pretty sure she means to tell us that she's a big fan of the New York Yankees but we are all thinking about hand jobs now right? Come to think of it, that's probably less offensive than being a Yankees fan.

corrie1976-2011 - I checked her profile and it says nothing about her being dead so I have no idea WTF this means. She does use "LOL" 5 times in her profile, so maybe it's a joke I'm missing since she is obviously hilarious. Maybe the "LOL"s are masking the pain and the predicted date of her demise is a cry for help.

dreshatesyou - She hates me already? All I did was read her profile. Hating me from the onset only attracts me if we meet in real life.

Starting_Again4u, bubbly_4u, be4u4u, Thaea4u, Brn_eyed_Girl4u, etc. - I absolutely hate the inclusion of "4u" in user names. First of all I hate abbreviating words as letters and numbers (unless you happen to be Prince). I can understand for something you want to keep short like a dating profile user name but "4u"? 4 who? Is it 4 me? You don't know me. Maybe it's 4 everyone. Who are u 4?

tightlikespandex - Is she talking about... umm... ok.

Product Recommendation: Just a Drop

For my birthday back in November, my good friend Julia gave me a few little goodies. I believe that this one was meant as a gag gift but it has proved to be one of the most genius products I have come across.

What is Just a Drop? It's a courtesy flush in a bottle. I have a very small apartment and the bathroom is off of the kitchen. When you have a lady friend over and you are cooking for her, nature is not necessarily going to hold her call. Just a drop of Just a Drop into the toilet from the conveniently pocket-sized bottle pre-use holds in the odors. It's like something James Bond would have Q create.

I have since bought a second bottle for travel purposes to avoid the extra faux pas of wrecking someone else's bathroom. This shit is brilliant.

*Addendum -- I can't believe I forgot to mention this, but it comes with a handy little travel pouch. Classy!