I’m trying to do anything I can these days, whenever I’m away from work, to get my mind off work. The intensity of each workday right now makes that rather difficult.

So, it was with some sense of delight, recently, when I discovered a “wink” in my home email, from an East Bay woman who found my profile on match.com.

Yes, in case you didn’t know…I have a personal-ad profile listed online. And I’ve been involved, off and on, in the virtual dating world for quite some time now.

Years, actually. (Ah, the stories I could tell!)

Now, usually, I don’t respond to mere “winks” – much preferring someone who is drawn to my profile enough to write me a full (even if brief) message. But this time, for whatever reason, I wrote a short little note back – and after a couple of emails, we decided to meet for tea at an East Bay Starbucks last Sunday.

In short: it was wonderful. We talked for little over an hour and things went very smoothly, I thought. As we parted, she invited me to call or email her.

Which I did, a few hours later. I sent her an email indicating that I was “interested” and: could we get together again?

The answer: no thanks. “The chemistry just wasn’t there. So sorry about that.”

Isn’t it strange how rejection from someone I don’t even really know can still have such yucky feelings associated with it?

I hadn’t put myself out there like that for anyone in a long time. I guess I need to get more practiced, and thicker-skinned.

Maybe I’ll wink at somebody myself tonight. I really do need to get out more.

Soundtrack Suggestion

Another aeroplane
Another sunny place
I’m lucky, I know
But I wanna go home
Mmmm, I’ve got to go home

(“Home” – Michael Bublé )