Great Cosmo Challenge: Profiling

While there have been many things I've let fall down in recent months -- my running chops, the cleanliness of my kitchen floor, my abdominal muscles -- I have not done so regarding the Great Cosmo Challenge, lest you think that be the case.

Although I've done the next best thing: crossed off three online sign-up things.

1)  Be a guy on Groupon

Cosmo says:  "Groupon is an awesome way to find bargains .... and men.  Here's how:  The site sends people different deals based on their profiles. So if you create a Groupon account for a 28-year-old male, you'll get daily e-mails with the lowdown on all the fun, cheap, and (most important) guy-friendly events happening in your area."

Karin says:  Since I already have a Groupon account attached to my Yahoo! e-mail, last Friday I set up a male profile (and made him 32) for my Gmail account.  Since then, here, my respective offers have been:

Saturday Girl: 75% off car-sharing services through RelayRide
Saturday Boy: 52% Off Massage & Mani-Pedi at Vim in Cambridge 

Sunday Girl:  20% for Irish-Heritage Trolley Tours
Sunday Boy:  20% for Irish-Heritage Trolley Tours 

Monday Girl:  Half-off products & classes at Stitch Boutique
Monday Boy:  Half-off products & classes at Stitch Boutique

Folks, I've identified a reason for my singleness: I'm a 32-year-old man and didn't know it.

Meanwhile, the car-sharing service seems the most promising. Can you imagine the sparks unexpectedly flying over the key exchange and fuel receipts? That's a novel waiting to be written.

2) Join a co-ed intramural

Cosmo says:  "Men are obsessed with recreational sports leagues.  But if your athletic abilities are lacking, they're not exactly your idea of a good time.  Luckily, lots of fun, new options are popping up that require zero talent (think skee-ball, dodgeball, or even Quidditch, the game from Harry Potter).  Sign up for one to increase your dating pool with none of the embarrassment."

Karin says:  Maybe down the road I'll have a stomach for kickball, but for now I want to join something for which I do have a minor talent.  I was thusly pleased to see The Most Informal Running Club Ever (TMIRCE) still meets every Saturday morning for Charles loops and brunch.   Duly signed up and will have a report next week.

3) Get random and silly ... online.

Cosmo says:  "Online dating sites are cropping up lately that match you with guys based on random, silly shared interests.  A couple of our favoirtes:  alikewise.com, which looks at your favorite reads, and saladmatch.com, which gives you your Salad Soul Mates based on your go-to toppings.  Since they don't take dating as seriously as the big matchmaking websites do, you're likely to meet more laid-back dudes with a sense of humor."

Karin says:  On the former, I listed The Corrections as favorite novel and JoAnn Beard's Boys of My Youth as most memorable memoir, followed by a tale about how I came to know Beard's book 13 years ago while trying to talk my way into the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop. But haven't browsed yet, since I seem to have lost track of my user ID and password.

Just Salad serves "just salads" and has 5 locations in New York and 2 in Hong Kong. So I couldn't answer to most-visited site (there's one at 30 Rock!)  or if I brought my own reusable bowl and bag when visiting. But I did confess that my favorite salad toppings were (in order) portabella mushrooms, reduced fat cheddar cheese, butternut squash and pumpkin seeds and that I don't add bread because I'm "watching my carbs."

I thought it would be fun to have my profile photo show me ravishing a roasted goose leg, so I added one that does.

I also thought it would be fun to say my age is 28, so I did.

My first "search" tonight yielded a slender, dark-complected six-o-clock shadow man balancing an appetizer plate in one hand. We only are a 43% match," but share an affinity for "spicy Thai peanut dressing."

Groovy.

Day 6 of 31: 1 mile (just enough treadmill time to break a sweat)

March Total: 7.55

2011 Total: 110.61