Tatts an that

I just saw a personal ad in which a fair young maiden displays a photo of her "tramp stamp". I'm not a real fan of tattoos to begin with, so upon seeing the afore mentioned body art, I promptly checked her off my list. I'll let you guys who are into the biker chicks take this one.

Photos: Your new love needs to see you

I am amazed at how many profiles on dating sites are created without a pic posted. I hate to be brutally honest, but dating and relationships start out visually. When couples meet in the real world, it almost always starts with a glance. The man will shoot the woman a look across the bar. She looks away pretending not to notice. And so the game begins. Why do people thinks things will be different in meeting online? You can fall in love with someone's words, but if you meet in person and they don't appeal to your eyeballs, there probably won't be much of a future. This leads to a cardinal rule of cyberdating:

Always post at lest one pic with your profile.

This rule comes with its own sub-set of rules. First off, the more the merrier. One pic is good but don't stop there. Give your suitors something to look at. I have 2 pics posted on my profile, which is OK, but I could be doing better. Both pics are recent, being taken within 2 months of each other. I recently got a comment stating that the pics of me look like they are not even of the same person. It may be because One pic was taken with a 3MP cam with a flash. I was clean shaven and had a nice dress shirt on. Pic 2 was taken with my camera phone (aprox 0.5 MP) which has no flash. I had on more casual clothing, and a bit of a 5 o'clock shadow.

Now why would I post pic #2 at all? I'm not going to look like pic #1 all the time. I want to portray an honest representation of myself. Now, I wouldn't post a pic of myself sitting on the couch in my sweats, eating potato chips. I do, however, want to let those interested in me see what I look like in an honest light. Let's just say I have been a victim of inaccurate photographic portrayals on dating websites.

Use current photographs.

One women I met thru online dating had a couple of pics posted on her profile. He was really cute in them, smiling, laughing, looking like she was having a good time. Upon meeting it was a different story. The pics were probably from 10 years, 30 pounds, and several wrinkles ago. I understand people begin to look different with age. Heck, I sure don't look the same today as I did 10 years ago. When posting a personal ad online, you are essentially marketing the "today" version of yourelf. Why post a pic that is inaccurate? Did she think that I wouldn't see that she does not look remotely the same as she did when the pics were taken? After a quick cup a joe, I was gone with the wind. Never to e-mail her again. You broads love complain about us guys "not calling." But if you are going to be dishonest in your profiles by posting inaccurate pics, don't expect us to feel any guilt about not calling.

Nix the glamour shots.

Especially if you had the glamour shot taken in the 80's. Those are REALLY obvious. I never understood the allure of the glamour shot. Usually one of the series would have the woman dressed up in some sort of cowgirl garb. Which is really funny, since I live in the northeast. Sequins are also a staple of the 80's glamour shot.

First of all: How to read this blog.

I'm here to help you. While I don't profess to be any type of authority on relationships themselves, I do know about the world of internet dating. Most profiles I have seen really need some help. Read this blog as if you were reading a owner's manual for your online dating profile. These tips will not be web site specific. They will come from my perspective as a man looking at women's profiles. But I will help you guys out too as I know what works and what doesn't when writing a profile to attract a woman.