I've sent out eight or so messages on the online dating site, and, I've got to say, it doesn't get any easier. I do my best to customise each message to the recipient, so, of course, that makes it so much harder. How on earth do you begin the b****y message in the first place? I bookmarked this Metafilter thread for future reference, but, even the most well-received message there:

Hi, I saw your profile and you seem like an interesting person. I live in ____ and work in the _____ industry. On the weekends I like to hike and take pictures. I'm ideally looking for a long-term relationship but I can always use more friends. Take a look at my profile and let me know if you're interested in chatting further.

just sounds a little cringe-worthy. It's a nice message, no doubt, and I'd love to get some friends out of this if nothing else, so that's definitely a plus point. It doesn't given the impression that all you're after might be a one night stand like the ones that go "you're cute!" right off the bat, but it's just... well... you know... well-meaning but dull.

At the same time, I feel that trying to inject my own personality into a message might just scare someone off. I write almost exactly the same way I speak. That isn't to say that you get the morose, serious, angsty me that you get on this blog if you were to talk to me. Hell, no. But you do get the same witty, wry kind of humour, or so I'd like to think.

Considering the amount of effort one has to put into this, chatting up people in a bar using random, cheesy pick-up lines seems so much easier. But then again, I suppose that must act as a filter for those just looking for a physical relationship, because who on earth would want to go through all this trouble just for a s**g?!

I should end off here, but I suppose that last question just demonstrated my complete and utter lack of understanding of how men work. Heh.