Forgot all about this --- Here''s the *PERSONAL AD* I ran!

[Dee*Jay]

I was digging through a box of old stuff last night and came across a personal ad that I ran many years ago on a dare from one of my girlfriends.

SWF WITH ATTITUDE. EDUCATED GOLD COAST PROFESSIONAL… BORED OUT OF MY MIND. LOOKING FOR SAUL BELLOW/ROBIN WILLIAMS/ GEORGE CLOONEY COMBO. MAKE ME THINK; MAKE ME LAUGH; MAKE ME BREAKFAST IN BED.

The funny thing is the ad ran on Thursday and I met my (now) HH on Saturday, so I never even went out with any of the people who called in. I did get 84 responses to my ad within the first hour of the phones being open though (I was so overwhelmed I stopped checking after that), so I guess if the HH hadn’t worked out at least I would have had options, LOL. Several of the people who responded did say they had no idea who Saul Bellow was but they were sure they could meet my requirements anyway.

Anybody else ever run or answer an ad? I’d love to hear your stories!

 

[neatfreak]

LOL. That is quality Dee. I''ve never run one myself, but if I ever had to I would hope that I could come up with something as sassy as yours!

 

[Haven]

Dee--your ad is great! I would have totally answered (had I been a man, looking for a woman, reading personal ads at the time . . . )

Several months ago NPR ran a story about a collection of personal ads from the UK, they were hilariously self-deprecating; so worth checking it out. I can''t believe I was able to find the link, here it is:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6592990

Here''s a tease:

Shy, ugly man, fond of extended periods of self-pity, middle aged, flatulent and overweight, seeks the impossible.

Eager-to-please woman, 36, seeks domineering man to take advantage of her flagging confidence. Tell me I''m pretty, then watch me cling.

 

[sumbride]

That''s great Dee-Jay!!!

As it happens, FI and I met online, and I recently went back to pull the text from our profiles to put on our wedding website. He nixed my idea, and I''m still lobbying, but hey, at least I can post it here, right? These are much longer than a newspaper ad, of course, but hey... skim!

Here''s mine:

A "Can-Do" Kind of Girl seeks Partner in Crime
I''m a Texan who grew up between the country and the city, so though I
long for wide open spaces and dogs and horses, I would definitely miss
the museums, shops and culture of the city. That concept applies to
the rest of my life too. I''m multi-faceted! I yearn for a creative
outlet and spend a lot of time on my hobbies, including painting,
reading , baking, etc... I am also very social and revel in my
personal relationships with friends and family. A natural-born
hostess, I throw many parties and casual get-togethers and love to
entertain! I travel frequently and have been to Ireland, England,
Wales, the West Indies and all over the U.S., and though I make about
six trips a year, I''m always happy to return to my nest and recoup in
comfortable surroundings. As I like many different things its hard to
come up with how to describe the ideal. I''m looking for a man who is
comfortable with himself, likes where he is and where he''s going, and
appreciates intelligence and creativity. I''m looking for an
intellectual "click" as well as the physical chemistry, a best friend
and a great date. A good sense of humor and the ability to goof off
are musts! I tend to gravitate toward creative people: artists,
writers, chefs, etc... While I don''t want a carbon-copy, we should
have a few similar interests.
And his:

Stop me if you think you''ve heard this one before...
Hello, I''m a 27 year old Native Marylander. I just passed the CPA
examination (finally!), and I''m trying to put it to good use (but I''m
still stuck in the same job- damn economy!). I regularly attend
Redskins home games- and spend half of my time there tailgating
(responsibly for the most part). There''s nothing like cracking open a
Molson at 10:00 on a Sunday morning. I''m an avid traveler- I visit
Paris at least once a year (my brother lives there- so I always have
an excuse). My dream vacation would be to spend a week at the
penthouse suite at the Bellagio in Las Vegas- although I''m realstic
(after all, it is only a dream).My ideal mate should be intelligent,
funny, and have a heart of gold. A football fan would be great, but
it''s not necessary (as long as you understand that I have to watch the
Skins on Sundays!).

Of course, Match also had all the other multiple choice stuff, but somewhere in his football-watching, beer-drinking profile, I saw a glimmer of possibility. We''ll have been together 5 years this fall!

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 6/21/2007 10:23:33 AM
Author: Haven
Dee--your ad is great! I would have totally answered (had I been a man, looking for a woman, reading personal ads at the time . . . )

Several months ago NPR ran a story about a collection of personal ads from the UK, they were hilariously self-deprecating; so worth checking it out. I can''t believe I was able to find the link, here it is:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6592990

Here''s a tease:

Shy, ugly man, fond of extended periods of self-pity, middle aged, flatulent and overweight, seeks the impossible.

Eager-to-please woman, 36, seeks domineering man to take advantage of her flagging confidence. Tell me I''m pretty, then watch me cling.

Hilarious article, Haven! I kind of want to buy that book.

Dee Jay, your ad is great! And that''s awesome that you met your husband 3 days after you ran it!

 

[mrssalvo]

dee jay, that is too funny. you''re such a sassy gal..lol..

sumbride, that is so cool that''s how you met your FI and you''ve been together 5 years..

 

[YMA]

Dee Jay,

That is soooooooo funny, I met my husband online 5 years ago.

All my girlfriends were like...."ARE YOU CRAZY" don't you know serial killers & perverts on those websites!!!!!

I am African-American and generally our community (culture) tends to look down on things like meeting online, thank god I found the one b/c I would have never heard the end of it from them.

My husband is Chicago transplant from North Carolina, he was transferred here for his job with a Government law enforcement agency. A nice country boy with southern manners and charm.

I told my girlfriends how much of a "serial killer" could he be with a top secret clearance from the government, my logic was if he could pass that background he just had to be mentally sound and so not a serial killer.

That didn't stop me from writing a novel about him and leaving with my friends when we had our first date, bascially saying if he happens to be a serial killer with a Top Secret clearance from the government this is were he lives, his first last and middle name, what site we met on, his webname, his cell number, home number, and instructions to call me 1-2 hours into the date to make sure I was o.k.! hehehehe.

 

[Skippy123]

Wow, funny! Your ad was answered w/out having to place that one! I love that your hubby always cooks for you.

I also love that he dove into the lake to pull the demon out of the water. Cute ad though.

I never place an ad nor answered one.

You all have cute ads.

I like them.

 

[IrishAngel7982]

That''s classic Dee! All of these ads are so cute!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Haven, I LOVE those NPR ones! Too bad I didn''t see those before I wrote my ad or I might have been able to come up with something better.

And Sum and YMA, I think it''s marvelous that you met your sweeties that way!

 

[Sundial]

These ads are great and gutsy - thanks for sharing gals!!!

 

[zoebartlett]

That''s funny Dee Jay! My FI and I met online too. I swore I would never do it but I decided to give it a try when my roommate at the time was giving it a shot. She met her FI during that time period too and they''re getting married in the fall. I was so hesitant at first but then I figured if people are going to lie to you, they can do it online just as easily as they can if you meet him/her in person at a bar, a party, etc. Before I met my FI I had met three other guys and only one was questionable. It was the worst date I''d ever been on too. The other two were nice but we only met once. Then I met me FI and we''ve been together ever since. That was 3 1/2 years ago.

 

[YMA]

I guess it''s becoming more common place for people to meet that way, just look at all those
E-harmony and Match.com ads you see.

 

[Dee*Jay]

I think the on-line thing is becoming more accessible--and more "acceptable." I have friends who met on line and virtually decided to marry before they ever met each other in person! But back when I did it, it was all about the newspaper (YMA, being from Chicago you're appreciate this--it was the *Reader*!). Not only that, I remember actually MAILING my hand written ad in with a CHECK to pay for it LOL!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

That is great Dee!

 

[gailrmv]

Dee, that is great - thanks for sharing! I agree it seems that ads/online is more acceptable these days than ever before. One of my friends met her husband online and they are a great match!

 

[Haven]

Dee--I''m a Chicagoan, too! I love the Reader, read it all the time.

I ALSO met my BF online! I had recently ended a five year relationship, and I promised my mother I would date a Jewish boy at least once during her lifetime (just so she would stop pestering me, I had never dated a Jewish man before) so I joined this website called jdate. I only went on one real date from the site before I met BF, and let me tell you--that first date was HORRIBLE. He definitely lied about his age, said he was 29 and he couldn''t have been younger than 40. I''m not against dating older men (BF is ten years older) but I do have a thing about dating LIARS! But it worked, because I met BF and here we are three years later. I had also recently left law school to become a high school teacher, and this guy spent the entire lunch telling me how he could NEVER become a teacher because it wouldn''t support his fabulous lifestyle. Gag. He was so barking up the wrong tree, I was not looking to become anyone''s trophy-wife.

I didn''t even think about our online "profiles" as personal ads, but they certainly are. I wonder if I can dig mine up from way back then, I know BF printed it out to save it once we started dating. I can tell you that I posted pictures of myself making funny faces--I figured if a guy contacted me based on those pictures he must have a sense of humor. And the reason I responded to BFs mail: his profile picture was of him dressed as a pirate on Halloween. I love a goofball!

And as for that book featured on NPR--I almost want to purchase it, too! Those ads are so clever.

I found my profile pictures--you know a guy who responds to this MUST have a sense of humor. This was just one of four, and they were all equally not-flattering!

 

[Haven]

AAAH! I just realized how awful that picture REALLY is!

Here''s the picture BF now has on his cell phone screen (don''t ask me how he got it there, I cannot figure those things out) but I feel the need to follow up that last picture with a better one, and this is one of the few pictures of myself that I have on this computer.

It''s a wonder he contacted me at all, after looking at that old profile picture! Talk about a leap of faith!

 

[monarch64]

DeeJay, what a great ad, I''m glad you dredged it up and posted it for our reading enjoyment! It''s very fitting of you even though I''ve only had the pleasure of meeting you once.

Haven, I''m just outside Chicago in the west burbs...you''ll have to join us for the next GTG!

 

[YMA]

Dee*Jay,

Oh yeah.............. I remember looking in the reader Personals......some were pretty weird too

I used to get that "paper" when I lived in the city, just to look at the personals.

I decided to post a "Ad" b/c I got tired of going on meaniless dates and wasting my time primping, trying to looking cute, doing hair and nails just, agonizing over just the right date outfit only to have my effort doing all this lasting longer then the actual date.

My friends gave me major grief when I told them my plans, but after they met my "CATCH", they were signing up like crazy.

My first date with my hubby was just like one of those cheesy E-harmony commercials. My SO is from a really small town in North Carolina and he said he signed up b/c he was actually afraid of the "BIG" city dating scene and city slicker women.

 

[Skippy123]

Haven, you look like a model! I hate you!!!! just teasing about the hating you part.

Your boyfriend sounds so sweet. I like that he is a teacher. Teachers rock!

Gosh how annoying to hear that guy say that he would NEVER become a teacher because it wouldn't support his fabulous lifestyle

 

[YMA]

Doesn't she look like model!!!!!!

Skippy is that you in your Avatar, if so you look like a model too.

I hate both you

When I signed up on the dating website I didn't have pictures at first and my Hubby said when he read my profile he didn't think I was African-American, b/c I have green eyes and light brown hair. I had to e-mail him several different pictures before he was convinced.

After I e-mailed him the pictures he said he thought I better snap this one up b/c she post those pictures.

We still laugh about that to this day.

 

[Skippy123]

YMA, yip it is me but no model here. hehehe Thanks though.
You sound beautiful too w/green eyes.

 

[Haven]

You guys are too sweet--thank you! (Damn, I should "hang out" with you more often, you''re very good for my self-image!) The truth is that it''s all about good eye makeup and bronzing powder--my secret weapons!

Seriously though, Skippy, I''ve seen your avatar pictures--I think you''re the one with the incredible model bone structure! I''m very jealous over here. And that anti-teaching guy--he was just plain icky. He called me a month later and invited me to his "second home" in Michigan--some guys have no shame.

Monarch--I''d love to join everyone for the next GTG--didn''t realize we had ''em!

YMA--That''s hilarious that your SO decided to scoop you up once he saw your pictures, he''s right though--a pretty lady will get BOMBARDED on a dating website. My good friend is gorgeous and once she put her pictures up it was nonstop emails--talk about a self-image boost!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Did you guys ever read the "missed connections" in the Reader? Some of those were pretty hysterical! I wonder if they even still do that section...

And oh yes--I hope all the Chicago people will to the next get-together and gem show in August! I had no idea there were so many of us out there!

 

[YMA]

Haven,

What brand eyeshadow and bronzer you use, I want some of that hehehe! Especially if it makes me as cute as you are

Skippy,

You do have wonderful bone structure! If only........... I had those high cheek bones.