I need help with my homework

[footfootfoot]

So I plan on working the acceptable cherub program again, despite my life being pretty dysfunctional right now. I've set my looking for status to "friends" because, well, I am not really ready for anything more right now.

Despite living closely with myself for nearly 54 years, I feel like I hardly know who I am, either anymore or ever at all.

So I figured I'd turn to you lot who know me as well as anyone, who like to stick your respective oars in the water, have seemingly limitless amounts of time, judging by your post counts, and are generally perspicacious.

So, if you'd like to write up something that might be useful for my profile or what ever it's called, on AC, feel free to do my homework assignment for me.

You guys are swell (in advance) and I take back all that shit I said about you on that other forum.

[BigV]

Challenge accepted!

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by footfootfoot

Despite living closely with myself for nearly 54 years, I feel like I hardly know who I am, either anymore or ever at all.
.

Ah mate. I remember that feeling when me and J first split. Took me a couple of years to figure it out, I think.

Don't know as I can help much for your profile. But I know the qualities and traits I associate with you:

Witty - like really, fucking funny at times.

Artistic - you see the world with an artist's eye and that sometimes means you have an odd perspective, but never boring.

Warm - don't get me wrong, you can be a cunt with the best of them, as can most of us, but you've always seemed a warm and approachable fellow.

Clever - I like clever men. I like clever people.

Open minded - You seem willing to take on new perspectives and try new things. Someone who is open to possibilities and on a journey of discovery is attractive, I think.

And, judging by the very few pics I've seen of you: charismatic.

[Aliantha]

The best advice i could give you is to be honest about where you're at. I used AFF instead of a dating site and had lots of fun. Then one of the "dates" turned out to be Daryl, and you all know the rest.

[Griff]

something about building and sailing

Cuz that makes me hot

[lumberjim]

Just link it to a search of your posts on here.

[footfootfoot]

LJ, great idea.
Dana, thank you. Those are sweet things to say. Glad to know I can be a cunt sometimes, you know how I feel about Pollyannas and Goodys Two-shoe.
Griff, yes!
Ali, AFF seems to cater to the sketchier types in this part of the world. I may give them another look.
BigV, I'm curious, don't go writing checks I can't clear...

[Lola Bunny]

Foot: Everything that Dana describes about you, I totally agree. You are that wonderful. Also, you are pleasing to the eyes.

[orthodoc]

Witty, intelligent, artistic, attractive ... if you link to your posts here, you'll be inundated with messages.

Your chief problem will be choosing. There won't be many women who can keep up with you.

[Clodfobble]

Foot, you need to work your most impressive assets, by which I mean your adorable kids. I don't know what kind of schedule you have them on right now, but I'm telling you, take them to the park, the bouncy castle place, sign them up for extracurriculars... There is nothing sexier than a man being a good dad. You will have the divorced moms clawing over you.

[Lola Bunny]

Foot's kids ARE absolutely adorable. Smart too and not the evil Damian smart that you see so often these days.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Lola Bunny

and not the evil Damian smart that you see so often these days.

Funny!

[BigV]

Originally Posted by footfootfoot

So I plan on working the acceptable cherub program again, despite my life being pretty dysfunctional right now. I've set my looking for status to "friends" because, well, I am not really ready for anything more right now.

Despite living closely with myself for nearly 54 years, I feel like I hardly know who I am, either anymore or ever at all.

--snip

Why don't you have a seat and tell the Staff Robot all about it?

(I know I said I'd accepted your challenge; I haven't forgotten)

The profile is an important part of the process, no question about it. But as the story from Wired indicates, there are other crucial aspects as well, notably visibility and "match percentage".

As for visibility:

Originally Posted by Wired Magazine

OkCupid’s algorithms use only the questions that both potential matches decide to answer, and the match questions McKinlay had chosen—more or less at random—had proven unpopular. When he scrolled through his matches, fewer than 100 women would appear above the 90 percent compatibility mark. And that was in a city containing some 2 million women (approximately 80,000 of them on OkCupid). On a site where compatibility equals visibility, he was practically a ghost.

It is this second aspect that I would emphasize as the most important, the cornerstone of your success on AC.

Originally Posted by Wired Magazine

The important part, though, would be the survey. He picked out the 500 questions that were most popular with both clusters. He’d already decided he would fill out his answers honestly—he didn’t want to build his future relationship on a foundation of computer-generated lies.

The story, and my experience suggests that most folks answer only a few hundred questions. While that might seem like a lot as you grind through question after question, it is possible to break it down into manageable portions, doing a dozen or two at a time. Like the author of the article, I only answered questions that I found important or interesting or fun, completely skipping others. And I answered them with ruthless honesty. This part was easier since I only wanted to attract (by way of the tireless Staff Robot) the attention of someone who would like what I really was/found interesting/held dear. The quantity of questions is important. I'd say 500 questions is the minimum for any kind of meaningful matching. I'd suggest that answering questions in this way could lend insight as to "who you are", and your profile could be a simple prose expansion of these answers.

The story is a good read, and rings true to me (though I'm no mathematician, my experience with AC runs parallel to the author's). Seed AC with your survey answers, create a profile/description accordingly, *use the site* to gain attention (your visits to the pages of others is flagged and that interest may be reciprocated), then *deep breath*, go on dates.

The dates can be a grind too (sometimes in a good way, wink wink, nudge nudge). I probably dated a dozen different women by the time I met Twil. The author had this experience:

Originally Posted by Wired Magazine

As summer drew to a close, he’d been on more than 55 dates, each one dutifully logged in a lab notebook. Only three had led to second dates; only one had led to a third.

Hang in there, because

Originally Posted by Wired Magazine

Then came the message from ... It was first date number 88. A second date followed, then a third. After two weeks they both suspended their OkCupid accounts.

They're out there.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Yeah, plenty of fish in the sea, but until you catch one, just keep playing with your rod.

[Sheldonrs]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Yeah, plenty of fish in the sea, but until you catch one, just keep playing with your rod.

Well, he IS a master baiter.