In case you hadn't realised, this blog is finished (awwww). For six months, January - June 2013, I went on 28 Dates from 28 different dating sites, after my first online date ended with an infected human bite wound.
500,000 unique readers will be aware of how it all turns out - of the three options at the top, I thought the most likely end was "get myself killed" at times - but just in case you've just stumbled upon it, here's links to each every post, in chronological order:
1: The Biter
...my first online date, in which I meet a girl who almost bit my finger off - from OKCupid.
2: The Girl with the Knives
...in which I recount my previous worst ever date, which involved a wall of sharp knives.
3: The Adulteress
...in which I consider having an affair - from Ashley Madison.
4: The Lizard Loving Nerd
...in which I encounter a fiscally prudent herpetologist - from Geek2Geek
5: The Republican Warrior Princess
...in which I take romantic inspiration from Ayn Rand, and meet a "gun loving, god fearing Republican" - from The Atlas Sphere
6: The #Twittercrush Part one & Part two
...in which I meet up with someone I had a crush on through twitter, and make her charity cupcakes. - From Twitter/52 First Dates
7: The Farmer
...in which I meet a soft-fruit farmer and get my first proper kiss of the project - from Muddy Matches.
8: The Fan of the Blog
...in which I meet a fan of the blog and on this occasion, I *am* the bad date.
9: The Naval Officer
...in which I am "sexted" by an officer and a gentlewoman and we discuss our favourite admiral. From Uniform Dating.
10: Three Jewish ladies
...in which I discover I am a hot piece of beef on J-Date.
11: The Cougar
...in which I date an older woman. From Cougar Dating.
12: The Guardian-reading Tory
...in which I meet the only other socially liberal but economically conservative person known to man - from Guardian Soulmates.
13: The Blandest Date
...in which I meet a woman I have nothing in common with - from OKC Crazy Blind Date.
14: The Sleazy Hookup
...in which I hookup with a friend - from Bang with Friends
The half-time show: A midway through maudlin reflection on why I was single after 14 Dates.
15: The Tabloid Date Blogger
...in which I meet another Date Blogger and get reviewed - from Single, bored and Geeky about films.
16: The Psychic
...in which I date a woman with psychic powers. Or so she claimed! - from Beyond Psychic dating
17: Two Fakers & a Cambridge Undergraduate
...in which I don't date either a Czech pornstar or a High-flying lawyer, and end up taking out a Cambridge undergrad instead. - from Plenty of Fish
18: The Fundamentalist Christian & the Sex Devils
...in which I date a Christian, who put the "Mental" into "Fundamentalist" - from Missionary Dating
19: The London Cosplay Otaku
...in which I date a lovely lady who was into dressing up. - from Lovestruck
20: The New York Millionaire
...in which I am a gold-digger. from MillionaireDating
21: The Second Injury
...in which I can't tell you much about the date apart from the fact I received an agonising sex injury on it.
22: The Hometown show
...in which I try online dating in my small seaside hometown - from Match.com
23: Pet Dating with my Hedgehog
...in which I take my pet Hedgehog on a date with me - from Pet Dating
24: The Data-Driven Dater
...in which I try to date arithmetically, and meet a woman who dates by Spreadsheet - from E-harmony
25: Speed Dating with the Pickup Artist
...in which I go to a Scientific speed dating event and am lectured by a strange pickup artist - from Dating Science London
26: My Single Friend and the Finnish Superwoman
...in which my friend Janine tries to pair me off with a Finnish lady-adonis - from MySingleFriend
27: The Video Gamer and the Zombies
...in which I fall off a barn and my date steals my sniper rifle from my cooling corpse - from LFGDating
28: The Doctor and the Cliffhanger
...in which I meet a lovely doctor in Chelsea Physic garden, and reject her by Text message! - from Doing Something
29: The Blind Date
...in which I go dating in a National Newspaper column - from Guardian Blind Date
30: The Happy ending and the Girlfriend
...in which you discover who I ended up in Love with (we're still together after six months, so it all seems to be working out).
You have provided us with an account of an extraordinary adventure for, while I do not doubt that many have been through similar trammels, few if any have written about it and certainly not with such verve. It has been a gripping tale, not least because of your honesty and good humour. You have not tried to inflate the Willard brand but have shown yourself to us, warts and all. The result is an engaging narrative that deserves not to fade away in the slurry of dead blogs.
May I therefore earnestly enjoin that you find a publisher and turn this blog into a book? Whether as entertainment or as a set of cautionary tales for the unwary, it has value and should be made available.
Good luck to both of you. May you have a long and happy life together.