AOM: 30 Days... Day 9 – Datey

To be honest, it's 12:30am, and I feel guilty that I haven't written more today. My day ended up getting away from me with work and 'research.' A good friend of mine made me an amazing dinner, and we caught up with some of her friends for a long time post dinner. Incredible bourbon was shared (which I typically don't drink) and the wine I brought was imbibed. All of this to say: I'm tipsy after midnight, on my walk home from the hood, took my dog out, and now facing my laptop, feeling like I need to post before I sign off and go to bed.

Sooooo, today's assignment from The Art of Manliness "30 Days to a Better Man" is to take a woman on a date. Technically, I think a woman asked me on a sort of date for tonight, and I asked someone else out for next week. Well, no – I asked when she was free, and next week was the response. Close enough after midnight, yes? Technicalities.... Aye!

Here is the link and an excerpt from AOM, as I try to sober up:

Dating and the Single Man

We’ve previously discussed the way in which “hanging out” has largely supplanted dating these days. Young people hang out in groups of friends and “friends with benefits” and rarely pair off for an official date. There’s nothing wrong with hanging out, but it’s not a substitute for dating. Dating is the way you find a woman you’d like to have an exclusive relationship with. Exclusive relationships are one on one affairs, so there has to come a point where you leave the comfort of the group and start getting to know women on a one-on-one basis.

Dating and the Committed Man

Hanging out isn’t just a romance killer for the single set, it also has a nasty habit of snuffing out the sparks of long-term relationships as well. Too many men think that the courting phase of a relationship ends at the altar or once they’ve landed a lady. But this is patently incorrect, at least if you want to have a happy, fun, and intimate relationship.

Think about it: If you want to feel the same way about your wife that you did when you were dating, then you have to do some of the stuff you did when you were dating. The most obvious of which is, of course, actually going on dates. Every couple should make a weekly date night a non-negotiable in their life. And not just the same dinner and a movie dates either. It turns out that if you want to get back the butterflies you used to feel for your lady, you need to make the effort to keep your dates fresh and interesting. By injecting some novelty into your relationship, your brain gets flooded with dopamine and norepinephrine, the chemicals that used to make you think about your love obsessively and feel down right giddy about her.¹ So ditch the whole pizza and Netflix routine and really get out and do something new and different.

I need to stop snacking on miniature chocolates at this late hour, and call it a night. Thanks to my dearest friends that humor me and teach me the ways of the men that have more of a clue than I do... Soon enough, I will employ these tricks of the trade. In the meantime, a good night's sleep is in order to start the day anew tomorrow. Sigh~

Done and done.