The whole online dating thing…

I never did understand people who believe that dating online is easier than the IRL thing. You spend just as much time and energy on it, although you might do it in different ways: Rather than sitting in a bar accepting or rejecting people, you do it in front of your screen. I had a long distance relationship for a long, long time with I.N. and a lot of it happened online, and I think it can be good and bad. I don’t know anybody who has successfully had a long term relationship after meeting on a dating website. I do know people in long term relationships who met online, although they weren’t on a dating website at the time. (I think that’s the best way to meet somebody, anyway, through shared interests, whether it’s online or IRL.) I’ve idly surfed through a few dating websites and I think most of them have their ups and downs. This dating service review website gives you the chance to check a few of the options out and read about some other people’s experiences and impressions of a few of these sites. It’s a cool idea. I think as more people post reviews the site will become more useful, but it’s already a handy way to get a feel for the kind of people who enjoy a site… Are the comments related to a particular service mostly about how it’s a nice change from the superficial sites or are the comments about all the hot people who want to hook up? Other features that I hope they’ll add later on: A way to rate the costs. From what I hear, dating online can cost a bunch between all the fees and tokens and nonsense you have to buy to send message, see pictures, reply to messages, etc. Something else that would be nice is an indication of who can use a site. Is it heterosexual dating only? A lot of mainstream dating sites don’t have any options for the gay girls and boys out there. Stuff like that might show up as the site grows. This website is a really nice start for somebody wanting to get an idea of where to begin, if online dating is something you’d like to try. Once you’ve tried a couple of sites, go back and post your own reviews to let everybody else know too.

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Music, music, music

I just spent an hour with the kidlet watching music videos on YouTube. I was watching a cool Coke ad from a link somebody sent me and she climbed on my lap (with the laptop, this is precarious) to watch with me. As soon as it ended she said “I want to watch more music, like this one.” Well, the video had a White Stripes soundtrack, so we started with some more of them, and some Parlotones, Sarah McLachlan (her favourite, I think, it inspired the most singing along), Johnny Clegg, Joan Jett, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Tegan & Sara, Metric, etc. It was loads of fun. YouTube is now on my list of emergency distractions from tantrums. It is a short but illustrious list, containing things like playing with her piggy banks, big baths with all! the! bath! toys! at! once! and Dora Candyland.

Coupons galore

I love coupons. My family knows this about me, I’m always cutting them out. A nice way to spend a few minutes on a Saturday is to look through flyers for deals and coupons with I.N.. The only thing about coupons is that you can get sucked into buying stuff you didn’t really need just because of the coupons. The trick is to use them only for things you really would have bought anyway. This website has a very nice selection of online coupons for stuff I might actually use. Their BestBuy coupons has a 20% off memory cards and tripods coupon, nice since our videocamera needs some. And since Valentine’s Day is coming up, the FTD coupons are handy. The site’s design is sort of crappy, but there are some real deals on there, for bigger, more well-known online retailers as well as smaller ones I’ve never heard of. Check it out.

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Ikea

Did you know that different playlands at Ikea have different height requirements? We have broken D’s heart every time we went to our closest Ikea because that playland is right at the entrance and she just hasn’t been tall enough. She has been so sad because the two requirements were 1) get potty trained and 2) grow! She has accomplished number 1 beautifully but number 2 just hasn’t been happening as fast as she’d like. However! We went to a different Ikea yesterday, and rather than 39″ she only had to be over 37″, and she is just about 37 1/2″. Happy baby redhead. This will now be our default Ikea, I think.

There will be more about Ikea over here sometime, I’m sure. We got a Christmas tree there yesterday for $20, and with that came a coupon for $20 off a future purchase. Pretty sweet. Goodness knows there are a few things we need (new bathmat, storage box, etc.) that we’ll get in the new year with that coupon.

Now, some love for Ikea: