How To Get A Date

Move to a city. Lament Monday through Friday that you are never dressed appropriately. Worry that you will never fit in. Forget all this on Saturdays. Get dressed in only the clothes easiest to locate in your closet. Wash your face but not your hair. Or wash your hair but don't brush it. Skip the make-up. Hat optional. Slip into your sneakers without untying them. Make it to the metro just in time to sit for fifteen minutes. Curse single-tracking. Turn up the ipod to drown out the kids. Fall in love with a song. Hit the repeat button all day. Let it move your feet, move your lips, swing your hips. Forget to worry that someone might see. Get lost in the crowd. Find a corner of a coffee shop. Sip slowly. Write with fervor. Tell stories of the past - they're still here with you. Capture the present. Create the future. Keep writing. Move from the corner and out the door. Say goodbye to the barista. Explore. Use the lens. Look for the details. Focus on the moments. Lose yourself in the process. Find yourself in late afternoon.

Decide to take an early evening nap. Head for the metro. Keep that song on repeat. Look up when he says "excuse me." Say yes or say no to a dinner invitation. Make sure to say thank you. Put your earphones back on.

Or decide to have that second cup of coffee. Head for a coffee shop. Sit at the window. Sip slowly. Try to write. Get distracted by the people walking the streets. Say yes through the window to buying a newspaper supporting and written by the homeless. Thank the vendor for coming inside. Put the newspaper in your bag to read later. Return to your words. Be gentle on yourself when they don't arrive at all. Smile when he sits beside you. Answer when he asks about the newspaper. Squirm when he asks about your writing. Tell him he's right when he says, "I don't know you, but you have a lot in your head. I can tell." Ask questions that make you feel intelligent when you're interested in what he is saying. Ask questions that make you feel dumb when you don't understand what he is saying. Don't think about what you'll say if he asks you to dinner. Even when he asks what you are doing later that night. Tell him you might be going grocery shopping. Mean it. Ask him to tell you about living in Paris. Let him give you his number. Make sure to say thank you. Even if you're not going to use it. Put your earphones back on.

Head home.