So ABC’s new show, “Dating in the Dark,” is weird. Like, really weird. Three girls and three guys meet in the pitch dark, often make out, and then get to see one another. They then have to decide if they want to go on actual dates with the people they have just seen.

Wait, that’s not so weird. It sounds like the same thing that happens nightly in college bars from coast to coast. Only on TV.

Much like the feeling of repulsion that has come over many of us after last call, the people on the show who really hit it off in the dark aren’t such fans of each other once the lights flip on.

Now, maybe it’s just me, but this doesn’t really cast people in the best light (no pun intended), right?

Maybe it’s because I’m most often attracted to a guy’s personality before I start to find him cute, but I can’t imagine rejecting a dude on the basis of looks alone if I’ve already felt a strong connection with him. I wouldn’t date a guy that I wasn’t attracted to, but personality totally takes a guy from zero to ten (OK, maybe 5 to 10). If I liked him in the dark, especially enough for a little tonsil hockey, I’d like to think I’d be happy in the light, too.

But that is not what’s happening here. Read More »

I’m not sure how I can say this without offending pretty much all of CC’s readership, but I really don’t like girls very much.

Yes, I know that I am one. Yes, I realize that makes me hypocritical.

So before you all jump on the attack bandwagon, let me at least explain my position. It’s not girls I don’t like, per se. It’s just things about them. For example:

• The obsession with appearance. Yeah, I realize it’s sometimes important to look good. I even fall victim to this one sometimes. But the real problem I have is with girls who will goggle at a full closet of clothes and whine, “I have nothing to wear!” or girls that will try on something in a dressing room and then ask their poor boyfriends, “Does this make me look fat?”

Hello, ladies. He knows the drill. He’s not going to tell you it makes you look fat, because he cares about you (for reasons I will never understand). If you can’t ask an opinion question that has more than one right answer, don’t ask it at all.

• The crooked way they communicate. When you talk to a guy, it’s so straightforward. Everything is right there on the table; take it or leave it. When you talk to a girl, though, especially if it’s about something serious, the girl will tend to skirt the issue and ask leading questions and not be entirely truthful and….AAHHH! It drives me up the wall!

If you’re turning down a friend’s invitation to hang out, tell it like it is. Say, “I know this is stupid, but the hot physics prof is giving a seminar during that time” instead of “Oh, yeah, I would REALLY like to, but I have to go to this seminar for class.” Read More »

Most of the time, I look like a hag. Though I wish this was untrue, it’s hard to deny when I check myself out in the mirror. The reason? I hate makeup.

When I was eight years old, I distinctively remember sitting at the kitchen table and watching my mother put on her makeup, just like she did every other morning. It was an elaborate ritual, lasting for five or ten minutes and transforming her from my mom into some painted-up, clown-type figure with a mask.

“You know,” I told her then. “When I grow up, I’m not ever going to wear any makeup. And I’m going to save so much money because of it. Just think about how much money you spend every year on makeup.”

I don’t remember how my mom reacted, but she probably rolled her eyes at me. Read More »