the writing and photography of Neil Kramer

Category: Men and Women (Page 11 of 11)

Online Dating Works for Some

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(photo via Meggiecat)

Here’s a great story about finding love:

Meet Paul Henry, a retired professor from Redding, California and Jen-Chi Anderson, a retired nutritionist from Carmel, California.  Both were nearing their eighties.  Both survived their spouses.  Both wanted to find romance and share their experiences with someone else.

They wanted to look for love, but didn’t know the right places. At their ages, the local dating pools had all but dried up. They were too old to go clubbing but too young to hit the convalescent scene. So they followed the leads of millions of souls, and cast their nets worldwide, on the Web. And soon the sweet tones of a modem heralded the beginning of their octogenarian affair.

They met face-to-face three months later and were living together within a year

"When you get up near 80," Henry said, "you don’t mess around."

According to the Pew Internet and American Life project, 27% of all American seniors are online, and the numbers are growing quickly.  

Note to senior men:  Coming up with a good profile is not easy.  Do not use that 1943 picture of yourself on the USS Washington for your current photo.  Women always know. 

Check out Paul Henry’s story at his website.

(story via Meggiecat, Paul Henry’s daughter)

Birds Do It…

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(or Reason #12 for Women Not to get Married)

It is not just human males who seduce prospective paramours with expensive gifts while bringing home cheap trinkets for their long-term partners. Some male birds do it too.

Great grey shrikes mate for life and raise offspring each breeding season. But the males also sneak away and mate with other females. To charm both long-term partners and mistresses the males offer gifts of food.

Researchers in Eastern Europe then tested these males to see whether they put more effort into their "affairs" or their "marriages."

According to Piotr Tryjanowski at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland, and Martin Hromada at the University of South Bohemia in Ceské Budejovice, the Czech Republic, the male birds gave gifts to their mistresses which averaged 75 kiljoules of energy content, while gifts to their long-time partners only averaged 19 kilojoules

Males often caught lizards, voles and other birds for their mistresses, which required six times as much effort to catch as the insects that they gave their partners.

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Tryjanowski summed it up by recalling an old Polish saying:

"Artificial jewelery to the wife and real diamonds for the mistress."

(via New Scientist)

American Woman

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I hate to give this idiot any readers, but Sophia and I found this too funny to not share.  It’s a website from an angry guy who hates modern American and Western-thinking women (damn feminists!). 

A huge percentage of American women are selfish, flighty, insecure, needy and psychotic, and quite capable of concealing those traits during the dating phase

White ‘career’ American chicks are the bottom of the barrel marriage-wise.

Foreign women from South America, Eastern Europe, and Asia are at the top. Only guys who travel (in other words, guys who are successful and ambitious enough to travel a lot) find these. But they never, ever go back.

Foreign-born women living in the US are the next best. They get married early…they are highly sought-after by American guys for their wifely skills (hell, any women who has ANY ability to be a wife is better than your average American chick, who knows NOTHING about being a wife)

Bottom of the barrel—white American chicks. Yecch.

In other words:

American woman, stay away from me
American woman, mama let me be
Don’t come hangin’ around my door
I don’t wanna see your face no more
I got more important things to do
Than spend my time growin’ old with you
Now woman, stay away,
(American Woman by The Guess Who)

I think this guy was turned down by a neighborhood girl one time too many. 

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His main thesis is that American men should only marry foreign women.  You know, the old-fashioned ones who walk behind you, and know their place is in the kitchen and the bedroom (oh, we can dream, can’t we?).

Even though we’re separated, I’m still great friends with my wife, Sophia.  She was born in Russia.  One of my best friend’s wife is Japanese.  I know men who have married women from Mexico, Israel, Taiwan, Iran, the Phillippines, Peru, and France.  Take my word for it, Mr. Angry American Male, whoever you’re going to marry — no matter where she is from — that woman is going to throw your life upside down. 

You might think that Japanese wife is obediently walking behind the man, but believe me, if you cross her, you’re still going to be sleeping on that living room couch. 

And that hot Latina from Mexico — you forget her anniversary, and forget about sex until the next Cinco de Mayo.

No matter if it’s in Turkish or Tagalog, you will eventually be cursed at for peeing on the toilet seat (in the native tongue of course).

And women from Albania to Zambia know when their husbands are checking out another woman’s ass.

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So, don’t give up on American women just because they can be pains in our butts.   All women are.  American women are special.  They’re smart, pretty, and they’re as clueless as us American men are about what’s going on in the world.   Because only caring about America is as American as, well, apple pie!  (now if we could only find an American woman who still knows how to bake one).

(More anti-women stuff from this moron)

(thanks to The Alley Notebooks for the link)

(photos via Ted Morris)

Looking for Love

Over 15,000 men responded to this sexy personal ad in an Atlanta newspaper:

SINGLE BLACK FEMALE seeks male companionship, ethnicity unimportant. I’m a very good looking girl who LOVES to play. I love long walks in the woods, riding in your pickup truck, hunting, camping and fishing trips, cozy winter nights lying by the fire. Candlelight dinners will have me eating out of your hand. I’ll be at the front door when you get home from work, wearing only what nature gave me. Call (404) 875-xxxx and ask for Daisy. I’ll be waiting…

They found themselves talking to the Atlanta Humane Society about an 8 week old black labrador retriever.

The Secret to a Happy Marriage

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Are you an intelligent, realistic person with clear insights and excellent memory? 

Too bad. 

The secret to a happy marriage is being delusional.

We tend to remember slights and frustrations more than favors and kindnesses.  So inevitably in a marriage the weight of negative remembrances of thing past comes to exceed that of the positive.  Divorce is the result.

The secret to a good marriage, therefore is selective forgetfulness.  Coincidentally some psychologists have recently come to the same conclusion.  The couples who stay together are the delusional ones – the ones who look at their past with rose-colored glasses.

Psychologists believe that what they are observing in couples who endorse these and similar sentiments are strongly selective memories that ignore inevitable negative events over the course of marital history. Maybe a distorted view of your marriage that emphasises the positive and forgets the negative is crucial to accounting for who stays and who flees when it comes to relationship endurance.

So, the boyfriend who constantly forgets things like your birthday might just be perfect husband material!

Handy Guide for Man-Shopping

My women friends tell me that Home Depot is a better place to meet single men than any bar.  It seems men just love to talk to a pretty woman about tools.

Now, Wal-Mart is getting into the singles scene. (via Martinis, Persistence, and a Smile)

At at least one store in the United States and throughout Germany, Wal-Mart stores are hosting weekly singles nights, where shoppers looking for romance tie a red ribbon to their carts as they browse for laundry detergent, loofahs and, yes, love.

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So, are retail stores the next Match.com?

As a public service to single women everywhere, here is a handy guide to the five major types of  men and which store to find him in.

Citizen of the Month’s Guide to Men and their Stores

Mr. Dependable

Dependable, loyal, trustworthy, gives practical gifts like a blender for birthday, always pay their bills on time, dull as dishwater, no sense of humor

(store:  Sears)

Mr. Entrepreneur

Corporate, assertive, workaholic, Ivy Leaguer, big spender, unromantic, will sleep with secretary

(store:  Hammacher Schlemmer)

Mr. Self-Made Man

Runs successful blue-collar business, fights for success despite limited education, more comfortable with buddies than women, drunkard

(store:  Home Depot)

Mr. Power Broker

Extremely wealthy, gives his woman the finest things in life, ruthless, opportunist, frequently short and unattractive, sees wife as trophy, lousy in bed

(store:  Neiman-Marcus)

Mr. Artist

Creative, humorous, artsy major in college, intelligent, caring lover, financially hopeless, limited prospects, neurotic, mamma’s boy

(store:  independent coffee bar, not Starbucks)

Ladies, good luck!

My Man Date with Rob and Kai

My friends, Rob and Satomi, have a beautiful baby boy, Kai.  Rob is Jewish and Satomi is Japanese, but Kai has his mother’s Asian features. 

While visiting them, Rob and I decide to go for a stroll with Kai, giving Satomi some well-deserved time to be baby-free.  We go to the park and put Kai on a swing.  He loves it.

Two attractive women come over and start talking to us.   We joke about how much Kai loves swinging back and forth.  I chat with one of the women, a tall brunette wearing a tight t-shirt that reads “Virginia is for Lovers.” 

I have this profound thought:  “Must hang out with cute babies more often.”

“Virginia is for Lovers” says she thinks it is great how we’re raising Kai.  Both women assure us that men can raise children as well as women.  Suddenly it occurs to us that these women think we are a gay couple who’ve adopted an Asian baby.

“Virginia” was not as loving after we told them the truth, as if we deceived them.

As we walked home, we saw ourselves as others saw us.  I’m sure if we were two women walking with a baby, others wouldn’t have given us a second glance.  

The situation reminded me of this popular article from the NY Times, written in April by by Jennifer Lee, titled “The Man Date.” (NY Times registration)

“The Man Date; What do you call two straight men having dinner?” The article discusses the issue that two male friends enjoying certain kinds of public activity together—going for a walk, visiting a museum, or having a meal—are automatically assumed by onlookers to be gay if there is no obvious business- or sports-related reason for them to be together. The fear of being thought gay, the article suggested, made it difficult for men to create the kind of one-on-one close friendships that women take for granted. (via World Wide Words)

Frankly, I think the thesis is rather ridiculous.  It really didn’t bother us at all, although a few blocks later, we passed a couple of teenage boys hanging out.  One of them nudged his friend and pointed at us, laughing at us with the baby.  In retrospect, we should have scolded him, or at least kicked his ass. 

Or even better, told his friends that we saw him last night at a gay bar.

Message for Dinah, the French Movie Lover

There are many obstacles to a romantic relationship being a success.  There can be differences in personality, religion, attitude towards family, work ethic, etc.  Any of these can cause a couple to split up.  Yet there is one obstacle that can break up even the most loving of couples.  Yes, I’m talking about liking different types of movies.

I remember once bringing a date to watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” on DVD.  She had never seen the movie, which seemed unbelievable to me!  I couldn’t believe my luck.  Not only would I introduce her to this heart-warming classic, but I would surely get lucky after that!

What happened?  Let’s just say I had as much luck as George Bailey getting out of Bedford Falls.  She hated the movie and called it “corny.”  How could I like such a cold-hearted woman?

I bring this up because yesterday, I discovered YMDB (note 12/06: now defunct).   This isn’t IMDB.com, the best movie resource around.  This is “Your Movie Database.”  Basically, you create a list of your favorite twenty movies and then can see links to other users whose movie lists are statistically similar to yours.  You can even find others who picked the same #1 favorite movie as you.

I do not know anything else about you, Dinah, but you and I are the only ones to pick this somewhat obscure French film as our favorite movie.  Let’s get married. 

Wear Awareness Bracelet, Meet Women

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awareness bracelets

Recently, I’ve noticed that unattached women — strangers — have been friendly to me, even initiating conversations. These strange occurrences have taken place in a Starbucks, a supermarket, and even a crowded Century City elevator.  What I couldn’t figure out was — why was I suddenly so much more attractive to women?    I haven’t done much of interest lately to make my personality ooze with confidence.    I’ve been driving the same Honda Civic for several years now, and no one has pimped my ride.  I didn’t have an Extreme Makeover either.  I asked my friend, Martha.   She said the reason was obvious.  I had started to wear a pink breast cancer awareness bracelet on my wrist. When women see it, they know I’m a sensitive guy who cares about women’s issues, and they feel safe with me.  Duh…

Wow, I thought.   I really do care about finding a cure for breast cancer.   But if it can also help me meet some hot babes, what’s wrong with that?

I told this to my friend Rob.  He works at Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena.  He was not impressed.  As a scientist, he found this system for meeting women to be too random.  Men do not just want to talk to any woman in the elevator.   Men want to meet their “matching personality type,” he said, using the terminology of the eHarmony site he’s been throwing his money away on.

Luckily for Rob, and all other men out there, I discovered that there are literally a hundred different color awareness bracelets for sale, each representing a different illness, political affiliation, or public opinion — from liver disease to pro-choice.  This greatly expands the possibility of finding the right woman using this “awareness bracelet color technique.”

For instance, maybe you have the hots for that cute librarian who has a picture on her desk of her six cats, three dogs, and five rabbits.  She’s never noticed you at all.  No problem!  Next time you’re at the library, why not return your books while wearing a purple bracelet (purple symbolizing anti-animal abuse).  You don’t like it when little animals get hurt, do you?  I bet you’ll catch her eye this time!

How about that brainy law student from Brooklyn who sneezes every time you bring up your love of camping in Yosemite?  Bingo!  Win her heart with a gray bracelet  (gray: help allergy sufferers!)

Some other women you might want to woo:

The feisty independent filmmaker, hates Bush and big American corporations  (brown bracelet for anti-tobacco).

The moody singer-songwriter who writes sad songs about her childhood (green for childhood depression).

The exotic fashion model who’s part Cherokee, part African-American, part Jewish, and part Turkish.  (orange for cultural diversity).

The talented, but oh-so-thin actress who only picks at her salad.   (light blue for eating disorder).

Your nephew’s second grade teacher who looks like Catherine Zeta-Jones.  (blue for education).

That funny Latina comedienne from the gym, whose younger brother is in prison.  (black for gang prevention).

The Honda Hybrid salesgirl from the apartment next door who you hear having sex all the time and who once scolded you about not recycling. (green for environmental).

Who said that promoting a good cause can’t bring its own rewards?!

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