Mr. T and I got to talking about the importance of having an effective online dating profile if you’re trolling the Internet in search of a potential mate. I thought my profile had been highly effective, since I was able to land a sexy hunk like him. I was therefore taken aback when he admitted that he found my profile to be somewhat vague and insipid. He said it revealed little about me and was basically boring and flat. (Fortunately, my witty e-mails piqued his curiosity…But, YIKES! “Boring and flat”?!?!)

On the other hand, his profile had caught my attention from the very first day I started my search for love online. It was incredibly witty, sincere, detailed, and descriptive. Acknowledging his talent for writing an effective profile, I challenged him to update my (long-abandoned) one using the personality traits he found most alluring in me.

I must say that he did an outstanding job! I would even date myself after reading that profile! He didn’t change the overall message, but adapted the sentences to be more descriptive and detailed. Here’s what he wrote:

I’m a tall, attractive, fit, and intelligent woman. I have my own business, which is time-consuming yet rewarding. I love to travel the world, read about interesting people and foreign cultures (I am fluent in 4 languages), and cook delicious meals for my friends. (I was trained as a professional chef). One of my unique talents is my ability to talk about food in an irresistibly tantalizing manner…

I enjoy spending quality time with both children and friendly dogs, but am not so crazy about cats – my ideal man would feel similarly. I’d like to find a well-balanced, intelligent, and strong man to share my life with, including enjoying the outdoors, running, biking, climbing, diving, fly fishing, and exploring the world and the new things we find within it. I enjoy independent films, Broadway shows, dancing, and live music, but equally appreciate a quiet evening at home, which I like to keep cozy and inviting.

I am positive and sincere, and expect my partner to be the same. I’d like to meet a friendly, professional man who knows what he wants in life and works hard to achieve it, but also enjoys being romantic and affectionate with me.

Pretty flattering, huh? But the re-vamping didn’t stop there! The next item he took fault with was my selection of pictures. Granted, the shots weren’t very flattering, but I also didn’t have much of an assortment to choose from. My main picture was from 2003, a blurry headshot which I grossly enlarged and then desperately cropped in order to conceal my white wedding dress. That picture, while not too crisp, showed me happy, thin, and full of life. Fast forward three years, twenty pounds, a very bad, very short haircut and countless demoralizing marital battles, and you can imagine what my second picture looked like…Not. Too. Flattering.

Mr. T quickly tossed out these pictures and replaced them with shots he had taken of me during our months of dating: A flirty close-up in a cowboy hat, an action shot zooming by on my bike, and a tantalizing shot prancing around in a very sexy white mock bikini, see-through pants, and six inch heels.

This afternoon I checked my online dating account: Four new viewers, although nobody had been man enough to send me an introductory e-mail. Who knows…Maybe now my new Internet persona is too hot to handle!! Maybe Mr. T would have been scared to approach such a fabulous-sounding and self-confident woman!! Maybe I should be careful the next time I walk through a doorway, in case my big, inflated head gets stuck!

The main purpose of this experiment was to gain some practice with my profile so we could help out a friend. However, through the description Mr. T wrote of me, I was able to see me – and our budding relationship – through his eyes. I’m happy I found him and he found me and we found love in cyberspace.