Just what kind of single woman would attempt to meet a man online? Take it from my personal ad - it's not who you might think.

"I'm a 28-year-old, gainfully employed brunette living in San Diego. My passions include my friends, traveling, eating great food and laughing. I am smart, witty and very liberal. Howard Stern is the first thing I listen to on my drive to work, and NPR is the last thing I listen to on my drive home. I'm Italian, and, yes, I do speak passionately with my hands. I dig various bands - and can't get enough of the train wreck that is reality television. Attractive? Who online isn't? While I am far from perfect, I can confidently say that I am quite a catch. Yet, I am still single. This could be your lucky day."

I started this voyage of online dating after I had mourned my last relationship for over a year. I figured I needed to get back "out there" into the dating world. Meeting single men? Not easy when the majority of your friends are with their long-term boyfriends or girlfriends OR when you work in a female-dominated industry, where the only men around want nothing to do with me: Or any woman for that matter. I decided that in addition to bars and clubs, I had to give cyber-love a chance.
I attacked the online dating world much like I would a job interview. I carefully researched sites (and their men) and created profiles accordingly. I found that Match.com and Craigslist provided the best "fits" to my dating criteria. Match.com offered thousands of profiles and pictures to suit different tastes, while Craigslist, an online classified community, discreetly offered offbeat personals at no cost. My first dates were nerve-wracking, but with time and practice, they got better. My shortest date was 45 minutes, which included dinner, while my longest was 16 hours. I met men who challenged me and my ideals, men who excited me and men who bored the living hell out of me. The dating process, also known as the "weeding out process," exposed me to the good, the bad and the sometimes ugly.