Atleast it would save you writing an 'about me' section- cringe!

Ola! Welcome to my first ever blog post. I'm a fully fledged blogging virgin due to me being quite nervous about what people would make of my random ramblings! I'm not a litery genius and I probably don't have insight that others may have, BUT what I do have is a very honest, very open and fairly cynical view on life (although I never used to be.)  After engaging on online dating for a little while (on/ off for around 2 years...arrr, how did it last THIS long?!) I felt that I couldn't not share my findings with everyone else. I've got view on life, love and relationships, and whether you agree with the rubbish i'm spouting or not is entirely up to you. Nonetheless it may be fun to share experiences and have a laugh at the ridiculousness that is dating (bleh!!)

"Every time you date someone with an issue that you have to work to ignore, you're settling."

Too true ^^ ! Ok, so I thought I'd begin this blog with a bit of background information on ME. Firstly, I'm slightly reluctant to put any photo's of me online at the moment because I don't want any trolls or students findings me and using my ramblings against me! I'm a teacher in a college and so in order to distract me from pubescent teenagers I'll use this as my escapism. I've been single for a few months, however my last few relationships have been rather short lived. I'll refer to the quote above, but my 'problem' according to some is that i'm not willing to settle. When I think about it it's been quite some time since I've been in a long term relationship, however, my love life has been so random and messy I simply feel that I can't keep my mouth shut and not share it.

I couldn't start this blog any other way but to talk about online dating. It's a phenomenon that is actually, unsuprisenly in this high-tech era quite popular. HOWEVER, despite millions of gazillions of people using it noone ever seems to 'own up' and admit that they are a plenty of fisher or match.com desperado...odd! It's only since i've decided to be quite open about it to my friends do I discover that I actually have friends who use it, and although I don't post all over facebook that i'm an active user I feel that by speaking in person to my friends about it, it's minimised the stigma slightly, and made it seem like an actual OPTION. Shock horror! I'll post a few blogs about online dating, and i'll speak in more depth about some of the good, bad and ugly dates i've been on. However, before I really delve in to the gory details, the first question I have is; 'are people ashamed of online dating?'. You only have to turn the tv on these days to see a match.com advert (or even worse, uniform dating-WTF)  which tells me that it's 'cool' (especially if the advert is in the middle of an episode of TOWIE...ha) but the look of horror on people's faces when I tell them i've been messaging men online tells me that the stigma is still very much around. Does it depend on age I wonder? I'm almost 24, is that too young to be dating online? Does that suggest I'm desperate? (Believe me, i've been called it before). Is online dating only appropriate for divorcees who struggle to find love any other way? (Not my belief may I add).

Believe me, i'm not one for conforming to society and doing what I 'should', but I after some shocking experiences maybe I should hold off for a few more years? Anyway, i'd be interested to see what others think! I'll post another blog very shortly where i'll really get in to the nitty gritty, but for now this will do!

Hwyl!