We know, we know, this may come as a shock to many a single lady, but contrary to popular belief, the emergency service 911 is in no way, shape or form to be used as a way to pick up hot cops. One woman called for a legit emergency, and after police came to her house, dealt and left, she called the line again to ask if they would send the guys back because she was interested in asking one of them out. They came back alright, to arrest her for misusing 911. D’oh! [Fail Blog]

When you go on a dinner date, do you eat at a fancy restaurant with cloth napkins, multiple courses, and a sommelier on staff? Or do you stop at a hole-in-the-wall that serves what are supposed to be the best hot dogs in town? According to an article in today’s New York Times, stuffy restaurant dates aren’t the preference these days for many people.

In general, people have gotten a lot more casual over the years; this has certainly been reflected in dating—from casual sex to casual restaurants. While I like wearing dresses, I’m definitely of the mindset that going to a cheap, hidden gem is usually much more fun and gives you a better chance to get to know someone than dining at a high-class establishment does (unless you want to evaluate his table manners). How can you even concentrate on getting to know someone when you have to think about which fork to use?

We know it all too well—boys will be boys. But sometimes it’s not the things they do that drive us insane, but rather the things they don’t do. Here, our least favorite passive-aggressive guy behaviors and moments when we wish they’d make it a habit of stepping up to the plate. Mind you, these aren’t necessarily dealbreakers, but just the things that tend to make us go ugh!

I am 24 years old and currently in a committed, loving, happy relationship.  My boyfriend of 2.5 years is cute, sexy, kind, intelligent, AND we are so compatible that we barely fight; we are really really good together. Before him, I dated non-seriously, but he is my first love and my first really serious relationship.  Although I am happy now and fully committed, I can’t help but think that though I want to end up with him in the long run, I would like to be single again, experiment or date around a little bit, and be on my own before I REALLY settle down and get married.  There have been no serious marriage talks, engagements, or proposals yet, but once I did mention this want to him before and it kind of hurt him, because it made him feel sick to his stomach to imagine me with anyone else but him.  For some reason I thought that he, being a guy, would want the same thing and to experiment/be free a bit before settling down, but I assumed wrong.  And having these feelings makes me feel bad or greedy or like I shouldn’t want to date other people before I settle down, but I definitely don’t want to get married with ANY doubts.  Am I wrong or is it bad to want this?  Will it ruin our relationship in the long run, or make things too complicated?  I am afraid that I would make this decision and then regret it later after realizing how much it hurts both of us, or something like that ... but then again like I said I don’t want to have any doubts. — Wondering

Here’s the plot of my new favorite blog, 50 JDates: A 26-year old Jewish girl is in love with her boyfriend, who’s a goy (aka, not a Jew). The two lovebirds are considering marriage, but because her family is super religious and it’s important to them that she marries a Jewish man, she asks her boyfriend to convert. He says, “No.” Now she is torn—her mother doesn’t want the marriage to happen, and she’s not sure what to think. So how does she deal? She does something that I can only describe as my worst nightmare—she joins JDate, a Jews-only online dating site and pledges to go on 50 dates, writing about each and every one.  At the end of the 50 dates, she’ll decide if she can accept her non-Jewish man, refuse her family’s wishes, and get engaged. Or who knows, maybe her beshert will come along. I can’t say I’d have the chutzpah to take on such a daunting task—but this girl is doing it with an open heart and an open mind. L’chaim, lady!

P.S. Don’t tell my mother about this social experiment. I don’t want her to get any crazy ideas.

I barely felt anything about breaking up with Mr. Cupid until a few days ago. Being back to my old life was great. No more obligations in the evening. Nights slept in my own (much prettier) bed. No more stressing about whatever next “surprise” Cupid would do, that would scare me into thinking his next one would be proposing marriage.

Yet, while I am totally glad we’re over, I did feel a momentary pang of sadness a few days ago, not so much about him, but about the disappointment in not having something be what you want it to be. Why couldn’t he just be a bit more driven and mature? All the things I want in a Frenchman I think I now see in all the couples who get in my way by making out in the middle of the sidewalk while accordions play and kids in berets skip around with ice cream cones.

I’ve completely abandoned online dating. If anyone asked me two months ago about what the difference between online dating in NYC and in France is, I would have said, “Well, in New York, a lot of people do it. And the stigma has really loosened up. France is where NYC was five years ago, so I’m positive that things will turn around with the handful of dating sites here.” Now if you asked me this question, I’d say, “If a guy in Paris is doing online dating, something is wrong with him.” Sorry. But the selection is weak.

Melanie Sims wrote an essay called “Dating Like a White Girl” for the November issue of Essence magazine. In the piece, she says she rewrote her “conservative Black girl dating rules” to have fun with dating and get over a man who was unfaithful. Here’s her explanation:

“Yes, I’m stereotyping White girls as footloose and free based on my first introduction to courtship (Kelly Kapowski on “Saved by the Bell”) and the White women in the cubicle next to me who don’t live in fear of some looming man shortage.”

TotalBeauty.com looked into a serious matter, gave it the research it deserves, and came up with real answers. They know where the dogs are, and I’m not going to keep you in suspense. The cities with the ugliest men are the following:

I used to be one of those self-righteous types who declared I’d sooner break up with a man than stoop to snoop. This stance wasn’t because I was noble or had never been tempted—I’m not and I have. I just remember all too well the day my mother read my journal aloud to my entire family. I was 17 and, as you can probably imagine, that book was bursting at the seams with embarrassing, angst-laden, mawkish, teenage drama. To say I was mortified ... well, that doesn’t begin to describe the way I felt.

Since that day, I’ve always been very respectful of other people’s privacy, in particular my partners’ and, unfortunately, often to my own detriment. I’d listen to suspicious friends’ tales of hacking into their boyfriends’ emails or reading their texts and waste no time voicing my disapproval.

If you’re single and looking for a great guy, how many times have you cursed the city you live in for its lack of eligible bachelors? Maybe you’ve even contemplated moving somewhere else where the pickins are a bit more favorable. Luckily, The Daily Beast has taken all the guess work out of where your next home should be. They searched cities around the country and found the best (and worst) spots to meet men. Measuring cities with populations of at least 500,000, they ruled out suburbs (too many married men) and focused “primarily on which places had the highest numbers of eligible men, percentage-wise.” They also “gave credit to cities with the highest percentage of single men with four-year college degrees,” as well as those with the most places to meet men per capita, including gyms, bars, restaurants, clubs, and theaters (what, no dog parks??). In total, 36 cities were included in the “very scientific” study. After the jump, check out the top ten best and the top ten worst.

Ah, men. So endearing. So easily confused. We know we women aren’t the easiest people in the world to figure out, and it’s all too easy for a guy to open his mouth and say something that’s an instant dealbreaker. Whether the subject is sex, weight, or love, here are a few lines that should send you ladies running for the hills if you hear them from your dude. Feel free to add yours in the comments!

I acknowledge and accept that I’m not a perfect 10. But what drives me nuts is that people keep telling me I’ve got no chance of finding love with someone who is hot or hotter than me. Why can’t I go for it? Why does someone like me have to settle for less? Only beautiful people can be with beautiful people? If you’re not perfect in looks, you don’t deserve anything hot? I tell people what I want and I’ve had enough experiences to say I’ve earned the right to know what I want and be selective instead of the whole “as long as they’re alive” approach. So, please, in your opinion, do you think the beautiful people can only be with the beautiful people? — Not a 10

My only other relationship with a French guy was a short-lived fling towards the end of my junior year abroad in Paris. Knowing I was leaving soon, we started off light and casual, but a month into things he broke it off. We met up late (as usual) for a drink when he told me, “I’m not in love with you; therefore, I can’t make love to you anymore.” It seemed like the most absurd excuse—since when did hooking up with a girl who was leaving the country in two months necessitate love? Offended, I downed the rest of my gin and tonic, stood up and said, “I’m going.” It was perhaps my most “Sex and the City” moment. God, I was angry.

Up until now, I’d always looked at that experience as the most ridiculous way to break up with someone. Now, in a completely ironic twist, I decided to use the same strategy to break up with Mr. Cupid.

According to one of my former boyfriends, he absolutely hated me when first we met. I have to say the feeling was mutual. I had just gotten off a red-eye from New York to London and was tired, cranky, and hadn’t showered. No wonder he didn’t love me right off the bat.

I recently met David through my blog. He was charming, witty and funny. After a bit of friendly Twirting (flirting via Twitter, the equivalent of computer footsie), he said he thought I was pretty funny too and even admitted to being a bit intimidated when I told him how strong my physical disability, Freeman-Sheldon Syndrome, had made my arms. This bone and muscular disorder has resulted in more than 26 surgeries to correct joint contractures, scoliosis and to straighten my leg muscles. You’d be amazed how strong my arms could get just from using a walker for 20+ years. They’re like giant muscles of steel, only smaller and dotted with cute freckles.

Well, this was a first, so feeling a bit bold, I asked him to guest-post from the male perspective on a question that has nagged me since my days in high school when I’d look at other girls and how the guys easily flocked to them. The question: Why are guys so reluctant to date – at the very least, approach – a woman with a disability? 

A few days ago, I became convinced that Mr. C had gone on a date with another woman and lied to cover it up. The evidence:

1. The morning of the incident, he had logged in to OK Cupid. It had previously been almost two weeks since he had.
2. He kept changing our plans, sort of suspiciously. At first, we were to get a drink post-work, around 7:30. Then, he emailed to say that he was suddenly going to have dinner at his friend’s house, which is pretty much in the suburbs. He’d call me between 7 and 8 to set up something for later, around 9:30. Hmm ... seemed unlikely to me that he’d make a 9:30 p.m. date back in the center of Paris.
3. He didn’t call until 11 p.m. And he always, always calls when he says he will. And, he left his message in English. He always leaves voicemails in French. This one felt off and his excuses seemed rushed and disconnected.
4. The next morning, he sent me an email apologizing, explaining what happened. He got very caught up in a game of Scrabble and had lost track of the time. His description of the Scrabble game just seemed a bit too detailed and contrived.

What's your number? Not your telephone number. The number of sex partners you've had in your life. From zero to 99, a woman's number can be a source of pride or anxiety. How low is too low? How high is too high? Or maybe your number is just right for you. If a significant other asks what a woman's number is, some women round up and some women round down. We here at The Frisky want to find out the truth about your sex stats.

I’ve been writing relationship advice for nearly ten years now and the number-one question I get asked—by readers and friends alike—isn’t anything filthy or even fun. It is: “How come I can’t meet anyone?”

Depending on your situation, there are a variety of answers to this question, but mostly, finding someone to tongue wrestle with on a regular basis comes down to a combination of luck and timing. That said, there are things you can do to ensure that you never even come close to falling in love.

• Relationships start out fun and full of laughs, but, eventually, they end in passive-aggressive battles. Which of the five stages of relationships are you in? [Maxim]
• A panel of judges has deemed the neck an intimate part of the body after Wahid Sene tried to have his conviction for breaking into a woman’s apartment, stripping naked, getting into bed with her, and licking her neck overturned. [Gothamist]—Is this seriously a fetish for people outside the wannabe-vampire set?
• Looking for a forum where you can kiss, f**k, and tell besides all the other popular social networking sites? Well, I Just Made Love lets you “say exactly when, where and, yes, how you got it on.” [Urban Daddy]—Seriously, when are we going to quit with the TMI?

Online dating website OKCupid has posted an entry on its blog that takes a close look at its users’ email response patterns according to race. The results might not be surprising, but they’re nevertheless significant—a sender’s race plays a large role in whether he/she will get a response. By comparing the write-back rate of Asian, black, white, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, Pacific Islander, Indian, and Native American men and women, the website finds that correspondence is noticeably less or more than what the write-back rate “should” be. In a nutshell, OKCupid breaks down the research, which analyzed about a million users. White men get the most responses. Black women respond the most yet receive far fewer replies. White, Asian, and Hispanic women largely prefer white men. OKCupid calls this racism:

“[We] are about to basically prove that, despite what you might’ve heard from the Obama campaign and organic cereal commercials, racism is alive and well.

Do you think it’s racist to have race preferences in the man or woman you date? Are you a racist if you’re not attracted to a certain race? [Blog.OkCupid.com]