When I showed up at the bar, Doug* had not arrived yet. I had seen his picture (he was an online acquisition), so I knew roughly what to expect. I am not a superficial broad and I can usually find just about any dude attractive if he has a good personality. Based on the few emails we exchanged, I felt fairly certain that at worst Doug and I would bond as friends. His emails were funny, honest, and open. “Now that’s what I’m looking for!” I thought to myself. “A guy who can communicate!”

I had known Billy for five years through mutual friends, and at some point we started hanging out independently. I was still sailing on the friend boat when Billy indicated his winds were now blowing from a different direction. I wasn’t interested in him romantically then, but we did seem to get on quite well. And so ensued several months of friendly, flirty hangouts, during which I grew more and more fond of the fellow.

In the dating world especially, first impressions are lasting ones. So it’s always rough when you thought you wooed a dude and he never calls you again. Sigh. Luckily, this week, one of our Frisky gentlemen clued us in to the 10 Reasons He Didn’t Ask You Out On A Second Date. Eye opening, am I right, ladies?! While cell phone shenanigans, a lack of physical attraction, talking too much about yourself, and blatant pre-date lies definitely apply to both genders, there are some specific reasons for why a gal won’t give a guy the time of day again. Here are some reasons why she isn’t going to come back for round two.

The internet has proven to be a great way to get rid of a lot of junk. I’m not talking about eBay. So many forums have popped up for the lovelorn to confess the tangled sex webs they have woven. The net is a perfectly anonymous way to publicize the party in your pants, and we love to read every juicy detail. After the jump, some of our favorite sites for sex and relationship confessions.

I have had some bad dates. Not the yelling or fighting type. Not the kind where anyone gets left in a restaurant. No, my bad dates are the ones you don’t want to tell anyone. You know you could win the prize for worst date, but the prize is not worth your dignity. In fact, most times you don’t think about them. Maybe if you pretend they never happened they will magically be erased.

There are some dates that make you want to open the freezer and drink straight from the vodka bottle the minute you come home. Last Saturday night was one of those dates. He was cute, blond, dimpled; he screamed Abercrombie and frat houses.

After numerous conversations with girlfriends demanding I open my world and date men other than my type (old, neurotic and insane), I decided to go on a date with a clean-cut guy who was my age, normal, and seemingly had all his marbles.

The Brit was someone I can describe only as Lord Marcus on “Gossip Girl.” Well, except for the title and the vast family riches. Nine years older than me, the Brit was a U.K. transplant in the banking industry and a sweet, sweet man. Not only did he own a house across the pond, but he would sometimes bring small index cards on which he’d previously jotted down the names of nice restaurants we could go to after quick drinks or karaoke, depending on where we had agreed to meet. He was thoughtful, attentive, and thoroughly romantic, especially with that hot British accent.

One night, after an insanely fun night of boozy karaoke and a seafood dinner with entree-appropriate wine, he dropped me off at the door of my apartment. He then swept me up in his arms and spun me around, right in next to a busy street, for God and everyone else to see. I was floored. This was the stuff of Seventeen magazine fairytale dates – the ones I had looked forward to in high school that never materialized…until now. Giggling and semi-swooning, I kissed him goodnight and walked up the stairs to my apartment happy.

The next best thing to having your own wedding is getting invited to one by your boyfriend. There’s something about a man who wants you on his arm at a celebration of love—with the added lubricant of an open bar. So when my boyfriend Mike asked me to be his date to his friend’s big day, I was so excited I nearly went into debt over a pricey cheese plate present and a new dress with matching lingerie—not that I planned on keeping it all on that night.

Personally, I think the most annoying thing a person can do on the first date is talk about money. I also think that’s the most annoying thing a person can do on the 59th date, but that’s just me. We asked tons of peeps on the street for the most annoying thing they’ve encountered on a date and DANG am I glad I haven’t dated any of the people they’ve come across.

Your Birthday: it’s the one day a year you are guaranteed to have someone trying to do you.  Even when you’re single, you can line a little somethin’ somethin’ up. But sometimes another candle on your cake is the only thing you can count on.

I had been dating this dude for what I considered a fab four months. The sex was so hot from the start, we never spent more than a night apart.  Plus, he had a great record collection (housed in adult furniture), the most lovable dog on the planet, and the cutest butt. I liked him almost as much as I like bacon.

There are many ways to let people know you’re into having safe sex. The easiest being to verbalize your needs: “I will not sleep with you unless you use a condom.” If you lived in India, you could always let your phone tell people for you. A cell phone ring tone was launched August 8 and features a singer chanting the word “condom” 50 times. So far it has been downloaded 60,000 times. “A ring tone is a very public thing,” said Yvonne MacPherson, the country director of BBC World Service Trust India. “It’s a way to show you are a condom user and you don’t have any issues with it.” We can think of a few other ringtones we wish existed…

Today in our “Dating Don’ts” column, Judy McGuire gave some tips on how NOT to act on a first date if you don’t want your companion runnin’ for the hills. But we decided that there must be things guys shouldn’t do on a first date either that set women off. We decided to ask the women on our IM (yes, they’re there!) what would turn them off on a first date. Their responses, after the jump…

Bad dates suck. But let’s face it, after a certain length of time, they can be pretty funny in retrospect. In honor of the grand tradition of laughing uproariously at disastrous dates, we’re taking submissions for The Bad Date Hall Of Fame. Send yours to tips@thefrisky.com – and if we publish yours, we’ll send you a pair of Frisky underpants. After the jump, a bad date asks all the wrong questions.

Bad dates suck. But let’s face it, after a certain length of time, they can be pretty funny in retrospect. In honor of the grand tradition of laughing uproariously at disastrous dates, we’re taking submissions for The Bad Date Hall Of Fame. Send yours to tips@thefrisky.com – and if we publish yours, we’ll send you a pair of Frisky underpants. After the jump, a bad date needs a ride, forgets his wallet, and does his best duck impression.

Bad dates suck. But let’s face it, after a certain length of time, they can be pretty funny in retrospect. In honor of the grand tradition of laughing uproariously at disastrous dates, we’re taking submissions for The Bad Date Hall Of Fame. Send yours to tips@thefrisky.com – and if we publish yours, we’ll send you a pair of Frisky underpants. After the jump, a bad date bums a ride, but forgets to cover up his bum.

Online dating is not just winks and flirty emails. Some dates are so full of halting conversation they would best be portrayed in silent-movie form. This is the story of one such bad date. After emailing back and forth a few times, N. and I decide to get a drink. We agree to meet at the corner of a busy intersection, for reasons I don’t remember.

Bad dates suck. But let’s face it, after a certain length of time, they can be pretty funny in retrospect. In honor of the grand tradition of laughing uproariously at disastrous dates, we’re taking submissions for The Bad Date Hall Of Fame. Send yours to tips@thefrisky.com – and if we publish yours, we’ll send you a pair of Frisky underpants. After the jump, a bad date uses the “feminist” card in order to get out of paying for dinner.

Judy McGuire has been on a lot of bad dates. “How many grains of sand are there on a beach? How many stars in the sky? If I were ever to sit down and count, I’d never leave the house again,” she says. But going out with all those losers provided her with plenty of material for her book, How Not to Date. Plus, it taught her the most decent way to dump someone: “I’m not one of those people who thinks you always have to do it in person, because if I got all dressed up to go meet someone only to get dumped once I got there, I’d be pretty angry,” Judy says. “But if you’ve slept with the person, you either need to do it by phone or in person.” Judy shares her Bad Date Hall of Fame, culled from years of personal experience and hours spent listening to other daters’ horror stories.

The worst line I ever heard on a first (and last) date:
“I usually date women a lot younger than you.” (We were the same age.) He followed that up with the confession that he’d always been sexually attracted to his mother.

Second worst line I ever heard on a first (and last) date:
“HIV doesn’t cause AIDS, and condoms are bs. I’d never use them.”

Worst line I ever delivered:
“Um, no, you can’t kiss me—I have a cold sore. See?”

Second worst line I ever delivered:
“I know I’m kind of fat, but I’m on Weight Watchers and I’ve already lost seven pounds.”

Worst outfit ever worn by a date:
It involved dad jeans and eyeliner.

Bad dates suck. But let’s face it, after a certain length of time, they can be pretty funny in retrospect. In honor of the grand tradition of laughing uproariously at disastrous dates, we’re taking submissions for The Bad Date Hall Of Fame. Send yours to tips@thefrisky.com and if we put yours up on the site, we’ll send you a pair of Frisky underpants. To get us started, read and weep over the bad date story submitted by reader Julia Tucker, after the jump.