So Much Cooler Online

 Brad Paisley summed it up best in this video.

I was almost duped this week and am really about to mark the end of my online dating experiment. Other than some interesting blog posts - it has failed me miserably.

I was emailing a guy back in forth with model good looks (well at least from his picture).  He veered back and forth from exceptionally knowledgeable - as he should with a Master's Degree - to piggishly male - but it is the internet after all.  He consistently used you're properly and could actually spell (a rare thing online).  We discussed literature and the like - so I deemed that maybe we could meet.  We were going to meet up on Wednesday, but an evening with my son was more important to me so I cancelled.  Little did I know what a blessing that would turn out to be.

I had looked at his picture a few times, but decided to really give it a look because something wasn't adding up in my brain.  I noticed a lot of background blur in the photo which was suspicious because most guys have point & shoot or camera phone pictures posted or have a disclaimer of "one of my modeling shots".  Then I looked at his head & noticed that it was very nicely back lit.  My ex is into Photography & is studying it in school.  I have watched numerous shoot, posed in numerous shoots and critiqued more photos than any person I know that isn't getting paid to do so.  My online lothario posted a bogus picture of a model that wasn't him!  I called him on it asking him to take a picture with his cell & send it to me.  He then he had to admit that the picture he posted wasn't him.  He ended up deleting the whole profile & came back 6 hours later with a new profile and a picture which was NOTHING like Mr. Abercrombie & Fitch. No Masters Degree (HS Diploma), average build my ass - that was a few extra pounds if I have ever seen it and NOT at all attractive. The beautiful part is that he tried to play it off like he had never talked to me before & that I was crazy for telling him to take a flying leap.

The lessons to be learned here are twofold

1. If you are going to post a picture - make sure it isn't phony or you may be undone by a photographic eye.
2. If it seems to good to be true - it usually is.