How's your weekend going? →[More:]
I went to a speed-dating event last night, followed by salsa dancing.

The speed-dating was fun, but mixed in terms of how successful I thought it was. Before we began, my friends and I chatted to some of the other women. One was utterly dismayed to see that three of the security guards from her office were part of the male contingency, thus reducing her choice of men by three.

We were one man and one woman short, so my first date was only about a minute long where the organiser had to move us around. But this date was the most promising - nearest to my age, interesting, and lives about 3 miles from me (unlike some of the dates who lived 40 or 50 miles away.) I didn't get a chance to talk to him at the break and he didn't stay for the salsa, but I put him down as a 'yes' on the form, and if he's done the same, then we'll be put in touch.

There were two others I'd date, although I think that I might be too old for one guy, but he was really nice. The third was a sweet, shy man who I had a good conversation with.

The others were all 'definitely not'. During the break the women were talking about one guy and we all got the vibe from him that he was gay. But he was fun and interesting and would probably make a good friend but none of the women could see him as a potential boyfriend. One man would have been happy talking into a mirror.

One guy was a bit creepy, and there were a couple of men who were socially very awkward and with even fewer social skills than I, although one of them was very sweet and complimented every single woman on how nice she looked. A lot of them were too young and I had nothing in common with them.

So, I'll wait and see if any of my 'yes' men have marked me 'yes' too, in which case our numbers/emails will be exchanged. But for an evening out, it was fun and I'd probably do it again.

After the speed-dating we went upstairs to the salsa club where we had a very basic lesson (mambo and rumba). I danced with the 'gay' speed date first and he was very good, but then we all had to swap partners and I ended up with the security guard fellas none of whom had any sense of rhythm and timing.

Then the club proper started, and, wow, some of those dancers were amazing. Age and size had no bearing on how good a dancer they were. There was a woman aged about 60, probably 200lbs, who was amazing. It was Cuban salsa and so very fast. I mambo'd and rumba'd a bit, with a couple of the speed-date men, but I need more lessons to be a non-liability on the dancefloor. But I didn't send anyone home in an ambulance, it was a lot of fun and I'd definitely go again.

I just got back from lunch with a friend from NYC. We had Lebanese food and I'm so full now that I feel that if I looked in the mirror I'd see Jabba the Hutt staring back at me. Tomorrow will be a fruit day, I think.

How's your weekend going?