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"Date last night with Seattle Girl. We went to a wacky Japanese restaurant where she quickly made friends with the waiter, which was not surprising given her bubbly personality. There wasn&amp;#x27;t really a spark, but I honestly enjoyed getting to know her and I&amp;#x27;m not just saying that - I couldn&amp;#x27;t have asked for a better first Nerve date. Onward: as my Catholic readers know, today marks the first day of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and prayer that precedes Easter. It is traditional for believers to give up something, usually a guilty pleasure like sweets or TV. Well, after 13 years of Catholic school I know that organized religion isn&amp;#x27;t for me, but the occasion did get me thinking about some of my bad romantic tendencies. Who&amp;#x27;s up for some non-denominational self-improvement?I&amp;#x27;ve been taking girls to Jones, one of my favorite restaurants, ever since my first date with Angie. In my defense, their sweet potato fries are unbeatable.This post could go on for days, but here are a few dating deficiencies I need to give up: Negativity: While managing expectations is smart, I go into every date braced for the worst-case scenario. It&amp;#x27;s a defense mechanism that all too often turns into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Gotta work on that. My Comfort Zone: There aren&amp;#x27;t a whole lot of surprises when it comes to a date with yours truly. We&amp;#x27;ll go out in Greenwich Village, the neighborhood I know best. The restaurant will likely serve Southern food and I&amp;#x27;ll order something with catfish. I&amp;#x27;ll tell you the story about breaking my host family&amp;#x27;s heirloom china when I was studying abroad in Madrid. As Emerson said, a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds. Hobgoblins are bad. My Reserved Demeanor: The last three women I&amp;#x27;ve gone out with have all commented on my calm facade, which is crazy because I&amp;#x27;m actually a neurotic mess. I don&amp;#x27;t want to bust out the Woody Allen impersonation on a first date, but I clearly need to open up a bit. Which bad romantic habits would you like to give up? And I&amp;#x27;m not only asking those of us in the dating game - we all have room for improvement. P.S. I totally got suckered into spreading this computer virus yesterday and had to send 500 of my closest friends an apology email. Uber-embarrassing. But guess who sent it to me? Erin and Beth! Moral of the story - watch out for internet hobgoblins. P.P.S. Head over to MSN and check out my take on Fashion Week&amp;#x27;s wackiest looks."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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