Editor’s note: In an effort to protect the privacy of our diarists’ dates, our updates are on a slight time delay.

Meet our daters: Mark Drapeau | Dana Neill | Sally Colson Cline | Michael Amesquita | Kate Searby | Max Schwartz | Lucas Wall

It may be chilly outside, but things are starting to warm up for our Dating Diarists. Dana Neil still feels sunny about Florida Guy. And Lucas Wall hopes his new man doesn’t get cold feet. Will the forecast include any sizzle?

Michael Amesquita ventured into uncharted territory when he went to a party with a single mom he’d met at church, “She’s the first person I ever went out with who has kids,” he says, adding that they had a good time: “She’s a strong member of the church, which is really important. She has really good energy. She’s very willing to share. She smiles a lot. She has a good sense of humor. She puts things out there that are important to her. She came in a van and she just said, ‘That’s me. I’m a soccer mom.’ She’s very matter of fact about who she is.” 

And the kiddos? “People asked me if the kid thing scared me off, but not really,” says Amesquita. “I want to have kids eventually. And a few years ago, my mom pointed out that I was getting to the age where women would have kids. Thanks for the subtle hint, Mom. So I’d like to go out with her again.”

Meet our daters: Mark Drapeau | Dana Neill | Sally Colson Cline | Michael Amesquita | Kate Searby | Max Schwartz | Lucas Wall
 

How long will you wait for someone on a date? What is polite protocol when running late for a date?

Mark Drapeau: “I think that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. There are exceptions to every rule, but I generally go with a ‘15 minutes or finishing one drink’ standard.”

Sally Colson Cline: “Ugh, I don’t like lateness. I’ll give her a freebie if she calls or texts to let me know how late she is, but if she doesn’t, I reserve the right to flirt with the barista. The precise amount of late minutes I’ll allot is a complex equation that factors in where I’m waiting, whether or not I have something to read or someone to talk to, how into her I am, if I know she’s taking Metro, and how often she’s late. Let’s say 15 to 30 minutes.”

Meet our daters: Mark Drapeau | Dana Neill | Sally Colson Cline | Michael Amesquita | Kate Searby | Max Schwartz | Lucas Wall

Editor’s note: In an effort to protect the privacy of our diarists’ dates, our updates are on a slight time delay.

Forget C+C Music Factory—here are the things that make us go hmmm. Are art museums Max Schwartz’s dating kryptonite? Will Kate Searby, a Democrat, find romance with a Republican? Will Mark Drapeau need a dose of Gatorade to survive his dating marathon? And will our other daters blast past their inertia? We break it down in this week’s Dating Diaries update.

Lucas Wall returned from vacation and picked up with a guy he had met online. The two have been on several dates including drinks, dinner, and a few staying-in dates. “There’s some natural chemistry—nothing forced,” says Lucas. “That’s something I haven’t felt with anyone in a while. It makes me anxious. I’m not used to things going so well.”

So how serious is it? “He called after our Saturday-night/Sunday-morning date just to say how much he enjoyed everything,” says Lucas. “In the course of that conversation, he said maybe it’s time to have a little status check. That kind of surprised me. I wasn’t quite sure we needed to have a conversation that early. He’s in a slow-going mode with relationships given his hectic schedule with work and school. That’s fine with me. I think we’re in a similar mindset. It was good to check in, but given how well things are going, I’m not actively seeking out other people, but I wouldn’t turn it away given where we are.”

Meet our daters: Mark Drapeau | Dana Neill | Sally Colson Cline | Michael Amesquita | Kate Searby | Max Schwartz | Lucas Wall

What are the best spots to meet other singles in DC?

Max Schwartz: I personally hate meeting people at bars, so I don’t have a lot of advice there. Almost all the dates I have had this year came from chance encounters—meeting a friend of a friend at Screen on the Green, meeting people at birthday parties, or happy hours thrown for friends. When I posed this question to friends, I got a pretty good response for Jazz in the Park on Friday nights, which I never actually went to this summer. Guess I have a plan for next summer—Dating Diaries 2.0.

Sally Colson Cline: I don’t know about the best spots, but the easiest are bars. People in bars are in a social mood and more interested in talking to strangers than when they’re riding Metro to work at the crack of dawn or waiting in a frustratingly slow post-office line. I’ve met people at the rock-climbing gym, the grocery store, and at work, and also while volunteering. It’s not news that some of the best ways to meet people are doing the things you enjoy.

Editor’s Note: In an effort to protect the privacy of our diarists’ dates, our updates are on a slight time delay.

When we left off, our intrepid band of daters was: wondering if love, or at least like, could strike across political aisles, about to embark on a weekend-long date in Florida, and in the midst of a dating marathon. A few faced dating inertia and may just need a dating challenge to get over that hump.

Will chemistry overcome political differences? They don’t match up on paper, but Kate Searby, a Democrat, found she had chemistry with Republican guy and invited him to an event for one of the final presidential debates. “I just texted him, not thinking he’d come,” says Searby. “He came, and he looked really cute.”

There wasn’t much talking during the debate, but later, at a bar, there was some political ribbing. “We went to Gin and Tonic with a bunch of my friends and he held his own,” says Searby. “We’re so opposite on these really important issues, but I can really be myself and laugh. He has such a good sense of humor. It’s a good reminder that I’m not looking for the one, but just someone I have fun with. I’m not worried about where this is going or where this isn’t going. I enjoy spending time with him.”

Meet our daters: Mark Drapeau | Dana Neill | Sally Colson Cline | Michael Amesquita | Kate Searby | Max Schwartz | Lucas Wall

According to a recent survey, Washington is one of the best areas in the country to be single. Is that true? What makes dating in DC great? What makes it difficult?

Mark Drapeau: The survey is not right. The numbers and analyses they use are far too simple. DC is a horrible city for singles. First, there are not 4.1 million people in DC—there are about 550,000, and half of them live in neighborhoods Zagat doesn’t go to. There are 4.1 million people in the greater DC area. Now, maybe that’s quibbling, but when many people live in clearly residential neighborhoods with no Metro and bus access, that’s not an urban metropolis anymore. One huge problem with DC is that many cool people live outside the city, where all the great restaurants and clubs are for singles. They live in Bethesda, Silver Spring, and Falls Church. They’re the bridge-and-tunnel crowd that ventures in once a week. So, we have a geographic distribution issue.

Second, there are 28.6 percent unmarried people. Okay, fine. But unfortunately, that number is so dominated by college students and just-out-of-college interns and first-jobbers. And in general, your average 23-year-old cheering for his or her college football team at a beer joint in Foggy Bottom doesn’t want to date anyone who’s older than 26. That’s fine, but that’s a reality. And frankly, lots of older people don’t want to date them, either. So we have an age distribution issue. Third, there are no locals and no local spirit and pride. Most people move to DC for careers. Everyone here is transient, and if you’re not, you probably live in one of the aforementioned suburbs.

Monday, the guys reported on their dating lives. Today, the women fill us in.

Meet our daters: Mark Drapeau | Dana Neill | Sally Colson Cline | Michael Amesquita | Kate Searby | Max Schwartz | Lucas Wall

Kate Searby: I had gone into a coffee shop to pick up dinner—no makeup on and my hair was wet. I saw him there and thought he was cute. I was waiting for my food and he went outside to talk on his cell phone. I went out the back door. He came racing down the street and said he went outside to be smooth, but was going to try and talk to me when I came out. That didn’t work when I went out the back door. He walked me home. He was so cool. It was crazy all the things we had in common. I asked him what he was working on at the coffee shop. He said he was watching Caddy Shack on YouTube. It’s one of my favorite movies. And I think most guys would make themselves sound important.

We went out a few times. He’s a really cool guy, but he isn’t that nice to other people. I took him to an open mic night, and he was making fun of the people who were performing. I thought that was so rude. It takes a lot for people to get up there. That was a big turn off. I think we’ll stay friends, but I don’t want to go out with him again. My dad used to say, “Watch how he treats other people because he might be nice to you, but if he’s mean to others, it’s only so long before that changes.” That’s a big red flag for me. He called and I haven’t called him back yet. I’ll call him back. I think it’s really rude to leave them hanging. I want people to be honest with me so I try to be honest with everyone.