Not too long ago, I attended a quiet party (and wrote about my experience and lost a 3,000 word post about this). My basic conclusion was that a quiet party involved the same principles as a meat market. My wit, my esoteric references and my sonnets (in true meter!) were lost upon the women who I was “flirting” with via 3×5 cards. They wanted more declarative sentences and debauchery. Well, fair enough. But I had a good time and somehow managed to finagle a date out of it.

Now, however, I think I’ve found a dating alternative in which I may have a distinct advantage: literary speed dating. Although it’s a bit criminal to have only six minutes (well, more like two or three really, given that there’s another person) to discuss William Gaddis’s The Recognition. It’s not unlike the Summarize Proust Competition. In fact, some of the dateless participants mght indeed have “masturbation” as a hobby! (via Sarvas)