* Mmm, here’s me on Saint Valentine’s Day, marching solo for yet another holiday. Dating shouldn’t be this difficult! Or rather, forming relationships. I’ve been out of the game for many months now, working on this or that project, and here I am watching another official holiday of sweethearts fly by like a lit-up truckstop through a Greyhound window.

* I date regularly enough when the mood strikes me, and contrary to popular wisdom, LA is a great place to go out with someone new. Some of my fondest memories are of walking along the beach holding hands (it wouldn’t be a clichÔøΩ if it weren’t delightful), traversing the Venice boardwalk, having sushi and conversation or nervously sipping lattÔøΩ over life stories in a hidden-away hipster java joint. There is so much to do here.

* But then the realities come up… I must pass the friends test, the coworkers test, the family test. There are considerations to be considered, like Helen Lovejoy’s “What about the children?” and what about my complex, heavy history. So far no man has been able to navigate these proving grounds and make it out the other side with the prize‚Äîa pretty damn cool girlfriend.

* But I am young (if you consider 50 young), vital and optimistic. Until the right one comes along, there is always the next best thing: lots and lots of chocolate.