I had no idea what to expect other than what I saw in the movies 40 Year Old Virgin and Hitch. What did I have to lose? I was surprised how much I ended up liking speed dating.

"The host makes everyone feel comfortable, and the use of scorecards and post-event e-mails avoids putting anyone on the spot by asking for (or declining to give) personal information at the event."

A shift in New Year's resolutions indicates that there is no love for financial uncertainty in 2009. According to the responses from FastLife.com's annual "Dating Resolutions Survey," singles' resolutions no longer focus on getting out more or meeting new people, but rather on finding someone who is stable with a healthy financial outlook.

Surprise! While our fair city by the bay prides itself on its progressive politics, it seems when it comes to its sexual yearnings towards the presidential candidates, we more or less line-up with rest of the country. The single events website FastLife.com [released their] "dateability" survey results this week on the presidential candidates, and the company was kind enough to separate out the San Francisco stats for the Snitch.

If you're looking for a well-heeled mate, you need to be extra careful during economic downturns. That's the contention of Prestige Speed Dating, a new service catering to "successful" singles, launched by dating firm FastLife.com and Honestly Online, an identity-verification service. Speed dating is designed to allow face-to-face meetings with a large number of new people in one shot by imposing time limits on each encounter.

The first ever (again first ever is thrown around a lot by PR people) speed dating for people with dogs event is coming to NYC!

Turned on by your accountant? Yeah, we didn't think so. The top five sexiest jobs for men are athlete, fireman, doctor, architect, model...

Here are a few tips for men venturing out on the speed-dating trail:
- Ask some damn questions: Did you know that women like to talk? ...
- Think about your mood and image ...
- Don't wear clothes that you would never wear otherwise. Women can smell a fashion ...

I am pleasantly surprised - the men are as varied as a nicely stocked shelf of spices. Let the dating begin ... I luck out with guy No. 1 (AKA the attractive bloke I'd been eyeballing). The time passes quickly, and when the host bangs the 'time's up' gong, I feel a pang of disappointment.

The date was going well. He was making us laugh, seemed nice and fit into "our type." Unfortunately, we felt we would have better chemistry with the man enjoying the grilled seafood salad one table to our right.

Then the gong sounded, and table-to-our-right man came to sit in front of us. It's a scenario that can only happen at a Fastlife Tasting Dating event.