November 9, 2009 | 3:23 pm

Day Off

Posted by Ilana Angel

Follow me on

I’m taking the day off.
See you tomorrow.
Have a great day and remember to keep the faith.

November 8, 2009 | 12:15 pm

Holiday Season

Posted by Ilana Angel

I am volunteering today at my first Holiday Boutique of the 2009 holiday season.  Regularly scheduled blogging will resume tomorrow.

If you’re in LA and feel like shopping come on by.

Beit T’Shuvah
8831 Venice Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90034

Have a great day everyone.

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November 7, 2009 | 11:58 am

Week In Review

Posted by Ilana Angel

Here is a recap of my interesting week.

1) I went on a date with a classic Pinocchio.  This guy lied about everything and it was fascinating to watch because his nose was actually growing the entire time we had dinner and he was as amused by his lies as I was because every time he lied he got a look in his eyes that showed he was proud of himself for pulling the wool over my eyes.  It really was entertaining and by entertaining of course I mean painful.  If you are reading this Pinocchio know that I am not an idiot and you in fact are.

2) I had another date with someone that I had a lovely rapport with over email and on the phone.  He made me laugh and I really enjoyed his personality.  I wrote about how the pre-date portion of dating was the best because you could be hopeful and optimistic because you connected and it allows you to think he might be the one and until you meet him and realize you were wrong it’s as if love is within your grasp.  In the end there was no connection but we had a lovely time and the pre-date was the best part.

3) I had a glorious week with my son.  He is growing up so fast and is taller than me and stronger than me and so not afraid of me.  I used to be able to tell him “I’m counting to 3” and he would jump to do what I said.  Now I can sit on my couch and count to a million and he could care less.  He is a teenager and spreading his wings and it’s wonderful to watch and by wonderful of course I mean scary.  My days of counting to 3 are over and I’m sad to see them go.

4) I love my friend Andy and his divine boyfriend Patrick and I was disgusted by the voting in Maine this week on gay marriage.  I honestly do not understand how anyone in the world would have their life altered by a loving gay couple getting married.  It is a very strange thing and in the end all I can do is love and support my friends and feel sorry for those who just don’t get it.

5) I made peace with JDate this week and am going to try to change my view of the JDate Hell Train to the JDate Love Train.  It’s going to be really hard but I’m open and willing and they want to help me find my Beshert so we’ll see what happens.  After a week that included two JDate dates I’m not sure they can do it and but God Bless them for trying and God Bless me for believing.

My week ended last night at services where I was recognized by a reader.  He came up to me and asked if I was the girl from the Jewish Journal and I must tell you that I love it when that happens.  I truly get such a kick out of it and what made it even better was that he was totally cute.  A handsome and charming man and he made my night.  I’m not sure if he’s single or not but if he was, call me.  Meeting a man in Temple?  Who knew?

I learned this week that life is short and I need to let go of things that are out of my control.  I learned that I have tremendous faith and it makes me strong.  I learned that when people are angry and mad they say things they don’t really mean.  I learned that some people never change.  I learned that I cannot date a man who carries a purse or drives a Miata.  I learned that in the end only God knows the complete truth and he is on my side.  Life this week was full of twists and turns and I maneuvered myself through by keeping the faith.

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November 6, 2009 | 2:01 pm

JDate Challenge

Posted by Ilana Angel

If you read my blog yesterday you saw I made peace with the enemy and offered an olive branch to JDate.  It took them about 5 seconds to get in touch with me and offer their friendship.  I’m not surprised it happened so fast because the power of the blog is undeniable and it makes sense that we all get along.  They have accepted my challenge to help me locate my Beshert out in cyberspace and by cyberspace of course I mean Brentwood so let the games begin.

My new BFF”s at JDate have assured me that the people they feature in their “Success Stories” section are in fact real people and not actors from lands far away pretending to be happy but with that said they did not send me any copies of marriage licenses and all I have is their word but if we are going to forge a friendship I can’t start calling them liars on our first day. 

Not only are the people in the success stories real life JDaters but apparently so are all the people featured on their billboards and marketing materials.  Really?  If all those people are real JDaters then I think they need to do a search of people in Los Angeles and start using regular people not these uber pretty “real” people.  I’d like to see an ad with the man who is 5’4”, weighs 300 pounds, describes himself as tall, dark and handsome and uses a profile picture that is 12 years old because he looks “exactly the same”.

There appears to be no real screening process for online dating sites and if your credit card is accepted then so are you.  Next to the “Success Stories” section there should be a “The Brutal Truth” section where we can go and tell our stories about people who have lied about their height, age and marital status.  It’s a shame that I’m so wary because there are good people dating online and a few rotten apples are trying to ruin the tree so it’s good that JDate and I are now friends because they can talk me off the ledge.

Do I sound bitter?  I must tell you that I’m really not bitter so much as I’m frustrated and by frustrated of course I mean exhausted.  I’ve been trying to meet my Beshert for a long time and have been honest and open when putting myself out there and yet it is not happening for me and I’m about done and by done I mean I am so ready to find love I am now in cahoots with JDate and the only thing more surprising than my being alone at 43 is that I am asking JDate for help.

Enough with the whining and complaining and let’s get down to business.  I am here and waiting for some guidance.  It’s all well and fine to write and say that you accept the challenge but talk is cheep my friends so let’s make it happen.  It’s a new day and I am ready to go.

I believe in you JDate.  I believe in myself and I have faith that you can help not only me but all of us who are keeping the faith.

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November 5, 2009 | 1:32 pm

Intervention

Posted by Ilana Angel

I am so romantic that some could argue my views on love are unrealistic but if I am unrealistic it would imply that I somehow need to settle for something less than what I want and deserve and I don’t think anyone should ever settle and by settle I don’t mean compromise I just mean settle.

The simplest explanation of why I am not in a relationship is that I have been trying to force a square peg into a round hole which results in a broken heart and have now come out of that ready to share my life and I hope I am able to be open so when I find love I can recognize it.

I really put myself out there so if I were not trying I could not complain about not finding someone but I do try and can only assume that if I’m trying this hard and it’s not working I am doing something wrong and there has got to be an easier way.

Since I do a lot of dating through the Internet I recently got a book called “The Daternet” which was written by Courtney Lauren Kanner and Jeremy Stephen Howard and it looks at Internet dating from the perspectives of men and women which it turns out are opposite.  Who knew?

It is a funny and brutally honest look at dating online and I found myself looking around when I read it because it was as if they had been watching me date.  You can get it on Amazon and I highly recommend it for anyone who has ever been on an online date or plans to ever go on one. 

It is my new online dating guide and I hope I can get through a date without pulling it out as a reference guide during dinner.  This book showed me it is time for an intervention.  I need help and when a nice Jewish woman wants to meet a nice Jewish man there is one place to go. 

The time has come for me to accept the obvious.  If I really want to meet my Beshert I need to befriend the enemy and for those of you who read my blog on a regular basis you know that the enemy is JDate.  It’s time to suck it up and make peace.

Now while I do on occasion speak unkindly about JDate the fact of the matter is that I believe in JDate and actually recommend it to people and even though I complain about it I’m on it and paying for a membership so clearly I believe on some level there is hope and it can work.

I need to embrace JDate and therefore I ask the powers that be at JDate to help me.  Step in and show me what I’m doing wrong and how I can increase my chances for love.  I read your success stories and it’s working for a lot of people so there is no reason it could not work for me.

By working for other people of course I mean that I want proof.  Who are these people?  Has anyone ever met them?  Are they actors from Russia that we would never run into on the street to ask them about their getting together?  I’m going to need proof.

I’m in the business of keeping the faith and so is JDate so it would appear that we should be able to help each other.  They can help me find love and I will write about my experiences and hopefully get a few people to come onboard the JDate Hell Train, I mean Love Train!

Let’s talk.  This is a self-imposed intervention.  I cannot promise JDate they will love everything that I write but I can promise that I will be honest and if there is an issue I will be clear that I hate the player not the game and JDate is the game and to be honest it’s the only game in town.

So here we are.  Call me.  Let’s make a plan and try a social experiment.  I challenge you to help me find love.  I will play the game, follow the rules and try it your way.  I am going to put my dating life in the hands of JDate with the hope that they can help me keep the faith.

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November 4, 2009 | 12:36 pm

I Love You Andy

Posted by Ilana Angel

Andy Nicastro

I would like to take a break from my single girl ranting to talk about my disgust at the voters of Maine for rejecting gay marriage.  I can remember a time when 2009 was supposed to be the future and all would be equal yet here we are living in the greatest country in the world and not all of our citizens are treated equally and it is beyond embarrassing.

As you all know I am searching for love and hope to get married one day and let me tell you something, when I look at the relationships of people in my life I covet the loving and successful partnerships of my gay friends and it is important to note their relationships are not successful because they are gay they are successful because they are loving and decent people. 

For the last 13 years I have had a not so secret crush on Andy Nicastro.  Andy is gorgeous, smart, funny, seriously addicted to reality television and my Beshert.  I have wanted to marry Andy forever and by marry him of course I mean that he is completely unavailable and unavailable men are my thing and by unavailable of course I mean he is gay.

Andy and his better half Patrick have been together for 16 years and by better half of course I mean better half.  I would actually marry either one of these men.  They have a loving and caring bond that is beautiful and I just cannot understand why so many people think it is wrong.  Here are two people who are putting in the work to have a successful relationship and they are rewarded by being singled out as lesser human beings.

I have two other friends Bill and Bill, I know it’s cute that they are both named Bill, who have been together for 11 years. They have a delicious little boy who is being raised by two loving and caring parents and he will grow up seeing what it is for two adults to love and support each other and his parents cannot get married because a bunch of people who live in the dark ages and have never met them said it was wrong.

These two men are both school teachers which means that they are heros and work really hard to help mold the future of this country for virtually no money and we can tell them that we appreciate their work as teachers but in the same breath tell them they are not worthy of the rights that the rest of us have.

What kind of message does that send to their little boy and to all of our children?  There are kids being raised in horrible situations and learning that is ok and yet these men are not allowed to get married?  I would rather have my son have the relationships of Andy and Patrick and Bill and Bill as a role model of what he should seek for himself over the dysfunctional marriages of many of my heterosexual friends.

This is the future people and to those with closed minds and dark black hearts it’s time you opened your eyes and realized that you are ruining it.  Figure it out people and do it quickly and we will forgive you and by forgive you of course I mean when we kick your @$$ it will be quick but our patience is running out so get it together already.

To Bill, Bill, Leslie, Michelle, Scott, Paul, Patrick, Andy and all the fabulous gay people in my life I love you and will not get married until we can all get married and by not getting married of course I mean I won’t unless he’s a gorgeous Jewish doctor in which case I know you would all take one for the team and insist I marry him because you are all givers like that.

To my darling Andy, I have loved you from the first moment I laid eyes on you and one day I will dance at your wedding.  It’s important for you to note that when they allow gay marriage it does not mean that you need to marry someone who is gay and so perhaps when I dance at your wedding it will also be my wedding and I will be wearing a white dress and Patrick can give me away as a show of peace that you and I are finally together.  Oh a girl can dream and anything is possible if I keep the faith.

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November 3, 2009 | 12:19 pm

My Love Affair

Posted by Ilana Angel

I have been in love with my child since I was a little girl.  Long before I got married or pregnant or knew if I was having a boy or a girl I loved this person with all my heart.  I used to dream about being a mother when I was young and always assumed I would have a bunch of kids but there was another path for me and since I was blessed with only one child God gave me one that is perfect.

My life has been an interesting journey marked by moments of joy and tears.  This child has made the joy appear in vibrant color and the tears pass quickly because he replaces them with laughter.  It has been just the two of us for a long time and it was my son who reminded me that I was not only a mother but a woman and I needed to start putting myself out there. 

My boy and I had a great night.  We did homework, made dinner, hung out, watched TV, farmed on Facebook and just chilled at home.  I love to watch him sleeping.  He is beautiful and it’s the only time all day that he is quiet.  He has all the best parts of me and his dad in him and at certain angles it’s as if I’m looking at my own father as a young man and it is wonderful.

He will be 14 in January and I can see him changing every day.  Not only physically but emotionally and mentally.  I am watching him grow from a child into a young man and it is glorious and scary.  Every day brings a new challenge, a new worry, a new goal and a new smile.

I don’t know why I’m feeling so mushy but I just want to say that I am thankful for this remarkable child.  I am honored to be his mother and pray I am doing a good job and when he looks back on his childhood I hope he understands that I did the best I could to give him a life filled with love, hope, joy and faith. 

To my darling son you are my sunshine and my heart and I want you to know that with each day of my life I love you a little more than the day before.  I can’t wait to take you to college, dance at your wedding and spoil your kids.  You are the single most important person that I have ever known and my world is better with you in it.  The entire world is better with you in it.

I wish you health and happiness and I hope that all the dreams you have for yourself come true.  Be happy, healthy, safe and kind.  Be respectful, honest, generous and patient.  Believe in yourself and set your goals high because everything is possible if you keep the faith.

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November 2, 2009 | 3:10 pm

Pre-Dating

Posted by Ilana Angel

Dating is a drag.  It takes so much time and effort to meet someone, decide if you want to go out with them, decide if it should be a coffee, drink, dinner or a walk, finding something to wear, meet at a place or be picked up and then when it finally all gets sorted out you realize that you are going to meet a complete stranger and hope that he is safe, kind and honest.

It really is horrible and yet I continue to do it and the more disappointed a date is the more I am determined to not give up or be broken by a series of men who are not worthy and by not worthy of course I mean that they should be ashamed of themselves for being so dishonest.  For some reason my last few dates have been with the type of men that make me think I should get another cat and call it a day.

I’m trying to figure out how it is possible that I don’t give up and a different type of woman would have surrendered already and I know many who have. But not me!  Men say they are single when they are married, divorced when they are separated,  tall when they are short, funny when they are not and say they are looking for a relationship and by relationship of course they mean they are looking for a really meaningful 45 minutes.

The best time in the course of dating is the pre-date because you have not met in person and there is a freedom and safety that comes with the phone where you can talk and share and get a sense of a person and by sense of that person of course I mean you get what they give you but it’s almost old fashioned in the simplicity and you can convince yourself that you can believe what they tell you in a small window of time where the possibilities are endless.

Last night I spent a long time talking to a man I met on JDate and I had such a nice time.  He was charming and made me laugh and it was a discussion that was more meaningful than it would have been at a Starbucks or over a drink because the phone removes some nerves and by nerves I mean that I am my most comfortable sitting on my couch talking freely.

This gentleman and I are having dinner on Thursday night which means that for the next 4 days I can be excited about the possibilities that I might have a nice date with a nice man.  This will be a great 4 days that will, based on my recent history, be the best part of the date.  Or maybe, just maybe he is lovely and we will have a nice time.

Pre-dating is a time to be optimistic that you will have a great date and whether it is or isn’t, it is a reminder to keep the faith.

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