The 'good date ideas' thread

I met Octavia in the Prince of Wales pub, and explained to her about how I grew up there and it used to be my local but was not my local anymore. She didnt seem particulary interested in this. Her eyes were far apart and pointed at the corners, and she had slightly protruding canines which, I supposed, might have bveen the cause of her slight lisp. We discussed other terrible dates we had been on, I suppose in an attempt to pretend we were somehow colaborating. She had met a man who burst into tears as he ex[plained how his ex had just left him. I had been dumped two weeks previously but I didn't mention this. She didn't drink, and I had the sense that she was watching me deteriorate as I ploughed interpidly through my second pint, and she sipped coke. She was training for her second marathon of the year with her father and brother who were both also keen cyclists. I found all this quite intimidating. She had cut her hair short and dyed it black, and I wondered if this was a conscious effort to enhance the unusual effect of her teeth and her eyes. More than once I was tempted to ask, but experience has taught me not to say anything to a woman about her appearance that is not a straight forward compliment. The conversation dwindled and we ended up lieing to each other about starting a cycling club for people from the dating website who didn't find each other attractive but liked cycling. She had mentoned in her profile that she had a leopard skin print triathlon skinsuit, which had been the primary reason I contacted her. I left with the impression that she had found me rather silly, and possibly a little self-regarding, which is what I usually decide about people when they don't immediately fall in love with me. This all happened about six months ago.