I need to step up my whole involvement in this Match thing if I want it to pay off (literally and figuratively). So I decided to stop winking at people and start emailing.

This guy was hot. Let’s be honest. Great, endearingly toothy smile, tousled hair, 5′11″ (perfect height). Although, now that I reread his profile, he’s probably looking for someone more outdoorsy than me. Still, this is what I found appealing about him:

• He sounds way into his hobbies: hiking, travel (yes, that’s a hobby), slacklining (he defined it, thankfully)
• He believes in love at first sight. (I don’t know that I trust love at first sight anymore, but you have to love a guy who’s a romantic.)
• He had a great, laid-back, casual tone to his writing that made me think that he’d be laid-back.
• His photographs were amazing. Really and truly amazing.

Here’s what I wrote him:

I have to say, I liked the headline of your profile, but your photos really drew me in. Such great lighting! I love the drama in them. Photography is something I’ve always wanted to be better at, but there are so many other things to try first. The best I’ve ever done is capturing a trickle of rain runoff on Ayer’s Rock (Uluru) in Australia, as the sun was coming up. Even though I managed to get the tiniest spot of chap stick on the lens, it’s still one of my favorite pictures.

Anyway, you seemed really intriguing. I like intriguing people. Would you be up for coffee sometime?

Nicole

No response. That’s cool. That’s what this whole experiment is about, right?