What am I going to do on Friday nights now?

So after ten years the venerable superhero television gem Smallville has come to an end, and I am kind of sad to see it go.  The last few seasons the show has aired on Friday nights, where shows long in the tooth go to die.  Surprisingly Smallville was resilient and stuck it out a couple more seasons, which worked out for me.  My Friday schedule has generally been pretty open.  Ugly guys don't get dates on Friday nights.  Why go to bars and troll for chicks when you can enjoy some occasionally interesting but more often than not poorly written teen drama slash science fiction adventures from the comfort of your darkened living room, complete with a cold beer or three at hand to smooth out the plot holes?  Come to think of it, the often dark and even more often alcoholic hazed environment of the bar scene might work to my advantage as a ugly but tall guy.
Dateless on another Friday night doesn't have to mean bored or depressed.  In a way I looked forward to Smallville every week, despite its many maddening flaws.  Ten years is a long time for any TV show to last, especially when you've watched it since the very beginning and are still young enough that ten years makes up a significant percentage of your years.  Ten years is a long time when you think of where you were then, and where you are now.  It's been something of a constant in a changing life and a changing world.  I could always count on its exhilarating, frustrating blend of superhero mythos and illogical nonsense.
So what am I to do on Friday nights now?  I find that as I grow older my ability to readily accept or at least overlook mediocre or even bad TV diminishes.  Furthermore, as previously stated Friday nights are the equivalent of hospice for shows on their last legs.  Their best plots are far behind them and to jump in so late is like becoming a fan of the Washington Wizards' Michael Jordan.
So the quest has begun to find new ways to occupy myself on dateless Friday nights.  Maybe I'll find a comfortable chair and a good book at Barnes & Noble.  There's always the Redbox.
Or maybe I'll revisit that darkened bar idea...

The Invisible Man

I'd like to tell you a story. 
Have you noticed all the TV ads for dating websites lately?  They're everywhere!  I now know that 1 in 5 relationships starts online.  Whatever happened to meeting your soulmate at the supermarket or a church potluck dinner? 
I can think of three reasons for the phenomenon of online dating.  People are too busy with work these days to actively search for a significant other.  Nobody leaves their houses anymore because you can find anything and everything online.  There's a TON of money to be made in online dating subscriptions.  I have the feeling it's that last one.
I was at the gym the other day and, as I observed the other people exercising and working out, I noticed a few things.  There were quite a few very attractive women at the gym.  Now this is no surprise.  I've often seen attractive women at gyms.  As an aside, is it just me or does seeing a woman actively taking care of her health and physical condition make her even more attractive?  Who knows.
I also noticed how unnoticed I seemed to be.  It was at once comforting and unnerving.  I enjoyed being able to go about my business in peace, especially since it's been a long time since I've visited a gym and can't push the weights around as well as I used to.  But when I noticed other gym members who seemed to be strangers randomly interacting I realized I was invisible.
You know the stereotypical "eyes meet across a crowded room" romantic scenario?  That's never happened to me.  The "love at first sight" meeting at the supermarket?  Nope.  I've never even been set up on a date by friends.
So I decided to embark upon an interesting social experiment.  Well, interesting to me, at least.  And not so much scientific. 
I visited a dating website and created two profiles, both relatively accurate portrayals of the man I am with one exception -- the pictures.  My first profile featured a couple pictures of myself, and the other featured a couple pictures of an attractive male model type guy found on a department store's website.
After the first five days, the model profile was viewed more than 600 times, had received 60 email messages and 85 additional "flirt" type contacts. 
Of course!  The super attractive me is, well, super attractive.
And that was just the beginning. The super attractive me gets so much attention I have a hard time keeping up with it!
Can you guess how many times the real me has been viewed?  Two.
Granted, this was by no means a strictly scientific experiment.  But I wanted to prove a theory, and in that I succeeded.  When you're an ugly guy, you're invisible.