A guest Blog. I know it's been a while since I've put one of these up. This one comes from the artists formerly known as Hannah and now being referred to as Lola. Take it away Lola!

I’ve never gone on the record as drinking at the bitter bar. In fact, my optimism has gone under direct fire more than once. I do not believe that love is a lie told to us by society or that all men are pigs and you just try to choose the least smelly one, but I’m also not interested in the desperate search for “The One”. Truth told, if he shows up, I’ll probably sprint the ING Marathon just to shake him off.

All of this puts me in the “serial dating” category. In the absence of quality, I’ll turn to quantity to bide the time, but the quality of that quantity seems to have markedly deteriorated in the last year. In fact, I’m starting to question the mental capacity of what’s out there now - Like they’ve been inbreeding?

It’s not just me. In the last week alone, I’ve heard several reports from women exactly my age (a mere 24!) running into exactly the same problem. The men have gone insane. And before you start the rotten tomato toss, let’s look at the recent roster of miscreants:

The First Impression Jerk: Remember that quality time when men used to pretend to be sensitive and wonderful to get your attention? Well, guys have finally caught on to our lack of judgment and created a new method. Not That Into You and I both have run into this guy recently, but since she always reveals, I’ll take the heat.

His name was Max and he was the polar opposite of my type. Curtly bragging about his job, while downgrading the value of everyone else at the table. I was immediately turned off. I was trying to hit on his nice-guy friend, who kept saying, “I have no idea why he’s acting like this.” Long story short, the nice guy left early and the jerk started hitting on me hardcore. Offering up cuddling and the like, if I wanted to stay over “innocently.” When I was leaving, I asked what gives, and I swear to you he said,
“The proof is in the pudding.”

From asshole to grandmother in 5 hours flat.

The Blitzkrieg: With a full-blown Napoleon complex this guy takes everything at Concord speed. He’s already planning what colleges the kids’ll attend on date one. Between your meeting and your first date he’s sending you familiar text messages on the half hour, confident you’ll return his feelings. But those who fly in fast, fly out faster. After he professes his undying affection, he disappears on the lightning rod he rode in on, never to be heard from again. He leaves you feeling like you’ve been hit by the “I’m not sure I’m ready for this, but had no time to decide” bus.

Crouching Normal, Hidden Psycho: How does a guy go from polite, attentive and interesting to a very intense and repetitive discussion about poo in a couple of phone calls? The date was good, the discussion was better, but the aftermath was ugly. I had to cancel on a guy I’ll call “Mr. Black” and am now receiving daily texts and instant messages saying “I hate you, you filthy whore”…I hope he’s joking…Or at least not in possession of any sharp objects.

The dating world has never been easy, but when did it get scary? I’ve never relished the thought of going out with a mediocre guy and now I have to worry that he’ll also not be mentally sound…Can a girl get a break?