Date in a Blink

DATES BETWEEN STRANGERS

Episode Transcript

Taly
Hi, everyone. Welcome to today's special episode of Date in a Blink. My name is Taly and I'm here with Laura, my co-host, recording this very special episode: our final one of season one. So before we get into talking about the dates that we've had this season, I want to share the story of where the idea for Date in a Blink came from. A few years ago, I ate at a blackout restaurant and had the chance to meet and get to know people in total darkness. I had an amazing conversation with total strangers without having any idea what they looked like. After the dinner ended, I saw them for the first time. And I realized that had I seen them beforehand, I would have assumed that we wouldn't have had much in common, and I would have been totally wrong. It sparked the thought: Would people be more willing to meet and get to know one another if they didn't know what the other people looked like first? Fast forward to today.

Laura
So Date in a Blink was born. We wanted to see if this was a positive way for people to date. For me, I was particularly interested in this because I had been on dating apps for so many years before I actually found my partner. And when we finally met in person, the connection for me and for him as well was so obvious. So to this day, I still can't believe that I almost swiped away my partner. And so one of the things I was really excited to see is if other people would be able to make these connections faster, because you really know whether you get along with someone or not within just a couple of minutes of talking to them. And you really can't get that same vibe just by swiping and texting somebody.

Taly
So today, we are going to share what we thought of each date and let you know whether or not they matched.

Laura
You might be thinking to yourself, how did it go? So at a very high level, we had over 100 people apply to be on our very first season. Of the 17 dates that we hosted, 50% of them resulted in a match.

Taly
But before we get into the nitty gritty of who matched with who, here's a word from our sponsors.

Taly
So now we're super excited to share a little bit more about the dates and our thoughts about them as well as whether or not the couple's matched. So our first date of the season was Jon and Joy. And the question that we asked them was: If all the animals were suddenly able to talk, which of them would be the rudest? Laura, what did you think of this date, you were the host?

Laura
Yeah, so this was the very first date that I ever hosted. And I had such a hard time not cracking up throughout the entire thing. Because I thought it was super funny. I thought their answers were funny. I thought they were very witty, very quippy with each other. And the fact that they both agreed that like cats would most likely be the rudest. I like couldn't contain myself, I was like, thank God that there's a mute button.

Taly
So I want to plus one the the kind of idea that this was one of the best episodes. It was one of my favorites, at least. And I remember, this was one of the early episodes you recorded. And when I heard it for the first time, I was like, Oh, this is gonna work. Like this was a moment of like realization where this date was exactly what it was meant to be, and exactly what folks should be able to do via an audio date. So I totally want to echo that the state was just one of the best... not to say the other dates weren't great. They were also all great.

Laura
Yeah, I think some of the things that I thought were really good about this date is like you could tell that there was genuine interest between both parties like Jon asked Joy, a lot of great questions. Joy asked Jon a lot of questions. And they were just, there was a good ebb and flow to the conversation where it wasn't being carried by one person.

Taly
There was also so much laughter.

Laura
There was so much laughter. Yeah, I think it was one of the most, it felt like the most natural and casual of the conversations we list— listened in on.

Taly
I think some of the other ones were natural as well, but in different ways. But we'll talk about

Laura
Oh yeah, yeah.

Taly
Yeah. And I think something that really stood out to both of us was the fact that they raised the whole concept of audio dating and like talked about, you know, how different it was from traditional dating. And that was totally unprompted. Which was amazing.

Laura
Yeah, definitely want to agree with that. Because for us, it's like, I feel like that for me when I heard them talking about that in the date, I was like, Oh my god, I want to just like take this as a testimonial in a soundbite because it's the concept of what we're trying to work on.

Taly
Can we just bottle them up?

Laura
I know, I know. Yeah. So I guess Taly, what did you think? Did you think that they were gonna match or not?

Taly
Absolutely. I thought they were totally gonna match.

Laura
Yeah, I thought this would be our very first Blink success story.

Taly
And a big reveal episode one: Did they match, Laura?

Laura
Yes, they did match. Duh-duh-duh-duh! Yeah, we actually talked to Jon after the date, we asked him what happened and here's what he had to say:

Jon
I sent an initial email. I believe in taking the initiative when you're interested, no need to wait around and waste time. She responded back letting me know that she was kind of in a busy period and apologized for responding late and forewarned me that she would respond late so I sent another email, and that's where it ended. I think, for me, the over analytical part of me is wondering: Do I send another email to remind her or does that seem like I'm being pushy? And so I decided to just leave things as is. I'm just gonna hope that if she was interested in the podcast that she'll listen to this at some point and she'll be like oh, that's right

Taly
That's fair

Laura
Joy, if you're listening...

Taly
If you're listening, Joy, reply to the email.

Laura
Yeah, no pressure, no pressure

Laura
Episode Two we had Ping and Katie and they answered the question: What three wishes would you request from a genie? Taly, how'd that date go?

Taly
I thought they had a lot in common. They really bonded over parental expectations. I thought the whole conversation about having to get like houses for your parents or having someplace for your parents to stay nearby was really funny because to be honest, I have that expectation from my parents as well and I thought they really had shared a passion about travel but something about the conversation felt a bit imbalanced to me and it felt like they never hit their stride.

Laura
That's so interesting that you felt like it was a bit imbalanced because I guess for me listening to it I didn't quite feel that way I thought it was just like a little bit of awkwardness and like trying to get past the initial jitters and like seeing if you're actually on the same page with somebody. So for me, I was like so sure that they were going to match because they had so many things in common, you know, with the whole family thing and there's a lot of ribbing and like good laughter between the two of them and they also had like similar wishes like I want to travel, I want to be able to take care of my family, and I was like, Oh those are like very fundamental values that people have and so I was like well maybe there's just a bit of awkwardness because you're talking to somebody on the phone and as much as you can get to know whether you want to continue the conversation or not, it does take additional time as well so I was like I think they're gonna want to continue the conversation to see where it goes... but do I think it'll pan out in the long term? Maybe, Maybe not.

Taly
I didn't think they were gonna match, I was less optimistic about the awkward, you know, let's get past the awkwardness bit.

Laura
Yeah, so tell me with Ping and Katie did they match?

Taly
They did not, unfortunately.

Laura
That's okay. On to the next! Next we had Tina and Ruben. They answered the question: what hobby or pastime would you love to get into If only you had the time and resources? Taly, you were the host. What'd you think of that one?

Taly
I loved this episode. I remember, like, crying behind the mute button a little bit. I was tearing up. They talked about so many things. They talked about collecting and writing but they both really, the thing that was really, like, popped out to me they really seemed interested in what the other person was sharing, they were asking questions, they were really listening, and they just opened up with each other and it was just so beautiful.

Laura
Yeah, I loved that too when I was listening to this episode for the first time and going through it I was like if you have two people that are willing and able to be vulnerable on the first call, you can really go pretty far with it. So, like, your headspace is so, so important when you're going on these dates because, like, they did get into, y'know, some things that maybe some people wouldn't really bring up until much later on until they feel safer and more comfortable and so I think that it shows like a level of maturity and interest so I had like positive vibes all around from this and I was like, I just, I so feel there's, there's some connection happening here.

Taly
I totally agree.

Laura
So I feel like we kind of know the answer to this but did you think they were gonna match?

Taly
Yes, I thought they were gonna match.

Laura
Yeah, I did too. But did they?

Taly
They did!

Taly
Yeah, so they matched and something about this date I just think was really beautiful. And I think for anyone who's listening, I think it really shows how open and vulnerable people can be in 10 minutes. Like, it might not seem like 10 minutes is a lot of time but this date and how open people—these two people were, really shows that 10 minutes can be plenty of time to get to know someone.

Laura
So you were also the host for the next date Episode Four with Claire and Ilya where they answered: what's expensive, but worth it?

Taly
This date was interesting. They had—we had connectivity issues, which I think really detracted from the date because it was hard to hear Ilya during parts of it. I think you could actually hear it on the episode itself because we were still using one of the older recording tools that we started with so I thought it started promising because they were bonding over dogs, but then I think the conversation took a little bit of a turn.

Laura
Yeah, yeah, I'd agree with that. There was like a sense of awkwardness that was there. Like the connectivity issues did not make anything easier. I definitely was like oh yeah, like they're, we're starting off on a good foot, we're talking about dogs, but then they kind of got a little bit more into it. And I just thought it was so interesting. You don't have to think every single thing the person that you're talking to does is the coolest thing on the face of the planet. You don't necessarily have to agree with them, but like there's this concept of "Don't yuck my yum." And I just felt like that that was coming up a little bit more than I would anticipate it to come up. A lot of people do this and it's like super not intentional, where someone says, Oh, I like Thing A and instead of saying Oh, that's cool. What do you like about Thing A? They're just like, oh, I don't like Thing A and it's like, okay, that's that's fine. There's a way to say oh that's so interesting. I haven't been the biggest fan of that in the past I'm curious to know what do you like about that?

Taly
I totally agree and I think one thing about dating the whole point of dating is figure out do we share things in common and I think you're right if you realize pretty quickly you know we feel very differently about this fundamental thing that's totally okay. But for the sake of getting through the time you have together whether you're at a restaurant or whether you're having a 10 minute phone call, sometimes it also just makes the conversation more interesting if you take that approach of, like you said Laura, just saying like oh you know, I haven't really been been into that sort of stuff but I'm really interested to hear why you are, so I totally agree with that. It was pretty apparent to me at least that they were just on different wavelengths.

Laura
Yeah, absolutely. I definitely felt that as well. And I will also say I remember this is one of the first episodes ever recorded and I remember both of us both of us were like so interested when they were talking about like urban gardens were like wait, I want to know what type of garden you have! Like can we be friends?

Taly
I wanted to ask Claire about the restaurant she was talking about with the fried, like, mushrooms or whatever it was I can't even remember now but there was something fried and I was like I want that.

Laura
Well I guess we kind of we know how we feel about this, so Taly, was ultimately a match?

Taly
it was not, it was not a match. Our suspicions were correct.

Laura
Onto the next.

Taly
Moving on to Episode Five we had Albert and Brooke and the question that they were asked was: what is one thing you wish to achieve in your life? Laura you were the host, what did you think about this episode?

Laura
This episode was one of my favorites or it has one of my favorite moments, just because Albert was talking about his dog bungee jumping and I just remember like listening in on that and just the intonation of Brooke's voice which is like bungee jumping like oh my goodness and that to me was like one of the highlights of all the dates that I, that we had listened to because it was an interesting thing to say and then the response just just so genuinely surprised and I was like Oh this is so entertaining. And then we when we went to edit the audio later I was heartbroken, heartbroken! I was so upset that like at exactly at that moment the audio essentially...

Taly
...it was out of sync, right?

Laura
Yeah! oh my god

Taly
You're making me jealous cuz I never got to hear the original so I only heard the, like, weird out of sync version and I was like but but you said it was so great and I could never I never got to hear it but I did get to hear the the Laura:Gustavo rendition of it. Which was fun.

Laura
That was so entertaining. Shout out to Gustavo, when you're editing this and listening to this , I love you so much. And that cracked me up so much, so thank you for being the Albert to my Brooke.

Taly
Yeah, I think this day you know, besides that moment that obviously I didn't get to enjoy the original for I thought they kind of vibed, they seemed to have like, you know, friendly overlap of interests and stuff. I thought it was an innocuous but decent date is how I would boil it down.

Laura
Yeah, I'd agree with that. I—so my thought was that yes, they were gonna be a match. But what did what did you think?

Taly
I wasn't sure cuz I didn't feel strongly either way. So I'm giving this a maybe, but I know that's a little bit of a cop out, so forgive me. But Laura, tell us what really happened?

Laura
Yeah, so it was not a match. Womp wah. But that's okay. On to the next.

Laura
Episode Six we had Loreen and Arthur, they answered the question: do you put your chips in a bowl or eat them from the bag?

Taly
Sorry, I'm laughing at the question, I can't believe I asked this of them. I loved this date. I thought they vibed about so many things, like animals and sound engineering and music. And there were parts of the date that just had me cracking up like I don't think I'll ever get over Loreen's answer about what keeps her up in the morning, which for anyone who hasn't heard that episode was existential dread. Yeah, so I just thought that was amazing.

Laura
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I completely agree. I feel like this was such like a fun conversation to listen in on and this is the point that I remember Loreen after the fact said it was like the best first date that she had been on, like from online dating. Yeah, I know I was so happy to hear that because for me, I had been on online dating apps for such a long time. And so I remember what it's like to just go on date after date after date and be like, oh my frickin goodness. Like this. Just... this whole thing sucks. And so I just, I feel like for me, that was one of the first glimmers of hopes because, for full disclosure, Loreen and I are friends outside of Date in a Blink context, and just like knowing about you know, her dating life and then to have her kind of have this experience and to be so genuinely excited by it was something that I was like, ah, like we are really helping people. This isn't just something that I know I would be interested in doing. As someone who if I had to date all over again, it would have been a really fun way for me to be able to date

Taly
it made me so happy to hear that she said that, especially after... so one thing about the day that I was like, so I'll you know, give my guess now I wasn't sure if they would match or not, because at some point during the date Loreen seemed really distracted. And like her responses felt a little bit more delayed than I would have expected to like to the point where I thought it was a little noticeable that she might not be fully present. And so I wasn't sure how she was feeling about the date during the date. And we learned afterwards why that was, it turns out something ridiculous was happening outside her window. And that pulled her attention away from the date. And so like, we have an explanation, but I was like, is she... What's going on? It seems like they have so much in common, and they were having such a great time. What's happening? Yeah, it made me so happy to hear that she loved the date.

Laura
I guess Taly, I'll ask, did they match?

Taly
They did, yay! They matched.

Laura
Yeah, they matched and just a little bit of an update, they did get to go on a few dates together, which that also made me really happy to hear. And I think last I remember, they weren't pursuing each other romantically. But they were able to establish a friendship. So I think that's one of the cool things that people forget about dating is that you're not going to be a perfect romantic match with every single person that you talk to. And sometimes you just meet super cool people that you want to have in your life and that you want to hang out with because they bring you up and bring a positive energy. And so I feel like in the dating process, it's always important to be open to the different ways that your relationship can go it can go a platonic route, or it can go romantic route. And yes, when you're looking for romance, it does suck to go down the platonic route time and time again. But I feel like it just helps you as you're on that path to know like, Okay, well, what does make someone a different romantic partner for me versus a platonic partner, and vice versa?

Taly
Even just to add to that, just to take a step back, like, I think one thing that is problematic with how people date now is that a lot of people go on the first date being like, Is this my person? Is this the one instead of going into it thinking is this someone I want to spend more time with and I want to learn more about? I think it puts so much pressure on the date. And so I totally agree, in some cases, you're just meant to be friendly partners, not friendly partners, but supposed to be friends! Friendly, platonic... having a platonic friendship come out of a date is beautiful. And having a romantic partner come out of date is beautiful. Having nothing come out of a date is also pretty great. Because you're learning a) that that person isn't for you. And b) you've like eliminated one person from the very many that you might have to go through to get to your person. So we hope to bring some of that to the dating process, making it a little bit less high stakes so that folks can enjoy it a little bit more.

Taly
So the next date in our season was Sarah and Joe episode seven. And the question they were asked was: what's your favorite place you've ever been to? Laura, what'd you think about this date?

Laura
This is I think our first introduction to Joe, right?

Taly
Yes, it was.

Laura
Yeah, it's uh, Joe is one of the people that have gone on a few dates. And I just I find him so funny.

Taly
We actually, fun fact, for everyone who's listening, we ran into Joe in Los Angeles, totally randomly, we had no idea what Joe looked like. But he saw us holding Blink swag. And he recognized us and we started talking to him. It was just this like serendipitous moment of running into Joe and it was just so much fun. But anyway, Hi, Joe, if you're listening,

Laura
Yeah, so, I just I thought it was like super fun. And that there was a lot of the fact that they both wanted to go to Japan. I was like,

Taly
Right?

Laura
There's so many different places in the world to go and so I just thought it was so interesting that like, yeah, Japan is a super cool place to go but not all the time is that going to be everybody's top so the fact that I believe a Sarah who said first that she was interested in going to Japan and Joe was like, Oh my god, I have like the Lonely Planet book on my shelf right now because that's where I want to go. I was like, Oh, I want them to go on a trip to Japan together.

Taly
But yeah, no, I they had so much in common. I like really thought they were going to match they you know, I had this funny moment when they were talking about hospital architecture and ball pits.

Laura
Yes.

Taly
They talked about like things other than just travel. So they like even to like, I don't know, vibe a little bit. But yeah, I don't know. I really love the state. So Laura, what actually happened?

Laura
They were not a match.

Laura
Alright! Next we had episode eight with Vinky and Kingston. And their question was: what seemed like a good idea at the time, but turned out to be a terrible idea?

Taly
I thought this date was very funny because they both heard stories that involve altering substances and injuries. Which, what are the odds? So I thought, I thought the date went well, and I thought our conversation flowed. So I thought it was a pretty good date.

Laura
This date, I also thought was super funny. I just liked the stories that they shared. It's one of those things that like, in the spirit of the question in the moment, you're like, Oh, this is fine. This is fun, whatever, not a big deal. And then like things turn sour. And it's in those moments, it is not funny at all, but then you know, what is it? Tragedy plus time equals humor?

Taly
Oh, I've never heard that before, but I love it.

Laura
It's like a basis of a lot of comedy. So it was good and seemed like they had some distance from the event. I thought it was entertaining. Yeah, there's like a shared understanding that like when you're young, there are some questionable decisions that we make that we are not necessarily proud of, but that you know shaped who we are as people. as we as we move forward

Taly
Right. Did you think they were gonna match?

Laura
I did I yeah, I thought they were gonna match. What did you think? And what happened?

Taly
I thought they were gonna match to, but they didn't match it in the end.

Taly
So the next episode, we had episode nine, with Sabrina and Al. And the question they were asked was: what is something you're secretly very knowledgeable about? Laura, what'd you think?

Laura
This date was so interesting to host because there was a lot of pauses and nervous laughter. And I thought it was kind of sweet in the moment. But I was also like, I don't know if personality is really getting across. I was hopeful. This was actually I believe, if I recall correctly, our youngest couple, or our youngest pairing that,

Taly
Yeah they were the youngest pairing.

Laura
Yeah, by, like, a lot like early 20s. Both still in college, I believe we're like, just freshly out of college. It was it was so interesting. And like one of the crazy things for me is like, you know, Sabrina is a math major into computer science. I'm like, Oh, my god, she's super smart, like, brings a lot to the table. And I was so excited about like, the prospect of a lot of the things that she was talking about. But I just I felt so sad about, like, I feel like the nerves really got in the way a little bit of her being able to show what's really, like, what are the kind of cool exciting things about her.

Taly
I'll say, I also I thought their date was so much fun to listen to. It was just adorable, like you could sense the nervousness, but it was like kind of sweet in a way because I feel like it was especially for folks in their early 20s. Like it's the epitome of a first date. But when Sabrina asked about favorite color, and then second favorite color, I might have lost a little bit of hope. But I will say and we actually learned from Al that he fell in love with someone by phone before. So it was really cool to host him for this date. And I was really surprised honestly, to hear him talk about the experience, when we talked with him and the after the date episode, because he just seemed so into the concept and he was very mature. And he's he was like 20-some years old. So I just thought this date was super cool to listen to with that context. And one part of their conversation that I thought was a ton of fun was the part of the conversation where they were talking about singing, and then it was just so sweet. Because Al said that he had started singing during COVID. And Sabrina asked like, are you any good? And he was like, No, I'm terrible. But I don't know, I thought they had some really sweet moments where they bonded, and it was an adorable date to listen to.

Laura
Yeah, I was like, I'm waiting for the album to drop...

Taly
So Laura, what did you think, did you think they'd match?

Laura
So I honestly was not hopeful that they would match just based on the sense of nervousness, but I was hopeful. What did you, what did you think?

Taly
I didn't think they were gonna match. I think I shared your hope because again, I thought it was just such a sweet date, but I didn't feel that they were aligned. So I didn't think they were gonna match. Did they, Laura? Tell us.

Laura
They did! It was a match. Yep.

Taly
We did talk to Al after the date. And we learned that he actually said that he didn't think that they had a lot in common, which may have been true, but they still matched.

Laura
Alright, Episode 10 was Michelle and Ilya, Ilya came back! And so the question for them was: what has been your greatest adventure?

Taly
This, I don't know what it is about dates with Ilya. We had more connectivity issues, which made it hard to hear. Can't really tell from the actual recording the episode because of the way our recording tool records. So you can, you can tell them that they had this connectivity problem, and it definitely detracted from the date. I think they actually had a lot in common. So they both talked about traveling with older family members, and make sure these really fun stories. Michelle says share the story about crossing streets in Vietnam and I had been fairly recently so I was like, chackling behind the mute button, trying to remember, like, trying to cross the street and feeling like I was playing Frogger so I thought they had, you know, a fair amount in common and might match. What about you, Laura?

Laura
Yeah, I felt similarly so I listened to this date and I didn't get to hear the like in real time awkwardness based on, kind of what Taly was talking about, like their shared mutual interests, and just like the things that they were talking about, I was like, oh, I do think that they're gonna match and I just, I feel so bad. For Ilya. I feel like Ilya is like, a very interesting person who's done a lot of like, super cool things and has a lot to offer. But just—

Taly
His phone hates him

Laura
His phone is like, essentially, just like blocking him from being able to connect with people. So I don't know,

Taly
I guess in this case, it would be laptop because you can't join with from a phone. But yeah, his technology hates him. His internet hates him. I don't know.

Laura
Yeah, yeah, it's just like, You shall not find love through technology, which is so sad. But hopefully that will change. So Ilya, you might be due for an upgrade on your devices.

Taly
You said earlier, Laura, that you thought Ilya was this kind of really interesting person. One thing that I think is a really great learning from dates that we've had with Ilya is that he is so authentically himself, you can really tell that he is just him and he's not, you know, trying to be someone that he's not. He's really looking for somebody that he can connect with based on who he is. And I think that was really beautiful in both of his dates and would be something that I kind of take from his dates for folks who are in the dating process, trying to like figure out how to approach things. It is always so valuable to just be yourself.

Laura
So I thought they were gonna match I was I was like yeah I think they're gonna match but what did you think Taly, and what happened?

Taly
So I did not think they were going to match and I think it's because with the connectivity issues it there was just like a real disconnect they didn't feel like the conversation was really flowing you know I heard the episode afterwards obviously and it sounds like they could really have a lot like really be matched based on that, but it was so hard to hear some of what he was saying that like Michelle's responses were almost like S'S and I'm saying that because I also couldn't really hear him so I didn't think they would match simply because like there was no conversational flow in the moment even though you can't tell.

Taly
So moving on to Episode 11, Ping and Savannah, they were asked: where would you go on holiday right now if time and money were no object? Laura, What do you think of this date?

Laura
Yes, I thought this date was super interesting. So I actually like the beginning part was interesting about the travel but I was actually I'm kind of like a coffee fiend so I was like, I was like what really stuck out to me was the very ending of the date where they're talking about, or was it Savannah asked,

Taly
Savannah asked, Yeah,

Laura
Yeah, she was like would you prefer coffee tea or neither? And I was like, Oh, I want to know the answer to this question as I thought was so interesting and I even though like they weren't on the same page about you know, drinking coffee versus drinking tea felt like the conversation was supernatural the back and forth was fun and like even though that question of like coffee tea or neither, and it's like it's such a random question and like such an innocuous one at that, but I thought that they had like a really good conversation off of it which I feel like you can ask someone a question like that and they can just be like Oh, they can be dismissive of it and be like I wanted to—

Taly
Just like a one word answer, right, like Coffee. Period.

Laura
Yeah! But, I just... the way that they were able to kind of respond to the question and to each other with it to keep the conversation going I think that that's a good thing like that's a really good skill to have

Taly
Yeah, and I also I thought they had a great conversation and I liked that some Savannah had these questions ready, so she asked that she also asked Ping, what friends, what do friends see in you that you don't see in yourself? And they had a nice conversation around that so just as a general note, like I thought it was a super successful strategy to come ready with questions and this wasn't the only date where that happened. We had definitely had some other dates where folks came ready with questions and so that's definitely something that I would recommend for folks who are dating be ready in case the conversation kind of hits a lull or you want to ask something like it's great to see how people respond to things. Laura would it What did you think was gonna happen after this date, did you think they were gonna match?

Laura
Yeah, I thought it was gonna be a match I was team Yes.

Taly
Ditto! I thought they were gonna match, too. So did they, Laura?

Laura
Yes, they did. Alright, so we were both rooting for the right team.

Taly
We were!

Laura
Yay!

Laura
Alright, Episode 12 we had Joe returning and we had Mel and their question is: when you travel, do you prefer to plan the trip out in advance? Or arrive and figure out what to do day to day? Taly, how'd it go?

Taly
I thought it went well and to be honest, I don't know why I asked this question because the whole time I was like I want to answer to, I want to engage in this conversation because I have very strong feelings about this one so it was really interesting to listen to. And yeah, I don't know I enjoyed listening to their date and they kind of bonded about the slow pace of things in Europe because we go to a coffee shop they're a) people aren't getting up early and b) that waiter is not coming for you as often as they do in America. So I thought it was it was a lot of fun to listen to this date.

Laura
Yeah, I would definitely agree and I really appreciated their emphasis on kind of like what's the fun of people watching. I don't know people watching is one of the things that I feel like either you like it or bores you to tears and they're like isn't really a happy medium and so I just thought it was interesting that the two of them were really interested in you know, what's going on in the lives of other people which I think is really centering of kind of how you move through the world. So yeah, I just I I was like, I know we keep saying the word vibin', but like, I was vibin' with their date, and I was like, I want to go travel with these two people.

Taly
So I thought it was interesting because they were kind of on the same page. It seemed like about like going into a lot of restaurant and just like you said people watching.

Laura
I thought they were gonna match. What did you think, and what happened?

Taly
I wasn't sure I thought they might match and in fact, they did! So your guests was correct, Laura.

Laura
So we actually talked to Joe about this date and here's what he said.

Joe
Yeah, we just like chatted a little bit. You know, on email, and then exchanged numbers and just like texted a little bit and then just tried to find like a time just to grab like, a lunch or like coffee. Yeah, we then we just kind of reached out a little, and we just picked the day to grab some lunch and then we went to lunch and chat a little more and I feel like once you're in person, you kind of, want to say awkwardness or insecurities like come out, but it's like I guess, since we already talked about like, how are you today? like that kind of stuff. It was like we talked a little more about our lives in general, you know, and then, you know, just felt like there wasn't necessarily a connection like, you know, as the conversation went.

Taly
So our next date Episode 13 was Bo and Isabel and the question they were asked was: what is the best way to spend a sunny day. Laura, what'd you think?

Laura
I noticed the theme of a lot of our dates we had a lot of people talk about dogs and cats and pets in general. And so I thought it was super funny because Bo described himself as being like very outdoorsy. And Isabelle describes herself as, as being very cat like, yeah, like indoorsy and cat like, it's I just thought that was super funny. I love when people kind of like, identify with an animal or a pet and kind of their qualities because I feel like knowing what animal you're kind of like are similar to can also signal to other people a bit more about yourself. So that was like super funny and like a really fun and like light hearted way to start the conversation and to keep things going. Also interesting, too, because for being a cat person, they're both water people. And I feel like usually those things wouldn't go hand in hand. Right? What'd you think?

Taly
I have the same sense, like the very beginning of the date, I was like, Oh, he's outdoorsy, she's indoorsy. But I actually thought despite that they had like a genuine interest in what the other person was saying. And so the date felt like it went really well. Isabelle talked about liking to read and talked about reading math books, and I was just like, fascinated, what does that even mean? Like, are you reading a textbook? Like what books are there about math? So I don't know, I was really interested by the date and I thought it went really well. So I thought they were going to match. What about you?

Laura
Yeah, I thought they were gonna match

Taly
But did the match?

Laura
Yes, they did match! Yeeeah!

Laura
Episode 14, we had Jon and Michelle, and they answered: what character in a book would you like to be for a day?

Taly
I love this date, I thought that book character conversation was really fun. They talked about red wall and manga. And their combo about debate was also super interesting, because they talked about like how people can listen more effectively and listen to understand. So I thought the day and kind of the conversation really flowed?

Laura
Yeah, I'd agree. Although like, as a listener on the outside, as I was listening to the date, I didn't actually know the books that they were referencing. So I like I felt like I was missing something a little bit. But I will say I've like I'm super happy that they both knew what the other was talking about. And but I think it allowed them to get further in the conversation, because they had a shared understanding for those characters, which I really appreciated. And I just want to call out Jon is the type of dater that he's both interested and interesting. He doesn't respond to things with one word answers, he will actually give you a detailed response, but not one that's like overly detailed, and then we'll end it by asking you a question to follow up, and it doesn't feel awkward or weird. It's just like a natural way to keep the conversation going. So I think that like anyone listening, if there's one tip that you can take away from how to have better dates to actually get to know if you vibe with somebody or not, you can always circle back to previous topic, or you can like ask for more information about the topic that you're currently talking about to try to go deeper into it. You know, you don't have to constantly be thinking of like new questions and new ways to answer things. And I think this is a really good example.

Taly
You stole the words out of my brain, because I thought Jon in both the dates that he was on in Date in a Blink was such a great date. Like he's just so good about listening and asking questions and being engaged. So I just think he was a great date, personally. I guess, Laura, what did you think? I mean, I think it's pretty obvious. But what do you think? Did you think it was they were match?

Laura
I did. I was team. Yes.

Taly
I was seeing Yes, as well. And they were team. Yes, they didn't match, which was awesome. But we did hear from Michelle after the day via email. She wasn't on the after the date episode with us. But we did hear that it seemed like their match was really going to bear fruit. But Jon made a dire mistake when they connected after our podcast episode, he had copy and pasted a message and forgot to modify it so that it made sense in context. So it was kind of obvious that it was not a fresh message, but a recycled one. And I think that put a nail in the coffin. And that made me so sad. And I think this is a pretty common thing that people do. Because to be honest, when you're you know, online dating, you're probably talking to a lot of people at once. And it can be really exhausting to repeat the same things over and over again. But it's like the sort of thing that if you are really interested in someone, you have to be careful, because it can be a really big turnoff, because even if you're doing it with like good intentions, it can come off negatively. So I was bummed about that.

Taly
Okay, Episode 15, Ben and Teresa. The question they got was: what topic do you like to talk about that seldom comes up in conversation? Laura, you hosted this date, what did you think of it?

Laura
So this date, I had high hopes for it. And this is one of those prime examples of how important your headspace is when you enter a conversation. And these two people coming to the table at this exact moment in time I feel like they were having very different experiences that they wanted to bring up and so like this one, Ben, I think was looking for something that was a lot more lighthearted, and Teresa was looking for something that was a little more serious. It's also like very indicative of like, what you want to talk about more so it seems like Teresa really wants to go deep into some things and have serious conversations because you're there's a lot to talk about. There's a lot of things to unpack in the world and in your life. And so it's really nice to be able to feel a shared experience and being vulnerable other people and Ben was a lot more lighthearted, like he wanted to have a more lighthearted conversation. And he wanted to hear about like, kind of the inner weird workings of people's minds like where, what kind of like weird paths do they go down. And so it's like both of those things are really important in life to be able to make space for those. And I just feel like today, they both wanted to make space for these two items that are, they're not necessarily diametrically opposed. But they can feel that way when you're like when you're getting to know somebody. And so I thought Ben's perspective was super funny. But something that was a little bit off for me is that like, the thing that he chose to bring up in this date was like talking about something he had talked about in depth and another date that he had. And it's like, it's not bad to let another person know about a conversation that you had on another date with another person. But like, it doesn't really feel that great when you're on a 10 minute date with somebody and you know, a quarter of the date is spent talking about a topic of conversation that you really went deep on with someone else that you went on a date with.

Taly
Yeah, so you stole the words out of my mouth, basically on this too. I thought they were in two different wavelengths. Teresa was more interested in talking about serious conversations, like she raised her family and was kind of open about that. And it was pretty apparent that Ben was like, I want to talk about something a little bit more lighthearted, and he can raise sneezing and shower thoughts. So it seemed like they had that disconnect, they did carry the conversation, so I thought maybe it would work out. But I felt like they were just not in the same place and not looking for the same thing. So I didn't think they would match.

Laura
Yeah, I was definitely team No, on this camp as well.

Taly
Verdict, what was it?

Laura
Verdict is it was not a match. So we were, yeah, we were right in what we thought would happen.

Taly
Next episode we have is Episode 16, with Daniela and Kingston, and the question they got was: what is your favorite type of party or celebration to attend? Laura, what'd you think?

Laura
I personally love celebrations of all kinds. So this was super fun to listen to. So I loved that Daniela was like, really into birthdays. And Kingston was more about like the house warmings and the game nights. And so I just I thought, like, there's like a shared sense of joy and kind of what are the things that you're celebrating? And so Daniela was more interested in like, loves her own birthday and loves to throw big parties for other people's birthdays. And then vice versa, you can have your birthday out somewhere, or you can have it in somebody's house. I don't know, I just I thought that the way that they communicated with each other about their feelings towards these different types of celebrations, even though Kingston was not the type of person to want to celebrate his own birthday, he wasn't like, Oh, it's stupid that you'd like to do that. He was like, Oh, that's cool that you like to do that. Like I'm not as into that. And this is actually kind of going back to one of the earlier dates that we had, like this is a really good example of a way that you can not be on the same page as somebody and like not make it a big deal, you know, because it's like so genuinely not a big deal to not agree with somebody on 1,000% of things or be on the same page as them so I thought this was like such a good example. What did you think?

Taly
What did I think? Okay, so I thought this was super interesting to hear. Whenever I hear about birthday parties, and this isn't to yuck Danielle's yum, but like it's just like in my brain now, I think of the Slate article about how birthdays after 21 and like birthday dinners suck and the first thing I was thinking about was that! Not that I would have said that to her if I was on the date but I think I'm in a different bubble because I was more like I'm not into the birthday parties but I loved home–housewarmings so I also agree with you though that like hearing how they were talking about it was awesome because Kingston although he also like wasn't super into birthdays he was still able to kind of connect with Danielle about it and I don't know maybe it was also like I really vibed and resonated with Kingston's idea of like I love seeing the inside of people's houses and playing with people's pets so yeah, it was a fun date to listen to and I thought they would potentially match I thought it was a pretty promising date.

Laura
Yeah, I will agree I definitely thought it was gonna be a yes and so this one was kind of a more in the maybe camp and so just a weird kind of call out here. So something came up after the date that made the match moot, and so we ended up not actually following up the daters to see if they would have matched. So Daniela and Kingston, if you're listening, and you want to continue the conversation, let us know and we're happy to put you both in contact.

Taly
Okay, our final date of the season, Joe and Loreen! It was kind of like a bonus episode. We weren't planning to do it, but then we figured we actually thought they might match. They were both returning daters. The question that they got was: what would people be most surprised to learn about you? Laura, you were a host for this one. What do you think?

Laura
Yeah, so I thought that they had so much in common like from space to East coasters life working in similar industries that was just like the fact that they both worked on, both worked with artists and on movies and the sorts of things that were household names for some people, I don't know, I was like, This is vibe. I feel like they're really vibing with each other.

Taly
I totally agree. I thought they had so much in common, they talked about space, which is like kind of a random thing. So like even beyond the fact that they're both in LA and would probably share some sort of entertainment industry like work commonality because it is so common out there. They have a lot in common beyond that, like the space and the East Coast origin, like in talking about being from the east coast and different vacation spots on the east coast. So I thought they were having a great conversation and had a lot in common.

Laura
Yeah, I totally agree. So did you think they were gonna match?

Taly
I thought they were gonna match. What about you?

Laura
Yeah, I thought it was like for sure gonna be a match. But ultimately, they ended up not matching. And so for full context on this one, I actually think one of the daters of this actually started seeing someone at the time. So yes, I don't know if they're still seeing that person. I could always follow up there. But I think that there was some interest in continuing the conversation but didn't ultimately because there were some other things that were panning out at that moment. So...

Taly
I didn't know that this is the first time learning of it! Yeah, yeah.

Laura
So, I didn't ask for too many details. So I was like, I feel like I shouldn't pry that, that deeply into people's dating lives. If they want to tell me they'll tell me

Taly
As we pry about people's dating lives and go on their dates with them.

Laura
Yes, I know, I know, Joe and Loreen, if you're listening to this, and if you want to continue the conversation with each other, if things have changed, let us know. We are always happy to re-put you back in touch with each other.

Taly
Yes. And that applies really for any of our couples, because love is kind of comes in seasons. And if you were exploring all sorts of things and you said you weren't interested in your Date in a Blink simply because you thought one other thing was more promising. Feel free to let us know if you'd like to pick the conversation back up.

Laura
Cool. So that's a recap. So curious to know from our daters, what did you all think? Did any of the matches or no matches surprise you? And if so, why? Let us know.

Taly
Yeah, send us a DM or email us. We love hearing from you. And now before we wrap up this episode, here's a word from our sponsors.

Taly
So now that we've shared the outcome of each of these dates, I want to share a little bit of my personal thoughts on the experience as a whole. I loved this experience. Generally, I'm always the person who sits at a table at a restaurant looking over at other couples and wondering what's going on over there? Is this their first day? Are they having a good time? Is it going terribly? So I just really loved being a fly on the wall for people's dates. But the most interesting thing to me was that I wanted to be part of the dates. I wanted to be friends with some of these people. And if I were single on the market, some of these people felt like they were right up my alley.

Laura
I definitely echo Taly's feelings about this. I am equally nosy. And I eavesdrop on people's conversations, as much as I hate to say so I do the same thing. I say, oh, that couples definitely on a first date. So it was super fun to be able to have people actively want to participate in a podcast where that's the entire purpose of it. And one of the really interesting things for me is I was pretty apprehensive about it, I thought people would be super interested in audio dating. But I was very skeptical that people would actually sign up to be listened in on, you know, in a podcast format, especially because we weren't going to places that have you know, agencies of people that want to get famous type of a thing. These are just, you know, regular everyday people from a lot of the communities that are a part of and so it was just it was super fun. I was really surprised and really excited on how vulnerable people were willing to be to say, hey, like, I do want to go on this date.

Taly
Can I, can I disclose this, and Laura you can cut it out if you want to… Laura didn't want to do Date in a Blink when I first suggested it. And I can't remember exactly why. Eventually I won you over. And I remember within the first couple of dates, you're like, I love this. I'm so happy we're doing this. So I'm really happy it worked out that way.

Laura
Yeah, it wasn't that I didn't want to do it or that I thought it was a bad idea. I was like we have so many other things to do. How are we going to make time for this?

Taly
Yes, yes, not to say that you were like totally against it. But it was definitely a time thing. Because for full context. Everyone we're doing this in addition to our full time jobs and working on a startup. So it wasn't to say Laura hated the idea. She was anxious about the time which I feel like it's important to actually note here for anyone who's listening to this and thinking about applying for season two, the dates were actually super quick to host and to be a part of, I wasn't sure how this would go before we actually hosted a few of them. But by the time we Laura and I got into the groove of setting up the dates and hosting them, they only took about 15 minutes. So if you're thinking this is a huge commitment, it is not.

Laura
So Taly, what's in store for season two? Let the people know!

Taly
More dates, Yay! Next season we'll actually be using prompts for modest notes, which we're super excited about. They create these decks of cards with prompts to help people develop more meaningful and intimate relationships. I use them and it was so much fun. So we're super excited to be using them for season two. We are really excited to start matching people again and really excited to be hosting more dates. So if you're interested, please go to Dateinablink.com and fill out the participant form it is necessary because otherwise we won't know who to match you with in terms of your sexuality, your age and things like that. So it's it's a key part of the process.

Laura
You may have noticed Season One was all dates between men and women. This wasn't intentional or to be honest desired, but simply how the matching worked out based on who signed up. We'd love for season two to reflect a more diverse set of daters, so if you or a friend are interested, please sign up.

Taly
Next season, we are going to share the outcome of each date earlier, we save the reveal for the end of the season this time around. But we want to provide more timely updates about how each date went.

Laura
So what we'll be doing in season two is in between each date we'll actually be bringing in some dating and relationship coaches to listen in on the date, share insights and learnings. And that's where we'll reveal how the date went and whether they matched.

Taly
So with that said, we're curious to know what you want to hear about who should we invite onto the podcast? If you have any thoughts or ideas, DM us, send us an email, hit us up on social media, we really want to hear what you want to hear.

Taly
There's one last thing we want to share with you all this season. We kept talking about the season as a social experiment. Well, actually, it was a proof of concept for Blink, an audio for speed dating app that we've been working on for the past few months. Blinks mission is to build a dating space where a person's personality values, sense of humor and quirks are what set them apart, not their looks, demographics or fashion choices.

Laura
So you might be wondering, Well, what does that look like in an app experience? You'll sign up with your basic information, including your age, sexuality, and location, then you'll tell us about your availability on a weekly basis. Based on that availability, you'll be able to go on Blink Dates, which are 10 minute, audio only dates very similar to what you've heard here this past season. If the date goes well, you'll move on to glances. We know love isn't truly blind. So you'll be able to see three anonymized and profile-less photos before you continue the conversation. If there's mutual positive feedback on both your Blink Date and your glance, then it's a match.

Taly
So if you're tired of swiping and tired of making decisions about life partners based on photos and curated profiles, try Blink.

Taly
So I want to take our final moments here to thank everyone again. There are a few people that have really been our cheerleaders throughout this process. There are some folks at nevermind, he texted me, which is a podcast. They also have great social media account. They shared a lot about us and the work that we're doing on their podcast. And it's just generally a really funny podcast to listen to. The tagline is, it's the podcast based on your group chat. They have their dad's on a few episodes, and they talked about dating back in the day, which actually was really reminiscent of thinking about how Blink works in terms of having phone calls and getting to know people in a slightly more old school fashion.

Laura
We also want to give a big thank you to Brianna Endrina, who is a sex love and relationship coach. She's also the host of Sexy, Soulful, Confidence podcast, and she contributes to our blog pretty regularly and she's one of our biggest cheerleaders and for that we will always be eternally grateful.

Taly
I also want to thank our parents and family. My mom texted me after each date to ask what happened which I always love and I know Laura, your family has also been some of our most committed listeners. So thank you all so much.

Laura
So I want to send a big thank you to Gustavo, my Penguin, my boo, my bae, who deals with all of our editing and all of our requests to edit the edits.

Taly
I also want to thank my partner, Doug, he has helped get all of our all of our materials onto the website. It's not as easy as it looks sometimes these transcripts which we really want to make available to folks require all sorts of formatting so thank you, Doug, for having the patience to go through and put the markdown through so that we can put it on our website.

Laura
I, of course, must think the ever so grateful birther of the idea of Date in a Blink, my co-host Taly, human Matchmaker, email sender, question procureur, pretty much just the master of the podcast.

Taly
And Laura, thank you for being the audio file ninja, creating transcripts, being amazing at participant recruiting, and just generally being an awesome co-host and co-founder for blank.

Laura
Again, we want to give a huge, huge thank you to all of our daters, everyone who participated on this very first inaugural season of Date in a Blink.

Taly
And thank you all, listeners please rate and review if you enjoyed the podcast, don't rate and review if you hate it — no I'm kidding — you can rate either way. But thank you all for sticking around with us for season one. Please tell your family and friends about dating a blank and please return for season two.

Taly
See you all in a Blink!

Laura
See ya in a Blink, bishes!

Taly
And by Blink we mean a few months because we'll probably launch Season Two in February.

Laura
Yeah, yes. Valentine's Day launch. Yeah.

Episode Transcript

Taly
Welcome to this special episode Date in a Blink: What did they think? We asked some of our daters to come back and share about their experience and we're super excited to share what they told us

Laura
Who wanted to hop on a call and tell us what they thought? We have Jon from our very first episode with Joy who came back for Episode 14 with Michelle.

Taly
We had Al from our 9th episode with Sabrina.

Laura
There's Joe who had the most dates! He was in Episode 7 with Sarah, 12 with Mel, and was on our bonus episode number 17 with Loreen.

Taly
To call out the elephant in the room, we recognize that all three of our highlighted participants are men. We had a few of our women daters interested in chatting, but sadly, we weren't able to connect with them in the end. We hope in future seasons, we can bring back a more balanced set of our daters to chat with us.

Laura
We were curious to understand why daters came on Date in a Blink. Obviously, we're biased and think it's a refreshing way to date. So we were really eager to hear what they had to say.

Taly
Some of the responses were expected. We know people are tired of traditional dating apps and swiping. Jon shared a bit about what he thought about dating these days.

Jon
I know that it's pretty hard to meet people outside of your work circle or previously established social circles. And I wanted to try something different. Because I know that all of the other types of kind of dating suggestions, you know, whether it's, you know, meet a friend of a friend or go on a completely blind date, or use a dating app. Those have, I've tried those before, and I have not found any success, so I figured, what would it hurt to try something different?

Taly
Al also shared why he was excited about Blink.

Jon
I was excited. Um, and you know, Bumble and Tinder, I'm sure you guys know that that doesn't really work on those apps.

Taly
But I was super excited that folks were proactively excited about voice first dating sans visuals. Jon told us:

Jon
Pictures are not the best way to capture someone's personality. Guys and girls included will usually doll themselves up or show pictures that put them in as wonderful of a lighting as possible. And then knowing that beauty will fade at least on the physical side because we're all gonna age, I much rather get to know what you're like on the inside.

Taly
Al actually had experience with getting to know someone by voice.

Jon
I kind of fell in love over a voice thing before.

Laura
We also wanted to know what our daters were thinking and feeling leading into their dates. As hosts, we saw Blink Dates as an easier way to date. You didn't have to get ready, don't have to choose an outfit, or do your makeup. Less fuss, less stress. People really leaned into that. Jon shared his thoughts on the visual-less experience.

Jon
I liked the fact that I don't need to rely on my looks because I don't need to, you know deal with moisturizer or, you know, acne cleanser. And I really liked the format of just listening. I think people don't listen enough

Laura
but some of them, including Joe still got first date jitters, which is actually kind of sweet.

Joe
Yeah, like I said, I was little like, nervous, but not in... I guess I'm self deprecating in a way that I don't want to come off boring. So there was like that kind of nervousness, I guess. But other than that, just like I just kind of went into it like, oh, it would be kind of cool to talk to somebody different, hear somebody else's story. I like hearing other people's stories.

Taly
We asked our daters how they would compare the process of connecting with someone for Date in a Blink relative to connecting with someone on a traditional dating app. In our early non statistically significant research, relatively few people liked rating others based on photos. Yet, that's the norm for online dating. It seems crazy to say but we're really shifting the paradigm by having people go on actual dates. And luckily daters really loved it.

Laura
One thing that came up a lot was that on other dating apps, they don't really have a great rap. Here's Joe's take on it.

Joe
I feel like other dating apps feel like a game. You know, I think they've done that on purpose. You know, like you just bored like sitting on the toilet and

Laura
I will find my next love from my toilet seat.

Joe
Yes. It's kind of what it is.

Laura
Al shared his thoughts on this too.

Al
Like Tinder and Bumble, they're based on pictures and you can't love someone off a picture like someone could take a better picture then, it's, there's skill involved you know, like if you take a good picture and whatnot and also like what are you wearing in the picture and it's it's off of looks basically like — Not about who you are as a person.

Taly
Whereas with Blink, folks really got to focus on what matters: really getting to know their dates. Jon really enjoyed that experience.

Jon
By having a format where you're just listening to voice, I think that kind of helps take off the pressure a bit. You're not thinking about whether you're, you know, hair curls are in the right place, or if you ironed your shirt, so, it I think the format of using audio only helps to focus on the things that people ultimately care about while doing away with the, for lack of better terms, fluff.

Taly
Al also told us how we thought about what matters in a relationship.

Al
relationships, I'd say it's 20%, about, like, attraction to each other, and then the other 80% or maybe less than 20%. The other 80% would definitely be about like how well you get together.

Laura
Blink dates are a bit of a counterintuitive way to date more efficiently. Swiping has a low rate of success, and initial attraction is a poor indicator of future success. It was encouraging to hear our daters describe how they felt this saved them time in the long run. Traditional apps let you swipe kind of like you're on TikTok or social media, which can be really mindless. Hours can go by without any results, and that's no fun for anyone. Jon notice the efficiency of it.

Jon
Having the Date in a Blink format makes it a lot faster. To figure out whether or not you gel, I think that there are people who text better than they speak in person.

Laura
Joe also liked how quick it was to get a feel for someone's vibe.

Joe
If you're comparing it to like traditional dating apps, you're just Well, you're kind of forming a possible connection like right away from just like talking, you know, and you kind of get a feel right off the bat if if like, at least if you want to meet the person, if you guys will vibe

Laura
Al also about the format was a great way to quickly get to know someone,

Jon
it's a good time to get to know somebody in 10 minutes, you could see like, if your personalities match in that time period, you'll save a lot of time if you do it because you're not like messaging and finding someone. And you'll find out like the truth about someone, you can tell a lot from a person's voice.

Taly
Some folks may already know the backstory of Blink and how it was born of me getting to know people without knowing what they look like. But I've yet to hear what other people thought of that experience. It was so validating to hear people talk about what it was like getting to know someone without knowing what they look like. It really let them focus on the conversation.

Laura
One thing is it's a lot more natural than people realize. Joe told us,

Joe
It wasn't as weird as I thought it'd be. It's kind of cool like listening to somebody then you just kind of hearing those stories and not necessarily like thinking about the salad in their teeth or something like

Taly
the low stakes nature of audio only no visuals makes it a lot easier to just be yourself. Jon shared how relaxed it felt.

Jon
It was very refreshing because then all I had to think about was how do I say something funny? At one point, I just did one funny thing. And she managed to laugh, so that's good. I think that it felt like I was just on a phone call. And when I'm on a phone call with my friends or with my family members, it feels a lot more natural to me.

Taly
Al shared his take on it.

Al
I felt good about it. I wasn't too nervous. There's not much at stake. I felt really good about it.

Laura
Talking can be really nerve wracking for people, especially those with social anxiety. The responses from our daters, when we asked them to describe one word or phrase to describe the experience, honestly really surprised me. I thought their responses would be more high energy. Here's what Jon thought:

Jon
The word that I came up with was relaxed.

Laura
Al told us

Al
kind of fun because you kind of get that rush like what who this person is you don't even know them and also informative because like Bumble and Tinder you're not gonna know much about the person because your thumbs are gonna get tired. It's much easier to just talk to the person, saves like a lot of time.

Laura
Joe said

Joe
One word... chill, I guess.

Laura
Were you surprised to hear the daters describe these experiences as relaxed, chill and informative? I know I was. I don't know why, but I was expecting nerve wracking, anxiety inducing, or some other variation that I hear a lot of people use to describe modern dating, which can really be a mixed bag.

Taly
Our daters tended to agree, Blink Dates are a great way to get to know people in a low stakes but meaningful way. It's great for people looking for relationships. Al agreed:

Al
I would definitely recommend it to my friends. If they're trying to like meet someone who they, if they want a relationship, I would recommend it and it's fun to do.

Laura
It's also a low pressure way to date. Joe said:

Joe
Yeah, yeah, I totally would think it's like it's a different kind of cool. It's like low pressure.

Taly
The bottom line is that there really is nothing to lose. So you should just try it. As Jon said:

Jon
You shouldn't knock it until you've tried it. And then my one advice. Let yourself not sound cool.

Taly
Joe agrees.

Joe
Yeah, do it, it's fun. It's not, like, It's not weird that really awkward.

Taly
If you haven't heard about anchor is the easiest way to make a podcast. Let me explain a bit. It's totally free and Ankur will distribute the podcast for you so it can be heard on Spotify, Apple podcasts, and lots of other podcasting platforms. Not only that, but it has creation tools that allow you to record and edit your podcast right from your phone or computer. It also lets you make money from your podcast with no minimum listenership. It's everything you need to make your podcast in one place, download the free anchor app, or go to anchor.fm to get started.

Taly
So when we first started the podcast, it was an experiment, we didn't know if we would continue it. We didn't know how many episodes we would do. But both Laura and I really fell in love with it. It's been so much fun to listen to people's dates and learn from them to be honest, honestly, thank heavens for the mute button because I was giggling and constantly trying to keep myself from getting involved in the dates. Like I said, we fell in love with it. And we're super excited to announce that there will be a season two. But before we get to that there is a little bit left in season one.

Laura
We know you're wondering, Hey, I just listened to 17 dates, who of them matched? We'll be sharing that in the very last episode of this season. Thank you so much for joining us for Season One this far, and we'll look forward to chatting with you soon.

Taly
I also want to take a second to thank everyone who was involved in the podcast, which includes obviously my co host Laura, her partner, Gustavo who did a lot of our audio editing, and all of our daters, thank you so much for making Date in a Blink what it was, this wouldn't have happened without you.

Episode Transcript

Laura
Hello and welcome to today's episode of Date in a Blink where we're hosting Loreen and Joe for a Blink Date.

Taly
What is Date in a Blink, you ask? It's a 10-minute, audio-only blind speed date experience. It's also a bit of a social experiment designed to move people beyond looks based assumptions, curated profiles and marathon messaging.

Laura
We at the Blink Date want dating to be fun and inspiring for Blinkers, and hope this podcast inspires you to try new ways of meeting people and dating. Will our handpicked matches find love on these Blink Dates? Or will they say goodbye to each other after 10 minutes and never look back?

Taly
If you're new here: We're so happy you could join us. If you're a regular, we're so glad you've returned. Before we jump into today's Blink Date, here's a quick word from our sponsors.

Laura
We're here on Date in a Blink today with Loreen and Joe. I'm going to let you to dive in, but in case it's helpful to get the conversation started, I'm going to leave you with this question: What would people be most surprised to learn about you?

Joe
Uhmm...

Loreen
You go first.

Joe
Oh no! I was gonna say... Ladies first.

Loreen
Oh,

Joe
I don't know. It's an interesting one. I'd have to think about that. What it, what about you? What do people think... What would first come to mind if, if a friend was... explained the one unique thing?

Loreen
Um, I feel like there are a couple things that will come in mind to me. For me, um, probably that I am obsessed with space, or, I don't know, or that I am, I'm like, super chill until you mess with my friends, and then I'm the scariest person you know. I'm not sure... there's a, I don't know, there's a lot there. I I travel for work, I'm a touring sound engineer, so I'm...

Joe
Oh that's great! What, what fascinates you about space? I love space

Loreen
Everything! The future of human exploration. I've been fantasizing and dreaming about it my whole life, and I never really expected in my lifetime that we would be where we are with our space, um, travel and things like that, and space tourism and really the private sector handling space. So it's been fascinating to watch the scientific advancements that have been happening in the scientific community in the last like, in particular, like five years, and are what we're like finding out about space, and how, you know, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are taking you know, civilians to space for the first time. And like, it's, it's, it's just a really cool period in human history. And I just, there's a lot of, you know, not great going on, and I wish we could pay attention to how like, amazing this is. Like, it's so amazing. So,

Joe
I feel like the Richard Bro- Bronson thing, like, it kind of just if you weren't, like, really following it, so it's kind of popped up as a notification. And then kind of like, now went away. And you know, where I feel like, yeah, you're right, it should be a bigger deal. Like, that's kind of crazy. Would you, if you could would you like, hop on a Virgin— What is it called? What's, what's his like, space thing called?

Loreen
Virgin Galactic

Joe
Galatctic, yeah yeah. Would you hop on, like, the flights?

Loreen
Oh, yeah.

Loreen
Yeah. Oh, yeah. 100%. One of my

Joe
...more room in there. Like you can kind of float around or something.

Loreen
I think that's the point. Like, I'm pretty sure the point is to get to the topmost layer of our atmosphere, so you can view in space, and at that point, it would be, there would be zero gravity. So I'd imagine that you'd be floating around. It's pretty cool. I don't know. I think I had a friend actually, that was up there with someone for their birthday. Put a picture up on the bridge, but I have to find it. So it's pretty cool.

Joe
That's crazy. I love that dude, that like, sky dived from like, the highest point of you know, I forget the guy's name. Because a couple years ago, where he like, jumped from almost like right at the edge of our atmosphere. And like, in that crazy studio head.

Loreen
Oh, I think I heard about this. I don't quite remember it though.

Joe
Like some guy for like Red Bull or something. It was crazy. Okay, but yeah, that was pretty, pretty interesting.

Loreen
What about you? What's your unexpected thing? Now that you've heard my now you have to come up with an answer

Joe
Yeah, now that I think about it. The only thing I can think of this was unexpected is that I guess it's like my musical choice. I'm like a bit of a metal head. And I think at first glance, and meeting of me, I am also like, super chill. And you know, I guess don't stereotypically stereotypical stereo– stereotypically look like what most people I guess would think metal head looks like so every time I put on my centum music people are like, what?

Loreen
As someone who worked Warped Tour for a couple of years, I can confidently say there is no particular look for metal head, trust me.

Joe
Oh, I know.

Loreen
There's, there's there's all kinds of people in the DIY culture.

Joe
Yeah, I mean, from all the like,

Loreen
From the normal, Yeah, I got you,

Joe
Right. Yeah, I mean, I you know, I've been you're also like I used to live it, at friggin concerts, like not so much now. I did do, I did go to Warped Tour back in day, I actually worked it when I used to work for Pacific Sunwear. I remember, we set up a Pacific Sunwear tent at Warped Tour and I got to go. And I think that was Eminem's first Warped Tour. Everybody booed him. And then he became like, Eminem.

Loreen
That happened with Katy Perry and stuff too, out there.

Joe
Oh really?

Loreen
Yeah, she was out on Warped Tour, not the year, I worked out on Warped Tour I did 2016 and 2017. I'm, I'm a sound engineer so I was a system tech for one of the Monster stages, which is actually one of the screamo stages. So

Joe
Oh, that's awesome.

Loreen
Like I worked with bands of like, for like, Guar and All That Remains. And

Joe
I wonder if you're worked on my friend, then, this, back–back then he was in a band called God Forbid, they used to be based or do the East Coast, Oz Fests and stuff like that. I don't think they ever did Warped Tour, but

Loreen
Probably not. I don't think so. I mostly just did Warped Tour. What, uh, what do you do?

Joe
I do visual effects for movies.

Loreen
Okay

Joe
I'm a, super, like, department, kind of team supervisor at the place I work at. So I kind of lead as a small group of artists to kind of do some like crazy effects for all the big Marvel movies and TV shows and, and, more. But yeah, it's it's been cool, I've been doing that for ages. It's been like, coming on 17 years.

Loreen
Geez, did you work on Loki?

Joe
I didn't. I did, like a little bit. I helped a little bit with the team on it. But yeah, we had a team that worked on it, but I personally didn't work on it.

Loreen
That's cool, though.

Joe
Yeah, yeah, that shows cool.

Loreen
Oh, well, I'm a nerd, so I love, like, Marvel and superhero movies and stuff.

Joe
Yeah. Same, I like, grew up on like, Spider Man comics. So, a more or less, kind of in my dream job, because I can't draw to save my life. So I, I knew I was never gonna work in their comics, but but at least I can help them in their little movie universe.

Loreen
Like, what's your like, specialty for the visual effects?

Joe
Like I'm a compositor.

Loreen
Okay.

Joe
Yeah. So I'm a compositing supervisor now. And yeah, having mostly pretty much, yeah. All my career has been compositing with a little bit of CG lighting here and there, but mostly compositing, so do you know what that is? Because most people, whenever they see it, they're like, what's a composer? You know, and they're like, you do music? You're like, No,

Loreen
No, I for visual effects. I think I know what compositing is. But I definitely won't mind a definition. I just, I work in film sometimes, but not all that much.

Joe
Yeah, it's basically I try to explain it like it's like, Photoshop, but with moving images.

Loreen
Okay. Yeah. Yep. I like, photo edit composite things. So I kind of understand what you're saying. But yeah, it's like wildly more technical.

Joe
Yeah, it's the most simple list of terms that I can add. But yeah, it's it's pretty cool. How'd you get into like, sound engineering, I think that's awesome.

Loreen
I started in high school. I had a teacher who brought in, in my junior year of high school, she brought in professional production for our musical. And I'm kind of a stubborn person. So I was like, Oh, I want to help you guys. And they were like, yeah, sure, you can help us. But you need to learn how to wrap a cable and we're not going to teach you and I was like, oh, bet Game on. So I taught myself how to wrap a cable. And I started helping them. And I started working for the production company. And you know, I still go back to Pennsylvania every now and then to work with those guys. They're like my family. So, uh, I've been doing it ever since! I've been doing it for about 15 years now.

Joe
Are you originally an east coaster?

Loreen
Yeah.

Joe
Same.

Loreen Yeah.

Joe
From Pennsylvania?

Loreen
Pennsylvania, Yep.

Joe
Nice! New York born, Jersey raised.

Loreen
Okay. All right. I was on the East Coast, Pennsylvania in the Poconos.

Joe
Oh, yeah. That was our spot. You know, that was like our winter vacation spot. I used to love going to the Poconos.

Loreen
Yep, that's where everybody used to go. I tell them about all the weird, um, all the weird like Adirondack resorts up there that like, you know the Rat Pack used to go to like and they're like what? I'm like yeah, this place used to be like really hot back in like the 50s like, no lie.

Joe
Poconos and like Atlantic City, right?

Loreen
Yeah

Joe
Polar opposites of…

Laura
At this point in the date, I jumped in to let them know that their date had ended and let them say their farewells.

Laura
Right when I felt like the date was getting good, the timer went off on Loreen and Joe's date. It's always fun when people go on a date and realize they're in the same industry but completely different departments. It was crazy to learn that Loreen and Joe are both East Coast natives in the entertainment industry, have an interest in space, can rock out to similar music, and they enjoy superheroes. That's a long list. Do you think Loreen and Joe will hop on a Virgin Galactic flight together with a badass soundtrack to Mars? Or will they stay galaxies apart? Tune in to the end of the season to find out.

Laura
That's all we've got for you today. Shoot us a message on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook @TheBlinkDate or @DateinaBlink to let us know what you think. If you want to sign up to participate in Date in a Blink, visit our website at www.theblinkdate.com. In the meantime, thanks for joining for this episode. We hope you enjoyed listening and look forward to talking with you again next time.

Episode Transcript

Laura
Hello and welcome back to today's episode of Date in a Blink where we're hosting Daniella and Kingston for a Blink Date.

Taly
What is Date in a Blink, you ask? It's a 10-minute, audio-only, blind speed date experience. It's also a bit of social experiment designed to move people beyond looks based assumptions, curated profiles, and marathon messaging.

Laura
We at the Blink Date want dating to be fun and inspiring for Blinkers, and hope this podcast inspires you to try new ways of meeting people and dating. Will our handpicked matches find love on these Blink Dates? Or will they say goodbye to each other after 10 minutes and never look back?

Taly
If you're new here, we're so happy you could join us. If you're a regular, we're so glad you've returned. Before we jump into today's Blink Date, here's a quick word from our sponsors.

Taly
If you haven't heard about Anchor, is the easiest way to make a podcast. Let me explain a bit. It's totally free and Anchor will distribute the podcast for you so it can be heard on Spotify, Apple podcasts and lots of other podcasting platforms. Not only that, but it has creation tools that allow you to record and edit your podcast right from your phone or computer. It also lets you make money from your podcast with no minimum listenership. It's everything you need to make your podcast in one place. Download the free Anchor app or go to anchor.fm to get started.

Laura
We're here on Date in a Blink today with Daniella and Kingston. I'm going to let you to dive in, but in case it's helpful to get the conversation started, I'm going to leave you with this question: What is your favorite type of party or celebration to attend?

Daniella
Ooh...

Kingston
That's a good one.

Daniella
I, so, this for me just happened, I am that girl that loves her birthday. I know that's like so stereotypical, but for real, like I love birthdays. Because for me, like, I have so many different sects of my life, like, my career, you know, like I have my friends and then I my family and just people from different parts of my lives and like, this is the—that's like the only time that all these people would get together because of like my birthday and they would never meet in like normal life unless it was like for me so I just I love like having that kind of like little ecosystem at like one place with like, everyone I love I know it's very lame, but, I love, love birthdays. What about you?

Kingston
I don't think that's lame at all. I mean, so do you specifically like, like, just your birthday or just birthdays in general?

Daniella
I like my birthday, but I love other people's birthdays more I think

Kingston
Right, right

Daniella
My love language, or how I show my love is acts of service and so I love like going all out for friends and my family. And so like I love like surprising them or just like making them feel really special. Like to me like that's like one of the most gratifying things ever. So I think birthdays in general for me are like big deal. But unfortunately all of my friends that are close to me are like uck, like we do not...

Daniella
I was like, "How did I end up in a group of friends that do not care about their birthdays?"

Kingston
So you basically have to pull out all the stops for every single one of them.

Daniella
Oh 100% I'm like I'm gonna make you feel special. You better feel special.

Kingston
Do they reciprocate at least or are you not much of a surprise person?

Daniella
Umm, they try...

Daniella
My biggest thing, is like, I definitely like to get creative. I like... I just love birthday so much. I just love surprising my friends so much or, you know, my family members, my loved ones that it's sometimes kind of hard for them to kind of reciprocate because they just don't necessarily understand the—the big hoopla about birthday or I don't know, like my birthday just was last Saturday. So it was like...

Kingston
Happy belated!

Daniella
Oh, thank you. So it was kind of interesting to see because I had, I was the last birthday from all of my friends or I guess yeah, All my friends are like, previous year I guess of 2020. So like we experienced it already. So it was the first one of 2021. Yeah, it was it was interesting, but it was fun. But how about you? Do you... what kind of celebrations do you...?

Kingston
Um, so me personally, I am not much of a birthday person. I enjoy I enjoyed going to other people's birthdays, just you know, for the whole reason of being able to see people

Daniella
Sure

Kingston
But my own is, you know, it's just another day for me. I would say I personally enjoy housewarmings if only because oh god that's such an adult thing to say that. Because I like I'm at an age where you know people are starting to move in with their significant other or getting married or, you know, see, you know, start house hunting and stuff. So like, as opposed to going over to, you know, a college, you know, college, uh, friend's dorm or something, I'm actually going over and seeing someone's house and seeing their yard and, you know, seeing all the little things that they do to, you know, make the place at home, get to play with their dogs and all that. You know, that's actually the only reason why I like it, but

Daniella
Oh, yeah, I'm all about a dog thing.

Kingston
But like, obviously, nowadays, that isn't happening as much. For obvious reasons. Future listeners, you know, we're still in the middle of the pandemic.

Daniella
And yeah, if for whatever reason it happens to eradicate...

Kingston
Yeah, you know, otherwise, I would say I really like the sort of spontaneous or sporadic, uh, just get togethers, I think one time and in college, we just had, you know, a couple of friends over and then a couple of friends invited a couple of more friends and soon enough, we had like, about 15 to 20 people, and we weren't even drinking we were just hanging out in, in our, in our apartment. And it just happened to be St. Patrick's Day. And, you know, none of us really went out to bars or anything. We were just playing Dropkick Murphys all night and like, just, you know, smoking cigars, and you know, just running around having a wild time. Yeah, completely sober. And it was like one of the weirdest things to me because I lived in a frat house.

Kingston
That was that was kind of unusual, I suppose. And, you know, it was just a very organic and very like, unscripted night, I guess. And we had the cops called on us, and they thought that we were completely, you know, wasted, but we're just like, No, you know, we're just having a good time, we'll quiet down, you know, sorry, to the neighbors. But yeah, just doing our thing.

Daniella
Oh, that's funny. Yeah. No, I think I agree with that, too. Like, some of the best times, I think I've had where it's just like, like a fun game night, like, with my friends, like, there might be wine involved. But for the most part, it's like, fairly low key, like, the goal isn't to get like plastered, right? Like, the goal is to like, have fun and just enjoy, like, the moment with the people that that lets like in front of you, which is like, so rare. And I think the only time it's really been able to happen is like because of the pandemic at least like for like my really close friends.

Daniella
Or like my family members. So it's it's that's like one of the some of the best memories I have, at least from this pandemic is just those random game nights or the times where we all just kind of sat down and like actually got to talk to each other and like, look each other in the eye and just like laughed.

Kingston
Yeah, especially because, you know, I would say back in 2019 it was kind of a hard sell to just be like, Hey, guys, you guys want to sit around and talk to each other for a bit? And it's like, you know, that sounds fun, but... I'd rather be doing this other thing.

Daniella
Right, yeah, that's...

Kingston
What board games have you been playing?

Daniella
There's this card game that my roommate, so I had one of my best friends move in with me. He was getting a divorce, and his grandma had just passed, so he's going through a hard time and was like, not happy where he was living. So I said, Hey, like, I have an extra room, like, come live with me. Like, let's make this work. So he introduced me to this card game that his grandma had, and it was like his grandma had passed, and it was her old deck. So it's like very special to him. So we only play with that deck. And so we played this card game. I don't know if you've ever heard of Skipbo? But it's like,

Kingston
Never heard of it

Daniella
It's so fun. I don't know how to describe it. It's like, it's not like uno, where... it's like, you have to add up all these numbers, and it's really complicated. You just have to like play it. But it's actually not that complicated. As long as you know how to like add up to 12 you're fine.

Daniella
It's just it was just such a nice sentiment because it's like his grandma's deck, and I met her a couple times before she passed. And it was just like something that was special. And we all just got to like giggle and laugh and like, look at each other in the faces and like, you know, it's a strategic game too. So you kind of get to like, you know, kind of

Kingston
Get to screw people over.

Daniella
Yeah, exactly!

Daniella
And like a fun little card game way, I guess.

Kingston
Now, so like, was this something that he played with his grandma or was he also learning for the first time? Okay,

Daniella
yeah, he played with her.

Kingston
That's really sweet.

Daniella
Yeah, it was such a sweet moment and, I, you know, obviously, I'm gl–, you know, sad that she's not on this earth anymore. But it was like a nice thing that's kind of brought my whole household together because he lives with me. And then my sister lives with me. So all three of us get to play together. And if we have friends come over, it's, it's pretty nice. What kind of games do you like to play?

Kingston
Oh, man. So in terms of board games, I mean, because, because of the pandemic, we've been playing a lot of like jackbox and all the online ones.

Daniella
Jackbox is the best!

Kingston
But in person, Oh, man. There's this. There's this game called Boards of Waterdeep, and it is exactly as nerdy as it sounds, because it's based on like Dungeons and Dragons universe.

Daniella
Oh gosh, okay

Daniella
That amazes me like the col– cop–, it just gets too. It's too much. So I'm like,

Kingston
Yeah, I mean, I totally get that, you know, like, I enjoy Cards Against Humanity and all the other party games.

Daniella
Sure.

Kingston
But then, like, you know, some of the games, it's like, yeah, you know what, I guess I do want to spend three hours playing this board game.

Daniella
Wow, three hours!

Kingston
Yeah, that's an exaggeration. But you know, there are some that I have played that, that are basically an entire night, and we busted out maybe like once a year, because it's such a time commitment.

Kingston
But, you know, we've been playing other party games, like, Cards Against Humanity, apples to apples. You know, all the uh... Have you ever heard of like, One Night Ultimate Werewolf?

Daniella
No, what is that?

Kingston
It's, it's kind of it's a card game of sorts. And basically, like, up to, I think 12 people in play, and they're all they all take a certain role. And two people are kind of like, you know, werewolves and they you know, murder townspeople?

Daniella
Oh, dear.

Kingston
Yeah. So then like, it's basically one of those social deduction games where it's like, oh, who did it and how do you defend yourself? And you know, how, what what can you say to maybe screw over someone else, and stuff like that.

Laura
After listening to Daniela and Kingston's date, all I could think to myself was: SkipBo, Lords of Waterdeep, birthday celebrations, and housewarmings? Don't threaten me with a good time! So many people can think a good time must involve boozing, loud music, and questionable decisions. It's great to be reminded that often the best times come when we least expect it. Do you think Daniella and Kingston will keep the conversation going over a game night? Tune in to the end of the season to find out.

Laura
That's all we've got for you today. Shoot us a message on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook @theblinkdate or @dateinablink to let us know what you think. If you want to sign up to participate in Date in a Blink, visit our website at www.theblinkdate.com. In the meantime, thanks for joining for this episode. We hope you enjoyed listening and look forward to talking with you again next time.

Daniella
Oh, okay. So we played Scrabble, when my parents are in town not too long ago. That was fun. We like did teams because there was too many of us.

Laura
At this point in the date, I jumped in to let them know that their date had ended and let them say their farewells.

Episode Transcript

Laura
Hello and welcome to today's episode of Date in a Blink where we're hosting Teresa and Ben for a Blink Date.

Taly
What is Date in a Blink, you ask? It's a 10-minute, audio only, blind speed date experience. It's also a bit of social experiment designed to move people beyond look spaced assumptions, curated profiles, and marathon messaging.

Laura
We at the Blink Date want dating to be fun and inspiring for Blinkers and hope this podcast inspires you to try new ways of meeting people and dating. Will our handpicked matches find love on these Blink Dates? Or will they say goodbye to each other after 10 minutes and never look back?

Taly
If you're new here, we're so happy you could join us. If you're a regular, we're so glad you've returned. Before we jump into today's Blink Date, here's a quick word from our sponsors.

Laura
We're here on Date in a Blink today with Ben and Teresa. I'm going to let you to dive in but in case it's helpful to get the conversation started, I'm going to leave you with this question: What topic do you like to talk about that seldom comes up in conversation?

Laura
We're here on Date in a Blink today with Ben and Teresa. I'm going to let you two dive in, but in case it's helpful to get the conversation started, I'm going to leave you with this question: What topic do you like to talk about that seldom comes up in conversation?

Teresa
It's really interesting. I need a second I think about that.

Ben
Yeah, me too. Huh?

Teresa
Oh, okay. I think relationships with family, or more, so the friction points. So, I would say maybe like a little bit of the the harder stuff that are a little bit more difficult to navigate around with family members and relatives. I think especially right now, I feel it pretty acutely because I haven't seen my family in two years. So immediately, for me a lot of it is, it's like, oh, when's the last time you've seen them? Have you been able to go visit them during the pandemic? What I get asked a lot of and I haven't been able to, so I miss them a lot. But then, you know, there's a lot of underlying things. And yeah, I think that's always not talked about a lot. Because obviously, you have to be at quite a personal level with the other person. And yeah, sometimes it's just like, not the easiest conversation. So that would, that would be my not often discussed topic.

Ben
Yeah, my mind went in a really different direction. I went to sort of like all the shower thoughts that I might have.

Teresa
Yeah.

Ben
And like things that are just like, sort of, too bizarre and out there to talk about on, on a date. On a recent date, I had a long conversation about what do you read into the way that somebody sneezes, which is a very different vibe, but going off for like, 30 minutes having a deep in depth conversation about that. For me, it's like, I think it's sort of like the strange things that sort of like, pass through your mind and your like, huh, that's an odd thought, and don't really give it any, any attention. But then just, having really fun, just like going deep into that wormhole of this random thing that passed your mind when you were in the shower just sort of wandering.

Teresa
Right, right, and so are there certain body languages or I guess in this particular example how people sneezes that make you perceive them in a certain way or you know, shed some light into their personalities and things like that.

Ben
This all I guess, stemmed from, as I get older feeling like if I describe like, a dad sneeze, like would you know what that would even association with that? Like, to me it's that like, really like slow building sneeze, but then like, explodes through a room, right? where like, everyone stops like looks because it was so incredibly loud.

Teresa
Right? Like it reverberates.

Ben
It reverberates exactly like it just it even if you're in open space, it just echoes you know,

Teresa
right.

Ben
And I've noticed again, as I'm getting older, like I'm developing that as a trade, like my sneezes increasingly reverberate. What does that mean? You know, is that like, is that like, a socially learned thing as you get older as like, I should have louder sneezes now? Is there something happening? Is it just like part of aging?

Teresa
That's, that's hilarious. It's almost like an adult milestone that you're reaching.

Ben
Yeah, yeah. It's like you hear it one day. You're like, Oh, I must be I must be getting older because I have that. I have that sneeze now.

Teresa
Yeah. Always been amazed by people who have the very soft and almost like it's not their kind of mouse like sneeze where they it's not even that they've suppressed it, but it's just so soft and barely audible. That it's like, did you, did you just sneeze? Should I say bless you? You know, you're like it's barely happened.

Ben
Yeah, I see. So you' hear it and you're like, did that work? Like did that do it for you? Was that enough? Like it's just like a squeak

Teresa
Mmm, mmm

Ben
Yeah.

Teresa
Interesting. Yeah. Well, I guess for what it's worth my sneezes are very, I feel like categorically normal. Does not reverberate nor is it like a little squeak. So it's, it's quite typical listening.

Ben
It's like bringing that sweet spot in the middle.

Teresa
Yeah. I have found that recently when I do sneeze with my mask on I'm still doing the habitual you know, like sneezing into your arm. That type of thing when really I'm like, I don't really need to do that I have my mask on.

Ben
Yeah, that's the moment where like, when that happens, every instinct I have is like don't sneeze into the thing that's literally on your face. But that's exactly what you're supposed to do.

Teresa
Yeah.

Ben
This is maybe not the worst part of the pandemic, but we're like a small like real, like annoyances of that of, ah, can't just freely do it.

Teresa
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I hear you. I hear you. There's a lot of times also, actually, yesterday, I was at like, a soft opening of a gym. And they were taking photos. And it also came to me, or came to my mind when I had my mask on and photos were being taken. And they were like, 123 cheese. And I'm like, I am smiling. Like I'm smiling through my eyes. I'm trying really hard. And it's another one of those realizations. Like, yes, you have your mask on. It's one of those, I suppose like 2020, 2021 type of results of what it's like to always wear a mask, but still trying to carry a lot of these day to day normal routines or things like taking photos or sneezing where it it like suddenly reminds you that like, yeah, you are wearing one when it's become so normalized now, which is a good thing.

Ben
Yeah. Do you have a good smeyes? Do you think when you're masked and smiling that it comes through?

Teresa
You know, that's a great question. I would hope so. I think so i think i think so eye contact actually, for me is something that's really critical. And so I, I would say generally, I'm a pretty expressive person. And so I also really tried to maintain solid eye contact with anyone that I'm holding a conversation with. And so, because of that, I would think that I would try to also reciprocate a lot of like, my emotions and my expressions, not just with words, but also with my eyes. So when it comes, comes time for smiling. Yeah, I think I can smile through my eyes. What about you?

Ben
I think so! I was looking at some family photos that we just took and being like, does it does it come through? I think so. Maybe that's like a side effect of pandemic, we've all become very effective at communicating with the top half of our faces only. Right, like really emote from the nose up.

Teresa
Right, right. It's a lot of eyebrow work. A lot of eyebrow work. And, you know, like, if your eyes are glistening. That's That's a hard one though.

Ben
Man. That's really true. That's really true.

Teresa
Yeah, I was reading about how there's, you know, there's studies being done now as to whether or not children have to learn emotions and expressions through a different manner nowadays, given exactly that, like they, they they're reading people through their, you know, top half of the face, which is really different when you can read their lips and, you know, read their smiles and the wrinkles on their faces. So it's interesting.

Ben
Yeah, yeah. I work as a therapist, we've talked about if we go back to work in person, if we wear masks, and I'm like, I just couldn't do that. I couldn't try and read someone's emotions, or like, really fully emote back to them without having like, the full range of facial expression. Otherwise, I'd be like, what's happening in your eyes? What are you doing with your eyebrows? I can try to read really into your eyebrows because it's all I can see. It seems. It seems incredibly tough.

Teresa
Yeah. And has your therapy sessions gone virtual?

Ben
It's been all virtual, all happening from everyone's bedrooms, which is wild and fascinating. Like, sometimes you're hearing like roommates in the background, kids around, I've met everyone's pets. Turns out everyone in New York seems to own a cat. Including me, but I didn't know how widespread that was until now.

Teresa
Yeah. How have you found not being able to read their body language as well?

Ben
Well, I can sort of still see them but like we're not in person. So there's not there's a bit missing but I can still sort of see their full body like we're not masked I can see their faces. So you learn to do a lot of like virtual reading and figure out like how to do virtual like body language, like lean in closer to the camera, like stare at the camera as a way of making eye contact, which is also kind of bizarre.

Teresa
I am terrible at that. I've never done that. I always look at myself, which ends up being not the center of the camera.

Ben
Yeah. Oh man. I found that trap too. Like looking at myself and being like, Do I look professional right now? Do I look bored, or do I look interested? Like, what's, what's the what's the energy I'm getting off?

Teresa
Yeah, yeah.

Ben
Once your post pandemic priority, what's going to be the thing where you're like we're back?

Teresa
Um, for me personally, and I felt that a lot last night, I was going to the soft opening of my climbing gym. And so for me, it's getting back into climbing. And that's bouldering. And it's something that I've been... hadn't had the opportunity to do for a while over a year. Because it's closed down, I also moved and so, I hadn't realized

Laura
At this point in the date, I jumped in to let them know that their date had ended and let them say their farewells. Before this date with Ben and Teresa, I don't think I would have thought sneezing could be such an in depth topic. But when Ben mentioned dad sneezes, I am so glad I was on mute because I was cracking up. My dad sneezes reverberate throughout the house to the point that we would joke and say, was that an earthquake? Do you think Ben and Teresa will continue their shower thoughts conversation, maybe while rock climbing? Tune in to the end of the season to find out. That's all we've got for you today. Shoot us a message on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook @theblinkdate or @dateinablink to let us know what you think. If you want to sign up to participate in Date in a Blink, visit our website at www.theblinkdate.com. In the meantime, thanks for joining for this episode. We hope you enjoyed listening and look forward to talking with you again next time.

Episode Transcript

Taly
Hello and welcome to today's episode of Date in a Blink where we're hosting Jon and Michelle for a Blink Date.

Taly
What is Date in a Blink, you ask? It's a 10-minute, audio only, blind speed date experience. It's also a bit of social experiment designed to move people beyond look spaced assumptions, curated profiles, and marathon messaging.

Laura.
We at the Blink Date want dating to be fun and inspiring for Blinkers and hope this podcast inspires you to try new ways of meeting people and dating. Will our handpicked matches find love on these Blink Dates? Or will they say goodbye to each other after 10 minutes and never look back?

Taly
If you're new here, we're so happy you could join us. If you're a regular, we're so glad you've returned. Before we jump into today's Blink Date, here's a quick word from our sponsors.

Taly
We're here on Date in a Blink today with Jon and Michelle. I'm going to let you two dive in, but in case it's helpful to get the conversation started, I'm going to leave you with this question: What character from a book would you want to be for a day?

Jon
Did you want to answer that first? Or would you like me to tackle this question?

Michelle
You can definitely go first.

Jon
So, the character in a book that I would want to be is a character from a series of books known as Redwall. I'm not sure if you've heard of the Redwall series?

Michelle
Oh, all the animals?

Jon
Yes!

Michelle
Oh, my gosh, I love those.

Jon
Yeah. So, um, I think, just to imagine living life where I don't have to deal too much with the complexities of society would be interesting. I know—And also, just like, in the descriptions of the books, the way to describe all the food, it sounds really healthy, and really tasty, which I think is a little bit hard to come by in our world.

Michelle
Yeah, for sure. No, that... I feel like stealing your answer now. But I'm going to try not to because I actually haven't read fiction in a really long time now. So yeah, I usually read nonfiction nowadays. And when I think of fiction, I think of stuff back in like high school, like reading a lot of Dostoevsky, and really like, depressing stuff. And I'm like, I don't want to be the characters in any of these books—Of like, Slaughterhouse Five, and like, I don't know, Heart of Darkness. Like those kind of books. I'm like, Yeah, I don't think I want to be in that universe, um, sure. But I mean, gosh, ages ago, I used to read a lot of manga, if you are, like familiar with that. But um, I think I can't think of a specific thing. But it would be nice to be like, the main female character of like a shoujo manga, where you just have like, all these pretty things happening around you all the time. And you're just like the heroine of your story. That sounds so ridiculous

Jon
Oh no, that's great! I think—I understand manga, and I get all the references. So, um, at least all the references you make, I'm not completely knowledgeable about manga. But I think the idea of being able to be in control of your destiny, and it's one where you see a lot of the beauty in life rather than the you know, like sadness, or the darkness of it would be a wonderful world to live in.

Michelle
Yeah, for sure.

Jon
Yeah. I am curious, though. If you were to be in a shoujo manga, would you be in kind of like the high school slice of life type of area? Or would it be more of the worlds where you're already an adult? Or maybe in college?

Michelle
Wow, that's a very good question. Oh, my gosh, because there's like, definitely that, you know, nostalgia of like, oh, the back in the day when we were children like high school, young love kind of thing. And I don't know, at least in my high school days, I didn't really experience that. So I kind of like, experience vicariously through like characters that I would read about in like stories like that. And so it's, yeah, I think I think that would be kind of nice to be dropped into that alternate universe where like, younger Michelle actually has like a cute high school life, or something

Jon
No, no, I can relate to that.

Michelle
Yeah

Jon
My high school experience was was not the greatest either. It was very much a background character in all the movies.

Michelle
Oh no, yeah. It's like, what would you say that your high school life was just? Like, is that something you want to talk about it at all?

Jon
Well, I can talk about I don't mind. So I think for me, high school was a more difficult period, just because I grew up in an area where there was a lot of people with wealth. And my family didn't have that much wealth. So I was constantly going to school and seeing kids come in with like, the latest clothes or like the latest, you know, like, flip phone, because flip phones were a thing back then.

Michelle
Oh yeah

Jon
And so I think for me to kind of see that and not be able to like, keep pace or like do what all the cool kids did. The most of my high school life was just making sure that I didn't like get picked on. I was fortunate enough that I stumbled into speech and debate, and that was a place where I felt like I could grow and it was kind of like a collection of all the like, social misfits. We all got along and you know, at the end of it, I have found it to have made an impact on my life in that I care about speeches. I care about debating in a way that's constructive instead of just name calling. I find that I'm able to express myself a little bit better.

Michelle
Do you think that has been really helpful for you like in the past like months slash year in which there was a lot of like, you know, political unrest, etc. Like, did you did you manage to like stay away from tense discussions with people around you? Or like, Did you manage to have to use these debates skills? Or discussion skills? I guess, like, in the past year?

Jon
Yeah, I, I definitely try to keep the distance from people who get very heated about things. I think that usually when it comes to that point, it's not so much about discussing the merits of one point or another, it usually kind of starts feeling very personal and emotional. And at that point, it's best to just deescalate the situation. I personally did kind of use those skills. It was about getting the point across. And I find that this is partially from debate, and also from just like, my own experiences in learning about social psychology, as well as learning how to like empathize with other people is, as people were explaining their viewpoints to me, I would try to repeat it back to them so that I one, was able to encapsulate what they were trying to say, two, they felt heard. And I think that by establishing that I'm not there to necessarily prove them wrong, but to better understand their viewpoint, I think that helps to keep my political conversations civil and polite.

Michelle
Yeah, for sure. Oh, that sounds awesome. It's like definitely something that I wish we lived by, at least I wish I learned in school back in the day was like, I think they they train us a lot on like debate, which emphasizes like correctness, right? Like trying to prove that you are the right one. But I think like in life, when you are discussing like a lot of different things, like everyone's gonna have different viewpoints, and you can never like, truly be the same person because we aren't. It's like, it's more about understanding as opposed to agreement. And I think that was like a huge revelation to me, like, as an adult, where I'm just like, oh, the point of like, talking is not to debate to like, prove correctness, but it's so that you can understand each other's viewpoints. And I think it sounds like you're pretty well versed in that, that's pretty cool.

Jon
I mean, I definitely can continue to learn. I don't think I ever stop learning. But I am glad that I have been able to use what I've learned in the past to kind of help shape the present that I'm in now. I know that you had mentioned earlier, back from the first question that you now currently read a lot of nonfiction, I was curious as to what you've been reading recently, and things that have either been interesting facts about other people's lives, or interesting tidbits that you've learned for yourself. I'm not particularly well versed in nonfiction myself, but I see this as an opportunity to learn and to learn. Yeah, in general. So...

Michelle
Yeah, for sure. I i've been reading a lot of like, social psychology type of books. So I,

Jon
Oh nice!

Michelle
I was very intrigued when you mentioned that you were learning more about like social psychology and whatnot. But I'm trying to look at my book stack right now. And I think the one at the top of the stack is actually called Design Your Life. I can't see the author from here. But they, they use a lot of techniques from psychology, there's this one psychological technique called like motivational interviewing, which is like interviewing for the point of like, getting to the root cause or like, the root motivation of what you have. And then they're using that in order to like help... Like, the book is basically a self help book in order to like how to, like the title says, design your life and then like, make it more concrete so that you actually achieve the goals that you want to achieve. And I haven't gotten that far in it yet. So I, but I just think like, the entire concept is like super interesting. And another thing that I wish I learned in school definitely, like, it's like, I think sometimes like children are just thrown into the world. They're like, Oh, here's like your, you have to have goals. And then you have to go do them, right? Nobody tells you about like, proper, like goal planning, and proper like execution and like how to actually implement things and how to break things down so that it's like, more easily approachable.

Jon
So that's actually a very interesting point that you make. I agree. Completely. I think that in our school system, at least in the American school system, we get the building blocks for how to do things, you know, math, chemistry, or English language, but there's very little emphasis on how to connect on a social level, or connect on, like, in a reflective level.

Michelle
Yeah, yeah, I can totally go on rants about like how the education system teaches, like a specific type of way of approaching problems like I feel like we at least in the education system that I went through in my area, it's like there's a lot of emphasis on like doing things one time so it kind of breeds this very like perfectionist type of personality because you only have like one shot at doing an exam you only have one shot like writing an essay. And like I think college classes kind of try to mitigate that by having like, deadlines for a first draft, second draft etc. Because like in work like nowadays, it's nothing is ever like a one shot and then you You're like done, you're allowed to make mistakes, you're allowed to like iterate on something, like over and over again. And I think, at least in my education, I haven't been taught to do that. Like having the anxiety of having to do something perfectly the first time is like how my education has shaped the way I think and I'm trying to like break that now.

Taly
At this point in the date, I jumped in to let them know that their date had ended and let them say their farewells.

Taly
I don't know about you all, but hearing about redwall and Mongo was a real throwback for me. It was awesome to hear john and Michelle connect and open up about their past through the lens of what book characters they'd want to be. Do you think they matched? Tune in to the end of the season to find out.

Taly
That's all we've got for you today. Shoot us a message on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook @theblinkdate, or @dateinablink to let us know what you think. If you want to sign up to participate in Date in a Blink, visit our website at www.theblinkdate.com. In the meantime, thanks for joining us for this episode. We hope you enjoyed listening and look forward to talking with you again next time.

Episode Transcript

Laura
Hello and welcome to today's episode of Date in a Blink where we're hosting Bo and Isabelle for a Blink Date.

Taly
What is Date in a Blink, you ask? It's a 10-minute, audio only, blind speed date experience. It's also a bit of social experiment designed to move people beyond look spaced assumptions, curated profiles, and marathon messaging.

Laura
We at the Blink Date want dating to be fun and inspiring for Blinkers and hope this podcast inspires you to try new ways of meeting people and dating. Will our handpicked matches find love on these Blink Dates? Or will they say goodbye to each other after 10 minutes and never look back?

Taly
If you're new here, we're so happy you could join us. If you're a regular, we're so glad you've returned. Before we jump into today's Blink Date, here's a quick word from our sponsors.

Laura
We're here on Date in a Blink today with Bo and Isabelle. I'm going to let you to dive in but in case it's helpful to get the conversation started, I'm going to leave you with this question: What is the best way to spend a sunny day?

Bo
Awesome. Isabelle, pleasure to meet you. Do you want to go first or second?

Isabelle
Uh, I'll go second.

Bo
Okay, um, let's see... the best way to spend a sunny day. Um, well, I'm definitely someone who likes to get outside and be active. So on sunny days, I'm usually trying to go out, spend the day mountain biking getting to someplace that I've never been before. And then I would probably look to spend, you know, the evening somewhere watching the sunset in an, kind of a very unique spot. It's kind of how I'd handle it.

Isabelle
I see. I'm kind of very cat like, so you know, I would find like a sunny spot inside with plumbing and everything and just kind of curl up with like, other furry animals nearby and read. Um, and then I think I would like to go sailing because I live by the water. And yeah, it's really nice to sail outside when it's sunny. potentially get shitfaced and come back inside and eat every...

Bo
Now that's awesome. I did live by the water at one point in my life. It's been, it's been almost 20 years. But

Isabelle
Yeah, I'm a water person. It's really nice.

Bo
Do you own a boat?

Isabelle
Ah, no, I don't. Oh, that would be sweet, though. Um, yeah, I live nearby a lot of like, marina stuff. So there are a lot of places where you can rent or, have a friend, to those people with boats, so...

Bo
And so if you're, if you're ready to curl up and read a book, what are you reading right now? Or what would you like to start reading?

Isabelle
Ah, what am I reading? I think I stopped briefly because like, Oh, yeah, pandemics, like really affected, I guess like my ability to concentrate sometimes. But I like to read both fiction, nonfiction. I think I was reading this scary, um, before it got too heavy. Then, I also like to read pretty mathy books because I'm a scientist, and what else? Yeah, I mean, those are, my usual go-tos.

Bo
What would be an example of a mathy book, I guess?

Isabelle
Um, so I read a lot of like, academic papers. So I guess it's not really like a book. But I work in like machine learning areas. So I read a lot of like natural language processing or just general ML stuff. Yeah. Yeah, it's, it's usually not, I guess...

Bo
That's super interesting, especially like in today's day and age. So it sounds like that's a lot of really interesting things that you get to kind of do and obviously this, this whole experience here kind of falls into that bucket and in one shape or fashion. So after a year of kind of being in the pandemic, pandemic, now, what's the one thing you've kind of like felt yourself saying, "When this is all over, I'm going to blank," like, what do you find yourself kind of saying to yourself over and over again, for when things just completely open up again?

Isabelle
Oh, my God, I need to take a vacation like an actual real vacation. Like instead of like because if you when you take a vacation, when you're working from home and you can't go outside, you end up just, you know, couch potato-ing, and I don't really count that as a vacation and that's been like all of my vacation throughout 2020 and 2021. So I think once the pandemic is over, I wanna, I want to go to Hawaii and just chill there for like, a good two weeks, you know? Yeah, and just sit by the water, do nothing. Eat an actual meal vacation where you can go outside.

Isabelle
Hey, yeah, what about you?

Bo
Um, yeah, the same. Get back to traveling. I'd love to get back to Europe, again, it's been a while. So I'd love to get over there and, and to explore. I thought definitely found myself wanting to go visit friends and family haven't seen in a while and just give them a hug, which sounds probably a little weird. But it's kind of one of those things after you know, being cooped up for a certain amount of time, you start to learn a lot about the things that you're grateful for that you haven't had the chance to do in quite a while. So I'll be looking forward to seeing people I haven't seen now, you know, over a year and just having that basic interact with human interaction, but I guess we haven't had in quite some time.

Isabelle
That's true. No, that is very true. Yeah, I haven't really like, you know, I physically hung out with friends in a really long time, because I've always seen them on Zoom or something, we have a group chat. But yeah, it's not the same.

Bo
Yeah, I guess that's been the one highlight. I have found myself doing a lot of these. Zoom catch ups with a lot of friends, but sometimes it's just one on one. And sometimes there's three of us do, a, doing happy hours and stuff. I'll be curious if that continues, there's a part of me that does hope that it continues. Because I certain, there are certain people that I've kept up with more than I had in the past. But it's, it's been an interesting follow on effect.

Isabelle
Yeah, that's actually been pretty nice, because I have a lot of really close friends really far away from me. But yeah, this is like giving me an excuse to talk to them, which is really nice.

Bo
It's nice, but it's also kind of sad, too, and I say the same thing where, you know, for quite a while I was like, Yeah, I should have been keeping up with these people in my life more because the technology's been around for plenty long. It's just this is really kind of forced it to the front and center.

Isabelle
Yeah, you think about distances differently, right? Like,

Bo
You do.

Isabelle
It's weird because it's like, once like, like, when I was little like, I would think of distances and something that's like, just not comparable in any way. Like, I'm just like, Okay, well, like I've moved schools, so I guess I'm just gonna stop talking to you. But it's not like that anymore because you're like, Is it really though?

Bo
Yeah, it's not an excuse, I don't, I don't think anymore, which is st— I lived overseas for quite a while.

Isabelle
Oh where?

Bo
Oh I lived in Hong Kong for a bit.

Isabelle
Oh nice!

Bo
Yeah, so and I definitely use it now part of it's a time zone thing. Which is still something to get around. But I still talk to my friends a lot in Hong Kong now that everyone's doing the Zoom thing. So I definitely should have made a bigger effort to kind of do that.

I Isabelle
I went to Hong Kong like for a conference recently, it was really nice.

Bo
Yep.

Isabelle
Yeah, it's such a beautiful place

Bo
It is a beautiful place. And certainly unlike what most people think it looks like. And I think the culture is a little different than what a lot of people think, as well. But it was at an AI conference, or what kind of conference did you go?

Isabelle
Yeah, it was, it was an NLP conference. And I think I think it was like, in one of the islands like lantau Island.

Bo
Yeah

Isabelle
That's where we had a conference and that you could sort of like go to the mainland, mainland, if you want to, but then you have to have a whole other separate passport process, which, like I didn't do. So I just stuck around to the island and it was really nice.

Bo
Yeah, that's awesome.

Isabelle
Yeah, lots of hiking and yeah,

Bo
I guess we'll get back to conferences and stuff, too. And

Isabelle
Oh my god, yeah! This conference, so I had a paper accepted at another conference.

Bo
Congratulations

Isabelle
Yeah. And it was supposed to be at Punta Cana in Dominican Republic and I was so excited because it was like one of those really, really competitive ones to get into. And the last, the very last possible minute, they cancelled it. And it was virtual. That was really sad.

Bo
Oh, no!

Isabelle
I know,

Bo
That's, that's really a bummer. I'm trying to imagine what an AI conference would be like. I'm just kind of picturing a bunch of people talking around talking about like deep neural networks and stuff. weird, weird pairing techniques like that. Have no idea what

Isabelle
It's like, I feel like it's an excuse to just hang out. It's cool. Like To be honest, informational sharing sort of happens offline. So you either read papers or talk to people. I mean, sometimes it's really nice to like meet people face to face. But honestly, during the conference timeframe, it's really all about like, like, let's go out to eat. Let's like get to know you in person. Rather than explain this, like, ridiculously new technology to me in 15 minutes, like...

Bo
Yeah, it's not really an elevator pitch scenario. But I guess that's the case with many different conferences.

Isabelle
Yeah. What about you? What do you do?

Bo
I work in real estate investing.

Isabelle
Oh, nice.

Bo
Yeah, I've done a lot of different things. I also come from a mathematics background as well. So I do a lot of like, backend, statistical modeling.

Isabelle
What's like real estate like, what's like working in real estate like?

Bo
Um, oh, man, I don't know how I'd really explain what it's like, per se. But it's it. When you're on the investment side, you look at it just as, um...

Laura
At this point in the date, I jumped in to let them know that their date had ended and let them say their farewells.

Laura
It's not everyday that you have two people come to the table that have a mathematics background. It was really cool to learn that Bo and Isabelle shared that in common. It's a major bummer that Isabelle wasn't able to go to a prestigious conference that she was accepted to. The optimist in me hopes that there will be many future conferences that she'll be able to attend and who knows, maybe she'll have a plus one. Tune in to the end of the season to find out. That's all we've got for you today. Shoot us a message on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook @TheBlinkDate or @DateinaBlink to let us know what you think. If you want to sign up to participate in Date in a Blink, visit our website at www.theblinkdatecom. In the meantime, thanks for joining for this episode. We hope you enjoyed listening and look forward to talking with you again next time.

Episode Transcript

Taly
Hello, and welcome to today's episode of Date in a Blink, where we're hosting Mel and Joe for a Blink Date. What is Date in a Blink, you ask? It's a 10-minute, audio-only blind speed date experience. It's also a bit of social experiment designed to move people beyond looks based assumptions, curated profiles, and marathon messaging.

Laura
We at The Blink Date want dating to be fun and inspiring for Blinkers, and hope this podcast inspires you to try new ways of meeting people in dating. Will our handpicked matches find love on these Blink Dates? Or will they say goodbye to each other after 10 minutes and never look back?

Taly
If you're new here, we're so happy you could join us. If you're a regular, we're so glad you've returned. Before we jump into today's Blink Date, here's a quick word from our sponsors.

Taly
We are here on Date in a Blink today with Joe and Mel. I'm going to let you to dive in, but in case it's helpful to get the conversation started, I'm going to leave you with this question: When you travel, do you prefer to plan the trip out in advance? Or do you prefer to arrive and figure out what to do day to day?

Joe
Well, nice to meet you.

Mel
Nice to meet you, Joe.

Joe
Yeah, I'll let you, uh...

Mel
Um, so I, I am like the worst person to travel with, according to my friends. Because I don't like... I'm fine with planning before, but like, not planning out our entire trip. Like, let's hit five or six things, and then let the rest of the trip be what the rest of the trip is going to be. You may meet new people, you may want to see other things. But if you're like on this agenda, it's like, No, we have to wake up at six o'clock in the morning. I don't want to do that. I want to be patient. I want to wake up when I wake up, I want to eat breakfast, maybe have a mimosa, like whatever I decide to do. And then say okay, I guess we'll go see that thing at two o'clock in the afternoon. Or we may not like let's keep it loose. I just don't like to, like plan a trip because I plan at work. I have to be structured at work. I don't want to do that on vacation.

Joe
Yeah. Yeah, I kind of, think I've, like, growing to learn to, to do that. Because Yeah, I'm kind of like very not like a scheduler, but I like to kind of like have an idea on like, what's gonna happen kind of thing or, or, you know, I visited Italy years ago. And it was like a childhood dream of mine to go to Italy and see all the ruins and all the, you know, old school Roman stuff. And so I was kind of like, I don't know when the next time I'm going to be here. So I, I need to see this, and see this, and see this, you know, and it was kind of exhausting. It was like an exhausting trip was like nine days of non stop like–

Mel
Exactly!

Joe
–doing that. Yeah. And I didn't get to kind of just chill at like a cafe and just people watch.

Mel
Yep.

Joe
Which I think is like, where I'm at.

Mel
Yeah it's like the best. Like if people watching is so much fun. Me and my friends went to Paris one year. And there's three of us and one of my friends was sick. So she's like, oh I'm not going to get up this morning. I said, Okay, fine. So we went to a cafe, and did exactly that. Except where there were no people to watch. And we were confused. Because we were up and we're like, Where are the people? And and the waiter was like, people in Paris don't get up early. And we were like, it's 830. Like, in the morning, not like to you know, six o'clock. You're like, no, people won't start coming in here until maybe 11. We were like, really? He's like, yeah, y'all sit here and we'll show you, and we out there, and we felt like maybe, you know, a couple people trickling across the window. And it was like, 1045 and then like, people kept started coming in. And he kind of winked over at us, like, you see what I'm saying? Like, we were up every day before Paris. It was like, This is weird, but they stayed up until 4am. We didn't.

Joe
Yeah, that's like they have I mean, Europeans in general, just have a way more relaxed.

Mel
Yeah.

Joe
Yeah. Like, American, Americans are so stressed. And so, you know,

Mel
So stressed.

Joe
So not used to it. Like, you know, the one cafe that I did just kind of like get to sit at in Rome and just like, relax, like, you know, we saw, I think I saw like the waiter maybe once or twice.

Mel
Yep.

Joe
You know, like, they just, and you know, it's like, so used to, you know, like, kind of Hurry up, sit down and kind of leave type thing that wasn't used to them just literally, like letting me be and like, chill, like, and it was so weird. It was like parts of me were getting annoyed or like, Where's this guy? But then I was kind of like, Alright, I guess I guess when I read that. They don't want to like turn the table. It's fine. Yeah, so it's... It's interesting. Yeah, as you get a little older, you kind of start appreciating more of just like, slowing it down y'know

Mel
Slowing it down is good, I think. I think COVID taught everyone to take, take a beat. Like, just, we're gonna slow you down a little bit. And enjoy. Like, it was awful.

Joe
What's like, one thing that I guess you reflected on like, over this time, like, kind of slowing down and like,

Mel
Yeah, it kind of solidified my, I don't like get lonely. So quick backstory, I have an Irish twin. So me and my brother are 10 months apart.

Joe
Ah sweet

Mel
Yeah, and so I don't know, life without him. You know, from from day one that I can remember, he was always there and always in my face. So I kind of cherished as a kid those times, like if I would be sick home, and he had to go to school, it was like, I'm by myself. My mom's Let me take a nap. You know, like, it was quiet. I didn't grow up. And you know, ninja turtles were big, you know, you know, everything was three ninjas, and karate chopping. And so he was very—and I don't have any sisters—So it was like, we did everything that he wanted to do. So boy stuff, boy stuff. So it was always loud. So I learned that I can be by myself and really enjoy that time. And I think it served me as an adult. But as I like, got older, I thought, is this you being like a crazy person or you like, because everyone else does seem to get so lonely? And I'm like, No, I'm fine by myself. And, you know, and then COVID happened. And I had to be alone. And it was like kind of solidified to me. This is fine. Like you can you can survive. You've been training for this your whole life. Because you like this, for the most part, you could still call people and FaceTime when you wanted interaction, but I didn't need someone physically there with me. And I think I maybe came out of it a little bit better because of that. So you know, thanks to my Irish twin, you know, for you know, getting me battle tested for COVID.

Joe
Yeah, that's amazing. Yeah, I agree. I kind of agree, it's like, slowing it. Everything is slowing down and just kind of not, not feeling like you needed to be somewhere whether it was like, you know, work related or even, like socially, like, you know, you have those things like, well, I don't feel like going out tonight. But if I don't go out, then, you know, they might do something fun without me. And then I'll be...

Mel
Fear of missing out.

Joe
Yeah, that's it. Yeah. It's like, not having to stress about that. And just, you know, then realizing that, yeah, it's fine. It's not a big deal. You know

Mel
Do you work from home a lot? Or did you?

Joe
I mean, I did, and that was the other thing too. It's like, I work... I pretty much like, more or less, like, live in the office. You know, it's like my, like, long days, like, you know, nine to that's pretty much a nine to six, but you know, it then plus travel time. So you know, I'm gone, like out of the apartment for like, all, you know, most of the day. So it's like, I was kind of like, if I felt like I was paying rent on this place, but not even like, being in it. So yes, I got to move to work from home. And it's been like, the greatest experience of my life. It's like I've been waiting my entire life for this. And, yeah, it's like, I've just got like, two promotions. And I'm like, you know, because I've been doing so much better, you know, productive wise, like being home. And they did a point where they like pulled me aside on zoom and like, be like, you're doing really good. Like, what's changed? I was like, that's like, I don't like need to be around any of you

Mel
I don't want to be there. That's what it is.

Joe
Yeah, so hopefully, what about you? Have you been able to...?

Mel
I was, yeah, I was working from home every day, except for I had to go into an office. I just moved to California, like two months ago. So I was in Michigan and I had to drive like 100 miles to my worksite like every two weeks for like two days. But other than that I was at home for you know, most of the year. And I got a, I got a dog. And so now she's a COVID dog so she doesn't understand now that I'm here. I'm going to work three days a week, she's so confused. And so I take her to a daycare, and that kind of helps like her like not be like anxious about me being away.

Joe
Yeah.

Mel
Like when I first started like, adventuring out and like going back to the gym when gyms kind of open back and like, you know, things kind of open back. We were both very anxious. She was anxious that I was gone. And I was anxious that she was home alone. So it was like we we had to get used to being back in society. And by we I mean me because she never she was seven weeks old during COVID. She didn't know about like, I go to work, I do things. So now I pay an exorbitant amount for daycare to for both of us to keep her from being anxious and for me to not feel bad about her being home alone. So it's it works out. But I think, you know, pluses and minuses of COVID

Joe
Yeah, that's the one thing I'm not looking forward to, if I have to go back, because I have a dog, too, he's a senior dog he's, like, over 12.

Mel
Okay.

Joe
And, you know, he's starting to slow down. So being, being able to like be around them for this past year has been like, probably great for him and me, because he's like, just chill and everything to spend time with me. So starting to get a little kind of anxious about going back in leaving him and getting a walker and then or bring him to daycare because daycare is like, he used to go a lot when he was younger, but he's too old now. So you can't really like

Mel
yeah,

Joe
you know, so

Mel
daycare's for younger dogs. It's not...

Joe
Yeah, I don't know. I mean, if, you know, I think they have like, you know, if they have older dogs, they're they like separate them and keep them around more humans than dogs or something. But yeah, we'll see. That's like one thing too. That's gonna be interesting.

Taly
At this point in the date, I jumped in to let them know that their date had ended and let them say their farewells. Listening to Joe and Mel chat about traveling and sitting in cafes in Paris and Italy has me feeling some serious wanderlust. I'm usually a plan a trip ahead kind of person, but COVID has definitely taught me to slow down and appreciate the little things. Do you think Joe and Mel will meet up at a cafe to people watch pups in tow? Tune in to the end of the season to find out. That's all we've got for you today. Shoot us a message on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook @TheBlinkDate or @DateinaBlink to let us know what you think. If you want to sign up to participate in date in a blink, visit our website at www.theblinkdate.com. In the meantime, thanks for joining us for this episode. We hope you enjoyed listening and look forward to talking with you again next time.

Episode Transcript

Laura
Hello and welcome back to today's episode of Date in a Blink where we're hosting Savannah and Ping for a Blink Date.

Taly
What is Date in a Blink, you ask? It's a 10-minute, audio-only blind speed date experience. It's also a bit of a social experiment designed to move people beyond looks based assumptions, curated profiles, and marathon messaging.

Laura
We at the Blink Date want dating to be fun and inspiring for Blinkers, and hope this podcast inspires you to try new ways of meeting people and dating. Will our handpicked matches find love on these Blink Dates, or will they say goodbye to each other after 10 minutes and never look back?

Taly
If you're new here, we're so happy you could join us. If you're a regular, we're so glad you've returned. Before we jump into today's Blink Date, here's a quick word from our sponsors.

Laura
We're here on Date in a Blink today with Savannah and Ping. I'm going to let you to dive in, but in case it's helpful to get the conversation started, I'm going to leave you with this question: Where would you go on holiday right now if time and money were no object?

Ping
Ladies, first, I'm gonna pawn the responsibility off on you, and buy myself a couple minutes.

Savannah
All right, um, let's see if I, where would I go on vacation if I could? Um, well, I've been to Ecuador in South America., and I really enjoyed that experience, and like using the little bit of high school Spanish that I remembered while there, and I've also been to Ireland, over in Europe. And so you know, honestly, I actually really enjoy like, going to South America. So I'd probably pick another country, maybe Argentina maybe, and just, you know, go exploring and have some fun and do some hikes and meet some locals. And I really enjoyed my time over there. And I would love to go back. So that's, well, that's where I would go.

Ping
What was what was particularly attractive about Ecuador, or wherever else you went in South America?

Savannah
Um, that's a good question. I really, you know, when I actually went, like, when I was fresh out of high school, and I, I was a lot more familiar with my Spanish, and I just really enjoyed, you know, I was in the city, in the capital city, Quito, and I was staying with a host family. And I was also like, volunteering at the same time. And then I would travel on the weekends and like, go for hikes or go to the river, or the mountains. And I just enjoyed my time so much, because it was I was able to volunteer, give back, meet people. And then—but I was also able to, like travel and enjoy that. And so I would, I just really liked the community and just kind of like a different way of life down there. And it's just kind of was just refreshing experience.

Ping
Yeah, it's like a slower pace a little more, but, kind of—what, more community based? Is that, is that kind of...?

Savannah
Yeah, definitely more communities. Definitely, like traveling. I mean, traveling was so different. You could travel by like, taxi or you could travel on the kind of bus system. And I think that's just, I'm just so used to like driving everywhere in LA like myself, and it was just a different experience.

Ping
Yeah, it makes sense. That's Yeah, I mean, that's, that's incredible. Yeah, I guess where I would like to go. Um, so I guess recently, you know, with COVID, and everything, I'll be sitting around at home, so a little bit, and watch a lot of YouTube. And I'm getting a bit of FOMO watching the a couple of different YouTube accounts that they're kind of, actually so these are people who motorcycle and they would just ride a motorcycle on a really long trip. So there's this guy who started out in Alaska, and he is currently I think, in... I want to say Peru, I think. And he is basically trying to go from Alaska, all the way down to Tierra del Fuego. So something like that would be incredible. I mean, that's, that's a different sort of travel, you know, to sort of travel where you have to go eight months or something like that. That sounds like an incredible experience. Pretty tough, but also pretty incredible. And probably somewhere a little more short term, a little more reasonable, I guess, in terms of a travel location, but as looking at in the fall, there is the Mattack games. So these are basically the Olympics for Central Asian countries. Kazakhstan, all the -stans, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, where they do cool sports that are specific to those people who have these kind of horseback riding archers or sports that look really fun. And the experience just looks so different than what we in LA and also just in the Western world really are exposed to. Yeah, and then I think this year, it's in eastern Turkey. In the past it’s been in Kyrgyzstan. So yeah, so you know, if everything opens back up by then, that would be awesome to go visit

Savannah
that—that sounds really interesting. I have never heard of that before. And so that is, that is really cool. That is a unique answer. And that's really interesting. Um going back to your, so would you, would you do the your travel like on a motorcycle or you use a different mode of transportation?

Ping
If I could I would and if I had the sort of time and kind of comfort on a motorcycle that i think i would i do ride a motorcycle, but, um, kind of a lot of, basically, from what I see on YouTube, it seems like a lot of what you deal with day to day is maintenance of the bike. Because you say you're going 8000 miles or something crazy like that. It's gonna break down in the middle of like, middle of the jungle in Nicaragua, and you're not getting it off the mountainpass to like a mechanic anytime soon. So you better get the bike running yourself or you're stuck there for God knows how long.

Savannah
Oh, my goodness. Right, right.

Ping
Yeah, but that's, that's definitely something I kind of wanted to try, like, y'know, the motorcycling aspect is great. I've done little short trips in California myself, which is it's beautiful. But it really is like the experience of on your own kind of you're, you're, you're your own man in the world, there's no one else to rely on. And that kind of that solitude while having, you know, a goal to achieve whether it's right, the next city or the next station, it's kind of that that's what really appeals to me there.

Savannah
Right. Interesting. All right. Um, that that sounds really cool. I'm curious, I have a question for you. What is something that your friends recognize in you or like, describe you as, but you don't maybe necessarily, like relate to it? Or you don't... you... Does that question make sense?

Ping
Yeah, it kind of makes sense. Yeah, it makes sense. In terms like, what other people with my friends or whoever seems to see in me, but I don't always identify myself. I see that as part of my identity. I mean, my, some of my friends think I'm funny in a very kind of dry kind of British humor sort of way. I've never thought much, thought of myself as a particularly funny guy. But, um, I don't know, I mean, I take it as a compliment.

Savannah
That is, that is a great compliment to think that you're funny, but you don't really recognize that.

Ping
Yeah. How about you? Is there a trait in yourself that your friends see?

Savannah
um, I think like more, like, you know, just, like confidence, like, I guess I come across very, very positive and very confident. And I do I mean, I do try, I'm actually like a teacher. And so that's like, a huge part of my job, and everything like that is, you know, being up at the front of the room, being engaging. And so I think, like, that's a huge part of like, myself, but like, do I necessarily see that as like, a strength of mine? I don't think so. I think I am, I'm a lot more self conscious. And like, kind of doubt myself, but like, I'm glad on the outside that I seem like a very confident person, a very positive person. And, you know, I'm trying, I've been working really hard this last year to, you know, recognize that confidence and be more confident in myself, like, on the inside and then on the outside to kind of like match that. So I just thought is interesting.

Ping
Yeah, I mean, you, obviously, I can't see you, but it sounds like you are outgoing, confident. I mean, just from the eight minutes that we've been talking seems like, seems that way, filling your friends, right? If not, there might be something you've learned as you growing up or you became a teacher, so maybe something to kind of force yourself to learn to do but yeah, that's, that's... it sounds like you're very confident, very outgoing person.

Savannah
All right. Would you prefer coffee, tea, or neither?

Ping
I don't really drink—you most of the time, but I do probably drink tea a little more than coffee. never really got into coffee is like every morning sort of person. All my friends are, they're people who can't function without a cup of coffee. never really got into it. Even through college and the times when people generally start drinking coffee. Yeah. Are you are you a coffee every morning person?

Savannah
Um I am not like a hot coffee every morning but I do I do love a good iced coffee like rain shine any weather, I mean, I enjoy it, but do I need it to like feel awake or energetic or to be a morning person? No, I am a morning person already. But I do enjoy an iced coffee.

Ping
What's your preferred Iced Coffee blend?

Savannah
usually carmel, like some iced caramel coffee is just my favorite. And yeah, I like small coffee shops over maybe like Starbucks. They could be more expensive and the wait times a little bit longer. But um I really like supporting like this small little coffee shop vibes and I just miss working in coffee shops like that's my, my favorite thing to do is like go hang out at a coffee shop and like work and get stuff done and like people watch and all of that.

Ping
Yeah, I mean that's that's definitely something that we're missing out on now and I've Yeah, I definitely think I do my best work in a coffee shop

[Sound]

Laura
At this point in the date, I jumped in to let them know their date had ended and let them say their farewells.

Laura
Mm-mm-mmm-mm-mm, iced caramel coffee sounds really good right now! Am I the only one craving that? From next travel destination to local coffee shops, I wonder if Savannah and Ping will take an adventure to meet up in person once it’s safe to do so, maybe hop on a motorcycle and ride south for a while… Tune in to the end of the season and we’ll see if they took a journey together.

Laura
That's all we've got for you today. Shoot us a message on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook @theblinkdate or @dateinablink to let us know what you think. If you want to sign up to participate in Date in a Blink, visit our website at www.theblinkdate.com. In the meantime, thanks for joining for this episode. We hope you enjoyed listening and look forward to talking with you again next time!

Episode Transcript

Taly
Hello, and welcome to today's episode of Date in a Blink, where we're hosting Ilya and Michelle for a Blink Date. What is Date in a Blink you ask? It's a 10-minute, audio-only, blind speed date experience. It's also a bit of social experiment designed to move people beyond looks based assumptions, curated profiles, and marathon messaging.

Laura
We at the Blink Date want dating to be fun and inspiring for Blinkers, and hope this podcast inspires you to try new ways of meeting people and dating. Will our handpicked matches find love on these Blink Dates? Or will they say goodbye to each other after 10 minutes and never look back?

Taly
If you're new here, we're so happy you could join us. If you're a regular We're so glad you've returned. Before we jump into today's blink date. Here's a quick word from our sponsors.

Hey listeners, a quick heads up before you listen to this episode. Unfortunately, we had some connectivity issues that resulted in Ilya and Michelle not being able to hear each other during certain parts of their date. You won't really be able to tell though, because the recording tool we use records and saves audio locally, meaning we are able to salvage the audio. Even so you may notice some exchanges seem out of sync making the conversation flow seem a little bit off. We did our best. Thank you for your support, and we hope you enjoy the episode.

We are here today on Date in a Blank with Ilya and Michelle. I'm gonna let you to dive in, but in case it's helpful to get the conversation started, I'm going to leave you with this question: What has been your biggest adventure?

Michelle
Okay. Um, You want to go first, Ilya?

Ilya
Sure! A few years ago, I actually took my grandpa to Costa Rica for his birthday. He was turning 87. And I took them zip lining. I took them river rafting. He was very adventurous in his youth, and I thought it'd be fun to kind of bring that out towards his later years. My grandma's not very mobile. So I thought it'd be a good kind of experience for him and I to have our time together. And we had a wonderful 10 days exploring Costa Rica.

Michelle
Oh that's so sweet. Is, like, is that a place that he's always wanted to go to? Or did you just come up with that spontaneously?

Ilya
I just kind of thought South America and Costa Rica kept popping up in kind of travel ideas. And I saw a lot of people doing adventure trips into Costa Rica. And know zip lining was always something he wanted to do. And it wasn't something that he got to really experience anywhere else. He used to be a mountaineer and, a, err, Alpine person... alpinist, but he didn't get to experience ropes course before, and he had a blast just being able to fly through the trees.

Michelle
Mm hmm. Oh, wow. No, that's so awesome. Like I, I pretty much have like kind of a similar idea. But for my mother because I don't really have any of my grandparents left. But um, yeah, I took my mom to Japan a couple years ago. And like, as she told me that one of her childhood dreams was to like travel the world, etc, all that stuff, but it didn't really get to happen. So now that I have the means to I was like, you know, I'm gonna take you everywhere that I can because I have no one else to go with anyway. And it's really nice to see like the world like the way through her eyes as well, because it's almost like she's reliving her childhood, and Japan was amazing. The first night that I landed actually was like, probably one of the biggest struggles I had in my life because I didn't have any like cash on me. And I didn't realize that you can't take like the Tokyo Metro without cash. And then all of the offices that were like for exchanging currency and whatnot, were already closed because I landed really late. And it was just like such a struggle and like I tried to get an Uber and then I lost my wallet on the Uber and so like when I got to my hotel I couldn't even check in because I didn't have a car. And I was like, Oh my gosh, like everything that's possibly going wrong right now is like going wrong. So, but it was a lot of fun. Yeah, it worked out. Turned out my mom had money on her, so I was like, Oh, thank goodness. Because I did not like, plan this theory that well.

Ilya
Yeah, that's something I also ended up experiencing on the Costa Rica trip. When, when we went the currency exchange office was also closed. So now I know to exchange my currency before leaving, and just hoping that when I get in, everything will be ready for me. Yeah. Where'd you get to go in Japan?

Michelle
Where did I go in Japan, um, I landed in Tokyo and I took the train down to Kyoto. And I did like a day trip to like Osaka. And so it just kind of like the usual stuff and since it was like the first time I've been to Japan. So I was like, Okay, I'm probably going to hit like, all of the biggest touristy landmarks first. Mostly because like, I don't know, I think a lot of people will tend to look down on touristy things, but I'm like, Oh, well, a lot of these are like historical architectural landmarks. So I enjoy that a lot. But um, definitely whenever I get to come back, I want to go see the countryside, and I want to go to like all of the other islands and whatnot too because they have like, I don't know, different, I guess, like different weather around there. So maybe some of the cultures like slightly different depending on the seasonal offerings and whatnot. But um, yeah, do you think you're gonna take your grandpa to another place anytime soon? Or after the pandemic, I guess?

Ilya
We've been planning a motorcycle trip. I'm not sure how well it's gonna work out. But he's kind of wanted to sit on the back of my bike and see how far we can get. I was thinking of just doing some camping in Oregon. Keep it nice and simple and that way, but I haven't—I'm not sure. It's definitely something that's nerve racking for both of us. I haven't had a passenger on the back. And he's not been on a motorcycle. Last time he was he was, I think 22 and he led the motorcycle fly from under him.

Michelle
Wow. Do you regularly like drive a motorcycle? Or is that something that you have to learn to do this trip?

Ilya
No, I regularly ride my motorcycle. It's been a lot of fun. For the last five years, I called it my quarter life crisis, just to be able to get that out of the way. And it's been a blast. I took my mother with me to the motorcycle course. That way, she got to get some experience too and kind of calm her down from me being on the motorcycle. So that's that was definitely fun. Did you get to do anything with your mother in that form? Have you taken um an adventure class with your mom?

Michelle
Um not, hmm... let me think about this actually. Um, no. In—in Japan, like if speaking about Japan specifically. No, we didn't really do anything crazy. I did take her to Vietnam shortly after, as well. And like, Yeah, she she's never been there either. So Vietnam is like definitely way way different from Japan in the sense that it's like, it's hectic. It's like sensory overload crazy everything. But I was—I was contemplating like trying to get on one of the they have like an Uber service for like mopeds and motorcycles in Vietnam. And, like, I was like, Oh, this is probably the fastest way to get around. But then once I saw, like, all of the cars and traffic that was going on Vietnam, I was like, Okay, I'm like, terrified. There's like no such thing as like, compliance with, you know, traffic lights whatsoever. And every lane is like 10 different directions. So it gets pretty scary. But that's really cool that you drive a motorcycle. It's like, definitely a very nice, like, quarter life crisis type of thing, because it makes you cooler, I guess.

Ilya
Yeah, it definitely was fun being around, a kind of group of like minded people is, is great, but it has been tricky in some places. I've gotten into a little bit of trouble with motorcycle as well. But I've luckily steered clear of that trouble.

Michelle
What kind of trouble did you get into?

Ilya
Oh, I've run into a few motorcycle clubs that were not too fond of the motorcycle that I had. Or a couple others that were overly fond of the motorcycle I had. One wanted me to ride his motorcycle, and for him to take off on my motorcycle. I did not take him up on that offer. I like my bike too much.

Michelle
That's, that's an interesting problem to have. Yeah. What other like, life crises type of activities Have you picked up?

Ilya
I've tried volunteering some more. I don't think that's so much a life crisis. I think that's just general, I got into a stage where I was able to help more people than getting helped. And so I've been volunteering at various food dispensaries. That way, I feel like food is someplace from the heart. So I really like to help out in kitchens wherever I can.

Michelle
I really like that. I, I say it a lot to some people when I'm trying to be like, cheesy, romantic, but I'm just like, food is an expression of love. In like, all the best ways, because it's like, at the bare bones, you know? sustenance, right, it keeps you alive. And what else can you do that is like, as simple as telling someone you care about them by like, other than giving them food. And also, like all the work that people put into, like making these things like enjoyable, and then the community aspect of like, eating together and stuff like that. So that's really cool. Yeah, I've definitely picked up more volunteering recently, too. And for the same reasons where I was just like, Oh, you know, kind of at a spot in my life where I can start helping other people as opposed to being the one being helped. And yes, I like that. That's cool.

Ilya
What's the number one thing that you're looking forward to post pandemic?

Michelle
Oh, man, probably just being able to travel again. Like, I'm, I definitely have been learning to enjoy like the little things day to day, especially because like—

Taly
At this point in the date, I jumped in to let them know that their date had ended, and let them say their farewells.

Despite the audio issues, Ilya and Michelle were able to bond about taking their family members on fun adventures. I loved hearing them share about what it was like to zip line and river raft with an 87 year old grandparent and the stress of navigating the traffic of Vietnam. Do you think they matched? Tune in to the end of the season for a final recap of all season one dates to see how things panned out.

That's all we've got for you today. Shoot us a message on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook @theblinkdate or @dateinablink to let us know what you think. If you want to sign up to participate in Date in a Blink, visit our website at www.theblinkdate.com. In the meantime, thanks for joining us on this episode. We hope you enjoyed listening and look forward to talking with you again next time.

Episode Transcript

Laura
Hello and welcome back to today's episode of Date in a Blink, where we're hosting Sabrina and Al for a Blink Date.

Taly
What is Date in a Blink, you ask? It's a 10-minute, audio-only, blind speed date experience. It's also a bit of social experiment designed to move people beyond looks based assumptions, curated profiles and marathon messaging.

Laura
We at the Blink Date want dating to be fun and inspiring for Blinkers, and hope this podcast inspires you to try new ways of meeting people in dating. Will our handpicked matches find love on these Blink Dates, or will they say goodbye to each other after 10 minutes and never look back?

Taly
If you're new here, we're so happy you could join us. If you're a regular, we're so glad you've returned. Before we jump into today's Blink date. Here's a quick word from our sponsors.

Laura
We're here on Date in a Blink today with Sabrina and Al. I'm going to let you to dive in, but in case it's helpful to get the conversation started, I'm going to leave you with this question: What is something you are secretly very knowledgeable about?

Sabrina
Hi Al, I'm Sabrina.

Al
Good to meet you

Sabrina
Um, do you want to go first?

Al
Sure.

Secretly knowledgeable about I guess... I know a lot about college basketball because I like college basketball, and I know no more than an average person about religion. I don't know. Like, those are my hobbies, sports and religion. So I feel like people know a lot about their hobbies. And besides that, I don't know much. I mean, yeah, I'm an accounting major. So I guess I know a little bit about accounting, too. So accounting, religion, and sports.

Sabrina
Wow. I'm the same way I'd say religions the top one for me too. And then also pop culture. It's like one of my guilty pleasures keeping up with the bachelor and like, yeah, celeb drama. Yeah, what religion do you practice?

Al
Uh, Christianity.

Sabrina
Oh

Al
Yeah.

Sabrina
And are you a basketball player?

Al
No, I'm not good enough to play. I just watch it. How about you? What what religion and what, what's like something, something cool in pop culture that like you, you like? Like, I don't follow pop culture, like too much. To be honest. I have seen The Bachelor a few times.

Sabrina
Oh, yeah. Great show. Great show. There's a new episode this week, but I haven't seen it yet. Um, yeah, I practice but Buddhism, I used to practice Catholicism. But yeah, I just started practicing. And then about a year, two years ago. And then something from pop culture. I guess I just like, I, I, I'd like to say I'm a pretty drama free person. But I like following a lot of the drama in the Bachelor. Yeah. Yeah. Without going into too much detail, because there's a lot of like characters involved. Yeah. Yeah. Um, where — so you're studying accounting?

Al
Yeah. So kind of boring. It gets the bills paid. So...

Sabrina
Yeah.

Al
So Matt's still the Bachelor right? Like I, I've seen a few episodes, there is Matt.

Sabrina Oh you have?

Al
Yeah

Sabrina Yeah, it's it's a good show. It's my favorite season yet.

Al
What shows besides the bachelor do you like, do like movies or like TV a lot? Like that type of stuff? Or just like magazines like, like TMZ stuff, or pop culture? like? What type of pop culture?

Sabrina
I like Shame — Do you know Shameless?

Al
Yeah, yeah

Sabrina
I really like Shameless. New Girl. I don't watch a lot of movies. I started to get a really low attention span, because I became addicted to TikTok. Do you TikTok?

Al
Luckily, I haven't downloaded it. Yeah, I've heard good and bad things about it. Mainly. I don't know. I actually have a friend who's got like, 2 million followers on Twitter.

Sabrina
Wow, that's incredible! You could make a living off of that, like an accounting TikTok.

Al
Yeah I mean, I'd probably get one or two followers, but...

Sabrina I'd follow you.

Al
Thank you.

Sabrina
Yeah, umm trying to think of a good question...

Al
Yeah, so like, what else in pop culture? like bachelor, like, do you have any like favorite, like — I've got a question. So if you had a talk show, who would like three people who who would three guests be, since you like pop culture and whatnot?

Sabrina
Probably. I don't want I don't want to pick just three Kardashians, but I would definitely want the Kardashians on there. Kardashians and Jenners. Yeah. I just have been into them for a long time. Yeah, and I think it'd be fun.

Yeah, um, what's your favorite color?

Al
Oh, I, don't know. I'm a blue guy. I'm, I like all colors. You know? Don't don't really... greens a nice color. I don't know. Yellow is nice too. I, don't really have one...

Sabrina
Do you have one fav — Not one favorite, though?

Al
Um no. Like, if if I have to pick a shirt, I'm probably taking like, like darker colors. Like, I'm probably not gonna pick like pink, but I have nothing against pink.

Sabrina
Mmm okay.

Al
So do you like watch Keeping Up With The Kardashians? And do you keep up with the Kardashians?

Sabrina
No, I wish I did. I mostly watch like the little segments they post on YouTube. It's a good break. I study computer science. Yeah. So I don't know. It's just so different from what I'm studying. And it's like a good like, it's just a really good break. Yeah.

Al
Also, like back to that question, like who are three people you would meet? Like, do you like that's for people alive, but are there any like people like alive or dead? I guess you could include like people who like, like, yeah, it's an interesting question.

Sabrina
Umm, Probably someone magical. Or like, Oh my god, Jesus maybe. Maybe. I don't know. I don't know. Maybe a great historical figure. Yeah, I don't know. What about you?

Al
Oh, yeah, definitely. Someone like that. Yeah, definitely. Outside of religion. Yeah, of course. Like someone like that. Like, like the Buddha would be cool, Jesus. Yeah, I guess Abraham Lincoln would be cool to like, just someone smart, I guess.

Sabrina
Yeah. Yeah. Any famous accountants?

Al
No, I don't know any. How about computer science? Any famous computer science people?

Sabrina
No, I don't. Yeah, I think. I don't know. I feel like computer science for me is more of a tool to do other things. It's not like where my passion is, you know? Yeah.

Al
Mm, hmm. Um, yeah, so another question that's interesting is like, so it's like, Saturday, you I'm not sure if you had the day off or anything but like, what, what was your day um, a Saturday like? How did it go so far?

Sabrina
Yeah, I went on a run. And then I was just doing a lot of work and studying. And now I'm on this date with you. How is your Saturday?

Al
Um, it's pretty good. I went or I had a dentist then I worked out then I, um, yeah, that's kind of all. Not too much. So kind of similar. did a little bit of homework, I guess you could say. And I, I actually got into singing over this quarantine.

Sabrina
Oh, really?

Al
Yeah.

Sabrina
Wow. That's so crazy

Al
Yeah, kind of weird. But for me, because I'm not like a singer. But is there like a...

Sabrina
That's so amazing! Are you, do you just sing even... Are you good, Or...?

Al
Oh no, I'm very bad.

But I just do it like so I feel like in quarantine people are like trying to get like they like some some people learn or like learn how to play guitar and like, I started to sing for some reason. And that's kind of like my quarantine um, new hobby. Do you do have any like quarantine hobbies that you got into something that you like try to try with all this time on our hands?

Sabrina
Yeah, I started dancing. And then also embroidery. Yeah, and I'm not good at either those either, but it's still fun. Yeah, takes practice too. I sing a lot too, but, um, mostly when I'm just alone because I'm also really bad. Yeah.

Al
Yeah, so what hobbies I guess we're running on time but uh, what what are like some hobbies, computer science, like dancing, embroidering, um, running. Anything else you like?

Sabrina
TV? The Bachelor? Um Oh, eating chocolate, hanging out with friends, too definitely. What about you?

Al
Uh, yeah, working out, reading, sadly singing, I don't like it, I'll probably stop after quarantine. I like sports, hanging out friends.

Laura

At this point in the date, I jumped in to let them know that their date had come to an end, and let them say their farewells.

Is it strange that after listening to this date all I could think to myself was how hilarious would it be if the two of them created an album together and they’re just poorly singing songs? I think that’d be pretty funny.

This date between Sabrina and Al was really interesting to hear. You could tell that they were a little bit nervous getting started and they started to get a little bit more into the flow as the date went on. I definitely thought that they could use more time as they were warming up to each other. But I guess we’ll see where things take them.

That's all we've got for you today. Shoot us a message on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook @TheBlinkDate or @DateinaBlink to let us know what you think. If you want to sign up to participate in Date in a Blink, visit our website at www.theblinkdate.com. In the meantime, thanks for joining us for this episode. We hope you enjoyed listening and look forward to talking with you again next time.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Episode Transcript

Taly
Hello and welcome to today's episode of Date in a Blink where we're hosting Vinky and Kingston for a Blink Date. What is Date in a Blink, you ask? It's a 10-minute, audio-only blind speed date experience. It's also a bit of social experiment designed to move people beyond looks based assumptions, curated profiles, and marathon messaging.

Laura
We at The Blink Date want dating to be fun and inspiring for Blinkers and hope this podcast inspires you to try new ways of meeting people and dating. Will our handpicked matches find love on these Blink Dates? Or will they say goodbye to each other after 10 minutes and never look back?

Taly
If you're new here, we're so happy you could join us. If you're a regular, we're so glad you've returned. Before we jump into today's Blink Date, here's a quick word from our sponsors.

Kingston
We are here today on Date in a Blink with Vinky and Kingston. I'm going to let you to dive in, but in case it's helpful to get the conversation started, I'm going to leave you with a question. What seemed like a good idea at the time, but turned out to be a terrible idea?

Vinky
I have a really terrible example of that.

Kingston
Yeah, go right ahead. I, I still have to think about that. So you know, Ladies first.

Vinky
Oh, boy. Um, wow, I just, I'm trying to figure out what can I say that will be publicly announced? So, well, it's fine. So I grew up in East Coast, and I moved over to West Coast and I never really did weed or smoked weed or anything like that, because it wasn't legal, and I'm weird about that, so I was like, Okay, I'm not going to try. Um, when I moved to the west coast, um, obviously it's legal so I decided to try it out. And I tried an edible and I was convinced it didn't work on me. I was just like, this isn't working on me. Like I don't care for it. People were like, no it'll work, it will work. And I decided to take three—bad idea—

Kingston
—oh my goodness—

Vinky
Such a bad idea. Um everything was fine. I was actually at a restaurant, this was pre COVID, and apparently the bar area had brick flooring and I had high heels on so when I stood up, I think it hit me so I kind of tripped. But when I tripped I fell on the brick floor. It hit my head and I had a brain hemorrhage and had to go to the hospital. Everything is fine now I had all the surgeons all the scans done, but I felt like an idiot and I was just my parents like they know me they know I don't do irresponsible things like this. This was just like a fluke that they tried to like not laugh when they saw it all because I just looked so annoyed at you I did this is so ridiculous. So this was my my regret story.

Kingston
Wait, so, so you had them, you had three edibles, and, at the restaurant? Or was this like pre gaming a night out, or what?

Vinky
So I had, so it was throughout the day. So I had, I think it was the over course of maybe four to five hours?

Kingston
Okay

Vinky
Where I had a total of three, um, edibles and I took a one in the Uber. Again, I was trying to be a responsible—I actually even got an Uber to take me back home. And because I hit and fell on my head, Uber charged me $5 for not showing up.

Kingston
Oh my God. Wait. So yeah, so what was the experience like? Because I, I've never had an edible before. I have smoked like once or twice, but I didn't really feel anything at the time. So I like, what is, what is that whole experience like? You know, some friends get paranoid, some friends get like super—

Vinky
I have — I've seen friend... So for me, and maybe this is a bad thing because it doesn't... It's always a fun high for me. I'm usually very happy and I laugh. But I have seen some friends get really really paranoid. But after this experience, I'm just not a fan of this. I'm like, I don't plan because this is something you can't control. It just hits you. But it does. And I don't like that. I want to know what's going on. I want to know how much I'm taking if I mean, this is like in case I want to dab into the future.

Kingston
Yeah. I mean, I feel like in the future. Maybe you might not take three at a time, right?

Vinky
No. Lesson learned.

Kingston
Yes, seriously.

Vinky
But yeah, what about you?

Kingston
Oh, my God. I was... I honestly didn't actually think about the question anymore because I was busy wondering what the hell was happening? Oh, geez. I think... I think... uh... one thing I may regret. So I went to school down in, um, well, I don't know how much private information we want to give out. I personally don't mind. But I went down to school in San Diego. And there's like an annual concert called like Sun God. And we we got like a whole bunch of our friends down to come visit us even though you know, they technically weren't, you know, students or anything they shouldn't have been allowed to go. We also didn't buy wristbands for them. So we were just kind of like, Hey, come on down. We'll figure it out as we go. And we rented out a hotel just for, just for the day. And we had like maybe 15 to 20 people just in this tiny hotel room which nowadays you know, COVID time, this sounds absolutely insane, but obviously, a bunch of people got completely trashed within like 30 minutes. I didn't drink all that much at the time, I was planning on just being the designated driver. But, you know, with one car and 20 people, I don't know really how I was planning on shuttling people back and forth. So we rented out this hotel room. And within, you know, 30 minutes, people are having a good time, but just super messy. And we get the cops called on us and the manager of the hotel is screaming at us and telling us that, like, he's going to take pictures of all our license plates, and we're going to get kicked out of school. And then no one's taking her seriously. But of course, people are, you know, puking all over the place. And one of my friends was sitting on the curb waiting for me to take them to the concert. And we look back at him and all of a sudden, like, His face is just completely bloody. He's got, you know, he just kind of face planted the floor, I guess. And then a bunch of our friends, you know, we just take them to some random dorms. You know, our dorms, our flatmates dorms, people we don't really know. We're just kind of like, Hey, can we leave them here for a bit? And a bunch of us actually didn't end up going to the concert because of that. It makes for a good story, but I don't think I would prefer to do that again.

Vinky
Oh, my goodness. And your friends okay, though, right after?

Kingston
Yeah, I mean, he still has the scar. It's, it's like, it's almost like Harry Potter ish, because it's, it's like kind of a crooked scar. Right on his forehead.

Vinky
I love Harry Potter, by the way.

Kingston
Yeah, definitely, definitely. Not as not as magical as Harry Potter, but, you know, something there

Vinky
Can sense Voldemort around.

Kingston
Yeah, right?

Vinky
Oh, wow. Crazy. Okay, mine didn't have alcohol, but these substance, they? ...yeah...

Kingston
Yeah, I'm not, I mean, I'm more of a like, Don't knock it till you try it kind of person. But I, I think I'm in the same, same ring as you were, it's kind of like, you know, you can't really control when it hits, you can't really control how good of a time you know you're going to have, and I feel like there's, there's so much stuff that's kind of out of your control when you when you put all this stuff into your body. If you know, I personally don't really know my limits. So I'd rather not push my limits.

Vinky
100% agreed. 100% agreed. And I think as as you age more, and you have more responsibilities, and you just kind of think about you know, what would happen, you know,

Kingston
Yeah

Vinky
I think so. Yeah, it's a lot more respons—Well, you know what? It happened relatively recently.

Kingston
Never too late to learn.

Vinky
Exactly, exactly.

Kingston
I mean, for me, it's more just that like, this stuff isn't cheap. I'd rather I'd rather just have like a beer or a glass of wine at home when like, you know, I'm comfortable. Put on a show or something. But if I go out to Vegas or something and I buy one shot, it's already 25 bucks, you know, I can't live like that.

Vinky
It's not even God. And it's like, they want to splurge on great stuff. But if it's not worth it, that does infuriate me. I recently got into craft cocktails, I've been making that at home and I didn't realize how expensive all the bitters and all these other things are that you need.

Kingston
Yeah. Although like with bitters, like, I mean, how much how much is a bottle like one bottle of like, Angostura?

Vinky
I'm like, 20 bucks.

Kingston
Oh, wow. Okay.

Vinky
Depends if like, I kind of read up on the reviews. I'm like, Okay, this is the best one, like, I'm gonna get it. I might as well get the good ones. I think it was like around like, close to 20.

Kingston
Although, you know, you only use like, you know, a couple of dashes each right. So I guess the 20 goes a long way.

Vinky
Yeah. And I just, you know, I think it's the part where you want to make sure like, whatever you're putting in your body, it's good. You know, it's not like, just yeah, so I make like fresh juices if I'm using that for the cocktail, try—I think it helps with the hangover. I think you're the less hungover if you have good quality ingredients.

Kingston
Right, right. Is that your, uh, is that something you've just picked up because of, you know, the whole world worldwide situation? Or is that, is that something you've wanted to get into for a while?

Vinky
I've always enjoyed it. But I think if time, I didn't, I didn't have time because of course I'm doing things outside. So COVID def—and I, you know, in a weird way COVID has helped me a lot to kind of go back to a lot of hobbies that I used to have or want to have and I finally had the chance.

Kingston
So like what, what would your go to, go to craft cocktail be, then?

Vinky
It changes right now I'm really into whiskey sour, like different flavors of whiskey sour. I don't know why just...

Taly
As Vinky and Kingston shared their stories, both which involve serious injuries that thankfully resolved well, I wondered just how boring of a person I was since my answer to this question was law school. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it turned out to be a terrible one, at least for me. It felt like Vinky and Kingston had a lot more to share. Do you think they matched? Tune in to the end of the season to see how things panned out.

That's all we've got for you today. Shoot us a message on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook @theblinkdate, or @dateinablink to let us know what you think. If you want to sign up to participate in Date in a Blink, visit our website at www.theblinkdate.com. In the meantime, thanks for joining us for this episode. We hope you enjoyed listening and look forward to talking with you again next time.

Episode Transcript

Laura
Hey everyone and welcome back to Date in a Blink. In today’s episode, we’re hosting Joe and Sarah on their Blink Date.

Taly
What is Date in a Blink, you ask? It’s a 10-minute audio-only blind speed date experience. It’s also a bit of a social experiment, designed to move people beyond looks-based assumptions, curated profiles, and marathon messaging.

Laura
We at the Blink Date want dating to be fun and inspiring for Blinkers and hope this podcast inspires you to try new ways of meeting people and dating. Will our hand-picked matches find love on these Blink Dates? Or will they say goodbye to each other after ten minutes and never look back?

Taly
If you’re new here, we are so happy you could join us! If you’re a regular, we’re so glad you’ve returned.

Before we jump into today’s Blink Date, here’s a quick word from our sponsors.

[sponsored content]

Laura
We're here on Date in a Blink today with Joe and Sarah. I'm going to let you to dive in, but in case it's helpful to get the conversation started, I'm going to leave you with this question: What's your favorite place you've ever been to?

Joe
Ooh, interesting. Um, I let you go first, do you have one?

Sarah
Oh, gosh, I think, um, everything seems like a good place to have been, since we haven't been anywhere in so long. But a friend of mine got married in Portugal a couple years ago, and because it was such a, you know, long trip to get over there, I did some solo travel before and after. And it was just a really awesome experience. And I had never been there before. And it kind of blew me away, um, relative to other places in Europe. It was just... there was so much to see there, there was like the wine country in the north, and then the city of Lisbon, and then more kind of like tropical and warm in the south, so, there was a lot to see in one trip, and I am super grateful I got to go.

Joe
That's great. What was the best food, like the best dish that you had when you were there?

Sarah
I, actually, I'm gonna answer that it was a drink because there was, there was some sort of cocktail that I'm gonna not pronounce correctly, so I'll skip it. But there was like a really, really good kind of authentic cocktail that they have there. That was so good. And I've never seen it replicated since.

Joe
Oh that's great. Let's see, I haven't been too many places, and that kind of being, like you said, being stuck at home. Like recently kind of made me realize that I need to, like, get out of the US somewhere but probably I would say Positano in Italy is one of the most beautiful places I've like ever been. It's just, you know, it's literally like, you know, a Johnny Depp romantic.

Sarah
Yeah.

Joe
You know, like, on the water.

Sarah
What made you travel there? Or like, what brought you over there?

Joe
Well, like my family heritage is like, you know, Italian American, so most of my family's from Naples and Sicily. So, half of it was always wanting to go back to the Motherland, as they would say. And the other half was, you know, as a kid, I was just kind of fascinated with, like, old like Roman, you know, gods and cultures, you know, just like, a place basically still has ruins from like, you know, ages ago, I think it was kind of fascinating to, like, see that stuff. And, uh, I always wanted to go to Pompei, you know, like,

Sarah
Yeah

Joe
right by a volcano that, you know, as a kid, you hear that you're like, That's crazy. They’re still stuck in the rocks?, you know, and then you go there and you're like, like, woah this is, you know, like, right under the volcano. It's like, you know, it's right there. You're like, why did you build houses here?

Sarah
Right.

Joe
But yeah, it was a, it was beautiful. Have you ever been over there?

Sarah
So, um, I am an architect by practice. And so we, our, like, study abroad programs, um, through school were primarily in Rome, because that's kind of at the center of the beginnings of a lot of architecture, at least, like Western architecture. So I was able to see it then. And then also that the Portugal trip I was mentioning, I did Cinque Terra, which is like the poor man's version of Positano before. But it was just, I mean, it was so beautiful, like, we went swimming in the ocean every day, and like, it's just such an amazing lifestyle, but it is kind of surprising they like, I don't know how they built villages on the water like that. Like, they would never feel like they would never do that now, you know?

Joe
Yeah, I don't... Yeah, that's what I was like, I was talking to somebody that when we were over there when I was eating, about like, the houses, yeah, cuz they're, like, built into the sides of, you know,

Sarah
Right

Joe
pretty much and there's one road that basically goes through the Amalfi Coast, like right around the coast, and it just goes through each town and each towns like pretty small, you know, to start I think it's Sorento, and then it goes to like, like Positano, Amalfi, and there's a few others that can remember the names, you know, but they're all just, you know, one road so to pretty much you just have to walk them. But like, all the houses there was asking us, like, how do you move here? You know,

Sarah
Yeah, exactly.

Joe
Or they're sitting there like, like, you can't it's like, almost impossible because you either have to be insanely rich, or, you know, most of the houses are just passed down from, you know, family memory.

Sarah
Once you're in, you're in, you're in

Joe
Yeah, it's like so, you know, nobody's getting in there. And I was like, Oh, man.

Sarah
I mean, I couldn't I mean, just carrying my luggage like up and down the one road to get to the village was kind of brutal. So I can't even imagine having to like uproot and settle in or leave.

Joe
Yeah, but where, when this all starts to kind of open up a little, what's, where's like the first place you want to go?

Sarah
So I've never been to Asia. I, before living here, I was in New York. And so it was always like, if you did international travel, it was just so much easier to go over to Europe. And so I've never been to Asia, but I would love to go to Tokyo. Both for the food and for the architecture. And I've heard a lot about their, kind of like, city planning, I think is really kind of best in class. So that would be my, that would probably be my next trip.

Joe
That's funny. You say that, like, sitting right next to me is a Lonely Planet Japan book and a Eat Like a Local in Tokyo

Sarah
No way!

Joe
that I just ordered, like, probably I think over Christmas break because I also too, always wanted to go to Tokyo since I was, you know, a kid. And, you know, over like the break. And I was kind of like, What's stopping me? I'm just gonna go. So I started kind of research, and yeah, I think that's the first place I'd like to go.

Sarah
No way! Have you been to Asia at all before?

Joe
No, haven't really been out of like the US too much. It's, you know, it's just Italy. And I lived in Australia for a little bit.

Sarah
Oh wow

Joe
Southern, Southern...

Sarah
Melbourne, is that how we say? Melbourne?

Joe
Melbourne. Yeah, I got corrected by one of my co workers who's from Australia, right before I went there. He was like, do not call it Mel-born. And I was like,

Sarah
You will stand out

Joe
Yeah. So I've been saying it like that. But yeah, I haven't, uh, that's still really the only places I've been, and, you know, I don't know how to vacation and I started realizing that by sitting home. You know, I'm like, we have this time, I don't, that I don't use. I use for like little weekend vacations.

Sarah
Mm hmm.

Joe
And I'm like, like, what, why am I not taking two weeks and traveling places outside? You know,

Sarah
I know, I do hope that something that comes from this is the ability to work anywhere. And I'm hopeful that it will stick. Like right now we can't really benefit from working anywhere because anywhere is limited to a home. But I'm, I hope that you know, in the future, I could like work from Tokyo for two weeks and kind of settle in some other places without having to take time off.

Joe
Would you say like architecture is mostly like, kind of like, I don't know too much about like, I mean, I know what it is. But it does seem at different times like commercial or residential?

Sarah
Yeah. So I, I was doing commercial architecture for about eight years. So like, all lots of headquarters like big companies. But I just when COVID hit I kind of wanted to do something a little bit more mission driven than like designing for tech bros. So I switched to doing healthcare, which is a whole different world, and the stakes feel way higher. But it's kind of a nice new challenge after all that time doing one kind of architecture.

Joe
Well, that's cool. So what's that, like, hospitals or something?

Sarah
Yeah like hospitals, research clinics, academic institutions, where they're doing research, labs... like a local one you, I don't, and I'm not sure where in LA you are, if you're in LA, but the Children's Hospital in Orange County, for example, like how do you make that a fun experience? Not fun but like how do you make that an experience that's not super clinical and like, intimidating to young kids?

Joe
No, yeah. I never really thought about that. Yeah, the difference between like, but I guess I yeah, I feel like, you know, you walk into some hospitals and yeah, the architecture...

Sarah
Yeah, right.

Joe
Feel like, creepy, like creeped out, or like, you could you know,—

Sarah
Yeah, yeah, like, I hope that I can bring some of like the things that all these other companies were investing to make people want to stay at work. Like how do you make it not so terrible to be in a hospital clinical setting if that's where you need to be?

Joe
Slides. Lots of slides

Sarah
Yeah exactly slides, ball bits,

Joe
Ball pits

Sarah
Are you able to share quickly what, what you do, or what...

Joe
Yeah, I do, I'm a visual effects artists in like the film industry, so mostly, all your big superhero movies, you know, doing all the effects for that

Sarah
Oh fun!

Joe
Yeah, I'm kind of a big, I'm a nerd. I'm a big nerd of, y'know,

Sarah
Nerds are cool!

Joe
Yeah, I've always wanted to, you know, I was always a big comic book nerd as a kid and I couldn't draw to save my life. You know, I like movies, so, somehow stumbled into this and kind of, you know, putting my, my two cents into, into the nerd culture. So made me happy.

Sarah
That's awesome that you found a way to do something you love and like, make a career out of it.

Joe
Yeah, and I know it's great, that, I feel like that's so hard. It's a hard thing sometimes, you know, getting paid for something you like to do.

Sarah
Yeah, exactly. Did you have to go to school for, like, I'm guessing it was more about like learning the software's and the programs or was it, like...

Joe
Yeah, sorta, yeah. I went to art school and got like a, you know, BFA in visual effects and animation, but yeah, it's, it's mostly like theory and just kind of like, you know, it's all art, whether it's computer or not, so like what I do is mostly focused around photography, so...

Laura
At this point in the date, I jumped in to let them know that their date had ended, at let them say their farewells.

Laura
Ten minutes is just not enough, especially when people have such interesting things to say to each other. I was really interested about how Sarah works in architecture and how Joe works in Visual Effects, and some reason in my mind I kept thinking about Godzilla, especially because next on their travel destination is Tokyo. So how fun would that be? Feels a little… a little serendipitous.

That’s all we’ve got for you today. Shoot us a message on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook @theblinkdate or @dateinablink to let us know what you think. If you want to sign up to participate in Date in a Blink, visit our website at www.theblinkdate.com.

In the meantime, thanks for joining us for this episode. We hope you enjoyed listening and look forward to talking with you again next time!

Episode Transcript

Taly
Hello and welcome to today's episode of Date in a Blink, where we're hosting Arthur and Loreen for a Blink Date. What is Date in a Blink, you ask? It's a 10-minute, audio-only, blind speed date experience. It's also a bit of social experiment designed to move people beyond looks based assumptions, curated profiles, and marathon messaging.

Laura
We at The Blink Date want dating to be fun and inspiring for Blinkers, and hope this podcast inspires you to try new ways of meeting people and dating. Will our handpicked matches find love on these Blink Dates? Or will they say goodbye to each other after 10 minutes and never look back?

Taly
If you're new here, we're so happy you could join us. If you're a regular, we're so glad you've returned. Before we jump into today's Blink Date, here's a quick word from our sponsors.

Taly
We're here on Date in a Blink today with Loreen and Arthur. I'm going to let you to dive in, but in case it's helpful to get the conversation started, I'm going to leave you with this question: Do you put your chips in a bowl or eat them from the bag?

Loreen
Hmm, that's hard. It depends on the situation.

Arthur
Yeah, if I'm going to share it with people, probably in a bowl, but otherwise man, give me that bag!

Loreen
For real. No one's looking, I'm eating it out of the bag.

Arthur
Yeah, it's just me, my cat, and Netflix. All right. We're going to town.

Loreen
Oh, my gosh, you have a cat?

Arthur
I do. Um, do you have any pets?

Loreen
No, but I really, really, really want pets. I grew up with pets, but I haven't been able to really have any in my adulthood. So it's been hard.

Arthur
No way! Would you get... Did you have a dog or a cat growing up?

Loreen
Both!

Arthur
Oooh, awesome.

Loreen
I had... I love cats, though. Like that's, they're my people. So that's what I would get first.

Arthur
Yeah, so um, when COVID hit last year, I, um, I got a kitten that was four months old. And she's the cutest little thing ever. Like she'll snuggle up with ya. But what's funny is I'm actually more of a dog person. I grew up with a Corgi.

Loreen
Oh my gosh.

Arthur
Yeah.

Loreen
Oh my gosh, I love Corgi's so much.

Arthur
Aren't they the best? They're so cute! Like the stumpy legs—

Loreen
The short legs—

Arthur
Yeah, big old floppy ears like is so, so cute. Well, they're not floppy. They're pointy. But oh, god, they're so adorable.

Loreen
Well what made you get a cat this time?

Arthur It's just less work. Like a dog is like, you gotta take it out every couple of hours, and cats are like, Hey, here's a box to poop in. Anything else you need?

Loreen That's about right.

Arthur
Yeah, for sure. So...

Loreen
I feel like they don't get in your personal space as much unexpectedly.

Arthur
No, I mean, sometimes they do. Like my cat is totally like a super affectionate, like, she'll jump on my shoulder and stuff. I know. It's adorable. But yeah, she's just nuts about it. But I could talk my cat, I could talk about my cat for frickin days. But I would love to learn more about you, like what, What do you, um, crap?

Loreen
Good transition!

Arthur
Yeah, nailed it! All right, count it. What do you, um, I don't know, what gets you up in the morning?

Loreen
Right now my existential dread. But, um... I, I love to learn and I love to read and things like that. And I had a career I was, well, I'm a sound engineer. And that's kind of like, what drove me every day is love for m— Like, I love sound. I love music. I'm a highly technical person. So like, I love to be busy and have my brain working or do something, be hiking. So, um, like, when I get up in the morning, right now, I kind of get up and contemplate what's going to be my next step. Like actually, I was talking to Taly beforehand. I'm here. I'm in Florida right now, trying to figure out what I'm going to do, looking at schools and things like that, because I want to go into the space industry. So

Arthur
Oh, that's awesome. Well, you know, so I actually went to school for music. I got my bachelor's in music ed.

Loreen
Oh, wow!

Arthur
Yeah. And I kind of didn't do music for a while. But I actually got into producing and DJing as my COVID project as of last year. So I know a little bit. You're probably like, way more technical than I am. But, um, yeah, I DJ and I produce, and, um, uh, I am, I'm a I'm a software engineer now. So I'm technical, too! Yay!

Loreen
Oh, wow. And you have you have a lot of different jobs that you've done there. I see. Much like myself.

Arthur
Yep, floating around and a bunch of crazy stuff. But yeah, I'm in I'm in California, and I work. I work in tech now, which is great, but it like kind of affords me like a good work life balance to pursue music and making music and all that. So it's, it's super fun. I really, really happy with where my life is right now.

Loreen
Do you like software engineering coming from like a music background? Do you like it?

Arthur
Oh my god. Yeah, it's so much fun. Like, it sounds like really boring. Like, oh, you're just shoving in numbers into more numbers, but it's actually really creative, surprisingly. And it goes oddly well with music like it fits kind of weirdly well with music theory in a weird way. Kind of hard to explain with words. But yeah, it's fun, though. Tell me about your sound engineering. That sounds awesome.

Loreen
Um, oh my gosh, it's so weird to like talk about it. I started doing this when I was like 16 It feels like I'm bragging because I have. I've been doing it for so long. I've been doing this for like 15 years. I started when I was 16 years old. I started touring the world when I was 25. And I was on the road last year, well, in 20, 2019. Sorry, I keep forgetting we lost year. Uh, 2019 I was on the road with Lizzo, um and before that I was on the road with Michael Bolton as a monitor engineer.

Arthur
Oh, that's awesome

Loreen
Yeah. So I build like I, if you don't know what I do, like when you go to a concert, there's two engineers. There's one out front that he's doing what you hear in the audience, and I was the person on stage doing with artists hear. So that's what a monitor engineer is.

Arthur
Oh, awesome

Loreen
Yeah, I realized that people like I say this because I've been doing it my whole life. But like, much like, I'm sure you have software engineering things we like to start talking about and people like glass over I forget that people don't know what I'm talking about.

Arthur
Yeah, well, I totally I totally understand like, now that I've been doing like more DJing and like audio setup and like routing stuff. I have a genuine interest in all of that. So like, talk nerdy to me all you want about that!

Loreen
Oh, my god don't because I, I can go deep. Careful what you wish for! What, what do you what do you like to do? Like, what are your hobbies outside of work? Like, do you like to hike or be outside? What's your, what's your game?

Arthur
Yeah, so me and a couple of friends, we we go camping, like every season. So yeah, we'll like go camping in the wintertime too. But yeah, we have camp outs. And I do enjoy hiking quite a bit. And sightseeing in general. I love being outdoors. Like some of the places that we'll go camp will go camping, like Joshua Tree over the Mojave Desert. And yeah, it's fun. So we'll do some camping. But also we're kinda nerds, so we'll bring our big sound system out, and we'll just blast music in the middle of nowhere. So, ya know, that's fun, too.

Loreen
Oh, tell me more!

Arthur
Oh, this works out great. Yeah, so we have like, so when COVID when COVID hit, um, a bunch of us pull their money together or some of my friends pulled their money together. And they ended up buying like a huge sound system at police auctions. Like, I don't know how many watts I think it's like 50,000 watts. It's got some two big subs and some speakers we hang on tripods, and we pull it out ,we run it through a generator, we power through generator and then we just have like a really, really big sound system that just blasts out music. And we go camping, because the only place we'll get not arrested is, uh, out in the middle of nowhere.

Loreen
That's amazing.

Arthur
Yeah, it's really fun. We actually just had a camp out like two three weeks ago. It was it was fun. We, we went, we cranked it up pretty loud.

Loreen
I miss loud music so bad.

Arthur
Oh, yeah. What what are some artists you really like listening to?

Loreen
I have a wandering ear across many many different genres. So like right now I am listening to Pink. She's one of my favorite artists in the whole world. I'm back in like the growing up days of like Family Portrait and stuff like that and then I'm also kind of like a hard rocker a little bit, like I enjoy rock, I grew up listening to like Linkin Park and stuff like that. So, um, but I also listen to everything, like I love reggae and r&b. I got a little bit of rap in me. I feel like because I'm a sound engineer, I kind of have to listen to everything to always know what things need to sound like for my job. So I kind of always listened to everything.

Arthur
Awesome. Totally make sense

Loreen
What about you? What's your favorite? What do you what do you like to listen to? What music—What, if you were to go to a concert, what would be the concert like when we come back from COVID, what concert would you go to, what is the first one that you want to do?

Arthur
Oh man, I would go to a Virtual Riot concert. Like oh, I love I love virtual Riot and just EDM in general but I'd say like the harder Electro House stuff is really my jam. I do enjoy reggae. I do enjoy r&b and hip hop. But if like one genre had to like, take my heart It would have to be like really hard electronic music like like electro house or bass house a little bit of trap is okay, but I really like electro house like club music.

Loreen
I don't know if I've ever met like a hardcore EDM fan.

Arthur
Me and all my friends are that way. We we love that stuff to death.

Loreen
I'm always working your concerts so

Arthur
I'm sure you're sick of it then.

Loreen
Well, I mean, I get it I understand it. I completely understand the genre of music but just because I've done so many of those events. I don't listen to it that often.

Arthur
Oh, yeah, I i can i can understand that. For sure.

Loreen
It's kind of like you know, I love Lizzo to death, I toured with Lizzo, but I also listened to her songs like 150 million times. And like I love her music. She's an incredibly good musician, but I, you're just not going to catch me putting on that specific album that we toured with, you know?

Arthur
Oh yeah, I mean, you're all friggin day like, come on.

Loreen
I gotta call it quits at some point. So

Arthur
Sure

Taly
At this point in the date, I jumped in to let them know that their date had ended, at let them say their farewells.

Taly
Thank heavens for that mute button because I burst out laughing a few times during this date. Loreen, you are not alone with that existential dread. This date was so much fun to listen to. I loved hearing them nerd out about all things music and sound. Do you think the shared interest in cats, music, and outdoor adventures was enough for Arthur and Loreen to want to continue the conversation? Tune in to the end of the season to see how things panned out.

That's all we've got for you today. Shoot us a message on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook @theblinkdate, or @dateinablink to let us know what you think. If you want to sign up to participate in Date in a Blink, visit our website at www.theblinkdate.com. We hope you enjoyed listening and look forward to talking with you again next time.

Episode Transcript

Laura 0:00
Hello and welcome back to today's episode of Date in a Blink, where we're hosting Brooke and Albert for a Blink Date.

Taly 0:06
What is Date in a Blink, you ask? It's a 10-minute, audio-only, blind speed date experience. It's also a bit of social experiment designed to move people beyond looks based assumptions, curated profiles and marathon messaging.

Laura 0:18
We at the Blink Date want dating to be fun and inspiring for Blinkers, and hope this podcast inspires you to try new ways of meeting people in dating. Will our handpicked matches find love on these Blink Dates, or will they say goodbye to each other after 10 minutes and never look back?

Taly 0:34
If you're new here, we're so happy you could join us. If you're a regular, we're so glad you've returned. Before we jump into today's Blink date. Here's a quick word from our sponsors.

Laura 0:47
We're here on Date in a Blink today with Brooke and Albert. I'm going to let you to dive in, but in case it's helpful to get the conversation started, I'm going to leave you with this question: What is one thing you wish to achieve in your life?

Brooke 1:03
Mmm Hmm, that's a great question. just literally one thing? Hmm. Um, I think that I think if I had to pick one thing, it's pretty general, is that I just want to have a family. Um, I. And I don't know what that looks like, right? So it's like, I don't know how that unfolds. But I know for me personally, I'm very close with my family. And it's like, day in and day out the one thing that if I had to ask myself, what am I grateful for every day?, it's my family. So I want to have that of my own. Again, like, I don't really know how that shapes up. I grew up with like, you know, mom and a dad that stayed married for like, 33 years. So they were a great example of, you know, what it takes to be in a long committed relationship. And then I have an older brother. So that's kind of like what my family unit looks like. But I'm enjoying as I grow up seeing all sorts of different families and different ways to achieve that. So over to you, Albert.

Albert 2:19
Alright, that's good. I mean, piggybacking off for you what you just said, so, it seems like you do want a family, are you picky about, you know, do you want a boy or girl, or doesn't really matter?

Brooke 2:29
No, no, no, yeah, it doesn't matter. I mean, I even like I have a dog right now. I have a French Bulldog. And I consider him my family.

Albert 2:37
Yeah

Brooke 2:37
I mean, you know, however, that however, that kind of turns out, I'm definitely not picky. What about you?

Albert 2:48
Well, I'm assuming your dog is spoiled. My dog is spoiled.

Brooke 2:55
Yes he is

Albert 2:55
Good I guess I'm kind of believing like the whole circle of life. I do — do like everything coming back full circle, like giving back. Like, right now I'm a teacher. And I mean, further down the line. I do want to somehow give back to the community, whether it's being a professor and teaching the future generation of teachers or some kind of nonprofit organizations. I'm a big believer in just giving back.

Brooke 3:20
Right, I like that. What kind of teacher are you?

Albert 3:23
Special Ed

Brooke 3:24
Oh, nice, nice. How long have you been doing that for?

Albert 3:28
Oh, this is my first official year hired by a district. So yeah, but I've been doing —I've been in the field for I think about seven years?, just up and down, like, normally, well they call them parent and me classes, now, they're not mommy and me, classes, but parent and me classes, um, as a behavior therapist, living skills instructor, Resident Advisor, up and down, everything and so

Brooke 3:55
Right, right.

Albert 3:56
I think special ed, it's finally you know, it's my, my calling and, I mean, I have a lot of fun with it.

Brooke 4:02
I love that.

Albert 4:03
Yeah.

Brooke 4:04
So I have a lot of respect for teachers. I um, I recently started a, um, I joined a program that is like a mentoring program for kids in high school, and I'm only, like, three weeks in and it's just, it's so rewarding and so fun. But it's hard to you know, initially connect or open up with the kids. And then once they do you guys become like buds and stuff. But initially, you know, we're like asking questions, and they didn't really want to talk and you have to kind of think of — on your toes, all these different ways to connect with all sorts of different people because kids are, you know, they're learning and some of them are really gregarious and outgoing and ready to talk and others not so much. And I give you guys a lot of accolades

Albert 5:00
You're the older ones, right?

Brooke 5:03
Yes. Yeah,

Albert 5:04
I got I got the babies. I got the TK ones.

Brooke 5:06
Oh, do you?

Albert 5:07
Oh, yeah, it's a it's a lot a little bit easier entertaining them just being able to talk, be goofy, and my voice. I don't know. Like, it'd be like a Disney character I got like three different voices that I use.

Brooke 5:25
Stop, wait really?

Albert 5:25
So I don't know. I don't know if you're familiar with, I guess certain people in the field like there's this character Blippi really over the top line, "That's Blippi," like really high-pitched voice.

Brooke 5:37
I love that

Albert 5:38
Yeah, there's all these like, famous characters and, um, when it comes from music I'm just really, I mean, I can't sing

Brooke 5:45
You've got the range

Albert 5:45
The best thing about though the ones they don't judge. So right. As long as I'm getting the lyrics, right, that's all they care.

Brooke 5:54
Right. Right. Right. What kind of what kind of songs are you seeing? Like, are they from like kids programming or, ...?

Albert 6:01
Yeah, again, so I'm going to throw another name out there. Look it up later, but another guy named Jack Hartman, like really,

Brooke 6:09
Okay, I don't know him.

Albert 6:10
Yeah. But it's, a, these fun songs and music and movement, and you will touch your eyes, you know, hands on your shoulders,

Brooke 6:17
Right

Albert 6:18
swim like a shark, etc.

Brooke 6:21
I love that. So with that being your, your profession right now, do you find yourself just really, kind of like, wanting a family and kids and all that or because I do know teachers that are like, really good with kids. And, but they're like, Oh, yeah, like, I'll never have kids. I'm like, oh wow okay.

Albert 6:41
Oh, I mean, it all depends. Um, I mean, I have a big passion for what I'm doing now.

Brooke 6:47
Right

Albert 6:50
I do want kids that mean, I don't I don't see myself teaching forever. I do appreciate those teachers that do 30 years into teaching

Brooke 6:58
Right

Albert 6:58
I know my expiration date and know how long it can last, particularly with the little ones like, right, it's a lot of energy, but I guess I know my expiration date, I know how long I can do my job and be good at it. So, eventually, like I said, maybe can be your professor down the line and, uh, yeah.

Brooke 7:17
Right. Yeah, that's kind of like your end goal.

Albert 7:20
Yeah. I know for sure that college students won't give me a hard time. Well, not that kind of a hard time.

Brooke 7:27
Yeah, it's a different hard time.

Albert 7:29
Yeah. So yeah.

Brooke 7:30
I'm it's always a good student. I always take pride in that, that I was part of the, the group of people that were like, Okay, I'm gonna make your job. I'm gonna try and make your job easier because I see how it can be. Are you in the Los Angeles area? Or where are you located in?

Laura 7:51
Laura, here. Unfortunately, we have some audio issues for the last few minutes of this date. Rather than omit the ending, which had some really funny and interesting tidbits, my partner and I decided to attempt a dramatic reenactment of Brooke and Albert's date. Brooke and Albert, we know we couldn't fully capture your personalities. Please forgive us. We hope you enjoy this.

Gustavo 8:12
Yeah, I'm in the LA area. So we're still waiting to be open. But...

Laura 8:16
yeah, I relocated outside of LA, but it was how to go back here and there has like how it's really, really shut down. It kind of feels like a ghost land.

Gustavo 8:26
So what do you do for fun then?

Laura 8:29
I'm like a big beach person. So I like to go to the beach. Which was nice, because that was like, open. Well, there was a part where it wasn't. But I'm a huge outdoors person too. So I like going on hikes and biking. running outside. So luckily, all of that stuff has been open.

Gustavo 8:46
Is your dog lucky enough to join you on these adventures?

Laura 8:51
Yeah, he'll, he'll join me on walks. He's, he's not as agile as most dogs. So yeah, he's definitely athletic. But he he prefers to be a sunbather

Gustavo 9:04
Oh, so he just wants to be out in the sun.

Laura 9:06
Yeah, he's not like that athletic. I've always been jealous of people who have those dogs that like, you know, they'll go skateboarding or biking and the dog is next to them.

Gustavo 9:16
Yeah, mine. I guess a quick story. My dogs are rescue. So she has, well, obviously she's spoiled now. But she pretty much tries everything without hesitation.

Laura 9:28
I love that.

Gustavo 9:28
It's like, oh, I've never done this before. Let me try it. Let me try this. And so she's always willing to try something even though she might not like it afterwards. She might be mad at me, but she's like, all right. I tried it

Laura 9:40
Right. Like she'll get over it. When did you rescue her?

Gustavo 9:45
About a year. So the first year and a half of her life, she was pretty much chained up. So when I took her she had never touched grass before. She didn't know what a leash or harness was. She's still pooping outside. So she'll do a circle because she's so used to going you know on a pad

Laura 10:03
Right, right.

Gustavo 10:04
So it's kind of funny because she's doing a circle while going number two.

Laura 10:08
Right, you're like, okay, you gotta stop moving.

Gustavo 10:11
Yeah. So she's going bungee jumping, parasailing...

Laura 10:14
Bungee jumping? No way.

Gustavo 10:16
Yeah, she's done like everything. She's gone sailing.

Laura 10:20
Oh, so you're one of those people I was commenting on except like to the extreme. Not like the bike or the skateboard, but like the boat. Yeah, that's crazy. That's so cool.

Gustavo 10:29
Yeah, so yeah, you know, she had a bad live. So I want her to never think of that again. Just look forward. But yeah, I mean similar like yours. She likes to lay out in the sun. I just found out like two days ago, there's sunscreen for dogs. Our dogs fur has been getting a lot darker.

Laura 10:48
Oh, I didn't know that. Is it like in lotion form?

Gustavo 10:51
Yeah, it's a spray that you put on the code. My dog, she's a Maltese poodle, so in the sun, her fur stars turning gray.

Laura 11:00
Despite the audio glitches at the end, the state was really fun to crash. A dog who bungee jumps? I'd like to see that video. Albert and Brooke started off with some serious topics, like family and long term goals, and I really loved how they transitioned to fun, hobbies, and their dogs. It feels like 10 minutes isn't long enough, we barely scratched the surface on Brooke's bathing pup and Albert's adventurous Maltese poodle mix. Maybe they could do a puppy playdate? But who knows. That's all we've got for you today. Shoot us a message on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook @TheBlinkDate or @DateinaBlink to let us know what you think. If you want to sign up to participate in Date in a Blink, visit our website at www.theblink date.com. In the meantime, thanks for joining us for this episode. We hope you enjoyed listening and look forward to talking with you again next time.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Episode Transcript

Taly
Hello and welcome to today’s episode of Date in a Blink where we’re hosting Ilya and Claire for a Blink Date.

Taly
What is Date in a Blink, you ask? It's a 10-minute, audio-only, blind speed date experience. It's also a bit of social experiment designed to move people beyond looks spaced assumptions, curated profiles, and marathon messaging.

Laura
We at the Blink Date want dating to be fun and inspiring for Blinkers, and hope this podcast inspires you to try new ways of meeting people and dating. Will our handpicked matches find love on these Blink Dates? Or will they say goodbye to each other after 10-minutes and never look back?

Taly
If you're new here, we're so happy you could join us. If you're a regular, we're so glad you've returned.

Taly
We're here on Date in a Blink today with Claire and Ilya. I'm going to let you two dive in, but in case it's helpful to get the conversation started, I'm gonna leave you with a question: What is expensive, but worth it?

Ilya I'll go first. Yeah, uh, dogs.

Claire
Mmm. So true. I was just reading an article about the cost of pandemic puppies, and I was like a) that's like much less money than I spend on my dog. But also like, this it's worth it. Obviously. Um, I will say restaurant food.

Ilya
Okay, yeah. I usually just cook at home. So that definitely cuts down on a lot. And yeah, restaurant food, I also get worried about the quality they get. Don't know where it's getting imported from, all the import costs that's factored in, and nobody's really getting paid what they're worth.

Claire
Ooh yeah, that's why it's worth it to splurge on expensive restaurant food where like, you know, it's good quality ingredients and servers are paid a living wage. So maybe that's a caveat. Not not all restaurant food, but like when it's worth it, it's worth it.

Um, do you have a dog?

Ilya I used to. She passed 12 years ago or so? I loved it, but I wasn't able to get another one since then. And what's your favorite food to order at a restaurant?

Claire
Well, I recently did some experimenting with frying foods at home. I was trying to recreate one of my favorite restaurant dishes. If you're familiar with Millennium, the vegan restaurant in Oakland, they have a really great like fried mushroom faux calamari kind of thing. And I had been spending a lot of money getting takeout from there and decided I would try to reproduce it at home. But frying is just like really messy to do at home. It makes my apartment smell really bad, and so I've decided I will stick to just ordering takeout

Ilya
Have you tried an air fryer yet?

Claire
I haven't I really do — I, I've been meaning to get one but my countertops basically taken up by like all of my other kitchen appliances and I don't know if I have room amongst the Vitamix and the KitchenAid mixer and food processor.

Ilya
Yeah, I had the multicooker I decided to get that airfryer topper and it's been absolutely amazing since then.

Claire
Interesting. So does it go on like an instant pot multicooker?

Ilya
Yes.

Claire
Ah, so it works. Okay, I've been kind of skeptical. I don't know if just like the lid would be enough to transform that device.

Taly Ilya's audio cut out a little bit here but he said something along the lines of "Yeah, it's definitely a weird kind of setup, but it definitely works."

Claire
Nice. What...

Ilya ...originally expect.

Claire
What's your favorite thing to air fry?

Ilya
Shrimp.

Claire
All right.

Ilya yeah, beer, beer bacon shrimp. Or beer breaded shrimp. Put it into the air fryer, comes out really well. Still mean to try onion rings in there, but haven't had time for it yet.

Claire I love onion rings. It's another one of the challenges of just frying at home. So yeah, maybe the airfryer is the answer.

Ilya And what else have you been trying to cook in the pandemic?

Claire
Oh

IIlya
Or recreating at home?

Claire
So much cooking! Um, I—I've always liked cooking but during the pandemic I've tried to find like longer form recipes or like multi step recipes that I can immerse myself in more. I've gotten into baking some more. I haven't gotten a sourdough starter but other kinds of bread like ciabatta and foccacia. I got this cookbook that is like just a very inexpensive vegan recipe cookbook with like, every recipe has like five different components to it that all have to be cooked separately. That's been a fun way to pass the time. Biscuits, tofu, all sorts of things really.

Ilya
I have a breadmaker but haven't really utilized it myself.

Claire
Was it sourdough or a non sourdough?

Ilya 5:30
No, it was nice and simple, just the white bread. Pop all the ingredients in, hours later we get a full loaf of white bread.

Claire
How'd it turn out?

Ilya
The first one turned out really well. The second one I put in very badly. The water's supposed to go in first. I put it in last. But lumpy, and it just tastes like flour.

Claire
Oh, put it in... are you using, like a breadmaker?

Ilya Yeah

Claire
My grandma swears by hers. But I've never cooked with one.

Ilya They're really great. I actually picked them up at Goodwill. One I found just on the side of the street brand new. It still had the ingredients and instruction book inside as well as a warranty. So I was super excited about that.

Claire
Wow. What a strange find.

Ilya
So you mentioned vegan foods, I take it that you're vegan then?

Claire
I am vegetarian although there are just a lot of really good vegan restaurants in the area.

Ilya Yeah, I've been trying to experiment with having more vegetables lately. But my garden will be coming in soon. Uh, just seeded everything two weeks ago. So hopefully in about a month, I'll be able to get it all ready.

Claire
Oh, wow, you have like a garden.

Ilya Yeah.

Claire
That's pretty cool.

Ilya
Yeah.

Claire
Where do you live that you have space to have a garden?

Ilya Well, I actually have it set up on my balcony. There's this thing called a garden tower. And it allows me to have 50 plants in a three foot wide space.

Claire
Wow. That's pretty cool. What are you growing?

Ilya
I'll be growing some purple carrots for the first time, which I'm super excited about. I had them on a travel when I was in Israel. And they were just amazing. And a lot of other vegetables. Particularly some the... What do we have in there... We're getting squash. Lots of tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach, it's gonna be a lot of fun to chew down. But that's primarily it. Oh, and some watermelons.

Claire
Oh, wow. Wow. So it's a good haul. I have an indoor herb garden that my parents taught me as a gift during the pandemic. And right now I'm growing some basil, some lettuce, thyme, oregano. It's pretty nifty to just have access to fresh food.

Ilya Absolutely. Especially being able to keep it on your kitchen. You just snip off whatever herbs you need, or go right to your balcony and grab whatever food you need and start cooking.

Claire
But I'm jealous that you're actually able to grow fruits and vegetables. That's really cool.

Ilya
Yeah, I also have something called Alpine strawberries, which are white strawberries that grow year round. And they're incredible. They taste like Kiwis, though.

Claire
Oh, so strange.

Ilya Yeah. I got really interested in foods that you can't buy in the store. Particularly because their shelf life is about five days. So it doesn't have time to make it to a store. Stores don't carry them.

Claire
Right? Uh huh. Yeah, that's, a, that's a good strategy for what to prioritize growing. I'm jealous of the tomatoes. I grew up, uh, my dad did a garden every year and the tomatoes were just prolific and incredible. And I miss it. It's what happens when you like live in the suburbs and have space for a garden.

Ilya
Now the tomatoes, were they the big ones, the beef steaks?

Claire
No, those weren't like as trendy back in the 90s as they are now

Ilya
Right. Yeah, mine are just the small Roma tomatoes. Pop in a couple, trim down.

Claire
Those are great though. They hold their shape. You can like slice them and they don't, they don't all fall apart. So... and really good for sauces, too

Ilya Now, outside of cooking and growing foods, what are some other interests that you have? Do you like, for instance, going to the park, or going to local events?

Claire I mean, yeah, back when back when one could go to local events—

Ilya Right

Claire
—was a thing that I enjoyed these days, it's a lot more virtual events.

Taly Taly here. This was my first time crashing a date, and I have to admit, it was hard not to interrupt. I wanted to hear more about Claire's pup and ask both of them the brand of the urban gardens they had. I felt like they were finally warming up when the date ended, too, but who knows what they thought. Let us know what you think. Shoot us a message on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook @TheBlinkDate or @DateinaBlink. That's all for today. Thanks for joining us for this Date in a Blink. We hope you enjoyed listening and look forward to talking with you again next time.

Episode Transcript

Taly:
Hello and welcome to today's episode of Date in a Blink where we're hosting Ping and Katie for a Blink Date. What is Date in a Blink, you ask? It's a 10-minute, audio-only blind speed date experience. It's also a bit of social experiment designed to move people beyond looks-based assumptions, curated profiles, and marathon messaging.

Laura:
We at the Blink Date want dating to be fun and inspiring for Blinkers, and hope this podcast inspires you to try new ways of meeting people and dating. Will our hand picked matches find love on these Blink Dates? Or, will they say goodbye to each other after 10 minutes and never look back?

Taly: If you're new here, we're so happy you could join us. If you're a regular, we're so glad you've returned. Before we jump into today's Blink Date, here's a quick word from our sponsors.

Before we jump into today’s Blink Date, here’s a quick word from our sponsors.

[sponsored content]

Taly: We are here today on Date in a Blink with Tina and Ruben. I'm going to let you to dive in, but in case it's helpful to get the conversation started, I'm going to leave you with this question: What hobby or pastime would you love to get into, if only you had the time and resources?

Tina:
I'll let you go first, Ruben.

Ruben:
Oh Jeez, put me on the spot here. That's interesting. Um, you know, I've always wanted to get into like, collecting something other than junk. You know, like, I've had friends who've collected stamps and coins and stuff, and it's always really cool to look at. And they get so entrenched into it. And I just, I've never had the time to do it never had—even, never even knew where to begin, because it feels like all the cool stamps and all the cool coins are so old now, and like, it's hard to get. I probably do something like that, that'd probably be what I would go—go for. What about you?

Tina:
Um, first of all, that's really cool. I feel like people don't do that anymore. Or, like, I don't know, I feel like it's more digital collecting nowadays, instead of physical things. But for me, I think writing, like blog writing, I think that would be really cool to just like, or like blogging, like anything that's like, I don't know, like, putting your words into I guess, like, a plot a story and like, releasing it to other people. Cuz I think one of my biggest fear is always like, being in front of a crowd, and like saying what I really want to say. So I think that's one of the reasons why I joined this also. So, um, yeah.

Ruben:
So writing is an interesting thing. I feel like, you know, there's so many powerful ways to communicate. And I think writing really allows people to communicate in ways that even audio, which is kind of weird, cuz we're doing an audio thing right now. You know, with writing, there's so much open, open endedness that, that you could get into. Is there a particular style of writing that you're, that you would be interested in? Is it like, more storytelling? Or more like, journaling? Or is it like, what would you think?

Tina:
Probably, I don't know, I think I want to explore a bit more to see what my niche is. So like, I'm open to trying all of them. But like, for me thing I just want to focus on like, I guess storytelling, but at the same time, educating because the whole point, I feel like not just putting your story out there is like, just for you to talk about yourself, but hopefully in a way that like, help someone through like maybe some stuff you've gone through or like stuff that you learn, like your knowledge, and you're just passing it on, if you can't help the world yourself with, you know, the knowledge you have, the best thing you can do is to pass it on, and hopefully someone else can use that knowledge to help the world in some way.

Ruben:
Yeah, that's really cool, too. Because, yeah, I think we all have, you know, stories and pasts and things that we've gone through that, you know, we might think is either, you know, miniscule or not important in everyday life, and then you, you find, you happen to be sharing it in a group at a party or something, you know, when parties were allowed. And you find out, Oh, someone someone's like, dude, thank you so much for sharing that, like, now I know, I can get through...

Tina:
Yeah, yeah. Right. Yeah, that's, that's literally the best. I think that's why I love interacting with people in the first place because you learn something new from every person, no matter bad or good. You know, like, if it's bad, you learn not to do that, and you know, and then do better or, like, do the opposite. So that's better. So like, yeah, you can learn anything from every person. So... what about you? Would you like to do blogging or writing or share your story?

Ruben:
Well, that's the funny thing is I kind of already do.

Tina:
Oh okay!

Ruben:
Yeah, I've been a been a broadcaster for 10 years. And have actually just recently got out of, out of the field. But I currently maintain an entertainment based website. So... and I have, you know, a podcast of my own and a bunch of other stuff. So I'm constantly you know, sharing my story or pulling other people's stories out, you know, from them and being able to dig deeper so it's an interesting, it's why I was like, Oh, that's interesting, cuz that's really the field I just got out of.

Tina:
Is that why you're, one of your hobby you would like is like collecting cuz like, you like not only collecting physical things, but do you also like to collect stories of like people?

Ruben:
I'm very, I'm a very curious person. I like to know a lot about people, especially when they have an interesting story to tell. And what I've learned over the years of doing what I've been doing is that sometimes people don't know how to tell their stories, you know, some helps having somebody ask a question, keep that conversation going. As far as collecting goes, I like knowing the story behind certain things, you know, like, if I, you know, I was able to get a hold of, you know, historical artifact from, you know, like an old president or something I, you know, I would love to be able to say, Oh, this is, this was John Kennedy's, you know, pen that he used to sign this bill, and this is what he did. And this is what how that bill, you know, played in the, in the action years later. You know, I would love that at some point. But again, I don't know where to even begin with that.

Tina:
Yeah, two things. Storytelling is an art. Yeah, there's a book that's like, how to tell a story or something like that, I forgot, but so yeah, it's good that you want to help in that way, and like how people storytell, but two... what is it... What's your, like, unique story? Like you said, like, everyone has one, right? Like, so what's yours?

Ruben:
Oh, gosh. In the two and a half minutes we have left here, I don't want to completely pick it up. But the brief story would be, I was, I was adopted at, at a very young age, six weeks old, I was taken from my, my biological mom, there's a story behind that at some point, I can get into it. But grew up basically in a foster home. And, you know, that's, you know, a foster home because the parents who adopted me continued to do foster care. And, I mean, that's kind of like the origin of who I am. What are you? What's your story?

Tina:
Um, yeah. Okay, so I was born in Vietnam, actually. And I came here when I was 10. So my story is just literally just working hard in order to get to where I am today, and just overcoming challenges, and learning a lot through failing. And I want to share, I guess, all these failures, but lessons, I guess, I've learned so that others, maybe who go through the same thing I do, can learn from it. But wait, so you have a unique story, right? What did you learn from that that you want to share it to other people?

Ruben:
You know, the important thing for me, I think, is that, you know, I grew up with parents who were really old. So, you know, everyone always thought, Oh, your grandma's coming to a parent teacher conference. I'm like, No, that's my mom. And, you know, what I learned over the course of the years is that a lot of people don't appreciate the relationships that they have with their parents, you know, I had a very special relationship with my, with specifically my mom. But I learned very quickly that sometimes the person who gives birth to y—a lot of times, a person gives birth to you isn't actually, you know, the mom figure in your life, and how to accept that.

Tina:
That's a good lesson, I would say that.

Ruben:
It's definitely one that's different for most people.

Tina:
I think people can relate in some way. Um, even though like, I'm so in touch with my, but not in touch about, like, you know, I obviously have my biological parents, but I still struggle with some of that stuff. Because there's like, a dynamic to like, being like an immigrant to America, and like, your parents struggling to, I guess, assimilate into or, like, understand that aspect of like, having two cultures, especially since they haven't, like really assimilated it. And then like, I don't know, like, they have their own intergenerational trauma. And then, like, knowing that, maybe they can't give you the best motherly figure, like, all that you need and having to like, build a support system outside of that. And that means that maybe your mother figure can be someone else. So like, I resonate with your advice.

Ruben:
So I'm curious because I, you know, obviously I grew up here and was born and raised here. You know, I've had lots of friends who came here at different ages. What was it difficult, like, coming to America, especially, uh, you know, I think 10 is kind of an older age. Trying to, to, you know, assimilate with, with the public school system and just getting you know, becoming friends with people, was that difficult?

Tina:
For me, I don't know I think I always tried really hard and I was always a hard worker and like, not just in school, but like, try hard to like fit in and like do all I can take to like, you know, assimilate in so for me, it wasn't hard in the moment, you know what I mean? Like, during that, all you think about as a kid is just like oh, I want to fit in.

Taly:

At this point in the date, I jumped in to let them know that their date had ended, at let them say their farewells.

I gotta admit, I may or may not have teared up hearing how open Tina and Ruben were with each other after SEVEN minutes of talking. I could tell they both had really incredible stories to share, but both of them were also so mindful of giving the other person space to share, too. I was so sad to cut them off. Do you think they wanted to continue the conversation after their Date in a Blink?

Shoot us a message on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook @theblinkdate or @dateinablink to let us know what you think. If you want to sign up to participate in Date in a Blink, visit our website at www.theblinkdate.com.

In the meantime, thanks for joining us for this episode. We hope you enjoyed listening and look forward to talking with you again next time!

Episode Transcript

Taly 0:04
Hello and welcome to today's episode of Date in a Blink where we're hosting Ping and Katie for a Blink Date. What is Date in a Blink, you ask? It's a 10-minute, audio-only blind speed date experience. It's also a bit of social experiment designed to move people beyond looks-based assumptions, curated profiles, and marathon messaging.

Laura 0:22
We at the Blink Date want dating to be fun and inspiring for Blinkers, and hope this podcast inspires you to try new ways of meeting people and dating. Will our hand picked matches find love on these Blink Dates? Or, will they say goodbye to each other after 10 minutes and never look back?

Taly 0:37
If you're new here, we're so happy you could join us. If you're a regular, we're so glad you've returned. Before we jump into today's Blink Date, here's a quick word from our sponsors.

We are here today on Date in a Blink with Ping and Katie. I'm going to let you to dive in, but in case it's helpful to get the conversation started, I'm going to leave you with this question: What three wishes would you request from a genie?

Katie 1:07
Oh, gosh.

Ping 1:11
All right. Doo... Let's do one by one. Why don't you get started on your first one? Buy myself a couple minutes...

Katie 1:21
Oh, gosh, I think for me, one of the things that I would really like, is the ability to take care of my parents. I'm very, very family motivated. So my mom kind of makes the joke all the time where you know, if I buy a house, she expects me to buy the mother in law's cottage. So... So, I'm like, cool. I'm glad that you're establishing that real quickly. But oddly enough, it's funny. She, uh, she hasn't really mentioned that since she got married. So I was like, interesting. So maybe you just wanted companionship on—in your little house? I don't know. So I think that would be the first one that I would wish for.

Ping 2:09
Yeah. Okay. Yeah, my, both my parents actually, also, both my mom and my father both have the same... I don't want to say expectation, but they also make the same, you know, that once I buy my home, that I will buy one across the street, which is where they'll live. They say that to all my siblings, too. So I'm not really sure where they're trying to live. They want to live in 3 different places, so, yeah, quite confusing to me.

Katie 2:35
Oh they want a nice spread is what they want.

Ping 2:38
Yeah

Katie 2:38
They want some options, that's what they want.

Ping 2:41
Quick vacation every season in different places.

Katie 2:45
I know like, well, it's winter. Maybe I'll head back to California.

Ping 2:49
Yeah, exactly, yeah.

Katie 2:51
I see—I see their game plan. I see what it is.

Ping 2:53
They're smart, thinking ahead, five steps ahead of their kid.

Katie 2:56
They're very, very smart. I didn't even think—man, they're playing you guys. I'd watch out if I were you!

Ping 3:08
That's a—Yeah, that's a great answer. I guess the first thing I would ask for from a genie, that's tough. That's tough. I mean, I think probably my—a lifelong dream of mine is actually kind of, like exploration from a sense of, obviously, there's adventures and traveling and all that. But—But yeah, kind of the ability to do that without, kinda without reservation, whether, y'know, obviously everyone has obligations financially, and y'know, family and all that. But yeah, abilities to take some time to do that myself would be something I've always dreamed about. Obviously, you know, haven't exact—haven't exactly accomplished it yet. But yeah. No capability to do so.

Katie 4:00
You're kidding me? That's my second wish.

Ping 4:03
Yeah?

Katie 4:03
That's, that's actually my second wish I was actually like, yeah, the ability to travel, whenever I want, Yeah.

Ping 4:08
Yeah, so yeah, I gotta jump ahead of the gun and take it from you. So...

Katie 4:14
I know. That's fine.

Well, hey, I mean, you know, at least we're on the same wavelength, at least, you know, we both like to travel. What's actually interesting is, so me and my older sister we're actually about 10 years older than each other, and we both love to travel and we actually have a matching tattoo together.

Ping 4:36
Oh wow

Katie 4:36
It's, it was my first tattoo. It's the only tattoo that I have, but it's big. It's on like the side of my leg with my calf. And it is a globe and it has like a paper airplane flying above it.

Ping 4:53
Oh Cool!

Katie 4:53
It's one of my favorite things ever. And so she, she's like I want to get so many more tattoos. I'm like you need, you need to hold on a minute. I know, it's like you need to hold on a minute, first of all, like, the world isn't allowing us to travel right now. Second of all, I feel like that will subside once you actually get to travel, so just hold on a second, she cracks me up.

Ping 5:16
She's using the tattoos to scratch her itch?

Katie 5:19
I know. I know. She's like, maybe, maybe, I sh—because it's on her back, which is funny. Mine's on my leg. But like, I wonder sometimes if she's, you know, like getting ready for the day and she scratches her back. She's like, "Oh, yeah, that tattoo is there. Where would I go? If I could go anywhere right now?" I don't know. It just cracks me up. I'm like, you can't just go. So yeah, no, she cracks me up. So I definitely love travel, and I studied abroad twice in undergrad. I had an internship in London. And then I also studied abroad in Spain to study Spanish literature and composition.

Ping 5:55
Oh, wow.

Katie 5:56
So. So when I speak Spanish, I definitely have the accent. So I definitely try to not speak, to speak Spanish a lot. Because I sound ridiculous. So...

Ping 6:10
I don't speak a lick of Spanish, and I live in California, so it's a...

Katie 6:15
Oh, gotcha,

Ping 6:16
I really should learn some, but, uh, yeah. So then where would you go? Let's say like, what's the place that you still, you know, are still yearning to go that you haven't beed, or you want to go back?

Katie 6:28
So I've been to like the lower half of Spain, but I haven't been to Barcelona. And I'd really love to go to Barcelona. And I think like the architecture there is fantastic. And my mom and I, we were actually planning on going to Spain a couple years ago, and then some families stuff stopped us from being able to go, but I would totally go to Barcelona. I also really want to go to Germany, because I found out that there's this river in Germany that you can actually surf on

Ping 6:58
Really?

Katie 7:00
Yeah, I don't know where it is. I forget where it is. But there's, like, there's like a river that you can surf on in Germany. And I really just...

Ping 7:07
How do you get waves on a river?

Katie 7:11
I don't know, I think it's, I think it's like in the spring heading into summer when all the snow is melting. It like increases the speed of the water. Something, I have no idea. I don't know how nature works. But I'm probably not the best person to analyze that. But yeah, no, I totally would want to go to Germany. What, what's the next spot on your bucket list?

Ping 7:35
For me, um, I have tentative plans in the fall if everything opens up, and we're allowed to do so, to go back to like Tanzania and Kenya, and just do some kind of motorcycle camping and some Safari. That's, that's kind of the next things that's lined up. But longer—I think the next trip after that which I'm beginning to take the step to plan it, is hiking the Camino de Santiago in the pyramids. Yeah.

Katie 8:10
Yes!

Ping 8:11
That'd be really cool even though I don't speak any Spanish, but I'm sure... there's only one way. I'm sure I won't get lost.

Katie 8:19
Yeah, is that the same trail where you have to be completely silent when you—

Ping 8:23
You don't have to be but I know a lot of people do so out of the goodness, for a lot of people it is also spiritual.

Katie 8:33
Yeah.

Ping 8:34
So, so yeah. I don't think it's, I don't think that rule per se, but yeah, I doubt anyone's out there, you know, who've been playing songs on their Bluetooth speakers. But yeah, I mean, it's just seems like an incredible experience, like a very different... it's still like hiking, outdoorsy, backpacking trip, but it's a, it's a different experience than from say, you know, doing a backpacking trip down the Pacific Crest Trail or something like that. So it's a different kind of a, kind of a, it's a, it's a different focus, I'd say.

Katie 9:08
Yeah, yeah no, cuz I've, because when I, you know, said that I was studying abroad in Spain, that was the first thing people asked me about is if I was going so that way I could do that. And I was like, uh, no? I'm pretty small. So I was like, Yeah, no, my legs would fall off, they would not be able to handle that long of a journey like, that just sounds really overwhelming, but good for you. Like, I hear wonderful things. So I definitely think you should give it a shot. You know, and especially because I hear from a lot of people that it's kind of life-changing. It sounds so cliche, but sometimes travel really is.

Ping 9:46
I mean, I don't know, it's a different perspective. I don't know. I mean, I love traveling all that I haven't been doing as much as I could, as much as I want. Yeah, I don't know if I'm looking for life-changing experiences, but whatever that is. I'm not sure.

Katie 10:01
Yeah,

Ping 10:02
Keep an open mind, see where it takes you, yeah, yeah

Katie 10:05
Exactly. I totally feel that. Oh, man. Okay, third wish. Oh, I don't know. This is so stressful. Um, oh, gosh. Um, I'll let you, I'll let you go first.

Ping 10:28
All right, yeah, um, I should pay back the, the couple minutes you lent me at the beginning. Tough, tough, tough time deciding on something like this. It's like obviously everyone can, you know, can throw in something like world peace whatever, global warming like these kind of, right, giant global scale human scale sort of problems. I don't know. Sometimes. I feel like those answers are cheating. So I'm gonna try to stay away from that and keep it very—

Katie 10:59
Okay. All right, shots fired, I was going to give a world peace answer, but fine. I feel the judgment coming through. It's all right, it's good.

Ping 11:08
Hey, whatever floats your boat. But I'll try to keep it more personal. Yeah, just kind of it's probably health, um, it's kind of lame and stupid.

Taly 11:28
At this point in the date, I jumped in to let them know that their date had ended and let them say their farewells.

Ah, Ping and Katie escaped having to share a full three wishes. I was itching to know what they'd say. While they were pondering, I was mentally running through my list of 15 wishes, wondering if I'm just a weirdo who wants to have all the things? Do you think their shared wish to be able to travel freely will make them want a second date? Let us know what you think. Shoot us a message on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook @TheBlinkDate, or @DateinaBlink. If you want to sign up to participate and date in a Blink, visit our website at www.theblinkdate.com. In the meantime, thanks for joining us for this episode. We hope you enjoyed listening and look forward to talking with you again next time.

Episode Transcript

Laura 0:04
Hello, and welcome to our inaugural episode of Date in a Blink where we're hosting Joy and Jon for Blink Date.

Taly 0:10
What is Date in a Blink, you ask? It's a 10-minute, audio-only, blind speed date experience. It's also a bit of social experiment designed to move people beyond looks spaced assumptions, curated profiles, and marathon messaging.

Laura 0:23
We at the Blink Date want dating to be fun and inspiring for Blinkers, and hope this podcast inspires you to try new ways of meeting people and dating. Will our handpicked matches find love on these Blink Dates? Or will they say goodbye to each other after 10-minutes and never look back?

Taly 0:39
If you're new here, we're so happy you could join us. If you're a regular, we're so glad you've returned.

Laura 0:48
We're here on Date in a Blink today with Joy and Jon, I'm going to let you to dive in. But in case it's helpful to get the conversation started, I'm going to leave you with this question: If all the animals were suddenly able to talk, which of them would be the rudest?

Jon 1:05
Interesting question. Hi, Joy. I'm Jon.

Joy 1:09
Hi, Jon.

Jon 1:10
So the first animal that popped into my mind was a cat. Just because cats, generally — I guess my experience with cats is very few of them seek out attention. And they do have a tendency to just want to push things off tables, or scratching, or hissing... Maybe it's, maybe it's because I'm not a cat person, but I think they would be rude in a way that like, either it will like make you hate them, or I'll be like, oh, like, I think they're trying to be one of those cool kids in high school. And now I have to decide what I want to talk to them about.

Joy 1:54
Have you been personally hurt by a cat in your life? Because it sounds like you're really harboring some cat resentment.

Jon 2:00
You know, I was – I was scratched a lot by cats as a kid. But the interesting thing is, nowadays, when, um, my, where I would say really pre-COVID when I was visiting my friends who do have cats, and they all really liked me. And that was the first time I saw a cat actually not scratch or hiss. I just figured maybe I was too sheltered or like something my childhood aura and vibe was off.

Joy 2:29
Maybe you have some awful repressed cat memories that are just coming all out now and things you don't remember you're gonna, they'll come up during therapy at some point, and you'll realize why you don't like cats.

Jon 2:42
Yes, it's possible. Maybe — Maybe I'm projecting somehow.

Joy 2:46
Don't worry, though, I am also more of a dog person than a cat person. So I don't completely disagree with your assessment that cats would probably be pretty rude.

Jon 2:57
All right, well, we started off agreeing on something. So, we're, we're good to go now. Everything good.

Joy 3:05
Love it.

Jon 3:07
I figured I'd start off and ask, I figure it takes a, you know, unique type of personality or life perspective to want to do a, you know, a virtual speed date thing online. So if you're willing to share — and in general, I'm a type of person who asks a lot of questions, so if you don't want to answer my questions, that is totally fine — So the first question I want to ask is, what made you decide to give this a try?

Joy 3:39
Um, I actually, like this happened through such a strange channel. I had a friend who randomly came across this, came across Blink, I think in like a job posting? As she was looking for things, they were looking for, like an intern for the dating app to get up and running, and so she was like, oh, like, Can you do me a favor? She was dating someone at the time, can you do me a favor and download this dating app to see if it's legitimate? So I downloaded the beta version just to like, test it out and, and tell her what it was all about. And then I don't think that the dating app is up and running yet. But they emailed me and asked me to come on. And you know, I'm sure you got the same email. But I was just like, Oh, this is interesting. What a new take on things. And, you know, we've all been stuck at home for almost an entire year. So I definitely am missing the whole, like going out and meeting new people and just having fun conversations with new people and finding out about strangers that you've just met. So it just seemed like something really fun and interesting and new and different. And, you know, why not spice up a Saturday morning with a little conversation with a stranger from your living room?

Jon 4:51
Yeah, I think that's great. Yeah.

Joy 4:53
What about you know, how did you end up here?

Jon 4:55
So those Facebook ads are apparently very spot-on. I was scrolling through Facebook, and it was a sponsored ad, and I was like, Oh, well, like, I haven't... I guess they just know that I'm single. I haven't really been publicizing it. But to their credit, I have, I'm someone who likes to try new experiences. And so having been on dating apps before and realizing that it wasn't my cup of tea — or coffee, or water, if you don't like either — I decided to give it a try. Because I know that we can't do face to face speed dates with COVID. And, yeah, so it was, it was partially curiosity, and partially just to see like, what the experience would be like compared to the dating apps that I have been participated in. So

Joy 5:51
Yeah, have you ever done in person speed dates?

Jon 5:54
I haven't. It was something that I did want to try, and then you know, 2020 happened, so yeah. Now, you know, if — not, if —when, when you know, we're past COVID, and I'm still single, then then it would be something that I'd be interested to give a try.

Joy 6:13
Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. I always I'm so intrigued by the ideas, but the whole blind speed date thing where you don't get to see the other person. It's really there's something really interesting about it, because when in real life would that ever kind of get to happen. So I yeah, I just thought it was sounded like an interesting, fun experience.

Jon 6:30
Yeah. And I know that I know, guys kind of generally get this rap of, you know, being more visual people. And I understand that just our society in general, appearance does play a big factor. But I, I've had enough experience in my life where people who might not, you know, be on the cover of the magazine, have personalities that would put them there. And so I like idea of — I like the idea of being able to interact with someone and get to know someone that doesn't involve your normal five senses. I like being mentally challenged, intrigued, interested, you know...

Joy 7:20
Yeah, I mean, I think that is very true. And that's so funny you say that because yes, absolutely, I think... I think of men as being way more visual than women. But I think we're still guilty of it. And I think the whole like dating app swipe culture really doesn't help because you're essentially judging someone in a half a second window from the picture that you see when they first pop up on your profile. And you know, you try to, at least, I try to give people the whole, like, all the attention that they deserve, and read all the prompts and everything, but really, you're judging on a picture. So I think even though it's more normal for women to be more like emotionally and intellectually attracted to someone rather than physically, the whole dating culture now has kind of flipped that on its head and kind of forced us to be more visual too.

Jon 8:09
Yeah. But I'm, I'm actually very pleasantly surprised that you mentioned that you try to read the whole profile prompt. That is a very rare find in today's society and culture. So, kudos to you! Speaking of, you know, like dating apps and how things have kind of been flipped on their heads, I'm curious, with how easily trends kind of rise and fall, is there anything that you think is overhyped, either in a good way or a bad way? Just, like, you don't get the appeal.

Joy 8:44
Um, well... specifically with dating? Or just with anything in life?

Jon 8:46
With anything in life.

Joy 8:47
Oh, umm, overhyped... I loathe to the bottom of my soul reality shows, I think it's the dumbest thing in the world. But we have now just scraped so low to the bottom of the barrel of what we consider talent that people that, like, that people that are — that have no skills or talent to speak of and are, like famous just for the sake of inheriting money or being in the right place at the right time are kind of turned into these crazy celebrities for nothing. I think that I think reality shows in general are super overhyped, and I just don't get it. But I have definitely, in the last year become much more kinder in my thinking about what people seek out for entertainment, especially because, as of right now, like a lot of people are in such a tough emotional spot that, who am I to judge you know, what gives you comfort and what kind of helps you zone out and escape from your own life? But in general, any sort of reality shows or kind of that whole culture of people being famous just because they are wealthy, I don't understand at all and just feel very disconnected from when people are talking about, you know, oh, this person did this and this person did this and like, Oh, is that that girl you work with? And they're like, no, it's from the show and like how — neither of us know that person —

Jon 10:08
Yeah.

Joy 10:08
— how would I have any idea what you're talking about?

Yeah, I... overhyped?

Jon 10:18
No, that's a good one.

Joy 10:19
That's the first thing that comes to mind. Yeah. What about you?

Jon 10:22
Um, so I think my answer may may strike a chord with a few people, but I figured you might as well figure it out in these 10 minutes before figuring it out, you know, later on down the line. So, um, I think Star Wars is a little bit...

Joy 10:41
[laughs uproariously]

Jon 10:41
I don't, I don't dislike it. I don't dislike it. I think I think my opinion of it is, it's very neutral towards slightly positive. I think that the movies are entertaining. I think that if you want to read into the themes behind it, they do have some life lessons to be learned. But all the friends that I know who are really, really big Star Wars fans, the only strong reason they have for it is nostalgia because they grew up with it.

Joy 11:10
Right

Jon 11:10
And so I didn't grow up with it.

Laura 11:15
At this point in the date, I jumped in to let them know that their date had come to an end, and let them say their farewells. I'm not sure how you all felt, but for me listening to the laughter that surrounded their conversation about cats, reality shows, and Star Wars, definitely gave me some butterflies. Who knows what they thought though. Tune in to the end of the season where we'll do a final recap of all season one dates, and we'll see how things panned out.

That's all we've got for you today. Shoot us a message on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook @TheBlinkDate or @DateinaBlink to let us know what you think. If you want to sign up to participate in Date in a Blink, visit our website at www.theblinkdate.com Thanks, everyone.

Teaser Transcript

Taly 0:06
Hello listeners and welcome to blinks inaugural podcast, Date in a Blink.

Laura 0:10
We aren't entirely sure where this series will take us, but for now we're excited to conduct this social experiment and see how virtual audio only blind speed dates evolve. Can our handpicked matches find love? Or will they say goodbye to each other after 10 minutes and never look back?

Taly 0:26
This first season, you'll join us, Taly and Laura, as we crash the dates of hopefuls throughout the world on their journeys to find love. Here's a sneak peek.

From famous character impressions:

Albert 0:37
I could be like a Disney character. I got like three different voices that I use.

Brooke 0:43
Stop, wait, really?

Albert 0:43
There's this character Blippi really over the top, like, "That's Blippi!" Like really high-pitched voice...

Laura 0:50
To rude animals:

Jon 0:51
A cat just because cats tendency to just want to push things off tables. Maybe it's, maybe it's because I'm not a cat person.

Joy 1:01
Have you been personally hurt by a cat in your life? Because it sounds like you're really harboring some cat resentment.

Taly 1:07
Learning new things:

Ruben 1:09
Thank you so much for sharing that, Like now I know I can get through...

Tina 1:11
Yeah, that's literally the best. You learn something new from every person, no matter bad or good.

Laura 1:18
To divulging wishes:

Katie 1:21
You're kidding me? That's my second wish.

Ping 1:23
Yeah?

Katie 1:24
That's that's actually my second wish. I was actually like, yeah, the ability to travel whenever I want. Yeah.

Taly 1:30
We hear a lot more than you'd imagine on these 10 minute Blink Dates.

Laura 1:35
After the Date in a Blink, we'll chat a bit about how it went. We'd love to hear your thoughts about it. We're on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @TheBlinkDate, and @DateinaBlink. Let us know what you think! We look forward to going on this journey together.

Taly 1:48
If you want to sign up to participate in Date in a Blink, check out the show notes or visit our website at www.theblinkdate.com. See you all in a Blink!