Welcome to all!

Valentine's Day is just around the corner. In this issue are some great ideas for a romantic movie to share, a romantic poem to read to a special someone, and a love song to get you in the mood.

I've included my current favorite love poem, "How Do I Love Thee?" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Back in 1845 she did not have internet dating available to her but she had the next best thing--the postal service.

Did you know that Elizabeth Barrett Browning met the love of her life through correspondence? She and Robert Browning admired each other's poetry and began writing to each other. Then there was an ardent telegram. Then they met.

They fell in love and continued courting via frequent love letters. By the time they married, about two lyears later, they had exchanged 574 love letters.

Browning's poem, "How Do I Love Thee?" was one of 44 sonnets that she wrote while courting her future husband. It is probably her most famous and certainly is one of the most eloquent and heartfelt love poems of all time. Enjoy it!

Enjoy the following features of The Dating Advisor and keep your spirits high!

In This Issue

1) Favorite Dating Service Reviews
2) Find a Unique Gift at 1-800 Florals
3) Article--Do's and Don'ts For Replying to Personal Ads
4) Love Poem--How Do I Love Thee? Elizabeth Barrett Browning
5) Romantic Movie--Cyrano de Bergerac
6) Love Song--My Funny Valentine Frank Sinatra

1) Favorite Dating Service Reviews

Lavalive.com
Lavalife is "where singles click." When you click on lavalife you’ll find 10,000 or more singles on the site almost any time of the day. This is a supersized dating service with a great looking website and an outstanding assortment of features. It is quick and easy to get started with lavalife, and in no time you will be searching among their enormous membership for that special someone who really catches your attention. There are many success stories here and you just may be their next one.
Review continues Click Here.

BlackSinglesConnection.com
The BlackSinglesConnection theme is, "We bring black singles together." They have created a highly rated and very comfortable online dating service for the community of African Americans and blacks worldwide. All of the best dating features can be found here and the pricing is very reasonable. Especially, check out their limited time special, one of the best deals seen anywhere on web dating sites. You’ll agree that BlackSinglesConnection is a wonderful discovery and you may well meet your match.
Review continues Click Here.

2) Find a unique, fun gift at 1-800-Florals

The site makes it easy to select a great bouquet of flowers for the right occasion. The bouquets are gorgeous and they offer same-day delivery throughout the U.S. and Canada. Want to know more about flowers? There are numerous great articles that will make you an expert and help you decide.

Click here.

3) Do's and Don'ts For Replying to Personal Ads by Tracy Brant

You may have a great personal ad... and a wonderful smiling photo to go with your ad... but things can still fall apart if you are sending out an awkward first message in response to other people's ads. What can you do to make that first message work for you?

DO:

Write in advance. This lets you think about what you want to say about yourself and, more importantly, check your spelling and grammar. Have a friend read and react to your draft message.

Spellcheck. Yes, this counts. It shows that you are serious about finding dates and willing to pay attention to details. Some people are just natural bad spellers, but it can make you look less smart or less educated than you really are. Most websites do not offer spellchecking of profiles.

Personalize! We recommend writing a general template of a first message, but you have to personalize it for each person you contact. Mention something from their profile, ask a question that refers to something they wrote, or describe how you would be a good match for them. Mention what attracted your attention to their ad. No one wants to think they just received a form letter.

Article continues Click Here.

4) How Do I Love Thee? by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Love poems have the power to inspire us and to warm our hearts. We should take a few minutes each day to recall an inspirational line or stanza.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints,--I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!--and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

5) Cyrano de Bergerac Movie Review

Have you ever felt tongue-tied while trying to say the right romantic words to someone you love? Christian had that problem too, but luckily he had Cyrano to help him out--the perfect mentor.

Listen to and marvel at the great words that Cyrano is able to say to his love, Roxanne, through Christian. Ever wish you could talk that way?

Here's a review by Amazon.com editor Marshall Fine.

Edmond Rostand's ineffably romantic play about the big-nosed soldier and swordsman with a poet's soul looks stagey in this 1950 film adaptation. But, thanks to a heartfelt performance by Jose Ferrer (who won an Oscar for the role), the beauty of Rostand's words shines through. Ferrer plays Cyrano, who is in love with the beautiful Roxanne but is unable to tell her so for fear that she will reject him because of his extremely prominent nose. In a heart-breaking turn, she confesses her love to him--but it is love for another man, a soldier under his command named Christian. Christian, however, is a good-hearted but tongue-tied youngster, and so the older Cyrano woos Roxanne vicariously by supplying Christian with his own words of love, most famously in a balcony scene in which Cyrano speaks for himself while pretending to be Christian. Ferrer is tender, tough, and funny and single-handedly pulls this film to near-greatness. -- Marshall Fine

6) Love Song
My Funny Valentine Frank Sinatra

Who can sing a romantic song better than Frank Sinatra? Here's one of my favorite love songs by "old blue eyes," and one that is appropriate for Valentine's Day.

My funny valentine
Sweet comic valentine
You make me smile with my heart
Your looks are laughable
Unphotographable
Yet you’re my favorite work of art

Is your figure less than Greek
Is your mouth a little weak
When you open it to speak
Are you smart?

But don’t change a hair for me
Not if you care for me
Stay little valentine stay
Each day is valentine’s day

Is your figure less than Greek
Is your mouth a little weak
When you open it to speak
Are you smart?

But don’t you change one hair for me
Not if you care for me
Stay little valentine stay
Each day is Valentine’s Day

That's all for now.

Make it a great week.