Online dating can become routine pretty quickly. I mean, how many coffee houses or bars can you go to in one month before you feel like ditching everything to spend your time doing something you actually want to do? Like going paddle surfing, or roasting marshmallows over a fire on the beach. Wait…is that legal? Sometimes it feels like dating is getting old or the people you meet seem boring because you're stuck in a routine. Sigh.

It's easy to not put any thought into planning a date…you just meet someplace close, see if you click, and move on if you don't. You ask each other the same "what do you do?" questions over non-fat lattes or glasses of pinot noir and check your watch every few minutes. But sometimes what's needed is a new approach. Like riding bikes down the boardwalk to the Venice Street Fair. You see, it's nice if a guy has a clever idea and plans the date.

Strolling around the downtown art galleries before grabbing the best taco ever at Senior Fish. Going to the Hollywood Farmer's market for fresh-baked pretzel rolls and then browsing through used CDs at Amoeba. You see, it's nice if a guy has a clever idea and plans the date. Wow, a planner was always the guy of MY DREAMS. Sigh. That's why I like the idea behind a dating website called Loveawake. Or, you put a date idea out there and see who's interested.

If you haven't yet heard about it, they have a different approach to dating than your typical OkCupid. Instead of searching through profiles to see who you might like, you search through first date ideas and see what you want to do. The point is, searching is based on stuff you want to do, not a profile..and you skip all of the emailing back and forth about your interests, blah, blah, and cut straight to the chase. Online dating can become routine pretty quickly.