Sashaying Solo into the White House State Dinner – and Much More

Who cares if Tareq and Michaele Salahi crashed the White House state dinner party? Apparently, they were pretending to be something they were not - a couple with clout and class. People do that all the time. They set their sights on the identity they only wish they could claim - the one they fantasize as most impressive - then they fake it.

I'm far more impressed by two other legitimate guests at the White House state dinner - each sashayed solo into the festivities. Imagine doing that, amidst all the glitter and the cameras, and the hundreds of other guests, each clutching a partner. That, I think, takes real confidence and a sense of self. Hats off to you, Jon Favreau and Robert Gibbs!

Favreau is a speechwriter for Barack Obama. He was named as one of Time magazine's 100 people who most affect our world (under the category of scientists and thinkers) and one of People magazine's 100 most beautiful people. Gibbs is Obama's press secretary, pummeled daily by the scrum of reporters and still standing.

Singles Collection - Part 4

This is one of those times when I've accumulated such a backlog of topics to mention here that I need to pull them together into a Singles Collection. Apologies if you sent me something and don't see it here; some of the links from a while back are no longer working. Please do continue to send me your favorite things.

Cheers

1. Our friend Zandria recently posted 14 Things This Single Gal is Thankful For. Here's one of them: "I'm thankful that when some dude asks me why I'm still single, I can answer simply and honestly, ‘Because it's my choice.'" (Thanks to Natalya for the heads-up.)

2. Author Samara O'Shea offers a list of 10 Tremendous Women Who Never Married. See if you can predict some of them before you click on the link. And yes, add your favorite ever-single women AND men to the comments section.

Jeers

3. Jeers to Joy Behar for broadcasting the misconception that if you're single, you must be gay. She said that about Janet Napolitano. Fortunately, author and columnist Dan Savage was one of her guests. After Behar asked about Napolitano, "Isn't she gay," Savage quipped, "I've never slept with her."

4. More jeers to all the shelters who turned away a single dad and his baby - they don't accommodate men who care for children on their own, he was told.

Here are some new sites I haven't mentioned before:

5. Single Independent Sistah. Some nice consciousness-raising over there.

6. Meet Market. I was wary at first, because of the name, but Danielle DeKay explained it to me this way: We are not a dating or matchmaking company. Instead we aim to bring singles together in settings where they are not forced to feel pressured into "hooking up" but to meet like-minded single people. The events we host are not manufactured to consist of equal number of males and females and we never promote dating amongst them. In short, Meet Market Adventures is a unique business which takes singles beyond the online interacting sites and puts them into real life activities."

I'm still not caught up on all the news and notes I've wanted to share with you, so stay tuned.