Dating is tough, we know.
There's the matter of getting yourself out there and finding the right place to be, at the right time, to meet the right person.
And experts agree, it's all a numbers game.
The more people you meet, the more likely you are to find a potential mate.
Some of us create profiles for online dating sites.
Others join gyms or networking clubs.
And some still rely on the old-fashioned setup through friends.
Here at the Arizona Daily Star, we've decided to take up matchmaking and act as a blend of all three methods.
We're not quite a dating site, but we do have a large audience — more than 300,000 readers on Sunday, to be more precise.
People are also reading…
Certainly we're not an exclusive club, either, but you do have to subscribe to get a paper delivered.
And if we're not exactly friends, but we like to think of ourselves as a friendly news source.
So here we are in February, introducing you, dear readers, to a few singles we found across town by querying singles groups, seeking friends of friends, scouring Internet dating sites and handing out business cards.
Look for profiles of single people each Sunday in February in Accent. Check them out, and if you're interested, send them an e-mail.
No pressure — just an introduction. Maybe a phone call or even a date, if you're lucky.
We'll follow up with our singles in March and let you know how the matchmaking worked out. If any real matches are made, we'll follow up again to see how the relationships are going.
As always, treat these singles the way you would any other single you meet at the grocery store, at church or in a bar.
As mother would say, be on your best behavior and exercise caution.
The Star is not responsible for any broken hearts.
This week, we'd like to introduce you to. . .
Brian Walker, 60
• Occupation: Clinical psychologist.
• Status: Single, never married. No children.
• How we found him: Through a friend of a friend.
It's easy to list the accomplishments of Brian Walker.
He has his doctorate and two master's degrees.
He runs marathons, loves music and spends some of his free time playing piano and composing tunes.
He became a mentor and father figure to a young man whose biological father wasn't in his life.
And he's committed to his work — staying late into the evenings and logging extra hours on Saturday mornings.
That may be one reason why he hasn't met the right woman, said Walker, who has never been married but was engaged twice during his graduate studies.
"From a personal perspective, he's funny, witty. He's a great storyteller and extremely fun to talk to, and probably part of that comes from what he does," said Jennifer Marshall, who has been good friends with Walker for about 15 years.
The words she uses to describe him include: neat, particular, athletic, minimalist, intelligent and comfortable. (Walker says his friends might describe him as shy, caring, fastidious, a little obsessive-compulsive, committed to following through, unpretentious and smart.)
Marshall laughs out loud when we ask if there's anything about him we don't know that we should.
"I don't think he's ever, ever used his stovetop or oven in his house. I think he eats out every single night," she said. "And it took him several years to get furniture in his living room."
Walker, who came to Tucson for an internship at the University of Arizona psychology department in 1981, "felt a magnetic pull" when he saw the mountains.
"I just knew this place was home," he said. He's built a life here that he wants to share with a special woman.
"She has to be independent," he said. Marshall emphasized how important it is that the right woman for her friend would also have a full, complete life of her own.
"She's looking for someone for true companionship and is fine on her own but thinks it sure would be nice to share her life with somebody else."
Walker values honesty in a relationship. "If you're angry with me, I want to know it."
Success: "Someone with at least a bachelor's degree and who has her own life in place."
Integrity: "It's important to have consistency in your values and behavior."
And physical fitness: "I want to be with someone who is as healthy as she can be, physically, emotionally and spiritually."
What he's not looking for in a partner: anyone who uses drugs, drinks excessively, smokes, carries extra body weight or is selfish and self-involved.
Alice Ong, 39
• Occupation: Staff assistant.
• Status: Single, never married. No children.
• How we found her: Through an online social networking group called Meetin.org.
She's detail-oriented, but not in an obsessive kind of way. The kind of details she remembers include your favorite scent, which she sends to you for your birthday.
She speaks Spanish and Chinese, which is her family's heritage, and she loves to travel.
Although she jokes she was on the 10-year-plan to earn her bachelor's degree, she loves to learn and has taken continuing education classes in business.
Family is important to her and she loves kids. A guy who is good with kids will make her swoon, by the way.
One quirk about her: She follows family tradition by removing her shoes after she enters her house — or at least the moment she remembers to do it after she enters. By the end of the work week, there are shoes all over the house.
Her friends emphasize that she's very giving and that she deserves someone who will give in return. (Ong describes herself, as do her friends, as nurturing and responsible.)
"She's always remembering little things," said her close friend Zaonii Sierra. "She's also like a store; everything you need she will have. . . . Or she knows where you can get it. She's my own personal Google."
She's professional and goal-oriented, her friends Brian and Eileen Priest point out.
Maybe to the point where you can't always read her emotions, Eileen said.
"But once you get to know her, she warms up and you can read her very easily."
She's a Renaissance woman, spending her free time cooking, hiking, shopping, going to museums, listening to live music. "She's not any one way — not really politically bent or food bent. She's multifaceted but very up with current events. Modern," Eileen said.
She's outgoing and gregarious and interested in casual dating and serious relationships.
A man who is chivalrous and will open doors for her would be nice to have around, but she's independent enough that she might not think to wait for it.
It's important to her that the guy she dates also loves good food and music. "And I don't want a music snob. He would have to be open to lots of kinds of music," she said.
She'd also appreciate someone who's not jealous, doesn't smoke, isn't a heavy drinker and is spiritual but not necessarily part of an organized religion.
Why she's single: "I'm not going to be married more than once in my entire life, and even though I want to get married and have kids, it's not the be-all, end-all of my world."
