how do you pick the person you want to date?  

Hmm.. I'm not really the dating kind of a girl. I'm more of the looking for friends kind of a girl. I don't rush around picking up men, I'd rather know them as friends and if after hanging out as friends he decides to court me, then that's the time when I'd try to see if I could see him in my future.

I don't like the dating thing because it's all about showing the best foot forward. He tries so hard to impress you and you try so hard to impress him - both end up hungry, tired, and burned out when the real relationship starts.

I like the relationship to start as friends who loves hanging out and just talking. No pretenses, no gifts or flowers, no being-gentlemanly because you like the girl.

By the way, I am blunt, when I only see the guy as a friend, I do blurt it out. Yes, there was a guy who thought I was just being modest. He ended up ignored and brutally humiliated.

Many girls I know have a checklist of what a person they're interest must have. Unfortunately, I used to be like that. Now I don't use a list. I think it's best to simply have a high respect for yourself, and look for someone that you enjoy spending time with. If you have high respect for yourself then I think you'll automatically pass by people that wouldn't be a good person to date (player, cheater, addict, alcoholic, abusive). When I first started dating my current boyfriend, some of my friends asked me why I liked him. I thought about it for a couple minutes and my answer was that I simply and truly enjoyed spending time with him.

He isn't exactly like me, but he complements me. I tend to have a quick temper, whereas he is more mellow. We have very similar joking styles. We have similar goas, and some common interests.

A movie that I love to reference to when talking to my friends about guy problems is the movie "He's Just Not That Into You". The biggest lesson I took from that movie is to only accept the boy that deserve you. He doesn't call you back? His loss, since you're a really awesome chick. He broke up with you? Then honey, it just wasn't meant to be. You'll find someone that wouldn't dare break your heart the way he did.

Of course, at first, I will look at their physical attributes. If they passed on my standards, then that's the time that I will look on their personality, and their money. I also have to find out if we have common interests and if I feel comfortable and at ease around him. I don't judge a book by its cover. I just SELECT a book by its cover.