Funny enough, I thought I heard her say those three words on our third date. Of course this was when sexual activities were going on, and I might have imagined it. But I thought I heard it, and it was enough to cause me to snap out of the mood. I almost ended things then and there in a moment of panic, but I pressed on.

I don’t really remember the specfics of the first real time we exchanged L words. I will say this: for the first time in my life, I wasn’t the first one to say it. I heard it, and I shot it back.  A kneejerk reaction and an out of body experience.  And the ex was great. She was pretty, smart, hilarioius, and knew the way to Mordor. I had no reason not to love this girl, but I didn’t.

With Michelle, I told her I loved her, and I meant it. I told Kate I loved her on the second date, and I meant it.  With the last ex I told her I loved her, but I didn’t mean it.

Funny enough, I thought I heard her say those three words on our third date. Of course this was when sexual activities were going on, and I might have imagined it. But I thought I heard it, and it was enough to cause me to snap out of the mood. I almost ended things then and there in a moment of panic, but I pressed on.

I don’t really remember the specfics of the first real time we exchanged L words. I will say this: for the first time in my life, I wasn’t the first one to say it. I heard it, and I shot it back.  A kneejerk reaction and an out of body experience.  And the ex was great. She was pretty, smart, hilarioius, and knew the way to Mordor. I had no reason not to love this girl, but I didn’t.

After a week of binging on talking until two and missing each other after our first date, I purged her from my life for another week. This was because it scared the hell out of me how much I liked this girl, and how from that first interchange of saliva, and awkward hello, I knew it was over. I even said so after our first kiss. After an hour of hand holding and walking around a snowy Midtown, we decided to go to the movies. We stopped in the corner of the lobby and that first kiss just kind of happened. All I said was a simple three words.

I’m in trouble.

But I  tried my best for a week to really try and not let her ruin me. I couldn’t fight it and after two weeks we had our second officially official date, and she spent the weekend visiting me at school.

We were cuddling on my couch watching Seinfeld and we shared a look. We both just knew what the other was thinking. We couldn’t contain it from our voices, let alone our faces.  Because in that first month together there was their weird psychic bond between us. In three years, that bond would be of an unspoken despising of one another, but in that moment we knew that we loved one another.

I’m not gonna say it.

This was all I had to say to her to confide in her what I wanted to say but wouldn’t. And I didn’t. Because you don’t fall in love with a girl on the second date, after of barely a month together, and you certainly don’t tell her about it. I held my ground for a solid forty minutes.

Screw it. I love you.

I love you too.

The first time I said it in the deeper way, the words just bubbled out and I couldn’t stop them. And my God, did I mean those words. I was eighteen and was convinced she was the soul mate, and the storybook princess.  She reciprocated and we kissed, and it just knocked me flat on my ass. And then we just held on to one another never wanting to let go.

***

Hi Travis,

Hope to hear from you,
M

***

Ha, you are sort of my male counterpart, however I couldn’t handle the schedule of a date a night AND mine has a twist, which is one of my reasons for leeping it anonymous.   Check out my blog…(her website)I’ll be following yours now.

-Michelle

***

Hi “Travis”,

Hope to hear from you soon,

***

No hate here. Was forwarded your blog from a fellow Producer, and as a writer, I just wanted to say keep up the good work because humor and honesty is ALWAYS appreciated, and this is infinitely better that those horrible dating TV shows. I immediately forwarded it to my guy friends who are fighting the fight in the same NYC dating pool.

Cheers & good luck with your project!

***

Hi-

I wanted to let you know that I stumbled upon your blog today after seeing a link to it in a “writing” advertisement on Craig’s List. I enjoy it. I found myself treading through post after post—serves for kicks and giggles. Just wanted to let you know.

***

Fake Travis,

-Real L

***

While I was doing my nightly perusing of Craig’s List for editorial
jobs, I came across your solicitation for female bloggers. And let me
just say, you’re blog is quite entertaining. I love the idea/project
you came up with and I kind of got sucked into reading more posts than
I’d like to admit. You should turn it into a book. Unlike my blog,
yours is consistent, has a theme, and completely filled my juicy
reading material quota for the day. So props to you. I’m sure you’ve
gotten a fair response to your Craigs List posting already, but if you
happen to be in dire straights and need a date with a relatively sane
gal who knows how to put her thoughts down in writing, let me know.
I’m not really looking for anything in the “love” department, it just
sounds like it could be fun. And I’m all for awkward and random (makes
for much better stories).

~S

***

Hi “Travis”

Looking forward to hearing from you.

***

Well, I can’t even remember how I came across your blog but it’s been entertaining me for the past 90-something days. You only have a few days left, you’re funny, I always like a good random time- so I think it would be fun to meet up for a drink(s) (maybe not at Continental though- 5 shots in a row is something I haven’t attempted in a while haha). I’m in grad school at NYU, live in the city…let me know your thoughts.

***

Hi Travis,

My name is (Her name) and I’m a reporter interested in doing a story about your dating experiment for the (name of section) section of the (Yet Another Major National Paper).  Would you be willing to be interviewed about it?  Let me know what you think and we can discuss more details over the phone if you’d like.  Thanks very much and I look forward to hearing from you.

***

I just stumbled upon your website a few days ago through a link at hookingupsmart.com.  I’ve been anxiously awaiting Hoboken St. Patrick’s Day, so it really helped me get through this long work week.  Just wanted to drop you a note saying that it was awesome, and hope that it helped you out.  We’ve all been through rough patches before, and I think we can all relate to at least a few of your experiences.

***

Hi “Travis,”

So, yeah.
Let me know.
Thanks
***

Dillinger isn’t exactly an original name for a smooth-talking tough guy that doesn’t give a fuck. And there are at least two grammatical errors in that screenplay.

Other than that, I would definitely pay $9.50 to sit through the first 23 pages of this movie.

***

So I put an ad up on craigslist more than a few times for guest bloggers/daters/shameless blog promotion here are the results

Hello!

I saw your post on craigslist and checked out your website. That’s a great idea! I did something similar recently. I did online dating and started posting my stories on my blog. If you want to check them out search “the craigslist chronicles” on my blog.

Anyways, I did find a winner in the end and I’m not sure what you’re looking for. But if it’s not an in depth date I’d be happy to meet for coffee, get to know  each other and do a mutual blog shout out after Maybe throw some tweets in there and stay in touch.

Let me know if you’re interested.

*****

Hello Travis,

I am intrigued by this project, as I recently decided to undergo a similar activity.  Mine has involved using standard dating (sites such as match.com) in order to meet guys outside of the normal drunk, screaming in a bar encounters.  So far, so weird.  Have met a few genuine gents as well as some of Manhattan’s finest slimeballs.  Planning on compiling my date re-caps once all is said and done.  Checked out your site, it seems like a collaboration could be quite interesting.  I’ll attach one article just so you can check out what I’ve been up to.  Or you can visit (her website) to see more.

Good luck sir!
~ Melody

****

I see you are looking for a 20-something female blogger now… I don’t have what’s required. I’m 30. But I gotta confess I’d die to go on a date with you. Your idea of blogging this is amazing. Is this turning into a book? I bet it is. I’m jealous I haven’t thought about something like this before you did. I’m a Brazilian journalist who crazily dropped everything in Brazil a few months ago to have some New York life experience. I have been writing about all these hard-and-sweet months in NY and the craigslist dating is something still missing, you’d be perfect for that.

If I’m asking you on a date? No, I’m not. You are the one to do that. If you like.

Congrats on the idea!

Best,

Sandra

***

hey are you stil looking for a blogger girl date lo I will be more than happy to help you!

-m

***

This one was a fav:

First, I’m not a blogger. I just don’t have the time for writing long
winded rants and posting them to the outer banks of the inter webs.
But, I read your blog and I’m intrigued with this idea. As a 24 year
old that has never been on a date, I thought this would be the best
time to take advantage of this weird opportunity. You probably think I
am either this trollish looking homebody but I think I’m a pretty cute
kid. Maybe one of the other reasons why I was never treated by the
opposite was that I was a pretty late bloomer as far as looks and
taking care of myself go and that the majority of my friends are males
so I’m only assuming that guys think one of the fellas I’m with are my
boyfriend. Anyways, take me out, be my first date and your latest
experience. A dude that’s going on 100 dates with a girl that has been
on 0.

***

Hey Travis-

I saw your posting on Craigslist looking for a 20 something female to go on a date with for your blog.  This is the second time I’ve come across it, and I think the idea is really interesting.  I’m 20, and I know you just wrote about some lunatic date with a 19 year old from a dating website, but I like to think I’m not a 19 year old lunatic and won’t have you running to the bar for rum and cokes… although who knows.

I just started making my blog this week, but once it is up, I think it would be fun to write about the experience on mine as well/link to yours if you have me guest blog.  Right now you can get a feel for what my blog will be like if you check out my twitter which is under the name “(her twitter)”.

As far as I go, personally.  I am a student at the New School, a personal shopper for an international retailer, work primarily in the fashion field, and live downtown. Always looking for ways to amuse myself, as I’m sure you are as well considering your experiment.

Hope to hear from you!

***

Hey Travis,

I have no idea who you are or what you look like …. I figure if we do actually go out, it may be fun for it to be “blind.”… anyway I’m a celebrity journalist and I think what you’re doing is a great great concept….certainly something worthy of a book. Excellent idea!

Anyway, I would love to be part of it as your guest blogger. My writing has been published in so many places, such as People magazine, CosmoGIRL and the National Enquirer, in addition to many local newspapers, etc. I have been featured as an entertainment news pundit on many shows, such as Access Hollywood, Chelsea Lately and The Insider.

Best,
D C

***

Hi “Travis Dillinger”,

I discovered your website today while searching craigslist for writing gigs and was oddly fascinated… I couldn’t figure out why, except in the kind of way one is fascinated by car crashes and can’t look away despite the common knowledge that you shouldn’t look, because it causes traffic. So I was wondering if I could interview you to learn more about your project, 100 girls in 100 days, to see how it is going and what you’re getting from it. I have a blog but it’s new, so I don’t know how you’ll benefit from this, but I am so curious.
So, maybe I will hear from you, but I’m not expecting anything.

Sandy

***

Travis,

Bold and interesting move with the 100 Girls/100 Days project…I’m very curious.  I write the blog 20-Nothings.com – a dating/lifestyle hodge-podge for the 20-30-year-old, Manhattan set.  Should Day ___ remain in need of a subject slash date, let me know.

All the best,

J

Long before I embarked on telling the tale of a hundred dates of Dillinger, Dillinger was a character in something else. And I liked the name so I transposed it onto something else.  Here is a twenty page sample from that screenplay. It’s called The Girl In Between, and if you try and steal it, it’s WGA registered.

So I’m still in flux with a few production companies in regards to putting my fair Dillinger on the big screen, and let’s face it I’m a guy with a website, a following, and wide-eyed idealistic casting ambitions. And to me nobody = Travis Dillinger more than Joseph Gordon Levitt.

So heres my goal people: Let’s use the power of the internet to help JGL’s career, as well as my life’s ambition. Facebook this, tweet this, retweet it, message him at @hitrecordjoe tell your mother, your mailman, your editor, your sister, your puppy. Let’s do whatever it takes to get JGL to at least acknowledge and take a gander into the world of Dillinger. And if he wants to bring Zooey along for the ride, all the better.

Please read this AFTER you have finished the 100 Days.

I don’t know if you aware of this, but some guys happen to lie about their conquests. Some guys build themselves up to be more than they are.

Some men are drunks, and some men have God complexes and schizophrenic personalities. I have all and none of these traits. Before you condemn me to an institution, you should know that Travis Dillinger isn’t just an alias. He is a fictional character.

You see, like any twenty- something with an iota of wit and an over-imaginative brain he can’t shut off, I am an aspiring writer. I will tell you that this blog did, in fact, start out as a joke. I really did pitch this as a romantic comedy to my friend/writing partner. I do have a tendency to pitch purposely awful ideas that would probably get made into films. (Example: a guy falling for a girl’s multiple personality). We had a good laugh, and then talked about our real projects.

Then one day boredom hit. Having been no stranger to the blog world, as my initial foray into blogging was a non-fictional, tongue-in-cheek looking at relationships, the idea of the bad movie turned into a blog idea. In addition to this, I was dealing with month’s of writer’s block and false starts on projects, so I started this blog as a fiction exercise. I’d spent the last few years concentrating on screenplays and spec works for film/tv. But I hit a wall with project three, and wanted to find something to keep my brain fresh. So I started this as a daily short story exercise. I liked writing about relationships, and I took a character name I was fond of and just had at it. I did the math required to find out when the end date I wanted was, and worked backwards from there. And thus Travis Dillinger set out to date one hundred girls in one hundred days.

At around day 20, I got a few interesting calls about making the blog into something bigger. I was contacted by lit agencies, production companies,  and both the New York Times & The New York post. And it was something of a wakeup call to treat it as something more legitimate than just a way to kill fifteen minutes, and keep my creative juices flowing.

So yes, what you have been reading is fictional. Why haven’t I felt the need to mention this prior? Well, I honestly feel like it shouldn’t matter much. Most guys today lie about their conquests. They fill their dating stories with half truths, embellishments, and just straight up junk they made up. I didn’t lie for the sake of screwing with an audience, I lied to keep some sense of genuineness to the piece. I really truly believe that whether this blog is 0 or 100% factual (and I will say that it is a number in the middle), the story remains the same and shouldn’t effect your view of it.

I thought this was an interesting, innovative way to publish a piece of fiction. With a love of instant gratification in Twitterfeeds and blog entries, you can get into a persons (even if they aren’t entirely non-fictional) head in a deeper, fleeting way. There is no reasons that reading needed to be relegated to books. And I also feel like the non-fictionality of this piece should impact your enjoyment of it. A story is a story, regardless of the factuality. I wanted to write the perspective of one man trying to do this, the toll it took on him, and all the crapshoots that would be involved. There is no doubt in my mind that if someone in that life position did this project, the results wouldn’t be completely different. I feel that I appreciated this whole thing with a level of legitimacy, and honesty. Most people don’t learn life lessons in a month, two, or even three. Life isn’t a romantic comedy. Half the time we dwell in our alcoholism and fucking around with our female friends.

I wrote this the reason why any good writer writes anything, to put out something genuine, and to tell (what I believe) is a nice, entertaining story that you can enjoy. I honestly hope that you enjoyed it, and for those just jumping in and discovering it, I hope you enjoy the ride too.

So whats next? Well I’m waiting on word about a couple bigger deals involved with said interesting phone calls. I’m also preparing a new venture in what I (for lack of a better term) call novel-blogging which will be in the same vein and starting shortly.