Many single people have very firm ideas about what they want in an ideal partner. Often, that list of criteria is less about love and support and more about lifestyle fit, about a perception of a "perfect match". While attraction and compatibility are certainly important factors in successful relationships, we also know that they alone are not sufficient.

Ah, springtime -- the skies are blue and love is in the air. Every year around this time, my Inbox fills with questions from those looking for love. In response, I've compiled a short list of dating tips that you may want to tape to your fridge if you're a single-and-seeking.

According to a recent survey, 49 per cent of Canadians tell lies about themselves in the early stages of a relationship. Whether it's your age, salary, or hair colour, are some truths just too compromising to tell the people we're trying to impress?

By the age of 34, I was somewhat of an expert on "types." I had dated them all. I have been like a casting director in my own dating show. That was when I first went out with Andrew. He was so nice -- too nice -- and I thought, this is not going to be exciting enough. He's a nice guy. So, I didn't return any of Andrew's calls and that was that...until.

White rice isn't exactly bad for you. Gasp! I know right? How could this be? All the heath gurus telling you to inject your tummy full of whole grain goodness and then I spring this on you? Blasphemous! So here's the deal... According to Chinese Medicine, people have used white rice therapeutically for years.

We're told there are plenty of fish in the sea, but through trial and error, most of us have probably figured out finding the 'one' isn't always the e...

I jokingly consider myself to be the first, last, and only incidence resulting from a Jamaican-Slovenian union. There is nothing I find particularly unappealing about non-white guys. But there is something I've always found especially alluring about white guys. When I explained this to someone he suggested that maybe I harboured some feelings of self-hatred that I needed to address...

Men may take women out on different sorts of dates than they previously did, but the expectation that men be the ones to do this largely remains. When it comes to dating, many men are expected to pay for dates, both by some women, and more commonly, by themselves. Men paying for women on dates because they enjoy their company, and view it as a kind gesture, is not an issue. The issue is that some men still pay for women simply because they are women, and the men would feel emasculated if they did not.

As a couples' mediator, I see many women who have stopped having fun in their relationships. This year, I'm going back a couple thousand years to excavate some ancient advice from history's most cunning women, such as Cleopatra. How'd she do it? If it worked for the Queen of Egypt in 41 BC, it may work for you in 2013 AD.

We live in a fast-paced world, so who doesn't love a good shortcut? Especially if it helps you find true love. If you're a woman reading this, by extension the most important thing to you in life, is love. So please, take these 5 shortcuts to heart. Embody them. Live them every single day.

I met a fella the other day, named Steve. Steve and I were discussing what he considers hot in a woman and according to him, passion is hot. Yet once that woman's passion crosses the line to fanaticism, obsession or a little cray-cray, she loses her appeal. And apparently that line is extremely fine. I asked Steve to provide me with a few examples and here is what he shared.

A new malady has sprung up simultaneously with the ascent of online dating. It's called dating ADD. Symptoms of this disorder are similar to the more common form of ADD: easy distractibility, lack of focus and inability to stick to a task.

It all just went down so quickly. We met, hit it off and I was honest. So we started seeing each other for a while and when I had to return back to Italy, we continued things online, knowing I'd be back in Canada after a couple of months. One day, everything was fine and we were chatting online, as you do when you're far away from your guy. It was pretty late my time -- six hours ahead of Toronto -- and he wrote this: "brb." Now, that was almost six months ago and I've never heard back.

As I write this, I am approaching the one year anniversary of my most intimate relationship ever. I have spent the better part of the last year developing and nurturing every aspect of this bond, as it is, and will always be the most important relationship I will ever have. And the object of my affection this time, is me.

Sometimes when I sit down with a new client, we review how and with whom they are spending their time. What I often see is that women have a "fill-in" boyfriend in their life, meaning a purely platonic guy-friend that they hang out with, laugh with, do activities with, confide in but are not involved with. I've come to learn that this type of closeness can sometimes get in the way of meeting a boyfriend because you are already getting all your needs met by this guy-friend, except for physical intimacy.

So I received a proposition this week from a man I met online. I'm still trying to decide if it's indecent. Is it different? Yes. Freaky? Borderline. Am I considering it? Hmmmm...kind of. This large, manly, uber sexy hunk has an unusual desire: He wants to be my domestic. That's right. Domestic. As in as in down on his hands and knees, cleaning my toilets and floors and whatever else I want him to do.

Sex therapists generally cringe at the advice given by pick-up artists. They argue that the less-than-genuine techniques create empty, angst-based relationships. The sex is more about power than pleasure and both parties (including the pick-up artist) are left feeling unfulfilled. Here are the good and bad elements that men can learn from pick-up artists.

In The Atlantic's powerhouse September issue, Hannah Rosin explores the recent phenomenon of Boys on the Side: the hookup culture that has largely replaced dating on college campuses, crudely claiming that "feminist progress right now largely depends on the existence of the hookup culture." Wrong. So wrong.

While I was on a date, I noticed that at a table near mine was occupied by a wonderful woman and...Brad Pitt. Or at least it had to be Brad Pitt, otherwise, why would she put up with such a booming voice that wouldn't let her get a word in edgewise? But this is what dating is like nowadays; men getting laid because they're men.

There is a very prevalent hostility between the sexes, constantly reinforced by today's no-strings-attached dating game. No one has to commit. No one is responsible. Everyone is out for himself or herself. Everyone is on the defensive. So many options and no need to choose. Immediate gratification coupled with complete lack of empathy.

Buy flowers and chocolate, make fancy dinner reservations and practice conversation starters the night before: It's the dating advice nobody needs to ...