How do people meet their significant others in real life?!

It's been eight months (almost; close enough) since I swore off dating the last time....

It's been eight months, and, honestly, I thought I would make it a lot longer before being tempted into the underworld of online dating again. 

I naively thought I would meet someone in real life and never have to go back online but that does not seem to be happening anytime soon -- how do people meet their significant others in real life?! 

I'm not fully ready to pull the trigger on re-activating the ol' OKCupid just yet but I have been thinking a lot about what I would like to convey to the prospective dating pool once I do.

It's a fine art, the dating-profile-creating. 

Trying to convey all the positive aspects about your personality to paint a representative picture of yourself as a whole - while not revealing too much so there are still things to talk about in person - as well as the fact that you are not interested in bullshit in an attempt to keep the jokers away is no easy feat. 

Obviously, I have not figured out the trick. But I feel like there must be some sort of magic equation. 

I hear success stories so I know it can work! Maybe they're all just myths started by these companies to keep us trying. Whatever it is, it's definitely working. 

Somehow, I'm still hopeful and I am constantly trying to figure out what I should be conveying in order to be successful. (Obviously, what I have stated in the past did not produce the desired outcome so back to the drawing board!) 

How do you convey an individual's true essence with a string of words on a page? 

In my quest to figure out what I want to say about myself, I ended up just creating a series of statements about myself. They kind of just poured out of me and it felt really fulfilling to compile them into a list (because I'm a nerd like that), so here it is: 

I don't believe an arbitrary list of facts about an individual can give a truly representative picture of that person. But I also don't believe in wasting time, so here are some statements about me and/or some of my views on life:

• I will go out of my way to take pictures - and to properly dispose of garbage/recycling

• I would rather listen to Oldies than Top 40 (this includes classic rock and anything from '80s and '90s)

• I am eternally, unfailingly optimistic. Which is both a blessing and a curse in that it allows me to never give up - but also to continually do things I know better than to do (like leave home without my rain jacket in the spring, just because it's sunny at that moment)

• I am usually on time but am generally late more often than I'm early (see: optimism, above)

• Most of my conversations inevitably end up in some form of personality assessment. 

• Similarly, I prefer deeper conversations than surface small talk. 

• Texting is really great - especially for specific communication: solidifying plans, sharing an anecdote, a quick chat, etc. - but I would much rather call someone to have a conversation, and especially favor in-person rendezvouses

• I'm constantly reflecting on who I am, what I want, where I'm going and what's important, and how good life is. 

If any of these things are deal-breakers or are unappealing, please look elsewhere. 

Of course there is always much more to be said but my hope is that these will get