Several interesting developments in the comments section, which is increasingly where the real action is (here, too, it should be noted). After Shelasky's musings yesterday on free will, "skinnieminnie5" offered a novel suggestion:

Have you ever thought about playing for the other team... you know... the away team? Just a thought because you seem to be having no luck with the guys and your picture is really cute. I live in LA and would love to show you a good time. I play for both teams....

You have to admit: It would be more interesting. But Glamour will put Ellen DeGeneres on its cover before Shelasky goes gay, so perish the thought. (Alllllthough, today she writes: "Your comments, and even some of your criticism, really got inside my head.") Here, however, is the best comment from yesterday, by "blacksilk3," reprinted in its entirety:

The more I read your blog, the more I wonder...are you using it to drive guys away? The way you keep talking about your "23 year old" and knowing that he reads your blog, he is going to move on quickly...no matter how great the two of you get along, no matter how much you have in common. You wrote that you are just toying with him...well that isn't going to make him feel really good...unless you end up hooking up with him and that is all that he really is looking for. However, you also said that he could teach guys older than him a thing or two, so why are you saying he is just a phase. He sounds like a great guy and you could blow it by talking about him like this. It is great that you are being honest in your blog...however, why are you even thinking this stuff. If he is a great guy, just go with it...don't overanalyze it. Enjoy it!

Finally, a commenter taking the blog itself into account! It's a crucial question: How did the 23-year-old feel about Shelasky's admission that she has "kind-of forgotten about him," and will he just forget about her? Now, for the record, honesty should be paramount on the blog, or else the whole experiment would be a farce. But that doesn't mean Shelasky won't alter what she writes—subconsciously or intentionally—in order to affect the situations she's writing about. Her casual "forgotten about" remark could have been a sly way of brushing the 23-year-old aside. Or, it could have been a call for him to turn up the heat. Either way, it was a loaded comment.(Speaking of which, we learn today that he's in town "for a last minute business trip." Ummmm . . . )

The gist of today's post is that Shelasky and the dentist (a.k.a. the ex) will both be in the Hamptons for Labor Day weekend, and she's afraid she'll be weak and call him. She wants a gameplan for avoiding the drunk-dial after dry martinis with the girls. (Note the slightly pained with-the-girls prose: "I mean it— I'm really going to mess up and call him if we don't come up with a good plan.") Now, let's ignore that, as many commenters today have already noted, this is a ridiculous question. Instead, consider the premise: Her dilemma is a surfeit of guys to date or spend the night with. She's spending Labor Day in the Hamptons. Tonight she's going to a "painfully cool new club" frequented by celebrities, and pregaming that with dinner at a "fancy French restaurant where my friends eat for free." She'll be wearing Gucci. Will we see a widening disconnect between Shelasky ("Breathe, Alyssa, breathe") and her readers, who are beginning to suspect that nothing's really wrong?