Date Lab

She says guys with dark, curly hair always get a second look. Can this buzz-cut musician get her singing a new tune?

She says guys with dark, curly hair always get a second look. Can this buzz-cut musician get her singing a new tune?

EILEEN DALY, 29 Interior designer LUCAS MUNCE, 33 Sax player for a military band First drink you'd order in a bar Cosmo or a beer The cheapest beer with the best volume to-dollar ratio Last song you couldn't shake "I Dreamed of an Old Love Affair" by Dan Tyminski "Drive On" by Johnny Cash Usual type I seem to always check out skinny Jewish boys with dark, curly hair. Creative, open-minded, live-and-let-live types Desired superpower The ability to fly. I think I was inspired by Gonzo's balloon ride in "The Muppets." Plus there's the aura of wearing the cape. Super doglike smelling powers. While X-Ray is scanning to see who is making homemade pasta, I would just follow my nose. Dream date A maker of mix tapes/cds/playlists; a great cook; not mean to the waiter; someone who adjusts to my clean-freakish needs. The cute girl with the great smile, rockin' body and Olympia in her hand dancing in a skuzzy little bar in Durango, Colo.

8:30 P.M., Spices, Cleveland park

Eileen: I'd never been on a blind date before. I was kind of expecting the worst. I had a little bit of outfit trauma before going out. I'm much more of a jeans and T-shirt kind of person, but I ended up wearing a skirt and these chunky wooden earrings I got on a trip recently. They're a little tribal.

Lucas: I was already seated when the hostess brought her over. Of course, I was nervous. I'm kind of introverted. And I wasn't given any clues about what she might look like. She was very beautiful. She had a short little bob and these really hip earrings.

Eileen: I thought he looked good. He was wearing a white, Mexican-type shirt and Birks, which I thought was cool. We started chatting right away. It was sort of awkward at the beginning, a little forced. [Then it turned out] we had a lot in common.

Lucas: I recently sold my car, and she had, too. We both did it for ecological reasons and not wanting to deal with traffic. That was surprising. It was cool to talk to someone who was thinking about those things.

Eileen: He doesn't have a TV; I have a TV, but I don't actually watch it. He's a little more hard-core about the biking than I am -- he plays the sax, so he has this bag he carts it around in. I would just take a taxi. The no-TV, no-car thing is unusual for most people in the Washington area, so it was nice to meet someone else who didn't think that was weird. And we're both really interested in music.

Lucas: We talked about Morphine. It's a group we both like a lot. She's not a big a fan of classical. I like it, but it's not the first thing I listen to when I get up in the morning.

Eileen: There were a couple of people he thought I should check out. He mentioned Kathleen Edwards. And I mentioned a few artists he didn't know about. That was cool.

Lucas: She seemed like a better conversationalist, and so she was keeping the conversation going more.

Eileen: There were a couple of pauses, but nothing uncomfortable. It wasn't like there was ever a major lack of conversation. [But] there were some points where I thought I was talking too much.

Lucas: We left Spices at about 10:30. They were starting to close up. It was Eileen's idea to take a walk. It was a nice night. I remember her asking me what kind of woman I'd said I was looking for.

Eileen: We went to Tonic, in Mount Pleasant, and had a couple of beers. Then it was way past my bedtime, 12:30. He said he had a nice time. I said I had a nice time. We had a little smooch on the corner. It was fine -- brief, but satisfying. The only thing that was kind of weird was that we never exchanged information. I didn't even know his last name. I didn't want to ask because I usually am the more assertive one. I thought, I'm not working that hard.

Lucas: I didn't think that was legal. I wasn't sure what the [Date Lab] protocol was.

Eileen: I thought he was a cool guy, pretty interesting. I wouldn't mind going out with him again. Which I guess would rate the date a 4 on a scale of 1 to 5.

Lucas: At first, it felt weird. I wasn't sure she liked me at all. But as the evening went on, I felt more chemistry. I would say 4 or 5.

Interviews by Kelly Di Nardo

>>UPDATE: Lucas e-mailed Date Lab looking for Eileen's number; they've since gone out again.

>>DATE LAB IS LOOKING FOR PROGRESSIVE TEXANS -- and other singles willing to get set up. Go to washingtonpost.com/datelab for details.