i have to say that my advice to someone looking for a date: get a cute dog. find out where the dog people hang out, there are dog runs, dog parks, even just on the streets of town where there are tons of people walking dogs. walking a dog is a guaranteed conversation starter no matter how shy you are.
OMG, is that ever true.
When the Dread Boston Salty was small, Xena's Guy and I used to take him to Memorial Park since we lived close. Women would walk up to XG and start chatting him up while I was standing right the hell there!
Dogs are date magnets, and they're a great screening mechanism.