Random New Yorker: Candice Preau, Dating Expert

by Andrew Piccone

Tell me about your job.

I’m a writer. I write a dating column for the Examiner.com. I also write poetry and I’m trying to get into lyrics and songwriting. I moved here from Texas because there was more going on here. I share dating advice, targeting women, but I’ve heard from the occasional man who reads too. I’ve found that most men today are clueless.

How did you get the job?

I heard about it from a friend who saw the job and knew I had been trying to get my writing noticed. I’ve been doing it for about a year. I’ve since been crowned the Dating Examiner.

But you’ve got another career in mind?

I’m starting to figure out how to become a matchmaker. I’ve always been great at setting up my friends, I worked for a dating agency in Texas, it was a lot of fun. Matchmaking services can be expensive, but it’s for a reason-dating sites like Match.com are too impersonal, you don’t know who you’re really talking to or meeting. A matchmaking service does all the work for you: screening, testing compatibility, the whole thing.

Have you dealt with New York’s bedbug epidemic firsthand?

Thankfully I’ve never dealt with bedbugs-thank God.

What’s your opinion on Park51, the proposed community center/”mosque” in Lower Manhattan?

I think everyone has a right to their religion, it’s hard to draw the line as to what’s tasteful though. The American thing to do is to allow worship there, but not to give them any special treatment.

What’s your favorite thing/place/neighborhood/hotspot in New York?

I love the culture-people from all over the world who are very clearly at home. There is no place like this in America. Also being liberated from cars is great. I really love Madiba in Fort Greene, It was the first South African restaurant in the United States.

Any closing words on New York?

Having been to every borough, I can honestly say that I’ve been inspired by so much here. New York is a place where the unexpected can happen. You never know who you’re going to meet, what you’re going to see and what opportunities will present themselves.

Previously: Random New Yorker: Matthew Michael Cooper

Andrew Piccone is a photographer in New York City.