Yesterday I made my first TV appearance with my new look, on the CW11 Morning News here in NYC, and based on the emails I’ve gotten, the “Extra” makeover at the Butterfly Salon has done its job of providing me with man-meeting hair.  One approving optometrist could relate to my past hair troubles, writing “I used to have bad hair, too.  Then it fell out.”

Also got a nice surprise from the CW11 Morning News folks — on the air, they presented me with a jar of change that they’d collected from their staff to support my Super Bowl quest!  Now if my close friends and family would just give me their wedding gifts in advance, I might be able to make a tiny crack in this three million dollar nut.  (Cash only please, Aunt Mina — NBC won’t accept juicers or George Foreman grills.)

Better get proactive and start calling some potential sponsors . . .

Since things have gone crazy here at the site — I’ve been flooded with emails  and the server has been jammed — excuse me if this entry isn’t written with style and flow that I’d like.   

And speaking of style and flow, a number of women have been kind enough to email me with beauty tips, such as,“Your hair’s so dark you look like Marilyn Manson” and “Love your hair; what brand of shoe polish do you use?”

According to Sandy in Michigan, she and her husband Bob, a doctor, were both absolutely irate that I had the gall to appear on national TV (Saturday’s “Today” show)  thinking I could attract a husband by wearing a football jersey!  With red fingernails, no less!!!!!!

I’m scheduled to appear on “Today” again on Monday ,- and from what the gals have to say, I should probably just skip the football jersey, and if I insist on a sports theme to my outfit, I’m thinking maybe I should throw a helmet over my hair.

In all seriousness, I have no illusions of ever looking like a supermodel, and I actually appreciate your constructive criticism no matter how you express it, because I know there’s always room for improvement.   I’d like to think that the beauty tipsters just want to see me at my best to increase my odds of attracting a great guy, so I’m trying not to be too thin-skinned about all this.  And to tell you the truth, I agree with much of the advice — though I don’t know if I’ll be able to get to the hair-lightening by Monday’s show, but I’m trying . . .

Several  of the people I’ve told about this project have asked the same totally valid question: ”What happens if you meet someone before the Super Bowl?”

I don’t want to be a cynic — anyone who believes she can raise three million bucks to put her personal ad on the Super Bowl is nothing if  not an optimist — but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve told all my friends that I’d “met someone,” mentally planned the wedding, Googled the tax advantages of filing jointly and scribbled my new name on some scratch paper (always an improvement over Borkowsky), only to have the guy suddenly bail on me.  

And, to be fair, I’ll admit that sometimes I’ve been the one doing the bailing.

While these sudden breakups can happen anytime, I’ve found (and once read in a psychology textbook) that the three-month mark is a common time for things to fall apart.  So with the game just about three months away, if I manage to pull enough money together to buy my spot or a willing sponsor comes forward, there’s only one way you won’t see me on the Super Bowl:  

If you happen to be in the bathroom during the commercial.

Okay, first, the Wall Street Journal reports that 85% of the commercial slots on the Super Bowl had already been sold by mid-September, when normally around half the spots would still be up for grabs.

Then, the stock market has its worst week ever, with people seeing their investments shrink by about forty percent compared to a year ago.

Could I have picked a less perfect time to be scrambling to raise three million dollars for my Super Bowl personal ad?

Hoping the economy would stage some miraculous turnaround, I put off launching the PayPal link on my site, but since it doesn’t look like things will be bouncing back any time soon, I’ve decided to add two new options for people who’d like to support my cause.

Along with the usual Platinum, Gold and Silver levels of giving, I’ve added a Copper level; I did the math, and with approximately 300 million people in the U.S., if every American sends in just a penny, I’ll have exactly enough to buy my spot! If springing for a stamp would be a hardship, you can always be a proud Scrap Metal level supporter, which basically just requires that you send some encouraging thoughts my way and maybe pass around a link to SuperBowlSingleGirl.com.

After all, this whole thing is about looking for love and happiness — the last thing I’d want is anyone having to explain to their kids, ‘Mommy gave her last ten bucks to help some girl named Amila* find a husband — that’s why we’re eating ketchup.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * (“Amila”, AY-muh-luh, is what my mother used to call me, and it kind of stuck as a nickname.)