Not to be confused with the "Who are you" thread

Ohkeh, so I've had a quick convo with a girl on Okcupid and it's gone well (by my standards). She asked me to add her on facebook , so I did.

Problem: how do I deal with the question "how are you?". It's a simple one, but it's a big doorway into a super-boring conversation. Already had one short, shit conversation with her because of this, but I think I can pull it back. Hell, she even stayed interested even though I asked her out on a day that turned out to be her best friend's dad's funeral. (No, she didn't say yes. She's not that interested...)

I am really, reeeeeally new at this and I've had this problem so many times from hot girls it's not even funny. I need something much, much better than "I'm ok thanks, and you?" to be using.

Any ideas guys? (I've tried searching, btw. I think three letter words are too short for the search engine, so no luck there!)

I'm fantastic but I did run into a problem so I'll ask you! My friend kissed a girl while he's going out with another girl! Is that cheating?