So I'm told I need three things if I am ever to know love or intimacy again:
1) Wardrobe upgrade
2) Confidence
3) Acceptance that I will be rejected more often than not
Let's tackle them in order.
1) Wardrobe upgrade. Simple enough. If I can get a little more funding together, I can have this done in a few weeks. I don't think an overhaul is necessary: there will always be times and places in my social calendar in which jeans and a Penny Arcade T-shirt are perfectly acceptable. I've got a female friend prepared to transform me, so that shouldn't be overly difficult.
2) Confidence. Now this part's tricky. The circumstances of my marriage's collapse did not simply damage my romantic self-confidence, they burned it down and salted the earth. My self esteem does not need to be repaired, it needs to be woven from whole cloth. I'm not sure I know how to do this.
3) Brace for rejection. Now here's a real problem. I meet, on average, one single woman a year. I simply don't have time for a massive failure to success ratio. On top of this, I tend to frustrate easier than I'd like. I haven't played Guitar Hero in weeks because of that gorram orange button. That and a need to tackle my narrative-based games as a backlog is forming (God of War 2 rules!).
I can manage the odd "I like you as a friend" speech, I think, as long as the woman doesn't try to soften the blow with the old "but you're a great guy and lots of women will want you" routine. I am learning to accept such statements from married women, but if it's from someone who just rejected me it's blatant hypocrisy and I doubt I can pretend it's otherwise. However, I doubt I can manage many "laughed-out-of-the-room" incidents without retreating to my Tivo and never setting foot outside again.
"Pain or damage don't end the world. Or despair or fucking beatings. The world ends when you're dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man... and give some back."
-Al Swearengen
1) Wardrobe upgrade
2) Confidence
3) Acceptance that I will be rejected more often than not
Let's tackle them in order.
1) Wardrobe upgrade. Simple enough. If I can get a little more funding together, I can have this done in a few weeks. I don't think an overhaul is necessary: there will always be times and places in my social calendar in which jeans and a Penny Arcade T-shirt are perfectly acceptable. I've got a female friend prepared to transform me, so that shouldn't be overly difficult.
2) Confidence. Now this part's tricky. The circumstances of my marriage's collapse did not simply damage my romantic self-confidence, they burned it down and salted the earth. My self esteem does not need to be repaired, it needs to be woven from whole cloth. I'm not sure I know how to do this.
3) Brace for rejection. Now here's a real problem. I meet, on average, one single woman a year. I simply don't have time for a massive failure to success ratio. On top of this, I tend to frustrate easier than I'd like. I haven't played Guitar Hero in weeks because of that gorram orange button. That and a need to tackle my narrative-based games as a backlog is forming (God of War 2 rules!).
I can manage the odd "I like you as a friend" speech, I think, as long as the woman doesn't try to soften the blow with the old "but you're a great guy and lots of women will want you" routine. I am learning to accept such statements from married women, but if it's from someone who just rejected me it's blatant hypocrisy and I doubt I can pretend it's otherwise. However, I doubt I can manage many "laughed-out-of-the-room" incidents without retreating to my Tivo and never setting foot outside again.
"Pain or damage don't end the world. Or despair or fucking beatings. The world ends when you're dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man... and give some back."
-Al Swearengen
jody:
I don't really understand the wardrobe upgrade thing, but whatever. I guess it depends on what type of person you want to be with. Who is going to be picking out your new clothes?
jody:
Oxy is a good choice.