breakingnews, if you want your luck to change, just try going to a bar to have a drink by yourself to chill out once. i tried that last saturday after my woman and i had a huge meltdown fight. i was minding my own business getting de-stroyed when i basically got molested at the bar. this woman starts rubbing my shirt and telling me she had $600 pajamas made out of the same material. it never happens when you want it. and rarely with whom you want it.

woman can see and smell the desperation in a man. if you are absolutely on the hunt, you will probably come up empty handed, or at most come up with a partner of questionable quality.
Rule #1 learned as a young bartender: the easiest thing in the world to do when looking for a partner is nothing at all. be confident, speak politely to everyone you encounter, and when with an interesting woman, show interest in her and her life without starting the stop watch to see how long it will take to land in bed. follow those rules and female friends and even some ex-girlfriends will be referring their friends to you for companionship.

Yep, and they'll come to you for companionship and nothing more.... and they'll complain to you about the jerks they ARE sleeping with.

um, no. by companionship i actually meant shacking up. i could be more descriptive if you'd like.
the more you chase 'em, the faster they run.

I think this might be a geographic linguistics issue but I know 'shacking up' as living with rather than shagging.

let me be more clear then: horizontal mambo, screwing, fucking, playing hide the salami, taking the fishboat to tuna town, DATY, releasing the oneeyed trouser snake, etc...

i feel so dirty now.

In the US shacking up implies shagging. It's not just sharing the rent and expenses here. And it's usually said with a leer ... remember, we Americans are still largely in the sexual dark ages, and our older folks feel that such arrangements are naughty.

DATY? Well, I'll keep in mind never to tell USian friends that I used to shack up with a bunch of friends and I'll tell them we don't root for football teams.

dining at the Y. use your imagination. :D

It's especially suspicious when the two are of different races. People were quick to point out how unseemly it was for me, a young black woman, to share an apartment with a young white man. And he got the same thing, only the other way around. Bullocks, sez I.

that really isn't that uncommon around these parts. nobody would give you a second look. unless you're really hot - and that would be different now, wouldn't it?

I shared an apartment with 2 guys, in a redneck/amish area. Got a few looks... The women that worked in the warehouse below us called us the 3's company family, and there was much gossip.

i agree. try DATING someone from another race. i dated a girl from trinidad when i was in college. got flack from people who were supposed to be my friends (and supposedly open minded) and a lot of nasty stares from people on the street. never did tell my family, as i knew how that would have went over. it wasn't a serious relationship (but it was a LOT of fun :D ), but i knew that i couldn't tell my family about it. america is far, far behind in this respect. who gives a shite? i'll never understand.

I was actually engaged to a white guy at one point. Long story short, it didn't work out but that was an adventure, snuggling in public in Richmond VA even, the HEART of the Sout'. :blush: