Fascinating. And what are your thoughts on Ladder theory?

I try not to think about the Ladder Theory because it gives me a nasty case of cognitive dissonance.

[Background info: http://www.laddertheory.com]

take everything you said, multiply by a factor of 100, and you find yourself in my current situation, dating a Korean national. ahh the irony of an orangutan on a diet.

side-note: i suggest you watch My Name is Kim Sam Soon (otherwise known as My Lovely Sam Soon) to get a clearer picture of what i'm talking about. everything in the drama... 100% real and true down to the letter. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Name_is_Kim_Sam_Soon

did you finish with that course you were taking?

Dr. Doug,

You do know that you're supposed to propose on the 100th day of dating, right?

uh, I, uh, would like to point out that the proper fruit metaphor would be melons, or possibly peaches. Papaya is too rich for me.

Somewhere there's a joke just waiting to be constructed about plucking the lowest-hanging fruit, but I'm not quite sure what it is.

"....but it keeps texting you and occasionally drunk-dials you at 2am on Saturday night while you're in bed watching Enter the Dragon..."

Oh, yeah, sorry about that. But if it was Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, it might have been justified to interrupt.

That wasn't me.

You're in denial.

You're all bloody pathetic the lot of you.

E: don't even joke. i deserve a goddamn metal for what i go through every day.

L: what's with the name change? and you know you love such frivolous topics.

How many bloody banker wankers do we have around here, anyway? (please, E, tell me you didn't tell then Banker about Aqoul)

Is anyone else having problems with Typepad authentication?

Banquer, banker, and near-lounsbury are entirely fictional characters with no actual connection to the real people they represent.

On the other hand, what makes real S Korean women so distinct?

in other words, you're saying that the E and L bots somehow mated, spawning botspring and that near-L is simply a corrupted version of the real L bot running on some server hijacked by russian hooligans?

also, who ever said anything about the south?

"also, who ever said anything about the south?"

Well, Tennessee Williams did.

Also that wikipedia entry on the movie did.

All Aqoul bots are one now, with code designed to make Aqoul posting occur once weekly, or less, it seems.

one should appreciate simplicity and avoid overthinking situations

That is so not true. Try "let's get laid" to a lady you met ten seconds ago, and unless she's really ugly and didn't screw in a while, there's a 99.9999% probability that the mildest answer you'd get is "no fucking way".

Anecdotal evidence of yours truly: I happen to be extremely lazy about the whole introduction comedy and would rather catch the papaya without effort, or better, wait for it to just come by itself. Looking back, I don't remember any exception to this rule. And it gets worse even with age. Thinking about two recent cases where I was approached by very gorgeous ladies in clubs. They were attracted enough to invite to an obviously interested convo, but not enough apparently to rape me straight away. The first encounter ended up with a two-ways bye bye after a very short but extremely boring conversation about whatsup. The second one, I didn't even bother. My friends called me gay each time, but the truth is, taking my extreme orangutanism into account and statistics about how likely a winner strategy simplicity could be, there was just no point.

"let's get laid" is vulgar, not simple. What I'm referring to is a straightforward, sincere approach sans mind games.

Really, when stupid people play mind games it's so tedious.

"let's get laid" is vulgar, not simple.

Oh well, a matter of wording. I didn't try it frankly, but put your favorite form to express a proposal for mating. The point is, straightforward proposals statistically just don't work. I want to see a guy who has a significant percentage of success trying the straightforward approach.

What I'm referring to is a straightforward, sincere approach sans mind games.

This has become too complex for my orangutan mind already.

considering the more-than-100-day maelstrom i'm in now, the initial approach was incredibly straight forward and sincere. looking back on it now, it is clear to me that i was hoodwinked. the straightforwardness and sincerity was just bait! i've been had!!!

"I try not to think about the Ladder Theory because it gives me a nasty case of cognitive dissonance."

Because, I assume, you act like it's correct but don't think it should be.

It started as a joke, of course, but there's a disturbing amount of evidence that it may be substantially correct.

Here's a quote from a study that analyzed dating preferences using data from on-line dating services.

"Table 5.4 shows the income tradeoffs for all looks deciles. A man in the bottom decile,for example, needs an additional income of $186,000 (a total annual income of $248,500)to compensate for his poor looks. The table also shows that women cannot make up for their looks at all."

http://www.spc.uchicago.edu/prc/papers/hortacsu/hortacsu_dating.pdf

Anon, why are you so familiar with this body of work?

Charming. And when are you lazy scum going to get back to posting something worthwhile?

Eerie, I know many amusing things.

Ah, [checking IP address] pity you're so far away.

And I'm going to write something intelligent shortly. Right after this party...

"What is the best way to let a guy know you'd rather be friends? This question comes up quite often in my little posse, usually because a girl had a first date with no chemistry, or because she wants to let a potential fruitgrabber know that her papaya is not available."

No good way, but the direct approach is easiest (both in terms of approach and in terms of the majority of men undertanding your intentions). That is, if you truly want to be friends. Even with the "let's just be friends" direct approach will inevitably invite many men to conclude that you are still available (theoretically, at some point in the future).

In orangutan logic - just because the papaya is currently out of my reach doesn't mean that it will stay permantly out of my reach. If I stay close enough, I may still get the papaya.

"We call this "Getting Brunched" - so named because I often deflected evening engagements by suggesting Sunday brunch instead. Then I'd show up at the resto looking like I'd just rolled out of bed, because I had, and the guy would kinda get the hint.

Still, a vexing issue for both men and women."

May work on some men - others, not so much (I may find your brunch appearance a positive sign. That is, I may get the impression that you feel comfortable enough with me to not look your very best).

Orangutans need to have it made clear to them that the papaya is - under any circumstances - not available.

I have to say I found the "ladder" link amusing.

Well, I recently brunched another guy by telling him to invite other people after he asked me out to dinner. Hard to strike a balance between nice (e.g. I still want to be friends) and unequivocal.

Ugh.. for the first time in eons I am back in the dating pool - and while I love melons, peaches, watermelons etc, I'm really not looking forward to all of the game playing.

Leaving aside your collective nerdy personal issues, when the bloody fuck are we going to see some bloody fucking substance?

Bloody whinging on, I manage to post while managing work and a dissolute life style.

Half-Ditto.

Matthew - which half?

The substance not the tone.