My, how things have changed

Inevitably, whenever I convene with members of my family, the topic of why I’m single, not married and popping out kids will arise. It’s as predictable as seeing dark clouds form in the sky and expecting precipitation.

This past weekend however, was slightly different. Whether it’s desperation, or acceptance of the times, I was suggested to turn to the unholy internet for my romantic pursuits. I won’t really go into detail why I do not agree with that suggestion, as it’s something I’ve written about many a time before, but I do have to admit it was pretty interesting that they made such a suggestion in general.

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The Moneyball of online dating

Long story short: math whiz conducts data research on OkCupid’s question survey profiles, and uses the data to more thoroughly compile potential compatible women for him.  After gathering enough information on what he’s typically looking for, he massages his own profile(s) to become a mathematically high-percentage compatibility match for the types of women he’s targeting.  In the end, he manages to go on a bunch of dates and ultimately meets a girl he’s now going to marry.

So I wonder when this is going to be made into a book by Michael Lewis or Ben Mezrich?  And then how long it’s going to take to be made into a movie directed by Steven Soderbergh?  I bet the movie will have the main character played by Jesse Eisenberg or Andrew Garfield, but definitely not someone that actually looks like the real person.

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Best American Horror Story season yet?

All throughout the year, my DVR box accumulates shows I want to ultimately watch, but don’t really often do.  Part of it has to do with the fact that there aren’t really that many opportunities in which both Jen and myself are free at the same time to where we can watch an episode here and there, but then there’s also a lot of time that I spend playing LoL that I really could be using to catch on television shows.  But for all intents and purposes, it’s safe to say that I’m pretty much always behind when it comes to television programming.

So over the holidays, I was able to catch up with all nine-aired episodes of the third season of American Horror Story, the Coven arc.  I have been thus far pleased with it, and I can easily say that visually, it is my favorite season yet.  The filmography is stimulating, and the creative use of filters and fisheye perspectives really help accentuate the bright and sterile-looking settings that the show takes place in, contrasting to the dark and sinister atmosphere of the show’s actual story.

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I’m not really a fan of smokers

To some, it might seem like a trite thing; a dirty habit we know isn’t good for anyone, but it’s so socially accepted, that it’s easily capable of being overlooked. And then there are people like me who have seen worst-case scenarios of what smoking can do to a person, and I’d rather not see any more of those scenarios occur to people I know, much less anyone I’d want to get involved with.

A funny thing happened to me at the store the other day. I went in to pick up a few little odds and ends, and things for firing up the grill and throwing down some good old-fashioned ‘Murican hamburgers. I’m in line at the register, and for whatever reason, the woman in front of me has managed to chase off the cashier, and we’re standing there silently, with me not really trying to veil my annoyance at her actions which has ceased all forward progress of the process of making transactions. But for all intents and purposes, my items were on the belt, but were far too numerous to re-basket and move to another, actually moving checkout line.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see a petite girl enter the line I’m in, and put down a single item on the belt behind my items. I’m socially awkward enough around girls as it is, so I dare not look beyond the acknowledging-the-existence-of-another-human-being glance backward to see her. She’s kind of cute. A second later, what was likely her friends emerge, a pretty obvious couple, and rather . . . big folks.

In spite of my otherwise social shortcomings, I like to think I’m fairly astute in regards to my surroundings; there was plenty of garbled conversation, the couple friends sort of giggling, with the kind-of-cute girl repeatedly telling her friends to shut up, but in that teasing kind of way.

The big dude pipes up, and suddenly exclaims “I want what he’s having for dinner; some hamburgers,” referring to my pretty obvious items. This scenario is kind of coming together, and I’m fairly certain now that kind-of-cutie is notoriously single amongst her couple friends, and they’re teasingly spontaneously trying to wing for her, to me. I glance back and smile at the couple, while kind-of-cutie doesn’t look up.

Finally, the cashier returns, and for whatever reason, the woman who held up the line ends up walking away with no transaction completed. Finally, my items are finally processed and bagged. During this, I hear some mumbles amongst the couple, with kind-of-cutie telling them again to shut up. It’s at this time, big dude pipes up again, this time making a self-deprecating joke at their collective group how it takes three people to buy one item. I smirk at them again, again, kind-of-cutie isn’t looking back.

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Stop and say whoa

Sometimes as I peruse through eloHell looking through memes and general LoL-related fandom, there are occasional cosplay photographs that pop up from time to time. I like Caitlyn a lot, since my preferred role in the game is that of being an ADC, but she’s still not my go-to champion. That being said, I came across this picture, and I LITRALLY stopped everything, and it was one of those whoa moments.

I don’t know who this girl is, I don’t know what the rest of her costume looks like; whether the gun is good or crap if she has one at all, if her hair is a wig or not, or anything else outside of what I can see in this one photo, but I frankly think she’s absolutely beautiful. I am a sucker for women with large doe eyes, and this Caitlyn here definitely fits the bill.

I think it’s an absolutely lovely photograph of a pretty girl, and you know I’m scraping for things to write about when I’m making posts about randomly found cosplay pictures, but it still says something if a simple photograph is inspiring me to put words down in the first place.

So about that whole “wanting a story” thing

I mean, I always knew it was definitely gone in this direction, but I’d never seen any actual statistical proof of just how it really is these days.

But it’s pretty much confirmed that when it comes to the dating and relationships game, pretty much the vast majority of the world has given up on chance, and have turned to the internet.  Except for the few people like me, that is.  But really, I knew that I was kind of in a low-populated boat to begin with, but it’s pretty amazing to see just how many people have turned to the internet throughout the years.

As I’ve said before, I don’t have a problem with people meeting other people over the internet, but it’s just something that I don’t want for myself.  I don’t want to be able to stalk and learn about someone I’m interested in over a wall of text and an online questionnaire, and some cherry picked JPEGs of them looking their best.  Relationships are all about seeing the good and the bad, and overcoming all sorts of obstacles small and large, suffering occasional adversities, and enjoying victories little ones, and big ones, together.

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I do my best thinking in the car

I really do. It’s like I do my best typing when I’ve got my feet kicked up on my desk, and I have the wireless keyboard in my lap. I don’t know why that is, but I feel like my fingers fly along the keys when it’s in this position. But back to the topic of thinking, I guess “best” isn’t necessarily the best word, but it’s true that I do some of my deepest thinking while I’m driving in my car.

Lately, something that pops into my head a lot, which is probably obvious given my age and life’s status, but I’m kind of a lonely person. I’m probably being more earnest than I really should be, given the fairly public status of my brog, but to put it out there, I’m 31 years old, and I haven’t been on a date in about two years now. Ultimately, there’s nobody to blame for such circumstances except for myself, but to be perfectly honest, I kind of don’t even know where to begin.

It’s not like I can go to Publix and be all like “oh, you’ve got one item? Please, go ahead” in the checkout line, and strike up a scintillating conversation with a random stranger, culminating with the birth of a blossoming relationship. No, it would result in us holding up the checkout line, people behind us getting pissed, the cashier getting impatient with our inconsiderate behavior, and a girl, who capitalized on my generosity getting the fuck out of the place even sooner because I was being a mush.

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