A Guide to Nerd Guys Meeting and Dating Women: the Ground Rules
Ok, let’s get into the basics, and by that I mean the basics of how this is going to proceed. In an effort to avoid being nerd raged spammed I will lay out where I am coming from and what I expect from those of you who might read this.
1. None of these are directed at you specifically. Don’t send me “I never do that” emails.
2. Almost all of the mistakes I will be talking about I have made. I am not kidding when I say I have learned all this the hard way. 
Like this World of Warcraft shirt says, I am classically trained.
3. If I advise you to do something and you think “There is no way women respond to that” before emailing me please take the time to ask a couple non-nerd women and see what they say. You will be surprised, especially on the grooming issues.
4. These tips and guidelines are very general and situational. I am sure the girl you are interested in is an exception to every rule I lay out here. However, if you have been courting (stalking) her for more than a couple weeks why don’t you try some of these things before posting a “Dave you’re an idiot” response.
5. With regards to questions about my posts I will be happy to reply as well as I can but do me a favor and keep your questions as general as possible. I don’t need to hear all the gruesome details of the object of your unrequited love (“and then the third time I saw her she was wearing the same shoes as the second time but different jeans…“) and like I said, each person is different and only you can interpret her actions and comments (although if you take my advice, you will not). If you have a situation describe it as succinctly as possible and I will be happy to respond.
6. While I support any lifestyle you may or may not choose to follow, I am straight and therefore my knowledge base is more or less geared towards trying to date straight women. Lesbians may find some worthwhile advice here (although not really, I think. I lived with two lesbians for a while and there is a whole different interaction I could never really understand), but gay men and women seeking straight men (honestly, if you are a woman having trouble dating nerd men than you have problems that go beyond the scope of any blog. Just go to a comic book convention) I will not be able to help as much.
7. Finally, if you are a woman reading this blog and feel the need to comment, please do so. However, I feel that comments on the “Women never do that” level will more or less be a waste of time. My advice has been forged on the anvil of dating pain and it will take more than a blistering response to change it. I think if you read thoughtfully you will find, as the Mensa women at my first lecture did, that my advice is rather pithy and will actually make the men who follow it easier to date for you. Know that I do respect women but am in all things a realist. If you have a question about men and how to date them feel free to post and I will give you my best advice, but it is kind of out of my scope.
Next Post: Part 1 Grooming
Warhammer Weekend
So I am headed to a lame Warhammer Tournament today and tomorrow. My friend asked me to come play ringer, but to be honest I am kind of hoping for an even number so I can bow out. If there are more than 6 players I will be surprised. I think this Failboat t shirt is appropriate from the novelty t shirt section.
My new Skaven build is based around the idea of having enough players at a tournament to avoid the tough lists. This is pretty hard to do with less than 40 or so players, so I am going to bring the Red Steamroller. In fact, I have so little respect for this tournament (except for the friend of mine who is being the head judge) that I am adding Flamers to the list, making it far worse than normal. To hell with sports and composition.
Anyway, this is a good excuse to avoid the huge pile of new shirts that need to be uploaded and reviewed. If I get sat out I will come home and work on them. Otherwise it will be a long Monday.
GPS sucks
So I was trying to go see my friend take his black belt test today and dared to assume my GPS would get me there without getting lost. Somehow it is working less and less well, and any intersection that is not a 90 degree angle crossover makes it think I have crossed over into an alternate universe and have to take the scenic tour through hell to return to my home dimension. Somehow I ended up in Dogpatch, for god’s sake.
Anyway, enough ranting. If we had a little magic in our technology (steampunk) then I probably would have not gotten lost, as in this great controller from the videe game t shirt section.
I have totally blown off working this weekend and not gotten much work done. I know this is what weekends are supposed to be for, but I feel the need to put in more hours. I think if I get my laundry done I will put in a few hours tonight. I have some Godzilla and Alien t shirts that need some love tonight.
Anyway, getting everything ready for WonderCon. It should be great. If you are going to be there be sure to stop by and say hi to Winter and me.
What Happened to Mario?
Over the weekend, I watched my sister and her friend playing Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii, and I have to admit that I was decidedly underwhelmed. While the graphics have never been the main draw to the Mario games, they seem identical to those of Super Mario 64. And in the couple of levels that I watched them play, it seems like the game development is lacking as well.
Maybe I was just easily enamored with video games when I was younger, but I can’t see what these new Mario games offer players. As someone who goes around sporting an old school video game t shirt on a regular basis, I am disappointed with what has become of the franchise. Although it may not be the low point that the live action Mario movie was, Super Mario Galaxy may be an indication that the rein of Mario is over.
Almost done with World of Warcraft
My level of frustration with WOW has reached a new high. I haven’t been this frustrated since I was grinding my way through STV on my first toon. The fact is I haven’t had a decent gear upgrade in months. I have killed Lady Deathwhisper at least 20 times and have yet to see the bow drop (actually, it dropped once and went to another hunter). On my alts it drops pretty much every time. Same for the pants. Loot in general sucks for me, yet every pug hunter on the server has the bow.
In fact, the game has pretty much sucked ever since Wrath. The content is lame, the zones are all tiny, world PvP has devolved into ret pallies running around destroying everything, arenas suck, BG’s are chock full of idiots, and honestly I’m getting bored. I have hundreds of Triumph and Frost emblems and tens of thousands of gold and nothing to spend any of it on. Dull. I feel like they rushed development out on it, and it shows. Doesn’t bode well for Cataclysm.
I think I just need to take a break and see how I feel in a couple weeks. There are days when the game is still interesting, but most days I find myself wishing I were working on my site or painting Skaven. Of course, I still have tons of friends who play so I won’t diss the game and will still keep the video game t shirts section going, but I am going to give it a rest for a while.
I’m thinking of trading in my car for a pick up truck to make going to shows like WonderCon easier. It’s a sad decision to make, as I love my car. It’s a 2004 Ford Crown Victoria, and in spite of looking like either an old man or a cop it’s the coolest car I’ve ever owned. Talk about cruise control. I might head out and see what I can find tomorrow. I should shop online, but I actually like negotiating with the car dealership guys. It’s fun.
By the way I have a new source for great cheap t-shirts. Check it out.
World of Warcraft Problems
So I have
been having trouble with my DPS in raids lately for lack of a couple of key pieces of gear. I have been having some bad luck with drops and am not getting raid invites as often so the problem is compounding itself. I have a gold raid coming up on Saturday. Basically a bunch of guys are going to raid ICC25 and bid gold for the gear we need. The gold is then split up among the raiders. For the first time in a long time I need gold and am doing some work to get it.
I love combining projects, so I have been soloing UD Strat in hopes of getting the mount. Takes about 15 minutes, and by the time I have sold all the greys, runecloth, and assorted BOP and disenchanted gear I usually make about 100 gold. There are other ways to make gold faster, but this is kind of fun and I have a lot of hope of getting that damned mount.
In celebration of this new project I have been wearing one of my World of Warcraft t shirts like this one from our video game t shirt category. It’s cool, but it’s kind of thin. When I ran to the bank and post office it was pretty cold. I better find one of my hoodies or something.
Anyway, things are cool otherwise. Getting ready for WonderCon. I am really excited to be there. Thinking of other products to bring. I think posters will be the best choice. Anyway, talk to you all later.
