Return to Noc-Noc

OK, I don’t think Mexico Part II is ever gonna be written, but trust me you’re not missing much. I’ll say this much, we opened 3 hot HOT Mexican girls walking out of a club. I didn’t expect them to know much English but turns out they were pretty fluent. As they were climbing into the cab (this was about 3am) I yelled out “where you from?” “Mexico.” I replied “Duh, I know that, what part?” “Mexico City.” Wow…if they are any indication of what kind of chicas can be found in DF, I wanna get my ass down there.

Was out last night with wing Comfort. Got some sushi at Wann but the place was kinda dead in terms of girls (or people for that matter). We headed over to Noc Noc round 10:30pm…Tuesday is their 80s dance night and usually has a decent crowed (some cute girls, and most of the guys there are gay, so relatively speaking it’s a good sarging venue). They had “Cannonball Run” playing on the flatscreen behind the bar. That film is pure genius…why can’t they make movies like that anymore??

In line for drinks, Comfort gets opened by a not-so-pleasing-to-look-at Vietnamese woman. We’re not even sure she was a woman…she was very aggressive though. I spied a girl sitting alone over on the couch, went over and sat next to her and opened. She had a ring on her ring finger and when I asked about it she said she was engaged. I plowed anyway…a few minutes later she says “I’m not actually engaged to a person.” Hmm…that’s a good sign, if a bit strange. I asked her what she meant and she went off on some mystical hippie-esque monologue about being engaged to an ancient goddess. Uh…. I found her somewhat attractive, maybe a 6, and I probably coulda pushed for a make-out. I probably should have, but I ejected, wanting to hit the dance floor to find hotter girls.

Nothing much happened on the dance floor. There was a hot 2-set (HB8+) but I didn’t have the balls to open. Headed back to the bar, and asked a HB8 if she was in line.

HBFrizzHair: Yeah, I’m in line.
Mackie: You shouldn’t be leaning against the seat, someone might jump in front of you.
HBFrizzHair: I wouldn’t let them.
Mackie: What would you do?
HBFrizzHair: I’d charm them with my smile and eyes (or some such shit).
Mackie: Oh, I thought you were going to say you’d hit them with a hook and jab (I very gently punch her shoulder while saying this).

After a few more seconds she mentions she’s a dancer. She looks like a salsa teacher I had a few years ago so I asked if it was her…she syas “no, I’m a stripper”. (!) This threw me off a bit but not as much as it would have before, but I thought I had to focus on not playing into her frame. So I acted a bit disappointed when she said this, saying “ah, that’s too bad, I thought you were a salsa teacher”. I think at this point I had some fleeting attraction, but my kino was minimal, and my mind was blanking on things to say. I blurted out some more stupid shit but I felt like I was beginning to supplicate a bit. When we reach the bar I test her by opening another girl (not nearly as hot as FrizzHair). I wanted to see if I could create a jealously plotline and if she would re-engage me. No go. She got her drink and wandered off. I think I was close though. Ironically, the other girl thought HBFrizzHair and I were together. LOL

On my way home I popped into Linda's and opened a girl waiting for the bathroom. Nothing big, except I went into a bar on my own and opened a set. Small but important step...

SV

Donde son las chicas?

A little over a week ago, Gee and I decided to escape the Seattle gloom and take off to Mexico for a week. Coincidentally, we were both starting new jobs this week, and thus had some time off. We bought 2 tickets for Puerto Vallarta and left the following day.

BEACH GAME

One of the reasons I wanted to go to PV was to surf. It also happens to be a major party-town right on the beach, although not of overblown proportions like Cancun. Our first full day there we rented a car and drove an hour north to a beach called Sayulita. It’s rather unique as a surf spot because even though there are some excellent surfers who live in the area, there’s also a ‘mellow’ vibe toward beginners. It’s also got tons of girls and a restaurant right on the beach. You can't really ask for more!

Unfortunately it was high tide and the only good break was in the rocky area. I was out for an hour and when I returned to hand the board off to Gee, I saw him chatting up some girl in a bikini a few feet away. He came over, took he board, and told me it was my turn to entertain her. He also mentioned she spoke some Japanese, so I went over her and said to her in Japanese “Hey, I hear you speak some Japanese”. She laughed and I sat down and we chatted for about 20 minutes. My game was pretty weak, mostly ‘question train’ stuff like where she was from etc. HBFreckles, as I’ll call her, turned out to be a bartender from Hawaii who works for a few months then takes off and travels for weeks on end. Even though my game was off, she was giving IOIs and at some point mentioned that her and her friend might take a boat to a remote island with a good surf break, and invited us with them! Wow. Unfortunately she didn’t know what day, and Gee and I were staying at a hotel 40km south, and leaving Friday. I gave her our contact info, but nothing came of it. It didn’t take me long to realize that I probably had a shot at closing her that afternoon, but the logistics woulda been a bit challenging (plus Gee was out at sea on his longboard and I had to watch our wallets and shit). My biggest screw-up was not kino-ing her (I have trouble kino-ing girls in bikinis…I MUST get over this!!).

TUESDAY NIGHT ON THE MACELON

Most of the clubs in downtown PV are on the “Macelon”, a cobblestone street that runs along the beach. It’s awesome. The clubs have dance floors on open-air patios overlooking the ocean. There were a lot of American girls, about half of whom seemed to be accompanied by their parents! (remnants of spring break perhaps) I opened a 5-set walking out of one club, stopping them, pointing to Gee and saying “Hey guys, I want to introduce you to my friend…this is the guy, behind the guy, behind the guy” (from ‘Swingers’). It actually opened well and I immediately segued into talking about one girl’s bracelet, when her MOM (!) interrupted me. I had know idea they were so young, my guess is 19? I tried to befriend the Mom but they walked off. Pretty hysterical.

Meanwhile, Gee had run into a Mexican guy, Rafael, he met earlier. Rafael was handing out tickets to a nearby strip club, but he was actually a cool guy and we ended up hanging out with him the rest of the night. It was already about midnight, and we walked over to the old quarter to hit a more mellow club with live music. I opened 2 sets there, one HB6 with her Mom (again, I didn’t realize at first), then a 2-set near the bar. I wasn’t really into the girl but Rafael liked the blonde so I opened for him and then winged while he chatted up his target (he came in, I introduced him, and his first action was to do the European-style double-cheek kiss on his target…nice!). Gee meanwhile had found a cute French girl and was doing great with her. We ended up bouncing her to another bar, but didn’t bother with the 2-set. About 3am, we hit up a street vendor for some tacos, hung out in the 70-degree night for a while, then said our good byes and headed back to the hotel.

We had only been there 24 hours and had already put in a good days’ worth of surfing and befriended two locals. This isn't all about 'game' or fucking HBs to me...it's about having a good time, making new friends, and getting the most out of life. I want to make every day as fun and interesting as this last 24 hours I described here...to me that's what this is really all about.

Part II coming soon...

SV

Forget everything you know!

The only Pick-Up Guru that counts:



LOL. TD posted a link to this on the BPDC thread on RSD nation. I grew up watching this shit. Too funny.

"If you have not tried it, do not knock it."

SV

Google Chat Game

Man, I need to get a job...

This is a girl I met last summer from match.com. Never closed, we just sorta LJBF'd each other. She's really flaky so I stopped contacting her...she writes to me on google chat this morning (HB-A, 24yo, HB-7):

HB-A: hey buddy, how have you been?
me: hey, pretty good...how 'bout you?
HB-A: not bad, just feeling like a dumbass all the time
are you working? I can't remember if you're globe trotting or working
me: why do you feel like a dumbass? You're not you know? :) Smartass, perhaps... :)
HB-A: well my job is like, "wtf....?"

. . .

[I told some story about some dumb-ass jokes my friends and I pulled on Sat night]

HB-A: hahaha, that would be hilarious
me: just think, if we put our minds to work to benefit humanity...what a waste :)
HB-A: =) you're so funny
hey you're not dating someone, are you?
me: nope
actually I'm on match again :)
wait, I mean :(
HB-A: hahaha, How do you mske your profile invisible?
me: click on "not visible" or something like that
HB-A: ah, i need to do that. I keep getitng winks from scary men
andmessages from 24 year olds and you know they're retards

me: aren't you 24?
sorry :)
cheap shot
haha
HB-A: yeah but I like my men older
me: have you been doing any salsa lately?

. . .

me: what's your curfew these days?
HB-A: early, like 10 or 11pm
me: well, if you want to get a drink this weekend, I'd be up for it.
HB-A: I don't like to be super tired and groggy the next morning
me: well, I should get going...if you are free Friday night, lemme know...
later....
HB-A: bye bye!

Hmm...I thought I had her. Sounded like she was dropping some serious innuendo but she didn't jump at my offer for a date. I guess I actually need to pick up the phone and call her. That would require getting off my couch...damn it!

SV

Post LMR text-message game

Short background. Girl I met last Tuesday from match. She is early 30s, about a HB6. I could take her or leave her, but she's good enough to fuck so naturally that was my goal. Kiss-closed on Tuesday night.

Meet her late Friday for drinks. In a bar. Walk her home, ask for glass of water at her building, get into her apartment, making out, LMR. She hints it's time for me to leave so I go. Damnit!

She texted me Saturday about meeting that night but I said I was busy. :)

Tonight (Sunday), she text me and the following hilarious conversation ensues:

[9:07pm] HB-J: Do you think we should go out again?

[10:09pm] SV: No. But no hard feelings.

[10:10pm] HB-J: Can I ask why?

[10:14pm] SV: Hmm, since you asked I thought u feel the same. Dunno do u feel a spark? I'd like to hang out again, just no rush into anything.

[10:20pm] HB-J: The truth is that I am attracted to you, yes. I apologize if I come off differently- I tend to be a little guarded until I get to know and trust someone-and a little shy too. I was actually out of my comfort zone on Friday night, but didn't want you to know it.

[10:21pm] HB-J: I am sorry you don't feel the same, but do wish you the best.

[10:34pm] HB-J: But wait. If you didn't feel anything.- why did you kiss me? Or is that just what guys do?

[10:47pm] SV: Sweetheart, I am attracted to you. We just seemed 2 be lacking chemistry. I'd like 2 meet you again, but no pressure. You should meet more guys.

Too bad I wasted this on a 6. :)

SV

FR: Unintentional negging?

Nothing of groundbreaking import happened over the weekend. Was out on Saturday night with wings Spin and Hammerhead, and the venue was actually quite good. I opened about 10 sets total, but didn't plow very far except for a few. I'm expecting a major breakthrough coming...I can feel it, but I know it's going to require a final push to get me to the next level.

One set is worth mentioning...a seated 4 set (all girls) I opened immediately after walking in. The opener was neutral, I don't think it went very well, but not badly either. Then I turned to one of the 2 cute girls (by cute I mean HB6, maybe 7 but that's a stretch) and used a variation of the "eyebrows routine." I believe it went something like this:

You know, you have a very expressive face.
Really?
Yeah, have you ever done any acting?
No.
Hmm...let's see, can you move your eyebrows independently? Try it..
No.

At that point one of the ugs chimed in with something. The set wasn't going well, so I ejected. I was still in warm-up phase and there were better sets in the bar.

Skip ahead 2 hours. By this time Gee had joined us. We were about to take off, but I went over to the 4-set to say goodbye. They were right next to our table and I just wanted to gauge them a bit more. They were quite bitchy and stand-offish, so I dismissed it and headed back. After we left, Gee lingered and asked the 4-set why they disliked me so much. Apparently, all 4 started bitching that I insulted their friend by saying something about her eyebrows. :) Huh...interesting.

I love this kind of feedback. I think what happened is that I went into the set thinking I'd have to raise my value for them, and so was pretty cocky with my vibe. From their perspective, they saw this high-value guy come in, and then proceed to insult their friend, albeit in a subtle way. These are the kind of situations that require calibration, and as I have only been sarging sporadically of late, I'm not surprised there was a misunderstanding. Don't get me wrong, it's also rather hysterical, but I can learn from it too.

A takeaway for me is that alot of girls are *very* self-conscious about anything having to do with their appearance. It doesn't take much to neg...apparently asking a girl if she can move her eyebrows independently can be construed as a subtle neg. If I had said this to a HB9 it probably would have generated a good deal of attraction, but your HB6 may not have the self-esteem to deal with it.

---

On a different note...baseball season is just around the corner. One of my favorite players, despite being a Yankee, is Derek Jeter, who was interviewed in Men's Health magazine this month. He had a quote that for some reason really struck a chord with me:

"I remember going from rookie ball to A, to double A, then to triple A. At every level it seemed like the game was faster. The bigger the situation, the more the game speeds up. That's all mental. It messes people up. You think, 'I've got to do this, I've got to do that,' when in reality, all you have to do is the same thing you've always been doing. Slow it down. Realize you've been in this situation before. You've been successful in this situation before. Be calm. The more you can do that, the more pressure you take off yourself and the easier it is to perform."

What struck me is that the same concept can be applied to gaming chicks. Approaching a HB6 in a mellow bar is the equivalent of rookie ball. Then as you up the ante, and eventually start approaching HB9s in clubs and more intimidating venues, it's as though you're a step away from major league ball, if not there. And at that level, there is so much more shit going on. I think Mystery described the shit tests that happen during a sarge with a HB10 like a game of speed-chess with a grandmaster. I like Jeter's advice...stay calm, slow it down, and do the same thing you've always been doing.

Article:
http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=fitness&category=sports&conitem=c295eb53bd0a8110VgnVCM20000012281eac____

SV

High Times at the LoFi -- Part II

Part II – Next Time, I will claw early and often

FR for Sat 3/8/08

Hammerhead and I get to LoFi about 10:30. There are 2 girls talking near the entrance…they are cute, but AA got the best of me and I didn’t open. We saunter into the club, and though it’s still on the early side the place is rockin. They’ve got 2 DJs spinning old skool funk and soul…very cool danceable shit.

The club has an odd, but favorable layout. Near the entrance is the main bar, and next to it a small dance floor. Then down a long hallway there is a bigger dancefloor, with a loft-like feel. Unfortunately this back room tends to get very hot and sweaty (I guess that can be good in some ways too).


Warm-Up Sets

We head toward the back, and there a few girls waiting in line for the women’s room. With TD’s lectures still in the back of my mind, I make up my mind that instead of running standard openers I’m just going to say shit and try for emotional spikes:

“Excuse me, I’m on the restroom line satisfaction committee, can you tell me about your experience tonight in this line?”

Yeah, first thing that pops into my head. I was very playful with it, and it got a laugh and opened quite well actually.

Near the bathroom, there is a small merry-go-round horse right where the line ends (yeah, it’s kind of an artsy-fartsy place). The horse is supported by springs, it kind of looks like those cheap rides they used to have in malls a few, um, years ago. Anyway, to another girl in line:

“Hey, I’m sorry but the club policy is that you have to ride the horsie for 3 minutes before you are allowed to use the women’s room.”

These girls aren’t great looking, I’m just trying to set the tone for the night by opening a lot of people, and being a bit of an ass but in a playful way.


Need.....to.....Escalate!!

It’s about 11:00, and people are streaming in the door, pretty incredible. My other wing Gee arrives, and we give the front room a try. At the bar, there is a HB6 next to me with a Chinese character tattoo on her arm.

Mack: “Hey, you know your tattoo says ‘kill white people’ right?”
HB: “No, it doesn’t!”

Opened well, we banter for a few minutes, I didn’t run any real game. A very hot Asian girl is at the bar, HBRollerGirl. I open with kino saying I like her bracelet. We talk about roller skating and how it was so popular back in the 80s and stuff. She was hooked and this was my first real chance of the night with a girl I was very attracted to. I opened strong, but after about 10 minutes the set fizzled. I realize now I didn't escalate enough, and it’s beginning to sink in that if you don’t do this girls don't want to waste their time, especially in a club environment.


Bathroom Line AMOG-ing

In a different bathroom line, a long one, and there is a HB8 in front of me. Blonde and tall. I open with some comment, she responds, and then next thing I know the guy in front of her jumps into our conversation. I didn’t think they knew each other, I guess he just didn’t have the balls to open her and waited until some other guy did so he could leech onto the conversation. I wasn’t going to let this one go, start touching her wrist and admiring her bracelet. It was damn cool bracelet, she took it off to show me and it was like a half-dozen of those magician’s rings. The chode in front was still trying to get in on our conversation, so I upped the kino and ran a ring finger routine, touching her and her fingers, and basically just ignoring the chode without ever saying a word to him or acknowledging that he exits. It worked, she was turned toward me, and we had a good interaction, until it was her turn to use the bathroom. I got her name as she was coming out and I was going in, but I didn’t re-open her later.


Dance Floor Game (or lack thereof)

Hammerhead left around midnight since he had a ski trip the next morning. Gee and I are again in the back room, and there’s a 2-set standing just off the dance floor talking. It’s too loud to run any game based on conversation, it’s pretty much dance or stand there and drink beer. I go up to them and say, “hey, we were wondering if you girls would dance with us. My names is ‘Mackie’”. I was almost old-fashioned about it, but I said this confidently, and it worked. I introduced Gee, we chatted for a minute, then I took my target, HBMiniSkirt (god she had great legs), by the hand and walked her to the dance floor.

We danced for about 10 minutes. I kino’d a bit, asked her if she knew any salsa, spun her around. Gee and her friend were next to us, but my target was facing me, though not reciprocating any kino. I didn’t know what else to do. She wasn’t really making eye contact much, and I felt my only option was to go caveman, but I didn't think it would have been welcomed.

A brief digression. I actually just realized as I was writing that last sentence my ‘mistake’: when I was listening to the Ozzie mp3 earlier in the day, he emphasized that a big mistake guys who don’t close make is that they wait for signals that are never going to come. They need to just go for the close, in this case I shoulda just grabbed her and kissed her, yeah, for real! But I didn’t because I was afraid of pissing her off and losing her. And this is exactly what Ozzie said guys do, ie, that is their mistake, they are afraid of losing a chick they don’t even have, thus they don’t take chances. Wow…talk about an epiphany. I guess writing FRs and analyzing the key moments in a night does really serve a practical purpose.

Back to HBMiniSkirt – after 10 minutes of ‘dancing’ they said they were going to the front room. End of that sarge. See paragraph above.


Dance Floor Game -- Take 2

We’re back in the front room. At this point I’m really in state, and I sit down next to a tall brunette (HBBrunette) and open with something, I don't even remember what. I’m opening now without even thinking about it, within 3 seconds…the way it should be done and it feels great. My vibe must have been good because she immediately hooked. We chatted for a few minutes and then she introduced me to 2 of her girlfriends next to her, they asked me to scoot down a bit so they all could join us on the couch. Her friend has a camera and takes a photo of me and my target, with my arm around her. I’m thinking it’s on and I’m going to get a #-close at least.

HBBrunette looks at the photo and says:

HBBrunette: Hey, you look great but not so much me. I’m not very photogenic.
Mackie:Actually, my younger sister is the photogenic one, it’s rare that I look good in a photo.
Really?
Yeah, are you the older or younger sibling?
Older.
My younger sister got the looks, I got the brains.
[pause]
But apparently you got both the looks and the brains.
Oooohh…nice recovery!
Yeah, you should be careful around me, I can be so charming sometimes it’s dangerous.

Not sure what my exact word were in that last line, but something to that effect, hopefully a bit more eloquent. At this point I’m sure I had some decent attraction from her. We talked about dancing, I figured I could up the ante kino-wise. But for some reason they wanted to go to the back room, down the long hallway, rather than dancing on the floor right in front of us. Mistake #1 – I agreed.

Is this really a mistake? Yeah, I think so, at this stage in the sarge at least. Boy suggests A, girl suggest B, boy says ok let’s do B…not good. Kind of like failing a shit test.

Mistake #2 – traversing down the long hallway to get to the other dance floor. We stood up, she’s about as tall as me and her friend is 2” over me. My wing is nowhere to be found (dude?). I thought, “do I take her hand and lead her there, it’s like on the other side of the club…that would be along awkward walk”. This might be total BS, ie, it may have been possible to do this and even a good thing, but that’s what my AFC thought was at that moment. So I walk in front of them, and they are following but at a distance. I spot Gee and fill him in on what’s going on. We eventually all make it to the dance floor. I try some kino and spinning her and stuff, but I sense the vibe has changed for the worse. After 5 minutes she says they are heading home. I try to #-close but she says something I can’t understand, but I know it’s basically a ‘no’. I tell her, you can just be honest and say “I’m not interested”. So she does, we part amicably, blah blah blah.

Back in the front room, I see the girl from the 1st dance floor sarge. She is dancing with some really ugly hairy guy, I’m like WTF. I move next to them, say hi, say I’m leaving and I want her #, and she tells me she’s seeing someone (I hope it wasn’t that hairy sweaty dude she was dancing with…yikes). At this point I decide to fold my cards for the night and learn from my take-aways.

I have more thoughts on some things I wrote here but they will have to wait…it’s late and I’m hoping to get an early start Monday and kick some serious day game!

Mackie, aka SV

High Times at the LoFi

Part I – Getting in State

FR for Sat 3/8/08

Finally I have some shit to write about!

But before I get into that, I want to thank the guys who have been posting comments on my last entry which was...um, December!? Shit...winter in Seattle, I musta been hibernating . Anyway, I appreciate your thoughts!

My wing “Hammerhead” and I hit Club LoFi both Friday and Saturday. The first night, I only did one approach, some hippie/artsy girl in a coffeeshop before we headed to the club. Last night I did 10 or more approaches…I lost track. The difference? Last night I managed to get really in state, and stay there for most of the night.

Getting in state has been a real issue for me lately. I know this is a problem many guys have so I’ll write a few sentences about what I did yesterday, and hopefully you’ll find it useful if this is an issue you deal with regularly.

The formula that worked for me Saturday was basically this:

listening to TD lectures
+ double-shot espresso
+ 1 hour of salsa dancing

I spent most of my afternoon at Uptown Espresso, listening to a Tyler Durden lecture (“Transformations”) on my iPod (This is also where the coffee comes into play, obviously). RSD is really growing on me, for reasons I’ll talk about in a future post. What I listened to yesterday was a guy named Ozzie talking about “closing”, and how you should be pushing the envelope and escalating kino and basically be trying to kiss-close every set, especially if you are in a club environment.

I head home about 6pm and start watching a TD lecture…every sentence out of his mouth is inspiring and is chock-full of insights. I’m really excited about going out tonight, which usually is not the case. What I mean by that is sometimes “sarging” feels like work, whereas today it felt more like it should…fun and an adventure.

I went to Century Ballroom for an hour to do some salsa dancing. Salsa, also a topic worthy of its own post or two, is becoming a big part of my life. I’m trying to dance at least 3 times per week. And my last great night out, back in December when I managed 2 kiss-closes, I attribute to the fact that I started the evening by dancing some salsa, which got me into a really fun and social mood.

Part II, the actually FR, coming soon...I gotta get some lunch.

Mackie (aka, SV)

I learned salsa to meet girls...so where are they? :)

So I’ve managed to catch the cold that it seems everyone I’ve encountered in the last two weeks has had. I suppose it was only a matter of time. In any case, I’ve got to lay low for a few days.

Regarding the HB hunt, recent prospects have faded. HBCostaRica didn’t return two of my calls, so that’s the end of that. We exchanged some text messages before I called her and I may have overplayed the C&F hand slightly. Feels like I had this one then lost her. It happens.

Meanwhile, HBShanghai was pining for more time together. She actually said she expects her boyfriend to be with her everyday. My guess is I don't have to give much hint as to how that ended. So, my slate is clear, and the motivation to sarge is growing (as soon as I kick this darn cold).

I’ve noticed that the more “7”s I sleep with, the less excited I become about sarging them. I think it’s really time I got myself a hot girl. Not a cute girl, but an HB9. It will be hard and I’ll have to put in effort…this will be new territory for me. I’ve been reading Captain Jack’s old posts in Mystery’s Forum, and it’s really shedding light on what is possible. The biggest obstacle might be the shortage of hot girls in this city. I don’t know…is it a myth? I read PU blogs of guys in Texas and there are guys fucking 8s and 9s left and right. Is it because of the numbers (ratio of women-to-men)? The local culture (eg, “Seattle Freeze”)? Or is this town simply retarded? At a salsa practica I went to the other night, there were so many more guys than girls that there were always at least six guys sitting around waiting to dance with a girl, none of whom were free. What’s up with that shit? It’s salsa, girls! You like to dance and shake your booties…where the heck are you hiding?? The thing I hate most about those ratios is how it makes a girl who is moderately attractive think she is the shit. All the attention from guys goes to her head and the bitch shield gets flipped on. So much work required for such a little benefit.

Now that I’ve bitched my alloated quota about Seattle…My “quarterly report” for Q3 will be coming soon. I plan to geek out on all kinds of statistics about my gaming. My approach is to set goals and measure progress toward them. It might seem a tad strange, but I find it really helps me assess where I am and if my approach is effective or not.

FR -- Dance Floor Game @ Noc Noc

After a week off, Comfort and I hit Noc-Noc last night for their weekly Tuesday 80s-night. We arrived a bit early, 10:30-ish, and I rather expected it to be on the empty side...but it was already packed to the hilt! Upon first glance, there were tons of HBs as well (at least by "Tuesday night in Seattle" standards). We proceeded to the dance floor as a Prince song blared from the soundsystem. I like this club because, obviously, there is a dance floor where I can do “dance game”, as well as the bar area where it’s loud but not so much that conversation is difficult. I noticed a 3-set with one HB8 seated near the entrance, but I wasn’t in a talkative mood tonight and felt like focusing on non-verbal approaches on the dance floor. Honestly, I’m noticing it still scares me to open really attractive girls, ie, pushing past the “7” barrier. It sucks, but I’m exposing this SP and getting very aware of it, which I hope will motivate me to work on this and get over it.

We got a beer, chatting up some people in line, including HBRedHead whom we met two weeks earlier. Returning to the dance floor, I notice and AI and walk over to her. Nothing great, not fat, but old and not really cute, but I dance with her and do some kino for practice. Her friend is hotter, and she introduces me (not many words were exchanged, pretty much just ‘hi my name is..’ sort of thing). I dance a bit with her friend, but don’t really kino. It’s like when I switch from a 5 to an 8 I automatically revert to AFC-ness. I thought about this, how I could really push it with the hotter girl to get some result, either good or bad. But at least a result, instead of inaction. I think basically I need to “go caveman”.

There aren’t many qualities of my current personality that would make “going caveman” easy for me, so it’s something I need to really work at and push myself. Some things that come to mind : kino early and often, maybe even borderline things that might get me slapped ☺ -- it’s a matter of calibrating, and sometimes I have to go too far, cross the line, and then pull back, in order to figure out where I need to be. Also, not just dancing with one girl, but dancing with many of the girls, bouncing from one to the next like a madman. Done right, they will enjoy this and smile, having a fun time. Other girls will notice this and see that I am warm and friendly, basically this will act as a DHV as well as building social-proof.

I opened a few sets in the bar, nothing groundbreaking. I’ve got pretty bad AA right now for having been dormant for a while. More serious, is that even once I open, I am having the worst time transitioning out of the opener. I will elaborate on this in a future post (hopefully reporting some progress on this SP as well). On a positive note, I seem to be surprisingly comfortable approaching chicks on the dance floor at Noc Noc...it's got a friendly vibe. I should try Venom sometime.

PS – time for a rant…

[Begin rant]
Thoughts on "Community Terms": I tend to use them a lot, and yeah I realize it’s kind of geeky. The thing is, it’s also very useful. I view pickup as a skill and an art, in the same vein as a martial art like Tae Kwon Do, or salsa dancing. In any of these areas, having a vocabulary to describe concepts and techniques allows for more effective communication between teacher and student or among fellow students. I’m not just throwing them into my posts to sound cool and profound. Imagine teaching TKD and instead of saying “use a roundhouse kick”, you have to say “now swing your leg around in a semicircular motion, striking with the front of the foot”. So, instead of "perform an action or tell story which increases your perceived value and builds attraction”, it’s easier just to say DHV. We can debate what is and isn’t a DHV and whether the whole concept itself is BS or not, but that will have to wait for another day.
[End rant]

LR – Airport Sarge, “One thing leads to another…”

This is a girl I first sarged back in April! I was flying back from the Bay Area, fresh out of my Charisma Arts Bootcamp with Social Hitchhiker, and while sitting at the gate I noticed this Asian girl with long curly black hair, an assortment of necklaces, and designer jeans with sparkly stuff all over the back. Let’s call her HBShanghai…I’d rate her HB7, though her C-cup is a nice change from most of the Asians I’ve dated. :) Plus she was mid-20s, another nice change from my recent string of cougars (this coin has two sides though, more on that in a future post…). I had just blown a great chance to open a HB9 in the bookstore moments before, and promised myself I’d not let that happen again. After she sat down, I walked past her, made some comment about her necklace, grew the conversation and sat down next to her to continue.

I was mostly focusing on asking open ended questions (OEQ) to get her to commit to the interaction, pretty much standard Juggler Method fare. She was from Shanghai, in US for a couple years getting a graduate degree at UW. Smart, cute, and fashionable…a combination that I find hard to resist. We talked for a good hour, as our flight was delayed. I did some minor kino but outside of a bar or nightclub setting I have a lot of trouble really escalating in this regard. Plus, I was adjusting a bit for the fact that she was foreign -- though she’d been here 2 years, she still had a FOB-ish (Fresh-Off-Boat) aura to her…she just seemed rather naïve and innocent, and I didn’t want to scare her off.

We boarded, the plane was full and we were seated far from each other. I realized I should have #-closed her earlier. Darn. I knew my last chance would be at baggage claim. I met her there, chatted a bit more, setup some lame day-2 (Green Lake?), and got her contact information.

Over the next few weeks, I took HBShanghai on a couple ‘dates’ and I attempted a few kiss-closes, but nothing really came of it. The third ‘date’, I was about 30 minutes late getting to her place, and when I arrived she was quite bitchy and irritated. I waited 10 minutes for her, after which she finally said “I don’t think I’m going.” WTF? I only said “Fine, see you later then” and left. A few weeks went by went without any contact, and one sunny Thursday after work, for some reason (um, I was feeling horny most likely) I left her a voice-mail asking if she wanted to hit Green Lake. I really expected nothing to happen, as I’ve dealt with this bitchy Asian-princess attitude before and usually they hold grudges that span a few lifetimes.

To my surprise, HBShanghai sent me this long apologetic e-mail, saying how she thought she’d never see me again, and how happy she was that I contacted her. We met up that night, walked around Green Lake, then went to get some Thai food. She really opened up on this date, basically saying to me she liked me but was looking for a serious boyfriend. I was honest with her and told her I wasn’t really looking for a committed relationship right now. It was a really great conversation and I was impressed by how up-front she was. We basically just agreed to be friends, and I pretty much figured that was that.

HBShanghai began to call and IM me regularly, but about mid-June I hooked up with another girl and didn’t really have time to see her. The mid-June LTR dumped me last week (same day I got fired from my suck-ass job, more on that whole ordeal in a future post), so my schedule was quite open. By this time, though, I’d pretty much categorized HBShanghai as a friend, especially because my LTR was also a 7, and though I love HB7s, I really need to push myself and get higher-quality girls. Still, I hadn’t seen her for a while and wanted to catch up with her, and invited her over for an old-fashioned Labor Day weekend BBQ.

We ate, we talked, we went to my living room, sat on my couch, talked about going to Victoria, etc. I couldn’t help but kino her (it’s becoming instinctual now), and she kino’d me back, legs touching, etc. I started to realize it was really on this time. At some point I just kissed her, and she didn’t respond at first but eventually got into it. I’m the first American guy she’s ever been with…and I think this made her very cautious. I took that into account and really proceeded in a low gear. I did encounter LMR, but like this whole sarge from the moment I met her in the airport, I was very patient, and turns out it worked so well she was asking for it the next morning. :)

This !-close is somewhat of a milestone for me. It’s my 9th lay since starting to learn game back in 2005 (3 have come from cold approach, 5 from online dating, and 1 from social circle). In my pre-game dating life, basically from age 18 to 34, I had a total of 9 lays, and so I’ve pretty much doubled that in a matter of 2 years. I know compared to some guys that’s nothing, but for me it’s progress and an indication I’m moving in the right direction, even if there are speedbumps along the way.

Introducing...Mack, the PUA, and his BLOG

Welcome to my PU blog. Here I'll be describing my adventures (more likely misadventures at first) in pickup. I am not, however, a 'newbie'. The fact is I've been in the game for about 2.5 years now, quite a long time given that some guys have only taken a year or less to make rapid progress, whereas I'm still struggling in many ways. This shit ain't easy, and being a "responsible" adult, other things tend to interfere and have knocked me off track (more on that later, especially the "responsible adult" concept, which I am currently attempting to shed, at least for a few years).

'Why?!', you ask, at age 38 , am I still doing this? Why don't I just find a nice 29yo girl, marry her, fuck her, have kids, move to Bellevue and work for Microsoft? These are good questions. This certainly would be the path of least resistance. I was well down that path a few years ago, and I was not happy. Not that these are bad things (well, not sure about working for Microsoft), and one day I think I'd like to commit to one girl long-term and have little Mackie's running around. But, if I sacrifice my dreams and lifelong ambitions for this ‘security net', I will not be happy, my girl will not be happy and I will be doing us both a disservice. I've somewhat avoided the question posed above, however. I've described why I don’t desire the lifestyle of most of my 30-something American male brethen, but I haven't addressed *why* I'm doing pickup.

There are several reasons. First and foremost, and this needs absolutely no defense and should alone be reason enough...I love women, and I wanna sleep with many many of them in the coming years. And not the kind of women I've had in the past, but HB9 and HB10s, late, mid, or early 20s.

When I entered the game in 2005, I was not unexperienced with women. I'd say I was average...by age 34 I had 9 sexual partners (including a 7 year LTR/engagement with one girl from age 26 to 34). But I definitely was hitting a glass ceiling in terms of the quality of women I could get (both looks and personality). Also, getting a girlfriend was a big deal back then. Between the "high-flow" times of having a girlfriend, there were extended "ebbs" where I was desperate and felt powerless to do anything about it. I've more or less fixed this issue, thanks to experience in the community to date. But I want to take it even further.

A second reason, or I should say a second high-level goal I have in learning the Venusian Arts, is I want to change my personality. To many, saying this elicits objections along the lines of "No! No! Just be yourself!", or “It’s OK to be introverted and shy”. I find it hard to argue with these folks, because what they say is true, but it is not the whole truth. Although I have a solid inner confidence and by any standard am leading a happy, comfortable life, there are things I want to achieve, even outside of pickup, that just are not possible for a soft-spoken introverted dude like I have been most of my life. I want to experience and do things that are only possible if I leave my comfort zone behind.

Finally, from the 10,000-foot level, I believe that learning pickup can be a character building journey. I’m surprised how little the reputable schools (eg, Mystery Method and Charisma Arts) talk about “character”, when in fact that is a huge part of growing as a pick-up artist. A strong character is one of the most attractive qualities a person can have, male or female. It doesn’t only attract members of the opposite sex, but draws potential friends into your circle, makes an impression on a job interviewer, and so forth. Mastering a martial art or a musical instrument are other examples of character-building pursuits. Of course, it is possible to get off track and find your way down a dead-end, as I have seen happen to more than a few guys in the local PU community. To stay on the right track requires that you are honest with yourself, willing to fail and learn from it, and are open to constructive criticism from your peers (emphasis on ‘constructive’).

So, welcome to my blog. I promise to keep the references to cheezy 80s songs and bad puns to a minimum.