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)

Text Message Game

With three solid #-closes from Saturday, I played some text message game starting Sunday morning. I was debating whether to call or text, but I decided on the latter mostly due to laziness (plus football was on).

What does it mean??

First, the blonde girl from the party, HB-retroSAS:

MackPUA [Sun 12:10pm]: Hi. I’m looking forward to that home-cooked swedish meal u promised. ☺ I’m free this evening.
HB-retroSAS [Sun 6:42pm]: Pardon?
MackPUA [Sun 7:07 pm]: I guess you don’t get my humor, but I still like u. (ps: do u know who this is? We met at the party last night…Swedish flight attendant admirer)
HB-retroSAS [ Sun 9:26pm] Yes, I remember.

Hmm…not much to go on. May I take this moment to remind my readers, all 2 of you, that CHICKS CONFUSE THE HELL OUT OF ME. It is mostly amusing, as DavidD says, “it’s comedy”. That said, at some point I would like to understand which way she is leaning. Her responses are lukewarm at best, yet she is taking the time to respond.

I actually call her on Monday night, and we have a great conversation for about 15 minutes. I invite her to NocNoc since she loves to go out dancing, but 80s isn’t her thing. She mentions she goes to Re-Bar sometimes and I should join up after Xmas. We actually vibed very well and natural over the phone. I’m debating if I should go after her or just let the LJBF happen and have her in my social circle. Popular girls in one’s social circle can be a very very good thing for one’s game.

Anatomy of a Flake

Next up, HB-Jazzie, the Korean HB8 dancer:

MackPUA [Sun 12:50pm] Hi. I’m looking forward to that home-cooked Korean meal u promised. ☺ I’m free this evening.
HBJazzie [Sun4:54pm]: I think u have mistaken w somebody. I didn't promise anything bout Korean food w anybody.
MackPUA [Sun 12:50pm]: No mistake. U are the girl who wouldn’t dance with me last night. I guess u don’t get my humor, but I still like you.
HBJazzie [Sun 4:59pm]: Haha. Thought u got several numbers from other girls too :p

OK, not bad. I call her and leave her a voice mail on Monday night. No callback. Tuesday afternoon I decide just to go direct:

MackPUA [Tues 2: 40pm]: Hi Jazzie. Hey, I’d like to take u on a date. ☺ are you interested?
HBJazzie [Tues 2:58pm]: K. When?
MackPUA [Tues 3:05pm]: Tonight, 8pm @ barca (nice bar near century ballroom).
HBJazzie [Tues 3:11pm]: Hahaha what a simple reply..Okay sounds good. But I don't kno where it is exactly. What st is it on?
MackPUA [Tues 3:15pm]: (I send her the address)
HBJazzie [Tues 5:05pm]: Mack I’m so sorry but can we meet some other time? My mom is coming to my place now..
MackPUA [Tues 5:30pm]: Sure. Just let me know what day works.

Thing were looking great, then came the flake. Ugh! I think she is on the level but who knows. I’m not sure where to take this next, feels like I played my strongest cards. She is **hot** so I will give it another shot, but I hate being maneuvered inot these situations where she flakes and is “busy” and you basically can’t help but sound desparate by asking “so what day are you free.” I think the solution is abundance mentality, but I also have to build enough attraction and value in the initial interaction that she won’t flake. Something I need to work on further.

Come eat my pierogi!

My text message exchange with HB-Polish, the girl I kiss-closed:

MackPUA [Sun 11:58pm]: Hi. I’m looking forward to that home-cooked Polish meal u promised. ☺ I’m free this evening.
HB-Polish [Sun3:32pm]: Oh? did I mention those frozen Pierogi last night? ☺ I’m at work all day long tomorrow and leavin for cali soon…where did you run off to so fast sir?!
MackPUA [Sun 4:04pm]: It was way past my bedtime. ☺ So what day do you have free this week? Ur piergis will go greaet with my instant ramen!
HBPolish [Sun 5:16pm]: You can’t be serious abt the ramen

My chances look good, but she avoided my question about what day she is free. I think that’s the wrong question to ask. None of this is easy, is it? On to Monday…

MackPUA [Mon 1:57pm] Hey. Friends & I are hitting noc-noc Tues night for 80s dancing. Maybe see you there? I hope so! ☺
HBPolish [Mon 2:04pm] Sorry 80s night not really my thing but perhaps we can connect another time ☺

That’s where it stands, because I thought I’d be day-2 with the Korean chick tonight, then she flaked and I just got tired and gave up. I have a date with a match girl Wed, had one with another match girl last night (Monday, got a small kiss-close), so HBpolish may need to be bumped to ’08.

Feel free to comment if you have any feedback or advice. Keep in mind that though I’m serious about improving my game, I don’t take any of this too seriously…it’s fun, it’s comedy, and sometimes it makes no sense. But I’m having a good time and meeting cool people, make and female.

SV aka “Mackie”

Part 2 – Kiss Closing Time

To finish up my post about Saturday Night at the “fire” party…I left off at the point I #-closed HB-retroSAS. The fire had been put out, and the party was getting moving again. I thought Gee had split when he magically appeared out of nowhere. Our crew was again intact and we got back to business.

The J-Girl that Got Away

While #-closing HB-retroSAS, I noticed an adorable Asian girl standing near me. I **love** Asian girls, although recently I’m losing some interest because FOBS (Fresh off the boaters) are just too much damn work! I open her, and turns out she is Japanese (HBJapSkirt), so I say some things in Japanese. I then proceed to be a bit rude to her, telling her I’ll find her later as I’m busy right now. This probably wasn’t the smartest move on my part, but I was paranoid, unnecessarily so, that sarging two girls at once would ruin my chances with both. I know this to be untrue, yet when certain beliefs have been with you most of your life it’s hard to ignore them in the heat of the moment.

I find HBJapSkirt a few minutes later but she is not interested in talking to me. I probably came off as a bit too needy. Half an hour later, Comfort sees her and brings her over to me…I do better by DQ-ing, saying something like “Oh, this girl hates me…we don’t get along”. She laughed but didn’t hang around very long. She was very cute, HB8. I’d lost her though, and it was time to move on.

The night begins to get a bit blurry at this point, post 2am, a few more beers imbibed. I’m on the dance floor talking with HBPolish (HB7), running pretty much Juggler stuff. I scored points with asking her, 5 minutes in…”I like you, are you single.” She said something like “I’m not involved with anyone right now”, which I took as an encouraging response. Her friend was hovering about and interrupting our conversation, so I just played it cool and talked to some other girls. I was doing a lot of kino with HBPolish though, gradually escalating, putting my arm around her for example. Eventually I got bored and told her I’d find her later.

THANK YOU FOR THE MISTLETOE, Mr. AFC!

I was still looking for the HBJapSkirt…what can I say, I love Japanese girls and when they are wearing miniskirts I get really excited! In the kitchen, I start talking with a cute white girl, another HB7, let’s call her HBArtsy because she definitely had the creative thing going on. We were vibing quite well, and at some point I said something really eloquent…a very rare event…I expressed something about her art in **exactly** the way Juggler says you should, very vividly and descriptively. She looked at me intensely for a moment and then commented on the way I said it -- we had a bit of a moment looking at each other. It was a very memorable interaction, as though we suddenly felt alot closer to each other.

A few minutes later a guy comes by with some mistletoe and hangs it over the head of HBArtsy. I saw him doing this to girls earlier in the night, apparently this is the best he could come up with. She finally notices and he says “You have to kiss someone now.” She looks back at me and says “OK”, then walks up to me and plants one on my lips! No tongue unfortunately…but we were standing in a well-lit kitchen with plenty of people around. Still, NICE! It was great. The AFC dude eventually did get a sympathy kiss…otherwise it would have been really really sad.

HBArtsy and I really hit it off, but I did not #-close her!! I am having good moments but they are inconsistent, and I started to play her too cautiously, thinking she’ll be around later and I could close her then. No No No…mistake! Strike when you have the chance! The 3-second rule is gold, and a good corollary is to close when you can, take advantage of every opportunity.

Real Dance Floor *-close, but could have been more?

It was getting close to 3am and my energy reserves were running low. My brief nap before dinner was not enough to cover my intense workout earlier that day. I decided to find HBPolish, get her #, and split.

I find her on the dance floor, tell her I’m heading home, and something like "I like you and want your number." She is hesitating. I do some kino, and then suddenly, as if some magnetic field sprang up between us, we just move toward each other and start kissing. (Yes, this time there was tongue!) At this risk of sounding sappy, I will say it was quite romantic. I pulled back for a few seconds, then re-initiated to test whether it was a fluke or for real…she reciprocated so it was the real deal. We continued this mini-makeout for about a minute, and yet she was still hesitant to give me her number. WTF??! Chicks are bizarre. I did get it eventually, and left with Comfort. My second big mistake of the night? I probably could have pulled this girl home. It would not have been easy but I was well down that path with her. Doh!

Thus ended one of the best parties I have ever attended in Seattle. Well, it ended for me, I think the party went on pretty much all night. Seattle needs more of these kind of parties. You don’t really need much game, pretty much just go, drink, dance, mingle, have fun and things will fall into place.

Score for the night: *-close:2, #-close:3 (should have been 4). My best night sarging to date.

SV

Day Game Failure Leads to Night Game Success

After some months of trying to get serious about practicing and upping my game, I may have finally turned a corner. About two weeks ago I started day gaming regularly, and inspired by the “Day Game Challenge” initiated by Priest (of Mystery’s Lounge fame), I went head-on direct to several girls last week. To be honest it was pretty nervewracking…it seems easy to me when I think about it, but once I spot a HB in Nordstroms or wherever and I have to actually walk up to her and say the words, it is anything but. That’s probably one reason why doing it had such a positive effect on my game in the last week.

FRIDAY -- A NIGHT AT THE OZZIE’S

The turning point started late Friday night in Ozzie’s, of all places. Comfort and I were getting on a good buzz at the bar. I had left to open one set indirect but got blown out pretty much. We were thinking of just heading home when Mike befriends a Brazilian guy who is getting a drink at the bar. He’s pretty cool so we talk soccer for a while. Two somewhat chunky tan girls then come up…they are Brazilian and friends of his. Maybe B5 rating or slightly more (bonus points for being from Brazil I suppose?). They aren’t really friendly so we don't waste time. I’m noticing, however, that a crowd is beginning to form around us. Not looking at us or anything, just like somehow we are a gravitational pull and drawing people toward us, including a 2-set standing right next to us…an obvious AI so I open.

They are also only about B5, so this is pure practice. Seattle being Seattle and given the M:F ratio in Ozzie’s, they have more attitude than their looks warrant. I’m doing Juggler method but after about three minutes I stall out, and sensing the blow out I just blurt out the first thought in my mind: “Well, I guess that’s the end of our interaction, because as you can see I have NO GAME.” They burst out laughing and I proceed to drag this DQ on for a while. They are basically telling me how I should game them and I’m following their instructions and questioning their tactics…it was quite fun and hysterical. As this is going on, two more Brazilian girls come in, HB8s at least. I hit another stall with the B5 2-set, and without saying a word, simply turn my back on them, toward the HB8, and say “Hi. I’m Sid.” She responds well and off we go.

I kino’d a lot, but them being foreign, techniques in the JM or MM don’t work as well. I figured this out too late but I really need to go more caveman on foreign girls in bars, they are much more receptive to it then your run-of-the-mill Seattle chick. I had her going for 5 minutes then stalled out. She went off to sing karaoke saying she’d be back but that was pretty much it. Overall it was a good night however.

SATURDAY -- PART 1

SALSA 101

I’m eating a late lunch at Whole Foods around 4pm when Gee calls me and we decide it’s going to be a salsa night. Minutes later I run into Comfort who is doing grocery shopping and he is in. He’s never danced but they have a lesson at 9 so that should be enough to get him into trouble.

I get home, and text about 7 girls who I know dance. None of them, not one bird, is free. They all have parties of some sort to go to. So, my plan of getting a big mixed group to go salsa dancing is looking more like a guy’s night out, but we will persevere. After waking from a nap I have a text message from a friend who fills me in at a private house party happening at a huge downtown condo that night. Actually it’s more like one floor of a condo building…they have live DJs and drinks all night so the night is looking up.

We hit Century Ballroom about 9pm. Comfort is doing the lesson and talking up the newbie girls. I’m sitting with Cooldude, drinking Corona, watching and waiting for the dance to begin. I spot a girl from one of my classes, receive a warm greeting and she asks me if I’ll teach her newbie guy friends the basic moves. Once the dancing starts, I dance with a few girls, and then I spot a train of about 6 Korean girls walking in like they own the place. Most of them are ugs, but there is one real hottie, I would say a true HB8 or close. When they come down from the coat check I grab her arm and ask her to dance…and she refuses and runs off! Girls rarely refuse dance invitations at CB, that’s kind of the whole point of being there. I’m a bit distraught and take a few minutes to gain my composure back, and then I decide I’m going to go straight in to her set and make something happen, not exactly knowing what. ☺

I walk over to HBJazzie and tell her this is her 2nd chance to dance with me. She is no less bitchy. I proceed into standard sarge mode and just begin to plow. We get into a conversation…turns out she doesn’t know any salsa and is just here to observe. In the next sentence she tells me she’s a semi-professional jazz dancer and I’m like “WTF girl you can pick this stuff up in minutes!” The conversation is steadily improving when I decide just to go for it:

SV: “Hey, I should get back to my friends soon, but I gotta tell you, I like you and I’d want to see you again. Would you give me your number?”

HBJazzie: “I don’t know, you’re probably just not going to call me, right?”

SV: “The truth is, I find you attractive, but I would like to know if there is more to you than meets the eye. I mean, we’ve talked for a few minutes and you seem interesting, even though you were quite rude at first”

HBJazzie: [starts laughing and gives me a big smile and pushes me away playfully]

Apparently I had delivered a killer line. I think I was trying to push/pull though it sounds more like a pull/push…whatever the hell it is it worked! I get her # and felt it was rather solid. I danced with one of her ugly friends just to give myself a little insurance.

THE PARTY THAT WAS ON FIRE -- LITERALLY

We decide to head to the house party about midnight. As we are walking up the stairs in this 1930s-something building, we hear the din of voices and…an accordion?? There is a guy playing an accordion in the hallway and we make our way past him to the bar. Lithuanian folklore says that spying an accordion player upon entry to a festival is a good omen, turns out that was pretty much on-the-mark.

We begin to open some sets. Nothing big. I realize soon indirect openers here are a waste of time…people are here to drink, mix and mingle, and actually much more. I spy a blonde in a retro red miniskirt and white furry hat, and the first thing that comes into my mind soon makes its way to my mouth:

SV: “Has anyone ever told you that you resemble a Swedish flight attendant circa 1960?? And, I mean that in the best possible way”

HB-retroSAS: [laughing] “Well, sir, how can I serve you on this flight.”

It is ON…more ON than I was prepared for. We continue with the flight attendant banter for a while, and I realize it’s getting old but I’m not able to smoothly transition. I do some Juggler but I’m still really bad at the whole Appreciate and Relate stage (I make it too formula-like and thus it doesn’t have the effect it should). I basically eject and tell her I’ll find her later. I’m sure she was disappointed as much as I was that I didn’t have the game to follow-through after my strong opening. Doh!


Gee and I are in the midst of the dance floor crowd, swaying away, when we notice something weird about the music. There is some kind of beeping that has been going on for a few songs now…it could be part of the music but it just…doesn’t…sound…right. Eventually someone comes in and tells the DJ to turn the music down, yet the beeping is still present. We realize it’s a fire alarm. A minute later someone announces that there is a fire in the building and we need to evacuate. I could smell the smoke. Being on the third floor of a burning building with a bunch of drugged up and drunk hipsters did give me a moment of serious reflection…was this going to end badly?? . I started to exit but turned around to look for my friends. I didn’t see them but I did spy HB-retroSAS, who for some reason was just standing on the dance floor. I'm not really sure why, but faster than you can say "Towering Inferno" I went up to her and said:

SV: “Hey, so assuming this is the big one, I figure it’s as good a time as any to ask for your number.”

HB-retroSAS: “Um…haha…I guess you’re right.”

I hand her my phone and she types in her #. She then looks at it and says, “area code is 206”. At that moment a girl announces that the SFD has arrived, the fire is OUT and the party is ON. It’s about 1am, they crank up the music and people start dancing again. Apparently this sort of thing happens frequently at these parties.

Stay tuned for Part 2…it’s late and I got a dentist appt. tomorrow morning.

SV

ps—I was kidding about that Lithuanian folklore shit…you didn’t really believe me, did you??