Did you ever know someone who wanted to project the image of being totally self-reliant and responsible and able to cope with anything and everything that comes up in life?

Well, I've run into a few of them. These are the people who basically just can't grasp the idea that there isn't anybody in the world who can handle absolutely every situation totally alone. Well, maybe Boris Karloff, but he's dead, so we can't ask him. Did you know his real name was William Henry Pratt? Had he kept that name, he could have been Prattenstein.

But for most of us, there comes a time when we have to put the imagery aside, put the ego back in the corn flakes box (what it was doing there in the first place is a subject for another post), and just say "Dammit, I need some help here."

I am reliably informed, by some of the world's leading people who like pretending they know stuff, that this is Not A Bad Thing® and that it's OK to acknowledge our own personal limitations.

So, earlier today, I was poodling around on the internet, looking at various dating sites I had never heard of. Why was I doing this? And well you may ask. Call it curiosity, call it masochism, call it anything you want. I wanted to get an idea of what's "out there," I suppose, since the pickings on the "usual suspect" sites have been pretty bleak.

But I have always said that the kind of person I'm looking for does not use dating sites. And I said that facetiously, at the time, or maybe not; but there WERE sites I hadn't looked at, so how would I really know?

OK, now I HAVE looked at them, and now I know.

Now, here's the problem: I don't know if this means that the kind of person I'm looking for doesn't use dating sites, or if it means that the kind of person I'm looking for no longer exists.

More information is required.

And this thing is too big for me to handle alone.

With that in mind, and because I'm too lazy to do my own thinking, I'm now soliciting ideas on how I should attempt to meet someone without using dating sites.

I was thinking of hiring a professional setter-upper, but do they still exist in this modern age of airplanes and microwave ovens? I don't know. I've never met one, as far as I know, but then I never really needed to before.

Or perhaps some sort of think tank, a group of the world's most brilliant minds, a consortium, if you will, of the planet's finest hookup experts, taking on a project so enormous, so massive, that not even NASA could build a Space Shuttle that wouldn't blow up 63% of the time.

What does it all mean?

It means -- I think, anyway -- that I'm done with having the same person stomp on my proverbial heart over and over, time after time, for no reason.

It's time to get past all that, and try to discover if there's actually someone out there that can handle being with an obscure writer, a reclusive hermit, with the attention span of a fruit fly, a self-confessed Arrogant Narcissistic Conceited Jerk who's hung up on spelling and grammar and if you mess up another apostrophe, I'm going to throw this box of corn flakes at you, grandma.

OK, I'm done now.

Sorry for the rant.

But that's what I do.

And I do it well.

Time for a holiday Lex! - http://www.tourclare.com/lisdoonvarna.html

Are you averse to casually dating, even if it's not a girl who has everything, and all, that you desire? To just 'date' for the company, without it leading into anything at all?

Are you finacially able to travel? Some places are geared towards singles.

How about the parties or get togethers that some of these dating sites offer that are close to home? I know that the bar scene isn't your style, but there may be women there who are just looking because there isn't any other option, and might not be drinkers, or partiers.

That looks like it would be fun, too....!

I wish I could go....!

I bet those people would be able to help....!

Are you averse to casually dating, even if it's not a girl who has everything, and all, that you desire? To just 'date' for the company, without it leading into anything at all?

Are you finacially able to travel? Some places are geared towards singles.

How about the parties or get togethers that some of these dating sites offer that are close to home? I know that the bar scene isn't your style, but there may be women there who are just looking because there isn't any other option, and might not be drinkers, or partiers.

Even if they can't help - no biggie! You'll get drunk, laid and have the best craic ever [disclaimer - craic is Irish for "fun", not the drug with the same name albeit different spelling]!

The match making festival is meant to be great craic, never been myself but by all accounts it's in a lovely area with lovely people and friends have told me it's mighty fun!

Well, not drunk -- under no circumstances will I ever touch alcohol again -- but the rest of it sounds good....!

I'm on a site where they have the occasional get-together in Chicago; I probably would have gone to some of those, but they are ALWAYS in bars.

Coming to Ireland and not getting drunk is NOT possible. You can't change the laws of the universe....

Just because a woman is in a bar, it doesn't necessarily mean that she drinks. It's not my favourite place to meet up, but I have met a bunch of posters in Dallas/Fort Worth and the place setting was in a bar. I have my 1 (or 2) drink limit, and I spend my time socializing and laughing at all the drunks. It really isn't THAT bad. What if the setting was a restaurant/bar, or a sports bar and you could at least watch a game and eat?

I've seen many people from Michigan and Ohio on this site; that's not all that far from you. Could you hitch a ride with a buddy and end up there?

Not that Robin and I are big drinkers (he can't drink anymore and, like I said, 1 drink is my personal tolerance level, haha) but we are planning to head into Frankenmuth again in September for Oktoberfest. I'd be happy to arrange a get together. It might not hook you up with a life partner, but at least you'd meet a bunch of new people and have some fun.

Do you golf? Swim? Cycle? Or are you limited physically because of the car accident?

So perhaps you should meet some new friends and take them from being online to real life? No one deserves friends who are users and who take advantage of you.

I'd argue that they're not really friends then. Pruning the current friends and making new, better ones, might be a good idea.

So perhaps you should meet some new friends and take them from being online to real life? No one deserves friends who are users and who take advantage of you.

Perhaps in a few months, travelling with be easier for you, and you could take a train, a bus, or a flight and meet them all at some central location?

You have to really want to meet someone though. Do you?

What ties you to living where you do? Maybe a new town/city/state could do you good?

I've done that, a number of times -- but the new batch is always just as bad as the old batch. I seem to be very bad at finding decent friends.

Well you know what Einstein said about the definition of insanity, right? Time to change how you do things!

If you want, I can help you out. I just have some basic skills, but I can atleast help you get started.