And maybe their idea of "good-looking" is different than yours. I used to hang with a lot of artists, and they would often find women beautiful who were not classically attractive--women with strong lines to their face or body or a certain grace or whatever.

Weekly World News front page story (don't remember exact wording):

KITTEN GUILTY OF MURDER! Sign the petition or Fluffy DIES!

...with a picture of a cute kitten strapped to a table, with a hand holding a syringe....

there was a subset that said generally women date less attractive men because they view themselves as less attractive than they are while men date more attractive women because men think they are more attractive than they are

Hey, someone told me this too! That people date their equivalent (physical) attractiveness, and that both genders were "off" but in different directions.

Not something I'd let hold me back.

or ask you stupid questions like "when are you going to get married" or "why aren't you married".

I get the urge to answer something like "Oh! I didn't notice that! But now that you've asked me and turned my attention into it, I have finally realized what I should do! How can I ever repay you?". But I don't.

[Edit: somebody please make me go and grade. But not in the form of a question like "when are you going to grade?" or "why aren't you grading yet?", because now the paragraph above is a well prepared answer for it]

Beauty so much in the eye of the beholder. Dear GF is always enthusiastically showing me pictures of her latest internet potential date, while dreamily describing his awesome looks. I take a look and gently explain again that we just don't have the same taste in men. If we lined up 20 men and picked our top 5 we would pick different guys.

Last night during the nightly ritual of trying to get Leif to stay in bed, he got disgruntled and started yelling "You Fired Daddy!" from his bed. It's not easy getting fired by a three year old.

And maybe their idea of "good-looking" is different than yours.

In that vein, I can't figure out where I am on the attractiveness continuum. I mean sometimes I think I'm pretty, sometimes not. And my friends and family compliment me on looks-related things occasionally. But I really don't know how someone who has no other info about me would rate me. And if they believed I should date either somebody equally, more, or one notch less attractive, what is their idea of what that guy would look like?

It's a puzzle.

Lisah, you're a seven, but when you mind your posture you're a definite eight. Also, smiling more couldn't hurt.

t /talking right out of my ass

[Edit: somebody please make me go and grade. But not in the form of a question like "when are you going to grade?" or "why aren't you grading yet?", because now the paragraph above is a well prepared answer for it]

Just give everyone a B+. If they complain, raise it to A-.

Nilly -- So, you're not grading yet? (This is the passive-agressive Irish-American form of the question.)