I kinda' like the phrase "man-up," but that pretty much just means "be an adult and take responsibility for your actions," right?

In the same way that "mensch" is a gendered term. But I don't think that's necessarily bad. It's not postulating that that being manly is better than being effeminate - it's just having a positive ideal of masculinity.

Dude, dating is hard. That's probably why I don't do it.

If I hadn't gotten all kissy with a good friend, I wouldn't be in a relationship right now. I *loathe* dating. I prefer to convert an existing friendship into L-U-V.

What does it mean when a woman's profile says she wants a "real man"?

I don't like those women and I'm not sure why my first instinct is to say it means "Treat me like shit and I'll follow you anywhere."

I agree with erika. I always read "I want a 'real man'" as code for "I want a big, macho asshole who makes all my friends pea-green with envy because he's such a gym-ripped specimen of manflesh, despite the fact that he has the emotional maturity of a potato and has apparently never even HEARD of cunnilingus."

But that could just be me.

I see a lot of requests from men that state that they "don't want any drama" and "no games."

I have no idea what that means, either.

"I want strings-free sex from you and no whining accusations about how I haven't called you in 2 weeks."

Can I just say how much I adore you, Jesse, for saying this? :) Even *I* didn't immediately have that joke pop into mind!

Hee.

I always read "I want a 'real man'" as code for "I want a big, macho asshole who makes all my friends pea-green with envy because he's such a gym-ripped specimen of manflesh, despite the fact that he has the emotional maturity of a potato and has apparently never even HEARD of cunnilingus."

"I want strings-free sex from you and no whining accusations about how I haven't called you in 2 weeks."

But that's the problem with vague cliches -- we have no way of knowing what the person actually means. Maybe the "real man" woman just wants someone with a job, and the "no drama" guy is hoping not to have his apartment burned down....again.

Which is not quite what msbelle was meaning, I don't think...

well it wasn't, at one time it is kinda what I meant and it is good also. That said social events are almost non-existent for me now so I don't think in those terms.

That's a shame, because the scavenger hunts were awesome.

I was just looking at a friend's photos and am sad I missed the astronaut visit. OK, I was somewhere way cool having a blast, but I didn't get to go gaga over them and get pictures and play with their tools. Hmph.

Brilliant! The Goodbye, Cruel Internets flounce-off generator: [link]

I hope at some point in the future, things like game nights and scavenger hunts and evenings out will become normal again.

It will be.

I'm out of sorts and I know why and that's just pissing me off worse. Grrr.

And tomorrow, I get to be On all day but only partly of my choosing. It'll be interesting to see if it exhausts me or not. I'm still missing having people around, so. And I don't know how many are gonna show up tomorrow. I've gotten a couple regrets that were expected, but a lot of silence, too. And that would suck and maybe make me throw in the towel.

Okay, I have to stop reading stuff online about the guy who shot up the exercise class in Pennsylvania because he hadn't gotten laid in 19 years. It is freaking me out big time.