god sorry to hear that, daveT. If it's any comfort, you always have us. hm, that's probably no comfort whatsoever, is it

Picking on myself Katie; it's all a: numbers game; part of life; a stark reality of how harsh you women are to us men; and nothing personal. I do have to brag that I have recieved 3 positive responses so far, but I think 2 of them are hopeless. Besides, I would be greatly honored to burn through every girl in LA and recieve a no -- I could then confirm my deepest fear.

Stepdad? I think you are thinking of a different movie. She was referring to Black Power zealot and comic book writer Hooper X.

I tried online dating, but since I never paid for the service all I could do was send ice breakers. It goes without saying the relationships never went anywhere.

The sites I am on are free. My friend, who would rate a flat deuce on the hotness scale, gets 4 dates a week. I can say that online dating could easily turn into a full time job.

Make your profile "Threesomes only." That should narrow the field.

Okay. Since I have nothing better to do: I'm going to waste my Saturday night hitting on more chicks.

Just write, "tappin' DAT ASS!!!"

Girls like a spirited guy.

I like this answer. It's the type that's worth eating the occasional "moron" for.

Texting isn't talking, LF. Just because she's willing to text you for 5 seconds doesn't mean she's willing to talk to you.

You might have been less generic though. Next time try, Wait, what's the square root of 236? If she says, WTF I dunno, text back, Your loss. If she gives you the answer, tell her, I don't know why you answered that stupid question.

j/k Just be memorable.

And keep it short IMO.

I am unturned on by this. Sounds pretty meh.

This is much underrated IMO.

The semicolon, outside its use in lists, is used profligately. A period is generally better. The semicolon suggests a connection between independent clauses, and as such is a sort of attempt to persuade of an inherent connection. That inherent connection often doesn't exist, or is questionable.

The semi-colon works best when dividing independent clauses that in some way rhyme or use similar structure. For instance, "She was pretty; I couldn't help stealing glances at her in the middle of the meeting" would be better served by using a period. The ideas are complete and the semi-colon doesn't posit as much of a relationship between the two independent clauses as the writer might hope. Compare to: "There is no way to be certain without precision; there is no way to be precise without adherence to protocol." The sentences echo each other, and as a bonus transfer related ideas from one to the other -- adherence to protocol makes possible the precision necessary for certainty. A period could be used effectively here too, of course. But there is enough linkage between the sentences in terms of form and content that a semicolon is arguably better.

Here's another one: "She was pretty; she was nervous; she was sure to flash her uncertain smile." There is a rhyming structure that imparts a certain rhythm and momentum to the series of independent clauses. The first two of them also come to characterize and paint a bit of a picture of the third. You could use periods. You could also exchange the semicolons for commas and insert an "and" before the last one. But there is something to be gained if you don't.

Better keep her away from Dave Chappell and Quentin Tarantino, then.

Don't be doing this on Fridays or Saturdays maybe? It makes you look uncompeted for and maybe a little desperate.

lol.

I don't think anyone but lindy hoppers and old people would get the joke.

I don't agree with this part of your post at all, particularly with your example. "She was pretty; I couldn't help stealing glances at her in the middle of the meeting" is a good example for why you SHOULD be using a semicolon there, not an example of its pointlessness. The first sentence directly explains the second one - the speaker is looking at the girl precisely because "she's pretty" instead of say, because "she's standing on her head" or "she's picking her nose" etc. The first independent clause provides the rationale for the second and I strongly think that the semi-colon is the best choice for this example you've provided.

I get what you're saying about the rhyming structure, etc. but I would never write your example the way that you have with semi-colons. The first independent clause seems too distinct and only obliquely related to the other two. I would write it like this: "She was pretty. And she was nervous; she was sure to flash her uncertain smile." Well, to be completely honest, I'd probably use a dash in exchange for the semi-colon - but I fully realize I have an irrational, unquenchable desire for the dash.

I have a sort of tangentially related question and I figure I might as well ask it since I can't sleep and am debating about the properties of semi-colons at 1:50 am:

If someone told you that they were going to be teaching a "prose workshop", what genre of writing do you think that they would be teaching? Fiction or non-fiction? Novels? Are plays considered technically to be "prose"?

The only thing I feel confident in ruling out is poetry.

I went to Wikipedia to find out what an apple pan dowdy and a shoe-fly were and it turns out it's like a song or something. Is that the joke?

Landon-hopper, what are you still doing up? Aren't you tired or have you already caught up on lost sleep from last night's debauchery?

I slept most of the afternoon. It's gonna bite me in the ass when I have to get up at 6:30 on Monday though.

Good news: I just wasted my time AIMing a girl while she was more concerned about watching youtube.

12 Monkeys just came on G4, is it worth watching?

Also,

What's a Nubian?

12 Monkeys is a love it or hate it movie. Personally, I thought it was brilliant.

This thread is making me think we need a LC sex/dating/relationship thread