Day 18

I'll keep it short, because there wasn't much to report. Scratch that. Tonight was a big step forward in my personal development, despite the lack of a positive outcome. I'm completely outcome independence, so none of that matters.

Since I realized recently that I have eliminated pretty much all of my approach anxiety (through making at least 100 approaches in the last month), I decided that there is no reason not to go out by myself.

Tonight I made a conscious decision to go out by myself for the first time. I probably could have found a wing, but I didn't want that. I have been out by myself before, but was always too pussy to actually open. I set a goal to approach 5 sets, which I did. Some of them weren't HB sets, because I couldn't find enough HBs to approach.

The first set was at the bar. I think that I said Happy St Patrick's day, and then tried to continue from there. I blew that one out pretty quickly.

The second was a guy set. I started talking to some guy who was standing by himself. It went ok - I didn't really hook all that well, but it made me feel better. I should open more guy sets - when you're out by yourself, it gives you some confidence and a base.

Third was an UG set. I just opened them because they were around. I blew that one out fairly quickly. I wonder why I have so little luck with UGs - maybe because there isn't any sexual tension whatsoever.

The fourth was an average set of girls. I opened them decently, and halfway hooked (I got past the opener, and even introduced myself). After a while, it seemed pointless, so I ejected.

I then went to another venue. After walking around, I approached a 2-set at the bar. I think that they were going to sit with their friends, so that one didn't last all that long.

Finally, I approached a large mixed set (one of the girls had a green wig). I complimented her on her hair (asked her if it was real). Couldn't hold interest, so I blew out of that one too.

I think that I came across as needy. It was a little rattling to be out by myself. No one mentioned it, but I think that my state wasn't as good as normal. I might have been a little low-energy as well. Towards the end, I tried to smile more and be higher energy.

Lessons Learned:
- Its a lot easier to run game when you have friends around for moral support and to wing you, but there is much value in gaming solo.
- Approach guy sets when you are out alone. Maybe you'll make a friend.
- Mixed sets aren't scary. Guys are just ugly girls.
- You have to come from a place of power, rather than one of weakness.
- It isn't that much of a commitment to say that you are going out for one hour. Just go into a bar and resolve to open five sets. If you blow out of all of them, so what. If you hook, that's good.
- When Tyler Durden said that it takes six months to become passably not lame, he meant it. Remember that he once sucked too, as did all of the greats. What made them great is that they kept at it, and didn't give up when it got hard. Keep working through the pain, and there will be good results.

1 point for tonight

Day 17

Today was the St Patrick's Day parade in South Boston, so I went over and met up with some of the guys from the lair. By the time that I made it, Absolut_beirut had already met some girls at a bar and been invited to a house party.

On the T over, I opened a couple of sets (probably two points worth), although the details don't stick out too strongly in my mind. One girl was wearing green earphones, so I asked her whether she bought them for St Patrick's day. Turns out that green is her favorite color, and she

Fast Forward to the parade. AB and I spent some time opening random sets, and watching the parade. We were walking back to the house party when we bumped into ae82power and bravado. Their friends told us about some mythical six-kegger, and some allegedly hot girls who were coming. We spent quite some time waiting around for these alleged people, and then decided to try to find the party by ourselves. Ae82power went into a liquor store and picked up a 30-pack of bud light (turns out that the trick to getting into a house party is bringing lots of beer), and we got pulled into some random party by some guy that someone knew. A cute girl who was there had an old-school Canon SLR, so I chatted with her for a bit before I got pulled to another party by the guys. That party never materialized, so we went back. The girl bounced shortly after we got there - I never reengaged.

I opened another girl when I was waiting in line for the bathroom. We BSed for a while about where to live (she was actually negging me by calling me a Cambridge snob - I actually think she was into me). I tried to do the "we're married" role-play, which was fun. After a while, her friends pulled her upstairs to play beer pong, and shortly after that, we got kicked out. I should have gone for digits.

By that point, I was fairly drunk off of four Bud Lights. We went to the original house party, which was actually really packed (too bad we didn't go there when I was ). I was too drunk to game, and had to go home for a meeting (I sobered up in time).

Lessons learned:
- Don't game drunk. I knew that I'm useless when drunk, but this reinforced it. Liquid courage doesn't count, and it doesn't help you in other situations (like business, for example).
- Ask for the number. It should be automatic, kind of like approaching when I see a girl I want to talk to. My next 30-day challenge is going to revolve around number closes.

I'll score myself at four for the day.

Day 16

Today was the vaunted GSF. Patch did a great job setting it up - we went to a new mall venue in the suburbs (I'm actually going to be working near there pretty soon, so it was a good opportunity to check out the place).

Patch and Hoth Cool and I drove out to the mall, and met up with the other guys from the lair. We paired off with our mentors - I was paired with Shadowfox, who I have sarged with a bunch of times. The guy is fearless.

One of the things I neglected to mention in yesterday's FR is that Shadowfox pulled a girl off the street for a SNL the night before, so he was still recovering (hung over and not too much sleep). Fortunately, I didn't need all that much encouraging, so we were off.

The first stop was the Apple store. I saw a girl checking her email, so I asked her about it. The convo hooked, and we probably talked for ten minutes or so. I realized pretty quickly that I wasn't interested (not attractive enough), so it didn't go anywhere.

Next, I saw a cute girl checking out ipod accessories. I asked her whether she was a runner, and she said yes. Her last iPod had been stolen, and she was replacing it. A minute or two in, she let on that she was 16 or 17, which pretty much killed things (I'm not interested in JB, although she looked more like 20 than 16).

We decided to try Sephora. I opened by asking a girl whether you are allowed to wear eyeliner if you aren't in a rock band. She said, no, unless you live in California. She said that she knows some guys who live in California who wear eyeliner. It was actually going ok, but the salesperson came back with a product she was looking for, which killed the set (I don't deal well with distractions).

There wasn't much else of note. I opened a few more sets, but nothing really hooked. Shadowfox wasn't really pushing me, and I don't really have any AA, so I don't think I improved much. I think that I should have worked more on moving game and hired gun game (both of these are pretty scary to me).

After a while, we regrouped and I got a ride home.
-------

At about ten PM, I took the T to the normal saturday night venue. This was so early that it didn't even look like a club/bar. More like a restaurant (which is what it is during the day).

On the T over, I tried to open a 3-set and a 2-set. The 3-set didn't open very smoothly. I was standing up, and the target was sitting, flanked by her UG friends. I opened by saying something about St Patrick's day, and managed to keep the convo going, but it kept dying. Mostly I was talking to the UG friend, and I clearly wasn't interested in her. In hindsight, I should have sat down and talked to the target.

I used another St Patrick's situational opener on the 2-set, which opened, but I didn't do all that well. Opening 2-sets on the subway is much harder than opening solo girls.

In the venue, I opened some HB9s, and talked to them for a little while. They blew me off by going upstairs. Not sure what I did wrong - I think that I'm just not at the point where I can hold 9s yet.

I went upstairs (why not), and opened some girls by the bar. They weren't that cute (probably 5s), but I was warming up, so what the heck. The set went ok, but then their biznatch UG friend came in and said something about how I should buy drinks for her and her friends. I said that I don't do that, and she blew me out.

I also opened a 2-set by the bar. I asked them whether pinching someone wearing green would make them turn into a leprechaun (I don't know where the fuck some of the shit I say comes from), and they said that they weren't wearing any green. I kind of blew out that set, or at least I thought so, so I ejected.

By that point, some of the regular crowd had shown up (ae82power, absolute beirut, maximus testicles), and we noticed that there was a bootcamp going on (saffron and entropy). I approached a 2-set consisting of a cute girl with curly hair and an Asian cougar. I opened by asking the girl whether she was Irish (no, she is actually Jewish) and then ignored the cougar (probably a bad move because she didn't seem to like me). The set seemed to be decent (no super-strong rapport, but we had a good convo going and I was kinoing and receiving some in return). The cougar tried to drag her off to the bathroom, but she stayed and talked to me for a few more minutes. When the cougar came back, she managed to drag her away. I noticed that the target started to lose interest at the very end, but that could have been because the cougar was drawing her attention. I should have number closed, but choded out. I really needed a wing to occupy the cougar while I gamed her friend.

I then opened another 2-set, and stayed in that one for a while (turns out that the target has a PhD in a field similar to what I'm studying right now). The set was going great - ae82power came in and winged, and absolute beirut showed up with some of his friends. After a while the target went to the bar for drinks, and was gone for a long time. I chatted with absolute beirut's friend, and the obstacle. The target came back after a while, and it turned out that she had been talking to one of the bootcamp students, who fled when he saw the mixed set. I chatted her up for a while, and then decided to try to number close. She told me that she was currently in the midst of a messy breakup, so I gave her my number. I'm not completely sure that I buy that - maybe I did something wrong along the way (although the set seemed solid to me).

I opened another 3-set because I saw a cute girl with neat glasses. Turns out that she only was wearing them because she is getting Lasik, but the set opened pretty well. At some point, I realized that we were talking across her friends, and that they were uncomfortable, so I rearranged the set to make us more comfortable. A few minutes later, she let on that she had a boyfriend (I mentioned that I was interested in startups, and she said that her boyfriend is doing one with a professor at my school). A guy showed up a minute or two later, and she hugged and kissed him. I ejected, but she gave me pretty strong kino when I said goodbye, so she was clearly interested. I have a talent for hitting it off with chicks who are taken.

Following this, we bounced to another venue. No one was in the mood to game (ae82power was feeling sick and low energy), so I chatted up absolute beirut's friend (they had bounced there as well). I number closed her and walked home.

Let's see - I will give myself seven points for today. 35 in total, although I could have more if I were more generous.

Day 15

I decided to go out with Pinnacle, but first I went to a house party.

On the T over, I noticed a cute girl with paint on her pants. I asked her if she was a painter, and the conversation went very well from there. When her stop came up, she lingered for a bit before getting off. I think that there was a good chance I could have number closed her, but I didn't (baby steps - that's next month's challenge).

The house party was fairly dead. There were a few cute girls, but I had a lot of problems staying in set with them (plus there were a bunch of friends who I hadn't seen in a while and wanted to talk to). After a while, Pinnacle called and suggested that we go to Karaoke, and I headed out.

On the T over, I opened a girl who had a neat bag. Turned out that it was a Rocky Horror bag, so we chatted for a while. As I was getting off the T, she asked me for my number. I guess that I did something right (she called the next day).

When we got to Karaoke, the place wasn't all that full. There was $10 cover, and you got to go up to the stage and sing your song. One of my friends (who is completely AFC, and vehemently denies that it is possible to systematically understand social interactions) called me up to hang out, so I told him to come over. We picked out our songs, and waited around. The only set I opened was a set of blind girls (I didn't realize they were blind until I notice that they weren't looking at me and that they had white canes). We spent a while chatting up a fairly cute girl and her married friend, but that didn't really go anywhere.

We ended up sticking around the Karaoke club for way too long (it had pretty much emptied out by the time we sang our songs), and then tried to go to another venue, but they weren't letting people in any more.

Lessons Learned:
- If you go to Karaoke, get there early so that it isn't dead
- Consider going direct on the subway approaches. You might get some more number closes that way.

Overall, I'll give myself two points, although I'm not sure whether subway approaches should really count (I only count them when they really hook). Its too hard to number close, at least for me right now. Hopefully that will change.

Day 14

I went out to Joshua Tree with Cafepuck and Absolute Beirut. We got there around 11 or so.

I decided to go with a new opener. "If you were Elliot Spitzer's wife, would you divorce him?"

For the first set, I opened a 3-set. I hadn't calibrated the opener that well, so I blew out pretty quickly. After a few minutes, they said that they would "come over and find me and my friends in a few minutes." Hadn't heard that one before.

The second was a piece of a larger group. I made the mistake of not opening more than one girl. I think that I also stayed on the opener for too long.

The third set was a 3-set. The opener didn't hit all of the girls, so only one was listening. That blew out pretty quickly as well.

There was a set that I can't really remember very well. I think that I opened with something else (one of them was wearing a Bruins jersey, so I asked her something about that)

I decided to go for something different at this point, so I opened a seated 3-set. This one went much better, and I even hooked in on the whole set. They were sitting at a table, and there was no way for me to sit down with them. We chatted for a while about that, and some other things that I don't remember (one of them was from Maryland as well, although a different part). They were about to leave, and I wasn't interested enough in any of the girls to try for the close.

Next I opened a two-set who were seated at the bar. They gave me some major shit about my opener, but I stayed in set and weathered the storm. I stuck in the set for at least 5-10 minutes, when their friends showed up. I got introduced to the friends, and stuck around for a little while before ejecting (prematurely).

We went to a different venue, a loud dance club. I went up to a set and was immediately blown out by a target "we're busy." I should have negged her and kept going, but for some reason I didn't. I put my tail between my legs and went back.

Cafepuck tried to show me dance floor game, but I didn't really get all that far with that.

When we were about to leave, I decided to open one more set, a seated 2-set. They turned out to know a lot about Eliot Spitzer's wife - that she went to Harvard Law and had a successful career before she quit in the mid 90s to support her husband. They were pretty cool, but both had rocks on.

I'll give myself 3 points for tonight.

Day 10

Saturday night was newbie night. A bunch of us met at a bar to get a short seminar on technique, and then headed to a club venue for in-field practice. It was a good opportunity to get to meet some of the guys whose names I had seen before but hadn't met - Stallion for one.

The biggest takeaway from the workshop is that inner game is key, and that you have to be assertive. You have to go in there knowing that you are the man. If you don't believe it, they won't either. You aren't going to fake your way in there. When you make kino, you have to be assertive and not half-assed (Warwick emphasized this later).

I also think that some of the things that they said are a bit too advanced for me at this point. For example, "don't talk about boring shit." My goal right now is to get better at opening and staying in sets, with a secondary goal of building attraction. Since I don't use anything canned with the exception of my openers (which I make up), I'm still learning about how to make a conversation flow. I need anything I can get, and if I don't talk about mundane stuff, I will run out of things to say within the first five minutes. If I can remember to SCRM, that should make things a lot easier (once I started using misinterpretation in sets, the girls started laughing and kinoing much more).

So we got to the venue, and I opened a set off the bat. It actually didn't go badly, although I ran out of things to say pretty quickly and eventually got blown out. For an opener, not bad. Then I opened another set, who didn't seem that into me and blew me out fairly quickly. I think that they had been opened about five times before I ever got there.

At that point, I ran into Warwick. He gave me some important pointers:

1) Don't talk to your friends
2) Go out there and open sets

Its too easy to form a "chode crystal," where guys with no game clump up together. This doesn't help anyone, unless you are into other guys.

He had me up in the front, attempting to open sets as they walked into the bar. The standing sets were ok. Some of them went well (girls having a birthday party, etc..), and some blew me out quickly. The hardest thing was opening moving sets as they entered the bar. Warwick gave me three important pieces of advice to help with that:

Touch, Eyes, Talk

First you establish contact with one of the girls. I would go for the first in the chain, because the last often can't resist the pull of her friends (its interesting how tightly girls clump together). They you wait until she makes eye contact with you. Finally, you deliver your opener. Even though my opener is pretty money, I think that I need a new opener for moving sets - I can't keep a group of girls stationary for 30 seconds while I get to the punchline.

So after I opened sets to pretty much the point where I was indifferent to opening any more sets and getting blown out, I winged Stallion for a set. That guy seems pretty money. I was busy trying to occupy the target's friend, but he was pretty on. The friend disappeared to the bar after a while, and Warwick announced that he was bouncing to a new venue.

We headed to a hotel lounge, which was quite a difference from the club. There was a single 2-set sitting at the bar, and I got the privilege of going up and approaching them. The set went reasonably well, and while I wasn't too into the target, they were fun to talk to. Warwick came in on the wing, and I blew out pretty quickly. I need to get better at frame control - I kept getting blown out by my own friends.

We then headed to the pretty much standard place to hang out. Some other guys were there as well (Pinnacle, Shadowfox, his friends). There were only a few sets, and I opened pretty much all of them. Some of them went fairly well - one group of foreign girls didn't understand my opener, and I was a bit forward with kino, which didn't help, but other than that the sets went pretty well.

One of the exercises Warwick gave me was to practice opening guy sets. Even though it won't directly get you laid, it can be good to make guy friends, and gives you an opportunity to practice being social. Also gets your confidence up for opening girl sets, and increases your ability to open mixed sets.

At about 1, the bar closed down, and I headed home (need to get on a more regular sleep schedule - if I'm going to go out 3 or 4 nights a week, and can't stay out until 3 am unless something special is happening).

My head is about to explode (I feel like I'm absorbing so much information that I don't know what to do with it).

I think that I'm going to give myself five points for the night, although I must have opened almost 15 sets, and only truly blew out a few. Actually, I forgot the one-set I opened on the subway and the one in Barnes and Noble, so more like seven for the day (now we're talking). Almost half-way there.

Day 9

Went out with two groups of people. The first place I went was a bit more downscale, and I met up with ae82power, absolut_beirut, and mechanic. I realized that my goal was to begin opening sets faster (none of this waiting an hour and a half and forming a chode crystal), so I went out and opened.

My first set of the night was a mixed 3-set. I ran my pirates opener, but the target was majorly shit testing me. I told her that her friend was the rock star, she was the backup singer, and the guy was a groupie. She told me to come up with a better story. I told her that she was a regge singer, and asked her what kind of music she played. She was like, "reggae is already a kind of music." After a while I left - I should have stayed in longer, but wasn't used to dealing with shit like that, so I ejected.

The second set was a 2-set that absolut_beirut had tried to open and failed. I don't know if they noticed that we came from the same set, but they were really frigid towards me. I got through my opener today, but got pretty much no response. I asked them how they knew each other, but they were vague and didn't open up. I ejected pretty quickly.

Set three was another 2-set at the bar. They played along with the pirate opener, in fact too much (they kept throwing the frame back at me when I tried to start connecting with them). I realized that they weren't at all attractive, so I didn't pick a target or kino escalate. After a while I got blown out when they went to dance.

At this point, I realized that it was time to go meet Pinnacle and Shadowfox. Headed to the other venue, which was an upscale lounge in the middle of a hotel.

I was having major AA and didn't want to open any sets. Shadowfox told me to change my body language, and within a minute I opened my first set.

I went up to a standing two-set, and opened. They seemed ok (a Doctor and a Nurse). The opener went reasonably well, but I ran out of stuff to say after about 5 minutes and ejected.

My next set was a three-set. I went in and opened, and did a pretty decent job of isolating the target. She was opposite a little table from me, and I wasn't sure why I couldn't get closer to her. The set went on for a while, when I realized that the target was really familiar. Turns out that we had met before. I stayed in the set for quite a while. It kind of got disrupted because too many guys came in. I tried to move the target to get a chance to get closer to her, but it failed.

I saw a seated two-set in the corner. We didn't know whether they were with the two guys sitting all the way at the other end of the seating area, so I opened just for the heck of it.

After this, there weren't really any remaining sets to open. We waited around for a little while and then went out for pizza.

I'm going to be charitable here, and give myself three points (plus two for the sets I opened in the subway, and one for the one I opened in the coffee shop).

By my (somewhat generous) count, I'm at 16. Virtually 1/3 of the way there.

Day 8

Fuck my anterior cingulate cortex (the part of your brain that makes you feel bad when you get rejected). Its a survival reflex, but utterly useless in this world (society?) of abundance.

Went out with some guys to some new places I hadn't been to before. Originally intended to meed up with cafepuck, but coldplayer came along and absolute_beirut and aepower were there as well. The first place was pretty dead. I opened a set almost immediately. The TV was on so I said something lame related to that. They blew me out with "we're trying to have a conversation here." Doesn't matter.

The place was pretty dead, so we moved onto another venue. This place was pretty empty, but there were some sets to open. I didn't approach, and ended up feeling like a chode while other people opened them.

Next we went to another venue that seems to be pretty crowded on Thursday nights in that part of town. When I got there, I had AA pretty bad. Didn't want to approach. Stood around acting like a chode.

I tried to open a set, but got blown out almost immediately (two of the people in the group weren't there, I wasn't on, etc...). Still not there. Wandered around the club, and then talked to aepower for a while. We agreed that he would pick out sets and I would open them. He pointed out a pretty nice seated three-set, and I went over to approach them.

I opened with my pirates opener, and made the target the drunken pirate. I think that she might have been a little bit drunk, because she seemed to . It turned out that we had a fair amount in common, and even though it looked bumpy, the set hooked for a while. She gave me her card, but I'm not sure whether it would be ok for me to call (I didn't feel like it was on between us). After a while, I started to get ignored, so I ejected. I think that my biggest problem was that the set was seated, and I was standing up. I should have sat down next to the target, but I didn't for some reason. Anyways, it was a pretty good set, and it put me in a positive mental state for opening the next set.

The next set I went for a 1-set who was by herself while her friends got hit on by guys. She seemed receptive enough, but we were standing in a bad place where drunken people kept bumping into us. I should have isolated her and moved to a better location, but I didn't. I stayed in set for a little while, but ejected after a few minutes.

The last two I blew out of pretty quickly. I can't remember what happened with one. I just remember that I was in there for about 10 seconds. The last one I opened with "who lies more"?

The final set was basically one that I told coldplayer I would do before we left (it was close to 2 AM at this point). I couldn't think of anything else to run, so I ran "who lies more?" She told me "men", and it sort of stalled from there. I think that the obstacle was creeped out (she hid behind her friend after I lightly kinoed her on the arm), so it didn't go too well. I ejected from there, and we went home.

Learning points from the night:
- Get rejected early and often. It takes a couple of rejections and one hook before I get into state. Also, you have to get over rejection anxiety before you can open well. Running a good set when you're nervous is kind of like attempting a double black diamond without a warmup run or two. Pick ugly chicks so that you can run an easy set and get in state.
- Stay in set longer. Sometimes it looks like a set is blowing you out, but its just a shit test. I think that a certain type of girl likes to shit test guys to see whether they can take it. To be honest, I like girls who are into giving guys shit. From now on, I'm going to try to stay in until: 1) they ignore me and I can't get back into the set
or
2) they say "its been nice meeting you" or something else

- No opinion openers. From now on, I only run my own shit. Let's play a game type openers. Why not push the girls into the desired frame with the opener, and stay there?

I believe that I get two points for last night. Getting to my goal, although more slowly than I would like to. I feel like big things are starting to happen (the iceberg below the surface). If I keep opening sets, I know they will.

Day 7

Alright. 1 week. Went out daytime sarging with coldplayer in HS. I had never been out during the day with the intention of meeting girls, except to my local coffee shop. I had a bit of AA, so Coldplayer had to open a few sets before I got going.

I opened one set in a book store. I used a situational opener and asked her about the book she was reading (a history of fashion). We talked about it, and fashion in general. The girl seemed pretty receptive, and I probably could have continued much longer (she seemed into the interaction). I wasn't interested, so I ejected.

We went to another store, and I tried to open with a cute girl, but the interaction went nowhere (didn't hook). I apparently wasn't talking to her.

We walked by an ABP, and saw a cute girl sitting in the window reading a book. "You're totally opening that set," coldplayer told me. I was feeling a bit anxious, but agreed to go in, and direct at that.

I walked up to her and told her that she was beautiful, and struck up a conversation. She seemed pretty receptive, and we talked for a while. Turns out that she is in business school as well. After a while I ejected. Coldplayer made me go back and get her number, which she was happy to give me. I have this tendency to run a really good set and then eject without getting the number. I think that it has something to do with fear of rejection.

Lessons learned:

- One: going direct actually works.

I should try S&A some time - I can believe that it works if you do it right. Even though no one I know has been jumped as a result of it like the guys on the RSD board claim, I have heard of at least one # close that resulted from a S&A opener (and he didn't really talk to the girl much after that; he left, came back later, and then asked for her number).

- Two: go for the frigging number close. If you stay in set for more than five minutes, GO FOR THE NUMBER CLOSE!!! Got it?

Day 4

Went downtown. Started up a conversation with a cute girl on the subway. I feel like I was almost at a number close, but I chickened out. I need to get better at asking for the number.

Days 2 and 3

Day 2

So Day 2 turned into pretty much a bust. I went out alone, and kept running into people I knew. At the first venue I went to, I bumped into a guy from school. I didn't feel like telling him that I was there to hit on chicks, so I made a lame excuse and walked away (that might come back and bite me). I subsequently ran into someone I went to undergrad with and hadn't seen in over five years. It was strange to see him - I met his brother who is a current undergrad. Following that, I hightailed it out of there.

I went into another club and bumped into a guy that I sort of know from school. He was with his wife and some friends, so I hung out with them until the place closed. They were really nice when I told them that I was out by myself (the guy said that everyone does that sometimes). I didn't open sets, but hopefully I made some social contact.

Day 3
I wasn't originally going to go out because a family member was in town and visiting me. However, that family member tends to go to sleep early, so when Pinnacle SMSed me to go out, I figured that it couldn't hurt. So I headed out, and arrived at the regular venue around 11.

I went in, and headed upstairs. Pinnacle arrives a few minutes after I do, and we are both jittery. Neither of us wants to open a set.

I power through and open a two-set with a new opener that I made up today. The set opens up like butter. I talk to the two girls for a few minutes, and then realize that the cute one is married (and the other one wasn't all that hot). I eject.

Feeling pretty well from that set, I enter another two-set that turns out to be identical twins. They open up nicely, and I isolate one of them. Turns out that we have a lot in common (I'm a twin as well, from the same home state), and the conversation goes well. She is returning kino and giving IOIs, and I'm hoping for the #. Then she mentions that she is engaged, and I notice a rock on her finger. I stay in for a few more minutes, but my energy level clearly has dropped by then. Her sister comes back (of course she isn't engaged), but I didn't target her so I have problems transitioning. Pinnacle comes in, but there isn't much happening.

By this point, pretty much everyone we know has shown up. Its ridiculous - the place is swarming with guys. I open a set in the corner - it opens, but they aren't that creative, and it doesn't work quite as well. Turns out that they are stewardesses, so we talk about that for a little while. After a few minutes, I eject.

I know that I opened at least one more set than that (I'm pretty sure that there were two more), but I can't remember the details. The club closes at 1, and we head to another venue.

At this place, there are many more guys and girls, and a lot of mixed sets with one guy and one girl. Pinnacle opens a seated 3-set with Shadowfox winging. I'm left alone with no one to talk to. I notice a 5-set in the corner, and figure that I have nothing to lose. I go over and run my "You are Pirates" opener. They tell me that they are a lesbian support group on their first night out "not bisexual lesbians, but real rug munchers." I get my hands tied up with the ugliest and most outspoken one - one of the girls in the group was really attractive, but I couldn't manage to pull her into the set. I couldn't figure out whether this was true or whether they were just playing with me. After a while, I ejected. I talked to Maximus for a while (until the club closed).

Overall, I was really happy with this night. I will give myself 5 points on my 30-day challenge (more than 10% of the way there)