Hey all,

I've been a longtime lurker in the community, but only recently have I been taking this area of my life and spending more time with it. As such, I have my first FR from Canada Day, and the first of many I hope.

I just want to be clear though, My experiences on Canada Day were complete fluke. I had originally intended to spend the day at home, but things changed.

Let's start: I worked a graveyard shift the night before, so I finally woke up around 5PM. By 6, I had decided to go see my local guy for some trees, when my buddy texts me, coincidentally, also looking for trees. I tell him I'll pick up for him and go and meet him.

I want you all to keep in mind that I had NOT dressed up to go out. I threw on whatever clothes I could find, which essentially turned out to be a pair of boot-cut jeans, an Adidas shirt and a black cargo vest that has been my go-to fashion choice for the past few years. I had not showered, expecting only to be out for a few minutes at most.

So my buddy sends me directions to where he is at a friend's place. What he neglected to inform me was that he was at a party. So, around 6:30, I show up to a house party with around 7-8 people (at that time.) He passes me a beer and I decide to stick around and shoot the shit with people, as I only knew two people there. One of the best things about this buddy is that he's one of those guys who not only introduces people, but also shouts out a list of accomplishments they've made. So right off the bat, he introduces me to a HB7 who's a biology major at the local university. He mentions to her that I'm a published writer and a small business owner. I didn't have to do anything to establish value, which was always one of my hardest sticking points. She is engaging in heavy kino, putting her hand on my chest whenever she got a chance, trying to stare into my eyes, challenging me to look away (I didn't), even though I was dressed like I just rolled outta bed.

Anyway, the drinks keep flowing, and after a couple of hours, she and I end up making out in the hallway. At this time, another buddy gives me a text wanting me to come meet him at his swanky apartment because HE'S having a party too. I'm having fun with HB7, but I tell her I have to go. She puts up some resistance, but I make it clear that my priorities are to my friends. I take her number, go home, quickly shower, shave, and throw HB7 a text telling her I had fun and that I'd like to do it again sometime. She agrees, and I make my way over to my other buddy's place.

I meet up with my buddy and he brings me in. His girlfriend is Argentinian and obsessed with matchmaking. I never really knew her very well, but the moment she discovered I was single, she started bringing me around introducing me to many of the single ladies there. Among them is a HB9 dressed in an extremely slutty-looking Canada Day outfit. (White fishnets, red minidress, you get the picture.) HB9 turns out to be pretty intelligent, so we take a spot on the balcony and almost immediately the kino starts (from her.) We hit it off pretty good, and she ends up hanging off of me for a few hours, but alas, she must go home because she works early. She gives me her number and she parts. At this point I'm pretty satisfied with how my night went, and I continue drinking with my buddy and the other guests.

My buddy's girlfriend, however, is angry that we didn't fully hook-up and she gets on my case a little about not going home with her, but I shrug it off in a don't-give-a-fuck manner.

Unbeknownst to me or my buddy, his girlfriend texts her friend and tells her to come over with the sole intention of trying to hook us up. Her friend shows up around 3AM, and I figure she was about a 7, but I'm NOT SURE because I definitely had the beer goggles going. We start talking about business, other stuff, and again got the kino going. She asks me to walk her down to the 7-11 so she can grab a pack of smokes. We go down to the store, which is about a half-block from her place and she makes an excuse about wanting to run up and check on something.

Most of what occured next is a non-memory, but it ended up turning into a 3-hour bedroom marathon which I remember quite clearly. I finally managed to stagger home around 7:30 in the morning and passed out promptly, only to wake up to a text from the first girl, who I'm meeting up with on Thursday for dinner.

Needless to say, this ENTIRE NIGHT was a huge wake-up call for me. I was in the scene so long with very little success, I kept thinking I was never going to 'get' it. But then I realized the trick was to just... go out. Do it. Approach anxiety be damned, the worst that can happen if you go out is getting rejected, which is a LOT more preferable to not going out and all and not meeting ANYONE.

So all in all. Yeah. I'm starting to see that I CAN do this shit, and it IS easier than I thought.