You and me seem to like the idea of getting the last word in. I WILL DUEL YOU FOR HOURS IF I HAVE TO. ;)

I am not competing. I am telling you that only you can change the way your life is.

Did your parents not instill this in you?

(Incidentally, I'm off to Vegas about now. So you won't have to worry.)

My parents were more concerned about me doing better in school than anything else. I was even less apt to be social in school than I am now (which shouldn't come as a stretch, since I had very little self-esteem up until high school, when I started getting a little more).

Simple, making excuses for your current problems won't help anything. Simply accept your derelict state and do something out of the ordinary.

In fact, this is all tl;dr. Can you give a Cliff's Notes version?

If you can find a free and online version of that book, I'll read it. :p

Or go to a library.

So, what are you doing right now to alleviate your situation?

At this very second? Nothing. I'll go to work later, see if Erin got my voicemail and see if she wants to talk about it. Whatever happens, happens. The only thing I'm hopeful about now is trying to save face and salvage some sense of neutrality between us. Otherwise, I'll see if the other person I've been trying to hang out with wants to do so.

I'm thinking I should just suck it up and give up trying to make friends for the time being. If there's only two people that interest me and neither want to hang out then there's nothing I can do about it. No one's coming to me and asking if I'd like to hang out, and they never have...so what does that say about how people see me?

You misunderstood me. I wanted to know what makes you happy to be alive, rather than things in your life that make you happy. Notice the difference?

(I know I posted that like, a bunch of days ago! :p )

I don't see a difference.

Therein lies the problem, my friend!

You need to discover some purpose for your life in order to have success within your life.

Quoted for truth. Honestly, life is too short to drift.

Look. Find a purpose. I don't care what it is, you might want to really express youself through sculpture, do scientific research, learn to cook very well, whatever. What's important is to define yourself first -- if people like what they see in you, you'll find friends without having to force yourself into their lives. Having a passion for something can be an attractive quality.

If you're not willing to spend $10 to improve your life, you don't deserve it.

Edited for accuracy.

Yeah, but, surely something that could very possibly help you out is worth $10???

Since one half of that book is apparently about business and the other half is stuff I'm sure I'm fully capable of (I can talk to people, I'm definitely eloquent, people like me), no, it's not.

(Edit: Hey look! A Table of Contents of shit that already looks pretty much like what I'm capable of doing now! That would be an exploratory adventure in wasting :10bux: right there.)

So, my only problem is I need to find social situations and feel comfortable meeting random strangers.

Except everything you've been whining about with your life is exactly what he deals with in his book. There's a reason it's still one of the most popular books on Amazon even though he originally wrote it in 1936.

Not to mention if you're not willing to do something unless it'll help you for sure then you'll never get anywhere anyway.

Hell, maybe taking one of his classes would be a great social situation for you to be in.

I am going to try this. I probably drink less than 16 oz of water a day, with the rest of my fluids primarly being orange or apple juice, with some sugary grape juice in between. And I eat a lot of sweets. I know it's not healthy, so yea, this is the first step.

When I was little I used to go on this long periods of 'no sugar' when I'd feel that I took in too much. Sometimes going a month without anyway. Stress, depression, etc made it all the more difficult to maintain that habit.

I have one friend I've been hanging out with for months, and I seek people out to hang out all the time in the last few weeks. Other than that, yeah, I've never had a girlfriend and prospects haven't been peachy (though they are better than they've ever been).

Double Post:
Well, the ship has sailed for Erin and I to be friends...for the time being. The best excuse she could come up with was my initial foray into getting her attention was a little more aggressive than she was expecting, and she's uncertain where I stand as far as whether I want to be her boyfriend or just a friend. Looks like we're in for a looooooooooong cooldown period. I suppose I messed up by going as quickly as I did, but if Erin wasn't willing to accept that I was willing to accept being a friend, then there's not much I can do about that.

Meanwhile I also discovered today that she was talking about the details of my voicemail to her to someone at work (so now at least one person knows about it). Now the fun begins!

Wow. Are you ever a slow learner. And thick-headed, too!

How many times are you going to ask for advice, ignore it, and then realize that O SHIT, THAT ADVICE WAS PRETTY GOOD.

This entire thread - ENTIRE THREAD - is full of advice. And yet, you're even refusing to read a book that was recommended to you. Because "you know everything" that the book offers advice on. Which would mean that your thread here is bullshit. Oops.

Pick a side. Stick to it.

Incidentally, it was written in 1936, RR? I think I will have to read this, now. It couldn't help, considering my VERY ANGRY DISPOSITION.
Maybe you'll learn after this.

You're a creepy guy. You really should consider the book RR recommended.

That is actually a great book. I have an e-book for it and an audio book. Haven't finished it, though.

I get all sorts of results for Mr. Carnegie's book on a search of the public library's database here. This is a fairly old book, so it should be in wide circulation, as I see there have been many printings of it. And public libraries are free! Now you really have no excuse.

Tsk, somebody's got it checked out a month overdue...

I am going to predict the excuse: "I have no time to go to the library." or possibly "I have no library card."

I would offer to BUY this book for this kid, just to shut him up about this Erin chick and how GOD AWFUL he is at accepting flaws. But I don't think I will.