Archives for February 2016

Wednesday Open Thread: Not-Quite Love Songs Edition

February 17, 2016 by Dr. NerdLove 98 Comments

It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for the Doc to throw on his Chucks and ratty jeans and head off to the Def Leppard concert. Meanwhile, the NerdLove interns and residents take over the comments section for their own nefarious purposes.

This week’s suggested topic: Ever listen to a song that seems cute and sweet until you actually listen to it and then realize the message isn’t what you’d thought it was? The most obvious example of this is “Every Breath You Take”, an ode to a stalker, but only slightly less well known is Extreme’s “More Than Words” – a 4 minute, 16 second paean to “if you really loved me, you’d fuck me already,”

Of course, there’re more out there than those. What’re some songs that took a couple listens before you realized they weren’t the love songs you thought they were?

You know the rules. No hate, no spam, no trolling. Have fun!

Solve Your Dating Failures

February 15, 2016 by Dr. NerdLove 617 Comments

I’m sure I’m not shocking anyone when I say that dating can be frustrating.

"The hell you say..." — “The hell you say…”

One of the hardest parts of dating is that, more often than not, you’re doing it in a vacuum. It’s not exactly as though you can hand out comment cards to your dates and ex-girlfriends and get some constructive criticism. First, it’s not their job to fix you. Second, many times it’s not going to be actionable advice anyway. And third, let’s be honest: they just left you for a reason. What exactly do you think they’re going to say?

Points for creativity, though... — Points for creativity, though…

Unless you’ve got someone who’s actually watching every move you make, you’re going to have to do your own relationship troubleshooting. So from constant strings of rejection, to flakes to bad break-ups, here’s how you learn to fix your dating mistakes.

[Read more…]

Ask Dr. NerdLove: Sexual Fluidity Challenges

February 12, 2016 by Dr. NerdLove 19 Comments

Hi Dr. NerdLove:

I’m from Mexico, sorry if my english is a bit weird, i have an odd situation at hand that definitely needs advice from an expert … so that’s why I’m contacting you ^^.

A bit of backstory, I’ve known “Se” since we were in college, and I fell hard for her, the only problem was that she’s a lesbian. Back in the day, I hadn’t had a girlfriend, but still ventured to ask her to be my first girlfriend. She didn’t quite reject me, she just said that at that moment, she can’t. Since i’m an idiot, I burned bridges with her and moved on with my life. In the meantime, I feel that I’ve acquired experience with my past girlfriends, and I’m a bit better at the subject.

Since November 2015, we reopened communication, and it’s been great. Turns out she just got out of a serious relationship and for whatever reason she thought of me. She told me that she misses me, since then we’ve been hanging out a lot, going to the cinema, eating and that sort of things.

But now we’re more touchy than ever, getting real close and personal. We’ve been cuddling for hours at my place, sending us texts about how much we like each other, and how much we miss each other, but i’m kinda scared about my next move. I’m dying to kiss her and roll the dice once more, with a trip to the beach in the horizon, I really don’t know what to do. I really … really like her, and it’s evident to me that she also likes me … I don’t know if she does it in a relationship kinda way, but she has feelings for me, that much I know.

I need help with this. The only question in my head (as Van Halen once said), “It’s got what it takes, so why can’t this be love ???

Thanks

So Confused

[Read more…]

Wednesday Open Thread: Tabletop Appreciation Edition

February 10, 2016 by Dr. NerdLove 59 Comments

It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for the Doc to meet up with his gaming group. Meanwhile the NerdLove interns and residents take over the comments section for their own nefarious purposes!

This week’s suggested topic: when we talk about gamers, we tend to talk mostly about computer games and consoles. And while there’re some amazing games coming out as we speak, sometimes we forget about some of the awesome tabletop games that’re out there too. Whether you’ve got wood for sheep in Settlers of Catan, love building medieval French cities in Carcassone, trying to survive a horror movie in Betrayal at House on the Hill or the frantic co-op nature of Castle Panic!, let’s talk about some of our favorite tabletop games.

And don’t forget RPGs too… even the newer, more avaunt-garde experiences like Fiasco.

Share your favorites in the comments section below. You know the rules: no hate, no spam, no trolling. Have fun!

How To Survive Valentine’s Day (When You’re Single)

February 8, 2016 by Dr. NerdLove 70 Comments

Valentine’s Day is one of the most despised holidays you can imagine… particularly when you’re single. It’s already a fake holiday – the “Saint Valentine was martyred in Rome for secretly marrying slaves and Christians” story is as fake as Kanye West’s insistence that he’s not into butt stuff. Valentine’s Day is a commercial holiday that was originally designed to boost sales of lace and smutty poetry in the 19th century, which in turn has led to an annual tradition of paying far too much money for a night out, dead foliage and shitty chocolate.

"Behold, I have created a celebration of our love!" "You fucked up a perfectly good pagan sex-party is what you've done. Look, it's got commercialism!" — “Behold, I have created a celebration of our love!”
“You fucked up a perfectly good pagan sex-party is what you’ve done. Look, it’s got commercialism!”

But when you’re single? Valentine’s Day is the day when the world is determined to rub your face in the fact that you’re alone. Ads every five seconds demanding that you prove your love by buying expensive crap you can’t afford and happy couples everywhere. Meanwhile you’re at home with a microwave pizza and the existential despair of an empty mailbox..