at thursday’s the dating truth live, i moderated a panel where 6 of the pittsburgh area’s most engaging young professionals spoke about dating, relationships, and sex.
***as you can see, i’ve linked to a partial video of the event. because of the camera angle, you can’t really see much of me. well, lemme rephase that. you can’t really see much of me, except for my obnoxious-ass hands. gotdamn, lol. people have always told me that i speak with my hands, but i never realized exactly how aggressive they were until watching this video. it almost looks like i’m doing an impersonation of kevin hart doing an impersonation of a rapper. i probably should have just slipped a “real talk! i kill pittsburgh panel n*ggas!” in there for good measure.***
sometime during the night, one of the panelists (i forget who) remarked “the only dating truth is that there are no dating truths. we all just need to find our own way“, a statement that received a good 10 seconds of applause from everyone in attendance (including me), and it wasn’t until the next day that i realized how wrong that comment was. if experience has taught me anything, it’s that there are a few universal dating truths that are applicable to everyone and every situation, even if we don’t want to believe it.
here’s 5 of them.
1. catching (and keeping) feelings is a choice
we’ve all heard this story before:
after 6 months of bullsh*t convos over mediocre meals and half-assed bi-weekly sex, boy and girl kind of call it quits through a series of passive-aggressive text messages. boy moves on, but girl remains intent on holding onto one-ply thread of reconcilatory hope, stating that she “can’t help that she likes him so much, and wishes that she didn’t” while crying on shoulder of loyal (and cuckolded) “platonic” male confidant. dry-dicked platonic male confidant starts to mimic the unaffected behavior of boy, thinking that it will give him more sexual success, but not realizing that said behavior only works if women are trying not to like you. everybody eventually dies.
regardless of how attracted to someone we might be, we all have a little line in our head that basically says “ok. cross this point, and you’re going to start liking this person. don’t cross this point, and you won’t“. when you catch feelings, it’s not because some uncontrollable galatical force compels you to see grandkids in your future. no, you make the conscious mental and emotional decision to start liking them. and, when a person says that they can’t stop liking someone, what they’re really saying is “i don’t want to completely stop liking this person yet, because a part of me still thinks there’s a chance this might somehow work”
2. don’t do intimate sh*t with people you don’t want to f*ck, because you just might end up f*cking
***not to be confused with “don’t go to a buffet if you’re not hungry, cause you just might end up eating something” and “don’t date a mexican if you hate kids, cause she just might end up pregnant“***
3. nobody cares about you and your bullsh*t
the woman you’re out with tonight doesn’t care that the only reason you threw a spoon at the waiter is because you have anger and intimacy issues stemming from the weekends your dad used to make you wrestle baby deer on film. no, she just thinks you’re a creepy weirdo, and now her focus is on finding a way to walk out without having your creepy jame gumb acting ass follow her to the parking lot.
everybody has issues, and nobody gives a damn about yours. either deal with them and date, or don’t deal with them and stay home and put fawns in the figure four.
4. attractive people attract people
with this in mind, if you’re single and looking, it’s not the worst idea in the world to make the attempt to look attractive. like it or not, you’re in indirect competition with every other person on the market, so it’s in your best interests to compete.
get a haircut. shave (everywhere). brush your teeth. smell good. buy new clothes. work out. save the two year old hoop sneaks and FUBU basketball shorts for hooping, and save the mom jeans and the ridiculously unenthused hair for the saturday afternoon meredith baxter-birney marathon, not the club
5. some people won’t like you…and that’s ok.
regardless of how fabulous and unique you think you are, there are going to be some people who can’t stand the sight of you. sometimes you might even be attracted to these people, but you repulse them so much that they’d dry heave if they knew you were attracted to them. they’d rather f*ck a ceiling fan than throw a lay your way. to them, the only way your sh*t would stink worse is if it came out looking like you.
so, what do to? well, f*ck em. life is too short to dwell on who doesn’t like you and why they don’t. plus, you don’t like everybody, so why the hell would you expect that everybody is going to like your happy ass? brush your communist-ass shoulders off and do you.
people of vsb.com, did i forget anything? can you think of any other universal dating truths?
also (beside louie c.k. and patrice o’neal. wait, i gotta include bill burr in there as well), is there another stand-up act as consistently funny as kevin hart’s today?
—the champ
Was looking forward to this recap!!
Second…
the event went well. the panel was engaging and the other performers (the stand-up comic and the lobby singing performance) did their thing as well. also, i realized that i enjoy moderating panels much more than being a panelist. more control, and more opportunity to be snarky. basically, it’s exactly like being a teacher.
i have (tentative) plans to do this again in september and make it a hybrid panel/speed dating/singles party event
what no games?
And no midgets?
But, for serious, that’s a great idea Champers. Gotta check out the mini video sometime today. Monday is kicking my cheeky arse…
OOHHH
I was too slow! : / SHUCKS.
At 12:00 AM, I was refreshing like a ‘mug…to no avail.
Good list. I’ll be back at a more reasonable hour for more discussion.
i’ll be waiting. with a gun and a pack of sandwiches
Thank you Talk Show Host
Where’s my sandwich, Champ?
am i the only one that saw “here’s 10 of them” and wondering where the other 5 were when we got to the end of the post??
ummm…
inconsistencies.. i find em…
No you’re not the only one…lol
“inconsistencies.. i find em…”
find deez
Shouldn’t have to search for them.
Champ is so rude!! i’m laughin tho.. cuz i’m rude too..
am i the only one that thinks #1 is bullsh*t?
maybe yall should elaborate because it sounds…it just sounds wrong.
you’re that in control, Champ? really.
“wrestling baby deer on film? Bwahahaah. Wow Champie that sounds…disturbing. On the real #5 is my favorite, and I think the quicker folks realize that truth, the better off they will be.
#5 is the only one that has taken me so long to understand, lol.
That’s understandable Twinny. It’s a real freeing thing though when you can be “well, he’s not feeling me, and/or I’m not feeling this kat” and keep it moving. Saves a lot of time, and keeps the bullisht to a minimum.
#5 is the hardest part for most of us… but once you get it? It’s like Rebirth of the Slick!
Yep. All of these are pretty much right on point and all reminiscent of different convos I’ve had this weekend. I suppose that’a a co-sign on their universality, hmm…
like the chorus from “you fancy:, i’m in your head and sh*t.
Oh gawd, perhaps you are. That’s scary…but we’ll see how you do next time…
You take the good, you take the bad and there you have
The facts of life
good post
Although there aren’t 10 and these aren’t specific to dating but. Close enough
“Although there aren’t 10 and these aren’t specific to dating but. Close enough”
they are though. but thanks anyway and sh*t
again, Champikins, you did a great job moderating the panel on thursday. it was a very nice event and i look forward to another one in the future (minus miss you know who *rolls eyes*).
i think you’re spot on with the 10 (minus 5) dating truths. they’re pretty basic truths that are mostly no-brainers. but unfortunately so many of us have a hard time living them. i think if men and women spent more time trying to understand the opposite sex and their points of views (about life in general as well as relationships), some of these truths wouldnt be more people’s reality instead of just statements on a blog.
I agree with you Gemmie.
Really I wish every man was wired in a way that they could comfortably talk about relationships and matters pertaining to the opposite s3x. It is clear by the makeup of commenters on this site that women care to discuss and digest relationships much more than men do. I know men think about dating and women. Maybe it is something they discuss when there are only men around. Then again, we (our PGH crew) have relationship talks all the time with the men in our group. Maybe these conversations aren’t the norm and is of no relevance to my argument since we are all JUST friends.
i think our pgh crew may be an anomaly. we are pretty damn awesome and have managed to find a perfect balance among the sexes where we not only enjoy each others company for leisure activities (you guys shoulda been with us yesterday–pure foolishness late into the night), but we can also have open and honest dialogue about issues that matter to us (esp relationships).
bottom line: its become more and more apparent that our crew has to all live in the same city once we leave pgh. did we settle on the dmv?? because im ready to start scoping out communities that have enough homes for us to live in.
DMV sounds lovely. Hurry.
Yes…the DMV sounds like the perfect place!
(you guys shoulda been with us yesterday–pure foolishness late into the night)
I knew we were missing a good time.
I want a do over!!
We are awesome and cute. Why was I on craigslist looking at apartments in the DC area and Montreal? I think Overit & 8th Wonder will let us crash at their place if we cook for them. Right? Right!
Can they find us some employment too?
Oh and daycare for the cats.
That’s a whole lot of cooking, shawty.
ftr: if you move to mtl..i expect a visit to the tdot!
that is all.
carry on. lol.
@8th and Jai,
ok, dmv it is. you hear that Ivy & Sakena?? we need to start searching for a place of residence AND employment. keep your eyes and ears open.
i will start packing sh*t up.
“i think if men and women spent more time trying to understand the opposite sex and their points of views”
sex and sexual attraction has a way of messing up these types of convos in person sometimes, just because (some) people might not be completely honest because they don’t want to salt their shot at naked time.
cosign. Also alot of dudes arent trying to hurt women’s feelings and/or see you all cry. Some subject areas which may NEED to be discussed are sensitive in nature or involve some flawed aspect of someones personality.
Good take. Dang, my s*** does stink?!?!?!? UGH!
I love your user name.
Thanks mama. It’s actually my real name.
Good take. Dang, my s*** does stink?!?!?!? UGH!
yup. your sh*t smells like sh*t. (unless you’re a diabetic, of course. then your sh*t would smell like chocolate cake)
The last point, number 5, is what I wish I could tell some thirsty ninjas. It’s not that NO ONE likes them, they just cling to the people that DON’T like them, and that doesn’t make any sense.
It’s not that NO ONE likes them, they just cling to the people that DON’T like them, and that doesn’t make any sense.
it does make sense. it’s short-sighted and self-defeating, but it makes perfect sense
in my defense,sometimes it’s hard to believe that a person isn’t into you because of the positive feedback you get from the majority of people. now, yes, this is sort of conceited and a hot mess, but…..ok. so when you stumble on a person that is lukewarm to you, it’s intriguing. you wonder what the hell they have goin on that has them lookin at you like, “meh.” and, if left untreated, it can become a fixation. i mean, that’s what i’ve been told, but i don’t know for sure…