Welcome to Gaia! ::

I used to try to do that "subtle hint thing" to convey to guys what I wanted. I got annoyed when they didn't figure it out. Then a very wise guy told me that if I wanted something, JUST TELL HIM! NO HINTS! I was shocked. Would that work? I mean, wouldn't the guy be offended if I said, "Sweetie, I would really like to get flowers for my birthday."? But I took his advice, and you know what? It works! I think most guys really do want to please the girl they care about, and if we, as women, will tell them how to do that, everyone is much happier!

Besides, as long as a guy doesn't expect perfection from me, I won't expect it from him. I figure that's a pretty fair trade!

The games just make everyone frustrated and cause relationships to fall apart. I consider myself very lucky that I didn't date in high school or college. I just sat back and watched all the relationships either fall apart or blow up. I learned from their mistakes, so I didn't have to try the silly little games myself and destroy my own relationships!

You are totally smashed now, aren't you? lol

You'd think being in a big city like that would make it EASIER to find someone with similar interests, not harder. I didn't get the anime and manga thing either when I was a teenager. Then I met a few people who loved it and gave it a try. I was instantly hooked! My family thinks it's odd, but they don't worry about it too much, and I've found many amazing people as a result of this shared love.

I can't remember if you ever told where your hometown is. Is it a small town?

The first manga I ever read was Sandland. I don't think I would ever read it again, but it made me curious enough to try a few more. One Piece. Naruto. Love Hina. By this point I was completely hooked! I read a lot of other stuff, too. I have to for work, anyway, but I would read a variety regardless, since I love to read.

I have met people in restaurants, shopping malls, courthouses, parks...pretty much everywhere I go I find people who love anime and manga, but they won't admit to it unless I bring it up first!

I know where that is. I've never lived in a smaller town, only large, spreading metropolises. I would love to give a smaller town a try someday, but right now I'm afraid to leave my job...

The trick to finding anime and manga fans is learning to read the signs. I'm good at observing people I talk to, and I can usually figure it out pretty quickly. But there are always some that surprise me! No telltale signs at all!

I used to practically LIVE at the bookstores in my hometown! But then I started working at the library. I enjoy browsing a lot less now, although I still do buy a good number of books. I tend to buy them online now, especially since they started putting those blasted security stickers (the permanent kind) inside all my favorite graphic novel series! I'm obsessive about things like that...

Okay. That guy might have surprised me, too! lol And don't feel bad about not reading the signs very well. You're a guy, remember? Reading people tends to be a girl's strength. I do fine at that, but I can walk right by a good friend in the mall and never even notice.

The teen librarian where I work gives me all the new series before they are processed for the public, so I get to see quite a few new series on a regular basis. I don't bother with things like Naruto volume 386, but I usually read (or at least look over) any series that is within the first ten volumes of publication. I have found quite a few fun series this way.

Going to bookstores usually results in me finding new things I want, too, and that may be part of the reason I don't go. I can't afford to keep starting more series. I say that, but I have every intention of going to Little Tokyo today and going to that great Japanese bookstore! I'll bet dollars to donuts (No, I don't know what that means, but it's an expression I've heard all my life!) that I come home with a graphic novel from a new series!