Style Life Check

I'm thinking about the upcoming weekend and all the stuff we have to do for Style Life - something like 25 approaches. We have to close too. To be honest, I haven't # closed in a long time - more than a month. I've been telling myself that I'm just going to be process oriented and not results oriented, but it's hard not to be in this situation when it's either close or make a shit ton of approaches, and I really haven't been in the mood lately. I've been going out so much, I feel numb almost, emotionally drained. I don't really care about my approaches anymore except racking up numbers and making sure I get in a DHV.

I went out with Effect yesterday to do day 18 or day 19, I'm not sure - it's the 'seeding' assignment for the Style Life challenge. I got in my one approach with the seed, and seeded 2 more, one with this photographer guy who met us at Clarke's later on. Seems like a cool guy, a bit wacky. We did our early night gaming at the old reliable Wicker Park. The set I approached were thoroughly mediocre looking biatches. I did not care either way whether I succeeded with them, which is typical nowadays for me.

When we went out the other week with the lair and the lair guys were pushing me into sets, I felt like it was too much pressure. And now this pressure to close with the challenge. On top of this my inner game is still shit, I'm having a hard time getting back into it after last week. I don't know why I keep thinking about my ex, she pops into my mind at the weirdest times, and then this feeling of desolation because I know she is not the same person anymore and we couldn't go back to the way it was even if we wanted to, which I don't.

JayDog is actually getting more action than any of us - at least he has gotten to first base, although that wasn't really from an approach. He's also more in touch with his priorities than we are.

There are a few personal projects that I really should get started on, which I haven't had time to due to the Challenge. I believe in the idea of the challenge, but I really think that my problem is inner game, and a lot of fixing my inner game has nothing to do with being out in the field. On the other hand I told myself that I'd see this through. I'm pretty close to reaching my initial goal of 250 approaches a lot sooner than I had planned - I don't feel like I'm acquiring any type of mastery, I feel like I've improved greatly over how I was when I started, but I'm still not where I thought I'd be at this point in my career. Maybe this means I'm going too fast. Maybe this means I have serious inner game problems and have a longer road than most people. Maybe this means that something good is about to reveal itself to me. Rourke mentioned that he just kept plugging away at it, that his approaches just kept going nowhere and then one day he just started to click. I believe the same thing will happen for me, if I stay on this path, hopefully it will be sooner rather than later.

183 approaches

Before I Forget

I've done a bunch of approaches in the past week and a half that I haven't documented, I should really post them before I forget them. I'll post them really quickly here, I'm at work right now and can't write a lot. None were really spectacular, although none were really terrible either. I'm consistently getting to A3 these days, sometimes C1, probably a few of these had potential. My inner state has been all over the place lately, despite all the nlp and meditation that I do. I've been in contact with my ex again, which was fucking with me - Effect made me delete her number from my phone. I also got hit by some pretty large student loan bills for grad school, which sent me into a fit of self flagellating depression. I'm mostly over all that right now - this is my life, I'm an intelligent, competent, motivated person; whatever happens, and whatever successes or failures I experience I take direct responsibility for.

We were sitting around GayHop the other night talking about how life can affect your game. If I'm completely honest with myself, the non-game areas of my life are not completely in order - finances, relationships, health, spirituality, career, home, etc. are not where they should be, to varying degrees. What if they were functioning on all cylinders? Don't you think the game would naturally improve? Because then I'd be able to completely be in the moment, and I wouldn't have this feeling underlying everything I do that there are other things I should be attending to. I probably wouldn't have any problem walking up to any bar hoochie and thinking that I'm the prize, because I am the prize.

Date: August 19, 2006
Location: Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL
Players: me + 1 wing

I just found these notes sitting on my computer, waiting for me to turn them into a blog entry.
God this was so long ago, this was two weekends ago when me and Effect went day gaming on Michigan Avenue and got caught in this huge thunderstorm. These were for day 8 of the Style Life challenge - approaching groups using root+opener+TC. I'll just post some brief notes when relevant.

5 set hs on street - I kept persisting even when I get frozen out, which is good. They were hot but young.

indian redhead w glasses nordstroms - They thought it was a trip, probably never get approached, I eject due to lack of interest. UGs.

spanish chick - HB9 hottie. From Spain, visiting family, aborted due to language barrier.

asian chick w bf - HB8, aborted due to the fact that her bf was right there.

lesbos - biatches, UG's at Borders looking at magazines. Whatevah, it's an approach.

That night we go to Rodan, Effect makes some approaches - I am too tired to approach and we bail early.


The next day, I do some day game with Effect, then we hit this club Suite with JayDog, but I don't do any approaches. Wasn't into it during day game and the club we went to was dead. Nice place though, really upscale place in OldTown.

Monday was really bad, I won't go into it. Tuesday I was in a daze, recovering from Monday. Wednesday was the same probably, I can't remember. Thursday I remember I played guitar all night and meditated, trying to forget my money problems, ex gf problems, job problems, whatever. Last week was pretty bad.

Friday night I went out again. I went out to some galleries with Effect, later we met up with JayDog and Diva - we hit this place called Darkroom which was pretty sweet, then we picked up Diva and went to a diner. I did some street approaches Friday night, 5 to be exact, but my state was shit, and I got AA at Darkroom.

Saturday night I picked up Effect from work, and JayDog came over. We all went to Darkroom again. My state was still shit, but I forced myself to open sets up anyway - I opened 15 sets in a little over an hour, probably a record for me. None were that great, althought thinking back on it - some had potential. I was just trying to get over my AA from the night before, I was in kind of a zone. I don't remember much about these sets - I know I was disqualifying myself and getting to A3 with a bunch of them. None of these girls were particularly hot either. Everything's a blur - I think about 5 of them were stadning right next to their bf's - who were eyeing me suspiciously, one set was an HB6 and a couple of trannies. A pretty grim night of sarging. I'm glad I have my buds to drag me out and try to lift my mood. I'd probably still be in my crap state from last week.

Sunday I slept most of the day, talked to JCB on the phone about his date, played guitar. Monday me and Effect went out to Cobra - it was totally dead. We drove around Andersonville, and stopped at Holiday Club - everything was dead. I don't even know what day of the challenge I'm on right now, I'm probably caught up with all the approaches though.

A couple of positive things that have come about from my grim week of financial and ex gf problems: My place is now totally clean except for one last scrub down by the maid, I still have to organize my financial papers, though. I have finished a couple of books about goal setting and finances, and I've come up with the beginnings of a long term career plan, which I'll continue to develop. I'm pretty much debt free right now afaik, although I'm a lot lighter in the pockets.

182 approaches

21 Secrets of Self Made Millionaires

From the book by Brian Tracy

Self-Made Millionaires are not smarter or better than you. They have just discovered these secrets and used them to become wealthy. You can do it too.

(1) DREAM BIG DREAMS. Thinking Big will change your life. For a crash course on this read "The Magic of Thinking Big."

(2) CREATE A SPECIFIC PICTURE OF WHERE YOU'RE GOING. The more specific you are the more likely you are to get there.

(3) THINK AND ACT LIKE YOU'RE THE OWNER OF A BUSINESS, THE BUSINESS OF EVERYTHING YOU DO. Even if you work for someone else, you're attitude will plant seeds for your independent greatness to grow.

(4) LOVE WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING NOW. If you don't love it, leave it. By saying no to doing work just for money you are magnetizing work to you that you can love.

(5) CREATE A MASTERMIND GROUP. Have a regular meeting with others who are committed to building great lives. Share what you're up to and support each other.

(6) ESTABLISH A HEALTHY WORK ETHIC. Make taking action your best friend.

(7) COMMIT TO CONSTANT NEVER-ENDING IMPROVEMENT. Every day be searching for how you can learn more.

(8) SEE YOUR WORK AS SERVICE. Helping others will grow your business.

(9) KNOW YOUR BUSINESS FROM TOP TO BOTTOM. That's your job.

(10) PREPARE FOR OPPORTUNITY. It will knock. Will you be ready?

(11) STAY PHYSICALLY FIT. Strong minds create strong bodies. Weak bodies are the result of weak minds. Your physical and mental health are the core of your success in life.

(12) PRIORITIZE YOUR LIFE. Do what's most important first.

(13) DELIVER MORE THAN YOUR CUSTOMER EXPECTS. This builds loyalty and repeat business. It feels good too.

(14) DISCIPLINE YOURSELF. Fill your life with activities and people that make you grow. Discard activities that have negative results in your life.

(15) PAY YOURSELF FIRST. This is the first rule of the wealthy. Put money into savings before you pay bills. And DON'T touch it.

(16) MAKE TIME TO BE ALONE. This time is for planning and listening to what's inside you. Give your creativity time and silence to speak to you.

(17) GO FOR GREATNESS. Value the best and don't settle for less.

(18) HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY. Know who you are and what you want. Express this with integrity at all times.

(19) MAKE DECISIONS QUICKLY AND BE SLOW TO CHANGE THEM.

(20) FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION. Your mindset is focused on success. You will have success.

(21) BE DETERMINED TO ATTAIN YOUR GOALS. Tenacious persistence builds confidence which leads to victory.

I Wanna Fukk You With My Soul

I did 6 approaches yesterday. 5 of them were for day 7 of the Style Life challenge, which involved approaching women or groups of people using standard openers. The last one was a head start on day 8 - assignment for day 8 of the Style Life challenge is to approach 5 women or groups of women using a standard opener, plus a root and a time constraint. I typically use a root and time constraint anyways, but I'm just following the assignments. Day 9 of Style Life is a review/makeup day. We've agreed to stretch out day 9 all weekend. So I basically have to do 4 more approaches today and tomorrow to keep up, which should be pretty easy.

Date: August 19, 2006
Location: South Side Club, Chicago, IL
Players: me + 3 wings

Me, Effect and Jaydog met up at McGearty's last night, and drove down together to JCB's party on the south side. It was raining pretty hard last night, and we got lost. The party was at this club called Bohica, the place was pretty dead, only a few open sets, mostly UG's although JCB approached a pretty attractive chick later on that night. We met some of JCB's martial arts buddies, they seemed pretty cool/crazy. I told JCB I'd check out this martial arts tournament with him next month, should be interesting.

So we're sitting at the bar and I open this UG latina sitting to my left. I hit her with myspace/google. She seemed friendly, but got pulled away by a dude I think, so I turn to the (better looking) HB5/6 latina sitting next to her - slim pickings last night, I thought I'd try to get some sets in even though I wasn't really feeling these chicks - and hit her up with the same routine - you here for the martial arts party? Then myspace/google. This had to be the stupidest girl I've approached yet. She didn't know what myspace or google was. Has she been living under a rock? Plus I noticed she had been drinking a lot that night, so maybe that affected her conversational skills. Anyways, I eject after a little while due to lack of interest in this chick, and some latino dude starts talking to her. Whatev, another brick in my palace, yadda yadda.

After a while, JCB makes an approach, but there wasn't anyone left at the bar that was open, and Effect and Jaydog had to make 5 approaches that night, so we tell JCB we have to bail and hightail it to the old reliable Wicker Park.

Date: August 19, 2006
Location: Wicker Park, Chicago, IL
Players: me + 2 wings

We hang out for a while at McGearty's, but decide to bail. Then we go over to this other place, I forget the name, starts with a T - the guys each make an approach there. We decide to head over to Rodan. On the way to Rodan, I approach a 2 set on the street and get viciously blown out: Exsqueeze me, can I get your opinion on something? We're in a hurry, talk to the hand.

At Rodan I do a really good set on this tall chick. I run through a number of openers and routines, root, neg, dhv. She hooks on cats and dogs. This girl gives me kino and reapproaches me later on a couple of times that night, gives me looks. She wanted me, but I wasn't really feeling her - only reason I approached her group was to get to the artsy chick in the yellow dress and glasses who was talking to some skinny dude. Unfortunately, I didn't get her attention. I get viciously blown out again by some mediocre brunette HB at the bar: Exsqueeze me, do you know of any bars that are open late, like 4 in the morning? No. Sorry.

Date: August 19, 2006
Location: Diner, Lincoln Park, Chicago, IL
Players: me + 2 wings

At Golden Nugz, after some post game de-briefing, I approach an HB7 brunette and game her pretty well. This was my favorite set of the evening. I run through a number of openers, negs, rapport, dhv, etc. Her friend drags her away. She unfortunately had a rather large ass, but I thought she was cute.

Mental note to check myself for: smiling, high energy level, etc. before going in for an approach from now on. Or before any type of social interaction. My therapist tells me that part of my condition is a tendency towards deadpan expression and monotone voice, so I have to constantly check myself, especially before approaches. I'll try this today.

157 approaches

Fred Durst - I Melt With You

Summer's Coming to an End

Last night seemed like a really slow night in Wicker Park. For some reason I thought that Thursdays were big nights in that area. Yesterday I was talking to JCB, he was telling me how he has to cut down on going out because school is starting up again for him. Things will be busier for me next month, as well. Maybe the rest of the Chicago club people are starting to feel the same thing, I dunno. Effect has been sick lately.

Summer is coming to an end pretty soon, in a few weeks it will still technically be summer but it will feel like fall. This has been the best summer in a long, long, time. Even compared to when I was with Sophia. I feel like a totally different person from week to week, I haven't felt this way since I was in college.

The Popculture Suicides

Date: August 15, 2006
Location: Cobra Lounge, Chicago, IL
Players: me + 3 wings

Me, Effect and Jaydog went to see (former Marilyn Manson guitarist, Zim Zum's new band) The Popculture Suicides play a free show at the Cobra Lounge last night. The band was LOUD. My ears are still ringing a little. The Cobra Lounge is sort of an upscale heavy metal club, there was talent there, but not as much as a regular club, and it didn't really appear til the end of the concert when we were leaving. I guess this place doesn't get going til late. We met up with Effect's friend Eric, who also happens to be an ex bf of Diva.

Last night I was trying to get a head start on the day 6 assignment for the Style Life challenge - give 5 random compliments. I turned a couple of these into half assed approaches. The club was not a great place to approach, not too many open sets, it was really loud, etc. I haven't really been in a good state since the Victor Hotel. I have to do something about my state. I am in the process of totally cleaning out and organizing my apartment, and finally getting my career and finances together. This is a huge task - I'm hoping that once this is done that my game will improve, since my inner game will be clear without all the nagging pressures of every day life in the back of my head. Ideally I'd like to balance living a productive life and my pua shenanigans.

First set was a 2 set of UG's. I ask them about the band and when the show is starting, some small talk about how cool the club is and if they go here a lot. I compliment one on her hair. We talk a bit more about music, but I eject since I'm not that into it.

Second set was a 3 set of HB7's - brunettes I believe. I compliment one on her septum ring. Then I break into Effect's Canadian Rock Legacy opener. I screw it up badly. I mention Rush and Toto, they tell me those groups suck. I get tongue tied because I don't know how to stack or follow this up, so I bail. Lousy set, *reminder to myself to stay in the fucking set even if it's getting uncomfortable because that's the only way you will learn* and fucking SBAP.

Anyway, the show was hardcore, on the way out the door I compliment 2 HB's on their cool hats. We go out to eat at Clarke's and I compliment our hot waitress on this hippie scarf thing she was wearing in her hair.

151 approaches

Mall Debacle mk.354

Date: August 14, 2006
Location: Mall, Skokie, IL
Players: solo sarge

I got up at 6 in the morning, called in sick and woke up at 1 in the afternoon. I went to the gym, called up Jaydog and Effect. They had already done today's Style Life assignment, Effect was at work and Jaydog was getting ready for his date with ProducerGirl. I told him to SBAP and TFAF, who knows if he'll take my advice.

I went to my old hunting grounds, the Old Orchard Mall in Skokie, IL, to get in the 5 approaches for today's Style Life assignment. I did 5 really crappy approaches. They don't even seem like approaches, all I did was ask random women for clothing store recommendations - but I'm going to count them because I counted them the first time I did the Challenge and I got viciously blown out the last two sets.

I dunno what it was today, maybe the stars were not in alignment, I got 'talk to the hand' and 'leave us alone, we're busy'. I really think my energy level was fine and I just happened to cross paths with some real biatches. I also think that me going to the mall in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday had something to do with it - only people there seemed to be college and high school girls. Whatevah. Another brick, or bricks, in my proverbial palace. Maybe another thing that might have messed me up today - I wasn't dressed very well, I just went in the clothes I wore to the gym. The 5 approaches today took me 40 minutes. The last time I did this assignment it took me 8 hours to get 5 approaches.

I'm going to skip day 5's assignment - which is going to a clothing store and getting a complete makeover, since I did this already the first time around and, quite frankly, I don't need anyone's advice about fashion.

149 approaches

Nephew's Baptism, Family Friends

Date: August 12, 2006
Location: Country Club, NW Suburbs of Chicago, IL
Players: solo sarge

I have to get up early today. Today is baby Ethan's baptism, and I'm the godfather. I drive down to my parent's house and we drive out to the church in the burbs. I'm dressed pretty upscale today. There are many relatives and family friends and whatnot, that I only really see during holidays and these types of family get togethers. This one girl Jane is there, more about her later, as well as her HB friends.

We go through the ceremony at the church and then we head over to the local country club for the reception. Today is day 2 of the Style Life challenge. Today's assignment is to make small talk with 5 more people, except this time add some eye contact to the mix. I made small talk with many people today, too many to count, mostly relatives and friends of the family. I know I did well with the eye contact, because later on I talked to my dad and he mentioned that he noticed I'm making a lot of EC lately. He also mentioned that my posture is improving. Looks like the first Style Life challenge paid off.

I do one approach today - Jane. Jane is this girl I keep seeing at these family gatherings. She is pretty cute, I always make it a point to walk up to her and try to game her. Of course, I've been doing this since before I knew about MM or any type of pu techniques, so she probably just thinks of me as this goofy guy who always approaches her at family gatherings. Mike, my cousin's husband, is trying to hook us up, but is going about it very badly.

Anyways, my one gripe about Jane is that, she is always hanging around her parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, grandparents, and she never wanders away from her little family unit, so I usually have to break in on her family hanging out and I usually have to try to game her in front her family. It totally sucks. Today's approach was typical. I sat down at her table and asked her how she's been while her brother sat next to me and gave me suspicious looks, her grandma stared at me, her cousins and sisters sat there and giggled. I was nervous as hell, and all I could think to say were the same old lines I always use on bar hoors. I dunno, I may give up on trying to hook up with her, it's always uncomfortable, there are other cute girls at these things anyways, I dunno why I always seem to focus on Jane. She probably has an idea of me being a huge nerd from back in the day, and all my new pua games may not be able to change that.

144 approaches

Today was Style Life day 3 - phone movie recommendation day. I'm not doing this one - I already did it once the first time I did the challenge, and it was goofy as hell. I went out to some bar and watched the Sox game with Lloyd, J, Michelle, Bridget, and their friends from work. I was pretty social today, should count as equivalent to that goofy fake phone call.

And So It Begins ... Again

Date: August 11, 2006
Location: Bars, Wicker Park, Chicago, IL
Players: me + 2 wings

Day 1 of the Style Life Challenge. Field assignment for day 1 is to engage in small talk with 5 people. I've done the challenge already, so I decide to make at least a couple of them actual approaches.

Effect and Jaydog pick me up to go sarge at Wicker Park. Those guys had been walking around Evanston sarging all day, and I had been working on less than 3 hours sleep for the past few days. I was in a horrible state - I was so sleep deprived, and I was stupid and called my ex again, this always does a number on my head. Later, Effect makes me delete her number from my cell phone.

We go to the old reliable Wicker Park and decide to hit Estelle's first. I make small talk with two people - dude in the car next to us, I ask him for directions, and the guy who takes your ID at Estelle's, I ask him about his cool bulldog. Friday night I do 3 actual approaches - first approach a warmup set on a table of 3 HB6 black chicks, goes alright, I'm not really into them so I eject. The second is a HB6 latina chick - I ask her how much money she put in the jukebox,
since we're waiting for her songs to finish so we can hear the songs we put in the jukebox. I vibe her a little more about cool bars in the city, then eject since she wasn't really doing it for me.

Third approach however, was more difficult. At Rodan, I run into the HB8 indian girl I gamed the other night at Absinthe, and decide to try again on her. We're standing next to each other in line for the bathroom and I say 'hey I met you the other night at Absinthe'. She remembers me, we talk a little, I get some kino, and a hug. It seems promising, I cut in on some bald dude trying to chat her up and blow him out. I am a little uncomfortable tonight due to the fact that I gamed her for about 20 minutes the other night, and used up all of my good materials. So I attempt to improvise, I tell her Effect is a director and is looking to cast people in a commercial. She tells me about how she used to be a model and didn't like working on commercials. I should have said, 'what, hand model'?

I eject again due to nervousness. Later I approach again, vibe a little more, but it doesn't go so well this time. I get the freeze out, I even tap her on the shoulder. I get a little freaked out at this point - I see yet another girl at Rodan that I approached just a night before - HB8 brunette with big canz from the Victor Hotel party. I tell my boys to bounce, we decide to venue change - they do some street approaches, we drive around the north side and look at all the drunk people coming out of the bars and we eventually wind up at Clarke's again at 3 in the morning. And I have to get up at 6 again the next day for Ethan's baptism. There's a huge crowd at Clarkes and we wait almost an hour for our food, I am so sleepy I can't keep my eyes open. They take me home and I pass out the minute my head hits the pillow.

143 approaches

Flirt with Flava

Date: August 10, 2006
Location: Club, West Loop, Chicago, IL
Players: me + 10+ wings + 1 pivot

Tonight there was a party at this club in the warehouse district for Lavalife.
Free drinks, a little watered down. Pretty stylish club, although a little yuppie. The lair guys were there, including some new guys I've never met before. And the usual players: JCB, Effect, Jaydog. Effect brought along a new pivot girl, ProducerGirl, who Jaydog seemed to have taken a liking to. He had his arm around her tonight and number closed her, although Effect had to push him to do it.

I did 8 approaches. A couple of them were decent, which is good. A couple were total blowouts - didn't seem to phase me much, which is also good, I just kept approaching and having a good time, it might have been the free booze, though. I keep waiting for another big 'aha!' moment to happen in my sarging, I've had several, but I've realized that a lot of my development is also really gradual. My calibration of energy level during night game, being comfortable around new people and large crowds, incorporation of relaxed body language and smiling into my game - these all have been very gradual, and are still in progress. I am definitely stuck at a certain level right now, although I can feel like I'm gradually breaking through. I'll just keep going, try to be self correcting, research as much as I can, focus on my inner game and not comparing myself to others, and get out in the field as much as possible.

Anyway, this club was pretty hip. Mental note to check out 'Reserve', it may be the hippest bar in town, but I have a feeling it may be a little too yuppie. Even the lair guys were saying the bitch shields were up last night, pretty surprising for an event sponsored by an online dating site where everyone is supposed to be single. But then again, these are online girls. Reminds me of why I gave up online girls, they're all crazy.

APPROACH 1:
Started chatting up an HB7 latina chick, I lay the usual routines on her, she seemed preoccupied. Some vibing. I make it to A3 with her, semi long set - but then some big bald dude steps up and hands her a drink. Why the hell are people coming to a singles mixer with their SO's? I bail.

APPROACH 2:
HB8 brunette, made some comment about the free vodka at the bar, got lost in the crowd after a few lines. This place was too damn loud, huge crowd at the bar.

APPROACH 3:
Longest, best set of the night. HB8 huge rack. Long set - maybe 15-20 minutes, I kept detaching and coming back. Vibing, had her laughing, kinoing and some verbal IOI's ('where you from?' 'you seem smart' etc.) At least my sets are getting longer. Felt totally relaxed. Made a few mistakes - I ignored the friend. She had some blonde chick with her that I totally ignored. Of course a few lair guys came up to me and tried to merge, and they preoccupied the blonde. The third time I reapproached the two were alone, and were a little feisty after about 4 lair guys in a row had approached, some not so smoothly, I started to get attitude, and my lines were falling flat. I detach, thinking maybe I'll reattach later - but then I couldn't find them later on in the night, they must have left.

APPROACH 4:
Two biatches. HB8ish brunettes. I approach and they kind of wave me away/walk away. I just laugh at this type of crap now. Stupid online hoochies.

APPROACH 5:
I open an HB6 blonde with two black friends, some vibing. I probably could have continued this, they seemed pretty into me - kinoing and vibing and whatnot. But upon closer inspection, they seemed beat. Jaydog comes in and starts laying his lines on them, I eject cos I didn't want to get stuck with these three.

APPROACH 6:
Effect dares me to approach these two blonde hoochie mamas in expensive dresses. I get the total brush off after my initial opener - screw em. Just another brick in my palace.

APPROACH 7:
While Jaydog is getting brutally blown out by these two totally mediocre brunette chicks, I decide to approach an HB7 blonde in the immediate vicinity. I make a joke about how she must be a part of the break dancing crew, I had her laughing pretty good with some jokes. I'm becoming a bit of a smartass out in the field, that's pretty cool. Then some nerd guy comes in and starts AMOG'ing me, probably her boyfriend. Whatevah. Again, why are couples coming to a singles mixer? Free booze.

APPROACH 8:
I approach this MILFy looking latina chick with dyed blonde hair. I know she is there with a dude, cos I saw her dancing with this black guy most of the night, but I figure what the hell. She looked ok, we talked about restaurants and clubs, what country she's from in South America, I lay the myspace routine on her, and neg her - nice hair, is it a wig? She detaches, I think to go hang with the aforementioned black dude.

JCB takes off with the lair dudes to the Fulton Lounge, we drive ProducerGirl home, then go to some diner, ogle some DePaul hotties, and formulate our plan to rock Style Life again. I was telling John last night that everything's becoming a blur. I'm at work right now and I feel completely hung over. I can't trust myself when I'm not completely cognizant like this. I have to be aware of and compensate for my tendency to be overly paranoid and to assume the worst. I'm just floating through the day, we're going to hit some galleries tonight and then tomorrow I have to stand up at my nephew's baptism. That girl Jane is going to be there.

140 Approaches

Another Night of Vicious Lair Hazing

Date: August 8, 2006
Location: Bars, Wicker Park, Chicago, IL
Players: me + 10 wings

We were supposed to go to Cobra Lounge tonight, but Effect cancels out at the last minute, so I decide to join JCB and the lair guys in Wicker Park for another night of vicious lair hazing. Jaydog comes along. On the way over I do probably the worst thing possible before going out sarging - I call my ex. And I even manage to call her at the worst possible time, as she is driving in the car with her new boyfriend. So, my state is basically fscked the rest of the night. I can't snap myself out of it.

APPROACH 1:
We meet at Salud. There were about 10 guys there - Jeez, Dapper, DoggyStyle, Chanh, Adam, a bunch of new guys I've never met before, that shaved head dude we met last week. They split us up into a couple of groups, I go with my group - me, Jeez, JCB, Dapper, and a couple of other guys I don't know, to Nicks. At Nicks Dapper tells me to approach a 2 set - HB7 brunette tall chick, and HB8 pierced eyebrow blonde chick with bike helmets. I vibe them on biking, dance classes (they had just gotten back from a salsa class), road and mountain bike brands, bars in the area. I always open with good bar/club recommendations nowadays, then segue into a real opener. I love the hair neg - is it a wig? etc. The brunette mentions that she is engaged, I focus on the blonde. Long set, it was actually going really well - I was at least at A3 maybe C1, by the time Jaydog comes in to wing me. He clams up, however. We eject. After a couple of minutes of this I decide to go in for a reapproach, and vibe her more with some DHV tests and such.

Then one of the new lair dudes comes in. I dont' know his name, and try to merge him into the set. I don't know who this guy is but he is ruining my vibe, I decide to eject, have a drink with JCB at the bar, and decide to go back later and try to close. Jaydog and the other guy are gaming them. Later on I try again but are already on their way out. At least my sets are getting longer.

APPROACH 2:
2 set at Absinthe - UG asian and HB8 indian chick. I get really far with the indian chick, even getting a lot of IOI's - where'd I go to school, what's my name? ooh that's a cool name etc. etc.

Dapper is winging me. He is focusing on the asian. I game the - extremely hot - indian chick using a lot of pebbles. I use - where'd you go to high school? me too! not reall! YOU MAD?! Jaydog comes in - we try showing her his painted black nails, Jaydog tells the story of his S&M encounter to the indian chick, but she seems weirded out by it. The energy level drops precipitously after Jaydog's S&M story, we later make a vow never to discuss it again during a set. Dapper is crashing and burning with the asian - they eye code each other to bail. I did really good with this one, hot too. But I psychologically removed myself from the set because of my damn inner game issues and fear of success.

venezuelanFly comes in. We hang out at Absinthe for a little while. Ryan the magic man comes in and thoroughly amazes the bar, I love that guy. I have to keep practicing that levitation trick.

132 Approaches

Summer of Style Life

July was my month of Style Life, or so I thought. Me, Effect, and Jaydog have agreed to do the Style Life Challenge together starting today. This would be round 2 for me. Day 1 is today.

Borderline metaphysical quotes I got somewhere

"Ask and the universe gives you what you want", "The world is a mirror, you get what you are inside" etc blah blah blah

Unleashed at the Mall, Gay Bar

Date: August 5, 2006
Location: Woodfield Mall, Schaumburg, IL
Players: me + 2 wings and 1 pivot

After therapy I pick up Effect and pivot girl Diva and we drive to Woodfield Mall for some day game on Saturday morning. Diva is a really unusual girl, but I've decided that she is ok. When I first met her I thought she was annoying, but now that she has admitted that she was basically a social outcast as a teenager, I feel like I understand her better.
Anyways, at the mall I open the most sets I've ever done in an afternoon - 20. This is really a blur, they were pretty good sets too - I was making it to c1 and c2 with a lot of them, negging them, mixed sets etc.. I was mainly using - can you help me find a gift for my mom, plus myspace/google on most of them. I forgot to neg the majority of them. I was just entertaining myself, it was like playing a video game.

Some of the more memorable ones were: the of-age looking brunette who turned out to be too young, and her mom came out of nowhere and started glaring at me like I was some kind of perv, the girl walking hand in hand with her bf (I love the look on the bf's face when I do this). Again, it was just a blur - mall chick upon mall chick. Women with their husbands and boyfriends, I didn't care. I did get a @ close from a mediocre latina. Whatevah.
Anyways, so I wanted to get some more approaches in that night when I met up with my 2 friends from work in Wrigleyville. This was a mistake, I should have gone out with JCB to Plush. We wound up going to some gay bar. There were no sets anywhere, and I got tired and left early. It was like 1 o'clock when I left, too late to meet up with JCB and the socialskillz guys at crobar or something, so I just went home.

130 approaches

Wicker Again, Pivot Girl, AFC Dudes

Date: August 4, 2006
Location: Bars, Wicker Park, Chicago, IL
Players: me + 4 wings and 1 pivot

Tonight I go back to the old reliable Wicker Park for an interesting evening of sarging. Not exactly my best night, but I got some sets in. I was out with Effect and pivot girl Diva. Jaydog brought Sal and Stuckey with him and met us there.
We started off the night at some gallery openings, these were cool but I did not see any open sets - just old ladies, girls there with their bf/husbands, lesbos. Noone attractive. We decide to pick up Diva and take her back with us to Wicker. Diva is a piece of work, I don't know what to make of this girl. I think she may have mental issues, she definitely needs to see a therapist or something. Cool girl though, very nice. I later find out that she has written and directed a porno movie. She is into some bizarre sex stuff too, and she is most probably having sex with Effect.

Anyways, we meet up with jaydog, sal and stuckey at earwax. We take them to Rodan. I do 4 sets at Rodan:

APPROACH 1:
I open 2 HB8's - Indian and brunette. Martini pre opener and then the myspace/google combo. No negs, no dhv's. I tried to take them to the other side of the bar to meet my friendds, but the place was too crowded, and I lost them. End of set. Later I saw them but didn't reopen them.

APPRROACH 2:
I approach HB7 black chick and HB8 brunette and give them the jealous gf 2 part opener. Then some vibing with the black chick about relationships, then I detach. Jaydog dares me to give them 'thug loving', so I reopen them and give the brunette thug loving and she tells me to get out of her face. This basically fucks me up for the rest of the night, I can't get it together after this blowout.

APPROACH 3-4:These are a blur. I do 2 totally unremarkable sets, I honestly can't remember these other than I know I did 2 more sets at Rodan. I should really take notes on these approaches, I'm sure I did a lot of things wrong and need to remember not to do them again.

APPROACH 5:
Approach a 2 set of HB8 blondes from out of town at Salud. We vibe for a few minutes about lollapalooza. Then things get fucked up - I try to merge Sal and Stuckey into the set, they seem down since jaydog's the only one of those 3 who closed that night. Of course they act like goofy afc's afraid of getting cooties when I merge them into the set, Effect comes in out of nowhere with 'have you seen michelle' (I don't understand why he did this), then the girls eject.

Later we go out to Uptown Lounge, but the place is a total sausage fest.

110/250

The World is Wild at Heart and Crazy On Top

Date: August 3, 2006
Location: Wicker Park, Chicago, IL
Players: me + 10 wings

John was sick and couldn't make it, but I brought Effect and Jaydog with me to an 'audition' for the super secret Chicago lair. There were about 6 or so guys from the lair at this bar Salud, including David and Adam, whom I went out with after the meet n greet a couple nights ago. There were a couple of new lair pua's I've never met, and another dude who was 'auditioning'. I sarged the place clean, I opened up about 90 percent of the approachable sets in the club, and it's a semi big club for Wicker Park. Sort of a slow night, though. David - 'Dapper' - told me I passed to the next round, whatever that entails. Mental note to read up about 'hook point' - I think I reached hook point with 1 or 2 sets, but I was more concerned with approaching/being a good wing than I was closing, especially since the girls I met that I really liked tonight turned out to be semi-hired guns. I was constantly introducing Effect as 'my friend the music video director'.

APPROACH 1:
I walk up to an HB8.5 brunette who was sitting alone at the bar texting on her sidekick. I ask her about the relative merits of sidekicks and treos, and tell her about - dhv - how I know how to hack the sidekick so you can have unlimited pictures. Some vibing and fluff talk about martini bars, tequilas. Wings thought this was going well, but I eject to look for the lair guys. Plan was to come back to this later so it would be an easy set to approach in front of the lair guys, I never got the chance to do this. Tied for cutest girl of the night.

APPROACH 2:
In front of the lair guys, I open a 6 set of HB8/9's. I ask them about my friend who wants to break up with her bf on myspace, first, then google - I mess up the google question 'have you ever googled someone on myspace? (doh! on myspace)'. They laugh and ask me if I'm giving a questionaire, but they get a kick out of it. I persist longer than I would have if the lair guys weren't looking on. Blonde hottie I was initially working walks away, I turn to a tall latina one and game her for a good 10 minutes. She was digging me. I find out that they are like, club promotions girls or shooter girls, that are there on their night off(?) something like that. I tell her maybe my friend JayDog can model for them. I am gaming this girl pretty hard, and probably could have closed. She excuses herself to go to the bathroom. While she's in the bathroom the lair guys come by, I don't want to look like I'm just sitting there so I open another one... Lots of kino and ec from this one.

APPROACH 3:
I approach a 2 set of HB9s asian and latina - I focus on the asian since she was rawk, stacked routine and opener upon routine. Long set, I'm not sure if she was digging me but she was definitely vibing, laughing and giving me kino. Long set, I lay into the same type of jokes - hey I got a friend coming in from out of town, you know of any good martini bars, hey maybe my friend could model for you, you guys take any guys? maybe my friend JayDog could do this job, do you guys wear uniforms? stuff like that. Hot Hot girl. My big mistake - I actually made this mistake several times last night - was to ignore the latina, who is actually pretty hot. I try to bring in Effect to occupy the latina, but he doesn't get it - gives a story and winds up ejecting. The frikking ignored latina winds up dragging her off to the bathroom because she is feeling neglected. I hate that crap.

APPROACH 4:
Dapper grabs me and makes me wing 2 UG's with him. This set goes well, I bring in Effect and we launch into our music video director routine/vibing. I leave him to the UG's and go back to the HB9 asian. Someone puts a goddamn clipboard in her hand and she goes into 'club promotions' mode and collects our email addresses, and goes all hired gun on me. I lose all enthusiasm for gaming HB9 asian.

APPROACH 5;
I approach a 2 set - 1 UG and 1 HB7 brunette. I ask them some type of opinion on some dating question - HB7 is being a biatch. So I bring in Effect, and let him take over and clean up this mess.

I talked with another set of girls tonight too, but since I got introduced by Effect, I'm not going to count it as an approach.

After these sets we split with the pua's, they tell me I pass, and that I can meet them at another bar if I want but I passed. Me and my boys decide to go out to Exit. Here's where the night gets totally freaky:

Effect takes us to Exit, which is this industrial punk bar / S&M place. Upstairs it is a bar/dungeon. Weird scene. I split $25 bucks so that JayDog can be whipped in many different ways, have his ass paddled and balls tortured, get poked with a boot spur, have candle wax dripped on him, and be verbally abused, by 4 - extremely hot - gothic dominatrixes. Me and effect just sat back and laughed, occasionally we'd walk up and tell him to squeal like a pig and tell him what a worthless human being he was. JayDog is official fucked up. We took pics of his raw, shredded back and arms, I may post them in this blog to document his pervertedness.

105/250

Er, Unleashed at the Mall with JayDog

I did 3 really crappy approaches at Woodfield Mall with my wing, JayDog. We got there 20 minutes to go before closing time. I just opened up a bunch of people really quickly, the hurricane style weather outside, and people hurrying up to leave the mall didn't help us out any. Afterwards, we went to McGearty's in Wicker Park and I kicked JayDog's ass in chess.

100/250