Oh Babe...you're gonna hate me. All I can tell you is that "doing what they thought I wanted" was never what impressed me about guys when I was your age. I didn't want the guy who wanted to impress me. I wanted the guys who WERE impressive. They were funny, or had a good voice, or interesting thoughts, or sometimes were just naturally easy to be around. It wasn't something they just did for me. I was foolish enough to pull away from any guy that pursued me too obviously...after all, if they wanted me THAT much, there had to be something wrong with them.

Believe me, there's many a day since then that I've kicked myself for not taking a closer look at the who were making the effort. But in some ways, my standards haven't changed all that much. I'm still really interested in who the guy is when he's not trying to impress me. But now I'm impressed by different things. Now knowing he's a good guy who cares about me, does the right thing when no-one's looking, has his priorities straight and a killer sence of humor...that impresses me. But it's still all about the things that happen between the candy and flower moments.

The best advice I can give you is just a variant on what everyone else has said....be yourself, find your interests, make yourself into a whole and happy person...and the girls will figure out you're a prize. I don't buy this "nice guys finish last" stuff....I've been involved with way too many nice guys myself .

Anyway, glad it sounds like your black mood's starting to clear.