Ginko

Very enjoyable, though it was missing a major casualty for me. Thought we were going to get it but it was cruelly snatched away at the last second. Oh well.

Fair enough, I know what you're saying, but in my experience the guys I know who complain about it (and it is only guys that I've ever heard talk about it though I don't doubt women have the same complaint) do so in such a way like they're being treated unfairly, like it's anything other than the woman just not fancying them in return. There's a song by Thundercat that I really like called Friendzone. I only like the music, the lyrics are not only awful (but he's always been a shit lyricist anyway) but a load of old bollocks. It sums up how some of the guys I've encountered feel about it though:

I'm just saying it's daft that people give this sort of thing a name, like men or women think to themselves, nah, I'm going to put them in the friendzone. You just don't fancy them like they fancy you is all. It's been going on for centuries, yet no one made it into something it isn't. I was also relating it to my current experience, in that my girlfriend and I were friends first and then the attraction grew. Nether of us out each other in the friendzone, just like neither of us thought about it when we decided we liked each other. It's a silly notion that people create when they don't fancy someone that fancies them in return. But we can stop going back and forth if you like.

I wasn't describing the friendzone, I was merely stating men and women can be friends. I've certainly been in the situation a couple of times before where I've had feelings for a female friend and whilst initially some stuff did happen, eventually she preferred me as a friend. Obviously I did the whole 'I'll show her what a good guy I am and she'll fall for me', but neither time did it work out. I just think it's a bit of a silly notion is all and men sound pretty whiny when they complain about it. It sucks when your feelings are unrequited, but that's all it is. From the girl's perspective, it's not like they think 'well I fancy him but we're such good mates it'd be a shame to jeopardise it'. That's just some crap they tell themselves and you to try and make you (and themselves) feel better about the awkward situation. The simple truth is they just don't fancy you enough. It may be physical, in which case there's nothing you can do about it. It may be something daft like she needs more of a challenge and you're too nice and therefore not exciting enough. If that's the case the she's not worth it and not right for you. Even if she did give it a chance it probably wouldn't work out.

Well someone was.

That's not what you were saying yesterday in your kitchen...

I'm friends with a fair few girls and that's all it is. I've had crushes on a couple of them here and there but for the most part it's strictly platonic with perhaps a jokey flirt every now and again. I don't see what the big deal is, frankly.

Thanks dude, but personally I think the friendzone is a bit of a myth. I'm sure a lot of girls probably believe in it too, which perpetuates it, but they're not really the kind of girls I'd want to date anyway. If they need to play games like that to keep things exciting then it's really not going to work out. I prefer to keep things interesting and exciting by just doing fun things together and having a laugh. None of this 'who should text first' bullshit. It does my head in. Any girl who wants to do that can quite happily put me in the friendzone. I'm not saying it always works out if you're friends first. Sometimes it's just obvious there isn't a spark there and you can absolutely be good friends with a girl and that's that. As for me and my missus (can I call her that after two weeks official? I dunno) like I said, there was an initial spark and attraction from both of us but we didn't tell each other because of other things. Our attraction just grew stronger the better friends we became though. She's in the minority in my experience, but she's exactly the same as me in that regard which just makes us a really good match. As I stressed earlier, I'm no expert, but if friendzoning was a thing that applied to every woman then I'd probably go live on a mountain somewhere as a hermit.

Update on my situation with the new lady friend: Just under two weeks in and it's still amazing. She's staying over at mine for the first time tonight. Can't **** wait... Also, just to weigh in on the dating scene conversation, I was on a couple of sites and met maybe a couple of nice enough girls there though I wasn't really trying as hard as I could have. No spark though, it really is a tough one. Personally I find it much better to know the girl first in real life and then I gradually become more and more attracted to them and it goes from there. My current girlfriend and I have been friends for over two years, despite being attracted to each other initially though certain things were in the way. Now was just the right time for us. I'm no expert by any stretch, I've gotten lucky with this one. The traditional dating scene is not really my thing though.

I remember seeing a couple of pictures of you, dude. You're a good looking lad! Have more confidence in yourself, women like it. #ghey4Ingram

Ha, thanks chaps. I am so ghey for her.

@Shropshire Lad - Can't be an easy situstion to be in mate, but I think you're going about it very maturely and it sounds like you both have the interests of your child at heart so it should work out quite nicely. Here's hoping for the best for you. As for me, I'm no longer single A good friend of mine broke up with her boyfriend several months ago though she claims she'd been 'checked out' regarding their relationship a long time before she ended it anyway. Since then we became even closer and hung out and texted a lot. She's the quiet type whereas I'm a little more forward and outgoing so for the last few months I've been caught between thinking it was building up and then telling myself she didn't see me in that way because if she did she'd give me more of a sign. Well, we both came into work on a Saturday for a few hours and seeing as I'm smitten with her and have always fancied her since I met her and got to know her well, and the fact we'd gotten so close lately, I asked how long she was staying for. She said until about 2pm, what a coinky dink! Me too (now). So we walked into town, went to her favourite comic book shop (she's delightfully nerdy and arty), then a record shop, then a nice cafe where we had a couple of drinks and attempted to have a game of chess whilst a little buzzed. Then a few hours had flown by and we felt hungry so I asked if she wanted to grab something and she did, so we went for tapas and had a lovely meal and had fun. Then as the evening was coming to an end it just welled up inside of me and felt right to tell her I fancied her, so I did. She got shy but had a big smile on her face and she said she's felt the same way for quite some time now. And now we're a couple! It feels like we've been getting to know each other and dating without really calling it that for some time now, and we already knew each other well for a year or so before then, so it just feels natural. In fact a number of mutual friends were unsurprised by this news apparently. We're very much smitten right now and I love being with her. We have so much in common and she's just really **** cool. Very happy right now

Jeesh what an idiot... Fancy misspelling gangster! Shame about the milk thing though.

It looks **** inflatable!

How quickly you forget the Peace Cup. We're one of the deadliest teams in pre-season...

I'm sure this must be up there with the Champion's League for Terry.

The bloody hell is that enormous trophy?

Flamingo and a lemur, the national animals of Germany.

Four teams, winners play each other in the final. Each game was 45 minutes long.

Weirder still I think it's a live performance. Vocally at least. Germans be crazy.

Anyone else's feed gone kaput?

Think Amavi's done well. Should have had a foul earlier too.

Anyone else hear that thunder as soon as Bjarnason touched the ball?

It was okay, nothing particular amazing. Bit meh. Shame old ginger nuts survived the episode, though.

It makes me a little sad that the most recent reference about us you can make is from 2014