I've been meeting a lot of guys lately. Black, white, Asian, old, young, and with a rainbow of personalities. And now that I know how to spot crazy almost immediately, I'm able to enjoy chatting with the semi-sane ones. I know what I want in a man, so I'll know it when I spot it and so far, none of these guys seem to have IT. One has some semblance of it, so there's still hope for him. But the rest of the bunch has either been 86'd already, or will be soon. Theres really nothing too specific that I'm looking for; the rules can be bent a little in some areas. But character and heart are set in stone. In dealing with these guys and getting to know their varied personalitities and outlooks on things, one thing that I've known to be true for some years now, but has recently been solidified in my mind is that you cannot change a person, no matter what. Can they learn from you? Sure, but they are inherently the same and will always be hard wired that way. It's one of the reasons I gave up on my last relationship, after having worked hard at trying to make it better, more livable, for years. I eventually realized that I could no longer live with that man, he wasnt changing, no matter how much I tried. Now I'm seeing that same inability to change in a 50 year old I just met. Despite his age, he's immature, goofy as hell, lacks confidence yet is terribly vain. I'm willing to bet he was the same way at age 25. So, in all his years on this earth, and with all the people he's come to meet and know (and he's a pretty worldly guy), he has remained unmoved. The very first time he called me he changed his voice so that he sounded like Donald Duck meets Urkel. He kept this goofy charade up for a good five minutes and cut it out just before I was about to hang up on him. I knew who he was the entire time since his name and number was saved in my phone when we'd met and spoken in person. But these were the antics of a 50 year old man and father. And this wasnt even the worst of it. So what I gathered after having talked to him for roughly an hour is that, in a nutshell, he's a silly manwhore. And thus will always be a silly manwhore. He's not alone, though. Perverted old men hanging around bus stops and liquor stores were once silly manwhores. I have no doubt that he'll be in a retirement home someday, still being silly and trying to whore. But on paper, he's a dream: college educated, provides for the homeless and less fortunate, religiously, works with special needs children, foster children, and juvenile delinquents, is very attractive and in wonderful physical shape, and already has a 16 year old daughter. Yet he plays lots of games and doesnt know what he wants out of life...at age 50. Needless to say, he's not what I'm looking for, and I dont even believe I could tolerate him as a friend. Way too annoying. And I have TONS of patience, so thats a damn shame. Anyway, dating is starting to be fun again and I'm feeling more desirable than I have in years.