Dating is another sport
      by Jay


       Friday, July 25, 2003 - 1:21 AM 

 
    I  certainly can make a series out of this subject.

  Much like my last dating comic, this comic is based on true encounters of mine.  While last one was based on a single encounter, this girl is an amalgamation of real-life women I've met over the summer.  I find it interesting how circumstances change the way you perceive similar people.  In this case, I work with a 16 year-old girl who is absolutely beautiful (and is one of the inspirations for this comic). While I know it is impossible for me to date her due to our age difference, that doesn't mean I don't find her attractive.  And yet on the other end of the scale, I just saw another 16 year-old girl who is also quite attractive, and yet I am totally disgusted with thought of dating her or anyone else her age.  The main reason for this is because the last time I saw that 16 year-old girl was five years ago when she was still only 11, and in my mind she will always be a little brat. When I was 16, I didn't look at 11 year old girls and think "My they are cute". Instead I thought "Those are some young immature brats who I will never look at or speak too,  instead I will look at these beautiful 18 year-old goddess-senior-babes in  high school".  And so now, five years later, I still see this 16 year old girl, who I've known all her life, as a 11 year-old brat and am disgusted with the thought of dating her or anyone else her age.  But this attractive young 16 year-old girl I work with, who has always been 16 since I've known her, intrigues me and the only thing that disgusts me about her is the knowledge that if I ever touch her I will become the boy-slave to a 350 lb tattooed cellmate named Bubba.  On a side note, those 18 year-old goddess-senior-babes I lusted after fiver years ago are now 23 year-old wives and mothers.  And I see the current 18 year-old goddess-senior-babes as immature, insouciant, ignorant, incoming freshmen.

 But at least they are legal. 

   Nonetheless, I strictly follow the "half-plus-seven" rule, meaning I can only date girls who are half-plus seven my age (21 / 2 = 10.5 + 7 = 18ish) or older.  I can admit there are younger girls who are attractive, but no matter how cute they are I could never date them.  And hell, looks are definitely not everything when it comes to dating women, which is where the second part of the inspiration amalgamation comes in.  I've met some very sweet girls who have the best personalities and are the coolest people to be around, but they usually have a glaring flaw which prevents me from ever dating them.  And I'm not talking about physical flaws, because let's face it:  good looks disappear over time, personality stays around forever (unless you're a mortician or politician, which the only difference between the two is morticians take your money after your death while politicians take it before and after your death).  If a girl wins a guy with her looks, then as soon as those looks fade the guy is gone. But if a girl wins a guy with her personality then usually he sticks around for good. The again, in this Hollywood society I don't even know if that is true anymore.  But I digress, the flaws the women have don't prevent me from dating them, they just prevent me from getting into long-term relationships.  I'm not going to get in a long-term relationship with a girl that I know I could never marry because that would be cruel to them,  I would just be leading them on. But I'll go out on friendly dates with them just because they are that much fun. Usually girls like this end up being my close friends rather than girlfriends, and then they end up ranting here... or not :) 

   So once again, I'm left without ending to my rant because I don't know where to go from here.  Relationship-wise I know exactly where to go, but ranting-wise I don't feel like I have a conclusion because I really didn't have a single topic. A friend once wrote "I just have one question: with all your talent, smarts, charm, etc, why aren't you taken yet?!".   Well, hopefully this rant answered that question to her satisfaction.  If not, the lowdown is this: I just haven't found the right person yet, and I won't hurt a girl by "dating" her when I know she isn't right.  I've done my time as a player and a heartbreaker and its time to move on.  It doesn't mean I'm not still looking for the right girl, it just means I'm not in any hurry to find her now. And who knows, maybe the right one is in front of me now and I just don't know it. There is another girl I work with who has a great personality and is  exceptionally cute to boot, but I'm not going to jinx anything by writing about it here (probably because she'll read it).  And quite frankly, beyond the sparse bits and pieces I will intentionally put in my journal, I don't think my dating life should be a part of this site after this rant. I'm not ready for that "Brad and Jenn"-type publicity in my dating life so I will keep it on the quiet side from now on.  That is, until something humorous happens again like my first "dating" comic. Some girls just deserve to be shared with the world :)
      

Now as for the comic itself, there are some interesting things you might want to know:

  First of all, my WACOM tablet finally came in!!!  Now instead of getting mouse-made backgrounds like this, you get cool pen-made backgrounds like these (2).
   Second of all, I finally had a problem caused by my colorblindness in this comic.  Yes, I am colorblind, and yes, I am an artist.  Similarly, Beethoven was deaf and he still made awesome music in his time. As for my colorblindness, it is so minor I didn't even realize I was colorblind until a few years ago.  On a 32 "question" color test, I missed two questions and they were minor ones at that. I can see all the major colors easily. On a palette of 2 million, the brown-reds and brown-greens look very similar to me.  Normally I just avoid coloring with those hues, but I guess this comic I forgot to do that. My intention was to give the Soccer Commentator a dark tan using a brown-red color.  Instead I ended up with this.  The guy on the left is the original version while the one the right is the fixed version (which I did after I was informed of the problem).  The sad thing is, both of these characters look exactly the same to me. I know the guy on the left has a green hue to him, but I can't see it.  It is the exact shade of green I can't see which really sucks.  If I force myself to look at it for a while it starts to appear, but it is very subdued. The best way to compare it is to a high pitched noise.  You know how sometimes you hear very high noises but in reality you can't hear them? It's like your brain tells you there is a sound but you can't quite pick it out.  You have to strain to barely fathom what the sound is. That's how I am with this color. My brain tells me there is something wrong with it, but I really can't see it unless I strain to see it. Hopefully in the future I'll be more wary when I start coloring with these shades of brown, because the last thing I want is to have a puke-red colored car when I intended for it to be a puke-green colored car... 

     - J, "my righ than dtype sfaster than my lef thand"

Currently watching: Batman: Dead End
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Currently reading: Crossroads of Twilight