Can men and women ever be...just friends?

Why do women always think that you want their man? Just because you find him attractive doesn't necessarily mean I do! Under the right circumstances, I'll flirt with anyone - it doesn't have to mean anything. It's not a declaration of love or a statement of intent - it's just flirting.

I'd been friends with my friend Richard for 15 years, until he met 'the - one', and while we had engaged in the odd flirtation from time-to-time, it never became more than that. But from that moment on she controlled everything, and it was constantly 'access denied' - our friendship had all but ceased to exist.

Was I such a threat - can men and women ever be... just friends? My friend Leoni thinks they can't, she says that men and women can never be only friends because 'sex gets in the way of everything', and although he's your friend - if he doesn't make a move your left wondering if he finds you attractive or not.

So I'm left with the memories of the friendship we once had, and no explanation from him as to why our friendship had to end. One things for sure though - she got a great guy. I miss you rich.

The g man

No word of a lie - this is an actual telephone conversation I had with a guy who I met and exchanged numbers with the previous week - this is how it went.

Phone rings:

Me: Hello

g: Hey how u doing

Me: I'm good, what u upto?

g: What u got planned today, you want any company?

Me: Company... company for what?

g: I don't know, a shoulder to lean on

Me: I always need a shoulder to lean on - are we going out?

g: I don't take women out in this weather!

Me: why what's wrong with the weather?

g: It's cold

Me: cold - this is england, it's cold for 8 months of the year - so for 8 months of the year you won't take a woman anywhere?

g: (silence, then)... no no sorry babes, I do, I do, where do u wanna go?

Me: Nowhere! (in a disgusted tone)

g: (silence, then)... ok, well if u change your mind call me innit

Me: Yeah... of course!!!

Needless to say that was the last time I spoke to the 'g' man...

Such a cliche

Do men pretend you have a future in order to get what they want in the present? My recent experience says yes. So I meet this guy and everythings going great - or so I thought. He was everything a girl could want - or so I thought. Good looking, attentive, polite and very, very gifted if you know what I mean.

I thought finally, lady luck had smiled on me. Then suddenly about 8 weeks in, Mr couldn't get enough turns into Mr nowhere to be found. And I'm left wondering what went wrong? Dazed, and just a little confused, I track down - yes track down Mr 'congeniality', only to be told 'babes, it's not you it's me'.

Can you believe he said that, how embarrassing, he drops the oldest line in the book, and I'm left literally having to pick my jaw up from off the ground.

Why can't men just be honest from the start? Just say something like 'look I'm not looking for a friend or a companion - I'm not interested in getting to know you on any deep personal level and I definitely don't want a relationship'. At least then I would know where I stood, and could decide whether or not to get involved. It would save alot of heartache.

It's difficult to stay upbeat and positive about dating when the bad experiences pile up. That is until this weekend, and guess what - I've got a date!

Ten things I hate about you

- You never randomly buy me flowers - just because you can

- You don't always 'spoon' after sex

- You don't tell me you love me unless asked the question first

- You don't think about me - all the time

- You don't stop looking at other women

- You assume that I just wake up looking like this - it takes time

- You don't call as much

- You don't take me dancing

- You think being in love means never having to say your sorry

- You don't know how good you make me feel

Poker face

Why can't I read people - people? If you tell me something I believe it. I'm too trusting! In a world where only surface matters - will I ever have a deep and meaningful?

Give some people enough rope and they'll hang themselves. I've heard it all before, they've had better, seen better, can do better. They insist on trying to dim your shine. Let me be me, I'm different, believe me when i say it. You'll see it.

Man never acknowledges the fact that more often than not he sows the seeds of his own destruction. Including me.

Over and out

It's fair to say that sometimes in life you meet people who will be in your life forever, and then there are others who won't. And no matter how much you try to alter the fact - the outcome remains the same. Have you ever had the feeling that no matter what you say or what you do, it's never enough? You push-they pull, you give-they take, you stop-they go, it's exhausting!

But even though humanity sometimes let's us down, we will never give up on humanity. Breathe and stop.

Focus this blog

I've decided im gonna focus this blog around 21st century relationships. That is any type of relationship, be it boy - girl, man - woman, sibling or parental, or even just plain old friendship. Cause if home is 'right' everythings 'right'. Michael Jackson once said if he knew that he was loved at the beginning of his life and at the end then everything else in between could be dealt with. People please be open to the true healing power of love. So what is love, i think its the ability to extend yourself for the 'good' of another person. Love is not selfish and it never keeps score - it's always in the red. Catch is an act of love.

Catch-thus far

So were 8 weeks into the Catch 22 experience, has it been what I expected? well yes and no. Yes, cause the level of intensity means that i've had to hit the ground running. Which means that i'm in my comfort zone-I do like a bit of pressure, although admittedly I do drop some balls from time to time. But I also like a bit of pleasure-which means I like idling. Not a good trait if you wanna work in a deadline tight environment I guess. And thats what's been surprising about catch, and not what I expected. They are quite unforgiving about deadlines, and I was told recently 'we'd rather that you drop on your face here, than at a placement'. Fair enough I guess.

I feel as though i've done pretty well so far, o'k, admittedly I could have tried harder on some occasions but if a placement is dependant upon effort and potential, I deserve it. My biggest aim was to learn how to write journalistically rather than academically, and I am definately doing this. I sort of get it now, Journalism is about communication, but it's more about how to effectively communicate, whatever it is you want to communicate, in a chatty informal style-almost like you are writing in a journal.

So 4 weeks left, we've done so much already and i've learnt a-lot. It's been a truly valuable experience-whatever happens.