Ironically, the whole concept of 'pick-up lines' is inherently antithetical to the way women are. They're mostly worried about a guy being a psycho loser creep, and place a very high premium on a guy remembering who they are and being happy to see them repeatedly over a period of time.

But all that stuff explained in 'the art of seduction' is actual, you know, work, involving considerable analysis of oneself and other people, so must guys just memorize pick-up tricks and use them on as many women as possible.

Before one can have confidence, one must have courage. My advice to all forlorn geeks looking for love is taken a chance, and be ok with rejection. Use your god-given strenghts to work for you. Make the whoe dating game a project: measure your approach, analyze your results and then repeat until success is had. It will be hard at first, but you will improve with practice.

I am living proof that there is hope. Before I wed, I experienced rejection constantly (despite the fact that I'm 6'4" with a very solid build and told by most people I meet that I look like Superman). But I never gave up and continued to hone my ability until I was so comfortable around women I found myself sleeping under a differnet duvet almost every fourth or fith night. My increased confidence and naturalness around women was not a panacea--I still had insolvency and joblessness to address--but at least it was a start. The one thing I learned along the way is that women cannot be easily tricked. You actually have to be something they desire. Learning to Become successful with women can really be thought of as a path to self-actualization and self-improvement. If you're not getting laid much, take a hard look in the mirror. Are you out of shape? Are you friendly and social? Does your breath smell? Do you care for your living space and belongings? Do you have a job? Once you're to the point where you're actually attracting the attention of the opposite sex, it means that you're starting to take control of your life, and it means you have something going for you.

The most important piece of advice I can give to any geek, however, is this: try to learn about clothes. You don't have control over your height, your tone of voice, you overall level of confidence, your personality, etc., but this is the one variable over which you have almost 100% control. Fortunately, nice clothes make up for a great deal. Why? Because women care deeply about clothes, and when you take stock in your appearance, you are sending the signal that you care. This is something that most American men don't understand, and it is something that must be taken on blind faith at first (which I realize can be very difficult), but it's true. When you wear nice clothes you automatically set yourself apart from the vast majority of other men who have never given more than ten minute of time during their entire lives thinking about the importance of clothes. If you're put together, you become a walking billboard to women that 1) you get it, and 2) you have something in common. If you happen to live where women dress ultra casually as they do where I live, (Portland, OR), dressing in nice clothes will set you at an even greater advantage because even more men will dress like slobs.

Most men, whether geeks or not, greatly underappriciate the power that nice clothes have on women. Attention to fashion is a way of announcing that you care about what they think. Take a look a the women you know and the women you don't know. It doesn't matter what age, or nationality. Almost universally, as a group, they wear nicer clothes than men, and they're more careful with their appearance (they are less likely to go out in public without combing their hair or showering). Now think about the men you know who are successful with women. Most of these men have learned the secret to dressing well. Think about the elegant ladies' men of cinema, your Carry Grant's, Gregory Peck's, etc. They all had one thing in common: they were wise to sartorial matters. Of course not every sex symbol looked as if he had just walked out of Bergdorf's, but these men have other things going in their favor which you may not. Here are a few examples: hair; youth, physique; charm; and singing ability. See, clothes are the great equalizer.

Bram, heh, yes, precisely.

Daniel, you sound like a serious clotheshorse! As a guy myself who has waaay more suits that any self-employed writer who works from home ought to, I have to say, I'm down with the Cary Grant fashion too.