1721

Despite the airtight logic (ha!) in this post, I already know you’re a nutjob.

1722

Like I said, the problem with film programs goes beyond the usual, liberal arts vs. sciences dichotomy that you guys keep bringing up. I spent time in both, about a year and half as a fine art major, two and half years as a comp sci. major, and finally finishing up with a degree in film studies. Film studies was a much more chaotic program than even art*.

I can tell you what to expect from an art program, art history classes, physics, comp sci., math, etc… but film? They are just basically making it up as they go along (but I took some great film classes though). There isn’t really a central discipline to teach, which is why one of the graduate programs I was looking at required you to get your graduate degree in a pre-established discipline (sociology, psych, etc).

*Assuming you aren’t going to USC, UCLA, or some place like that.

1723

Having observed students go through such programs from a safe, uninvolved distance, I am horrified that there could actually be a more chaotic program than Art. At that point you’re changing the curriculum mid-semester! Such vagueness does have some positive side-effects, but it can result in some confused students.

1724

Ok, I see where you’re coming from. I do think there are some problems in many art classes. There’s a mystification to the skill that focuses on students discovering techniques that work for them. At worst, it overemphasizes “talent,” pushes students into developing bad habits, and focuses too much developing a personal style too early which will leave them in a rut unless they are very good at selling themselves. And certainly, teachers can be pretty wacky and assignments, goals, and grading pretty amorphous.

But, largely, there’s a consistency to that experience between classes generally (even if individual professors are wildly inconsistent or very specifically and consistently quirky).

In the film program I was exposed to, there was no consistent discipline, building on previous ideas, developing jargon or technical definitions, etc that’s generally associated with study. I bounced around many departments with many different tools for approaching film, which were largely independent of each other.

Sure, that’s part of any liberal arts education, but it felt much more so than what I’d been exposed to before.

Edit: Anyway, sorry for the thread derail. Back to the funny dating stuff!

1725

I will say this for her theater degree. She’s learned to sew (costuming) and learned to use tools (building sets) and also learned makeup. And of course the acting part has taught her to be at ease speaking in front of groups. In a lot of ways, she’s getting more practical stuff out of a theater degree than she might get out of an english or history degree.

And she loves theater. She’s getting a few years to do what she loves. She’ll get the degree, and then she’ll be like any other liberal arts graduate out there – getting whatever kind of job she can. She can probably do local theater in her spare time.

1726

I wish I would have gotten a theatre degree.

I went with biology instead, minoring in theatre.

1727

INTERNET DATING THREAD.

NOT ART SCHOOL DISCUSSION.

Come on Ned, save the thread with one of your dating failures :(

1728

Come on, give him a break! Who knows, maybe he’s got a WIN to report!

1729

I have a theater degree. It got me a job teaching theater.

I met a girl through Match. She was a costume designer in the local community theaters, but didn’t have a theater degree. It turned out she knew a lot of the same people I knew. The managing director of the theater I worked with had directed a play she produced. She called him to see if I was a psycho. He said he played games with me but was too embarrassed (or didn’t want to spoil my chances with her) to tell her that he played D&D with me.

For our first date we went to see Shakespeare in the park. I know you’re not supposed to do theater or a movie on the first date, but I wanted to see the show, and I figured if the date was a bust I could safely ignore her and just watch the show.

I ended up marrying her.

1730

How unfortunate :(

1731

I’m stunned. Not only has a woman actually messaged -me- on OkCupid… you know, to start with (only the second time now), but she actually responded to my reply, unlike the other person. In a few more exchanges, I might actually have succeeded in striking up a conversation on a site where every single previous attempt to do so has met resounding silence!

1732

I’ve had a number of conversations with women on OKC, a couple even turned into Facebook friends. Where I’ve failed utterly is to get an actual date through the site. Closest I came was a woman who replied to say she was going out of town for a couple weeks and then ignored me.

1733

That’s like an anti-date. Instead of getting together, she made it a point to get further away. I like her style!

Can’t you get these women to meet you for coffee? If they’re interested enough to chat and be Facebook friends, meeting for coffee should be easy.

1734

It can be a weird thing. I’ve noticed that some people just get incredibly picky with their online interactions. If you’re general standard of attractiveness is high (I have an excuse), that can lead to a lot of people sort of just trailing off, particularly when you aren’t the exact right amount of aggressive.

1735

I’ve chatted with women from all over the place, and the FB friends were all from far away. I’ve also chatted with women locally who are bi/poly and I would never ask out in a million years.

1736

The distance and perceived safety of interacting online instead of face to face does seem to lead a lot of people to raising their standards to lofty heights. These people are probably also single for a very long time.

I’ve begun the process of redoing my assorted profiles with updated text and some new pics. I’m culling the boilerplate and trying to capture my enigmatic essence as succinctly as possible. I hate writing about myself.

1737

Even beyond that - meeting results have been weird for me because I try to operate under the assumption that anybody else would assume that I am a dedicated rapist and murderer seeking new victims, which means that when somebody, say, invites herself over to my house, I get a little worried and confused. The sheer volume of dudes, though, probably encourages women to be a little bit more…selective, particularly if you are ambushing the most attractive people available, as I routinely find myself doing. I finally, after, what, twelve years of this?, have built up a scab.

1738

I think you over think things too much. If you don’t want a woman over at your house, suggest something else. “I’m home too much as it is. I’d rather get out and do something.” It’s not difficult.

There may be a “sheer volume of dudes” but women are always complaining about the difficulty in meeting good guys, so be a good guy. Look nice. Act nice. Be considerate. Don’t talk about yourself too much. Make yourself be genuinely interested in what she has to say, and that will show. People love to meet someone who is truly interested in what they have to say.

1739

Err, don’t date people you wouldn’t be interested in talking to or don’t have things that are interesting to you to talk about? Though i’m probably just harping on the ‘make yourself’ part.

1740

How can you make yourself be genuinely interested?