Signed up for the Nuts bar crawl last night as it was Australia Day - wasn't a bad deal at all, got free entry into clubs that you would normally pay £10-15 for.

1st club was Zoo - got in and it was already busy at 10pm. Just decided to kick back in here, few conversations here and there. Got up onto the stage with a couple of friends for some mad dancing - that was cool. Before I knew it an hour had passed, and it was time to move on.

2nd club - Ruby Blue. This one was a lot more random, as there seemed to be a lot of old people (45+). Nothing notable in here, with the exception of one woman's pathetic attempt to get me thrown out because I talked to her friend instead of continuing to talk to her; ended up getting into conversation with the same bouncer, hahaha. This turned out to be.....

Progress Sign #1 - Normally shit like this would have ruined my night and put me in a bad mood, but in this case I had to re-frame it into pure ridiculousness.

So onto the next club.....

3rd (and final) club - Bar Rumba. Stepped it up a bit and did a few more approaches, with further signs of progress:

Progress Sign #2 - Saw a girl I liked the look of on the other side of the dancefloor. Normally I would have made some kind of excuse, but tonight I just thought 'fuck it', went over and went direct with 'Hey you're cute, I had to meet you'. It went better than expected, and this took me by surprise - had some conversation, then it quickly became boring. Aaargh!

Progress Sign #3 - Group of bitchy girls standing in front of us scowling, my friend cracks a joke to one and she does not look impressed at all. I find thr whole situation extremely funny. I then end up getting into conversation with one of them, who is throwing shit test after shit test for the 1st 10 minutes. The turning point came at this point of the conversation:

Her: Why are you looking at me like that?
Me: Because you're pretty

Just before this there was silence when we were looking at each other, and I realised that she was actually pretty! (so coming from a place of expression).

After this I knew she was into me, even though there was still plenty of strong banter. She just didn't want to do anything ni front of her friends, who looked like they were having the worst night of their lives. In retrospect, I should have simply moved her to the bar - I'm sure she would have complied. However, when she was leaving she told me to take her number; we will see how that goes.

LESSONS LEARNED
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1) At the moment it is small fixes, but important small fixes.

2) Be the man and take the lead - several examples of this happened last night. There is nothing to apologise for if I'm being a man.

3) Keep going - just keep going!

The progress is slow, but it is progress nonetheless, and that is what is important.