So here begins my journey from AFC to PUA.

DISCLAIMER: I didn't get any closes this night. If you're looking to see some good closes, or any in general, you won't find them here. Also... if it's rude/wrong/whatever to post FRs without closes, just let me know and this won't happen again. Onward!

So Wednesday night is sort of an all guys night thing I do with some of the guys from my gym (because that doesn't sound slightly homoerotic or anything). Every other week we head out on the town, the other weeks we stay in at someone's place and grill or something. But, I digress. Last night, pretty much all the guys flaked on the plan but one of them. So, I call up my friend (also working on his PU) and let him know the situation. We decided to roll out and do something different than the usual thing we do every other Wednesday since we didn't have the others to have to run with. Also, none of those guys are in pick-up so it was a bit better to be able to go out with an objective and know that you don't have any potential sets blown by non PUA friends (Then again, whether or not that happens in any situation is my responsibility in the end).

At the beginning of the night, I decide we could meet up with the local lair that goes out every Wednesday night. Though, that ended up not happening since I was late. On my way to midtown I stopped into my work (Starbucks) and picked up a drink and shot the breeze with my coworkers for a moment. After I walk out, there are a couple of Asian girls sitting on the patio chatting it up. I decide to sit down near them and play with my phone for a moment. After a little bit of consideration, I go to open before my AA gets bad enough to convince me not to. I didn't expect much, but figured it's best to warm-up and... well, hell. Who knows, right? I used an opinion opener (Friend going to propose to a girl who he's only been with for a couple months, blah blah). Before I could finish the opener, one of the girls cuts me off with, "He's an idiot, then." I smile at her, laugh, agree, and say she seems like she's seen a similar situation. The conversation continues on. I keep listening and continue the exchange, but at the same time am making mental notes and am trying to figure out how to transition out of the opener. I pull her shy friend into the conversation from time to time, but she doesn't seem to be buying at first. Finally, I find a way to segue into something else (drinking). From there we start sharing about drinking experiences and also living in the hood. The south area of my city is pretty bad. She lives there, I work there. I neg her from time to time about it. Asking her about her acrylic nails (which she didn't really have). Tied that in with a Wolverine joke. I lack social intuition but she made a comment that I remind her of Wolverine because, "You're pretty built." I considered that to be a potential IOI and assumed attraction. By this point, her friend is slightly more involved in the conversation (probably couldn't relate during the opening). I missed it, though and didn't build upon the statement. The conversation continued on. We talked about work and also partying. At this point I find out they are both under 21. We got into a conversation about how she once got into a fight when she was blackout drunk. Somewhere in there, I ask her liquor of choice (Hypnotiq) and ask if she had ever had an Incredible Hulk. He friend laughs and tells me that she got drunk off of Incredible Hulks before she got into said fight. I looked at her, tried kino by gently grabbing her hand, and asked if she turned green, and stripped down to her purple panties before she "flatbacked that bitch." They both broke out into laughter. From there I neg her and say that I don't drink with angry drunks. She then told me that I can't say that because I don't know her. Respond with, "In that case, I'm Formula7. And you two are?" They tell me their names. I look at the shy friend and say, "Now that I know you girls, I think it's fair to say I won't be drinking with crazy here." As I point to the other (the not so shy one is the target). Target says, "You've never even been drinking with me." I smile and let her know we will have to do that sometime. She was very open to that and mentioned the idea of me being her "alcohol supplier." At this point, I totally blew it and missed the opportunity for a #close. The conversation continues on for a little longer but I sense it dying down a bit. Also... time was passing and I don't like to flake so I decided to make my exit shortly and head to midtown. We talked about what it is like to work there for me and they mentioned how they are there quite often. Of course the conversation of free drinks came up (Because when does it not when you're in the food industry?). After that I let them know that it was time to go meet my "soon to be engaged" friend and that I would have to be on my way. Target said they'd probably see me soon since they are always there. I am going to assume attraction here and re-initiate next time I am in and # close.

I arrived at my friend's house and we headed to the Local Lair's meeting point. We were 20 minutes late and they weren't there. Which, normally I feel bad about, but the decent set made sure I didn't get down. From there we walked down to K street to some of the newer venues. Decided to step into the club to get our stamps and see what was going on. It was early and still pretty dead so we headed over to the bar next door. I was getting cold and my AA started to come back. My friend opened up a 2 set and I decided to head off to get a drink and give him some room for a couple minutes. I scanned some potential sets but kept making excuses (need to incorporate 3 second rule more). Finally I came back around and he brought me into the set. I was a little lackluster at the time (okay, more than a little :p) but maintained conversation. After a little while the girls went somewhere else. One had a boyfriend, but his target didn't. We decided to head back to the club. On the way out he went back to re-initiate and get a # close. We continued into the club and headed to the bar for drinks. We tried some veto but my AA got the best of me most of the time. I decided to find some easy sets to get warm again. Fortunately, there was a small bachelorette party. I grabbed my drink, patted my friend on the shoulder and headed over.

I slid in and asked when the special day was. From there I asked if it was wedding season because I had seen quite a few parties as we walked around town that night. Mentioned one girl with a veil filled with penis lollipops. They all enjoyed that but none of the girls really opened up. It was still early in the night and I came in pretty abruptly. The bride-to-be was very open to conversation, but she was getting married and it was obvious, so she probably didn't give a damn. I decided to exit the set and come back later to see if the girls would be more open after dancing and drinks. Headed back to the bar and proceeded to keep an active conversation going (gotta social proof). We'd meet up and split through the night. I made sure to keep moving and I tried to open a few group sets just so I had a place to land if I was ever falling into a bit of a loner setting. Luckily, we ran into some friends we knew so I had a pad to land on.

Later, we were at the end of the bar closest to the dance floor and he decided to veto a girl who was walking by so I had to make a quick decision. I asked about her arm tattoo, where she got it, and what it meant. She told me about all her other tattoos and what they all meant. Funny enough, the one I pointed out didn't mean anything. It just looked cool to her. My posture was pretty crappy here as I kept leaning in. The set was short and the conversation didn't hook. So she headed off.

A little while after that he split and found a warm set from last time we went out. I wandered off to the dance floor with my drink and started dancing by the DJ and from time to time eyeing the dance floor and deliberately amusing myself with spinning around and high five-ing friends and random guys who were dancing with girls. The song changed and I wasn't feeling it. As I was leaving the dance floor I saw a cute Asian girl (2nd Asian set... which I find odd because if there is anything I am into, Asians are one of the last things). Her dancing made me laugh so I decided to head over and mimick her. She was pretty much doing the running man. 90's much? Lol. She made a sad face and started laughing. After that she started dancing and I danced with her for a little while. After the song ended we shook hands and I was off. Didn't quite know how to expand on this one, but at least it was warm for me to return to.

Of course, I have to throw in a blow out. Because I'm still pretty AFC and it's pretty funny. I was standing at the bar talking with meathooks as these girls were coming off the dance floor and stood by us to get some drinks. I turned to one of them who was fanning herself. I made a comment about the A/C and how it's great, but absolutely useless during the best part of the night. She heard me, but ignored me. I turned my head away for a moment and thought about going back in to try again. But I figured abundance mentality, thought f--- her and left. As I was leaving I made solid eye contact with one of her friends and smiled at her. Since I still wasn't completely over the blowout, I let it go.

I went and danced some more with some friends and the bride-to-be who was pretty drunk and spotted me as she was dancing with one of my other buddies. She rhythmically made her way over and pretty much landed on me and we started grinding. I went with it for a while since standing on the side of the dance floor looking around on the edge of the floor is a pretty damn AFC alternative. She was dancing with both of us for a bit, but my buddy backed off and we kept going. From time to time I would keep my eye on the rest of the dance floor and see if there was anything else to open up. Her bachelorrette ribbon and the fact that she was dragging other guys to sandwich her was something that I don't know I would consider pre-selection. But... I could be wrong? After a few songs we took a break and she went back to her friends.
I went back to the bar and saw two blonde girls I had seen walking around through the night. I decided to use one of the openers I had heard on another board. I turned to her and she saw me. I looked down and said, "Hey! I love your shoes!" She smiled and thanked me, before she could go on I finished with, "I have the same pair but in red!" She started laughing. As I was about to say something along the lines of, "I was gonna wear them out tonight, but good thing I didn't because I would have f----- your sh-- up!" I heard a voice say, "Hi, Formula7!" I looked up and leaning in was an old high school classmate. Slightly astonished I said hi and we hugged. For a moment I was caught off balance but noted that a solid cold opener turned into a warm set that I could probably work with. So we caught up for a bit and talked about life and work etc. The target leaned into my class mate and mentioned that we share the same shoes. High fives went all around with a laugh. I talked with the target for a bit and we shared a couple laughs but I don't feel like the conversation was hooking. After a few minutes of chatting, my old class mate wanted to go back out to the dance floor and the started to head off. She smiled at me, hugged me and told me it was good to see me. They headed off Earlier in the conversation she mentioned where they both worked. Any tips with how I could come back and work with that?

For the rest of the night I was bouncing around to the dance floor, my group, and re-initiating with the bachelorette party. It shrank down and there were only 2 of them left. I spoke with her and her cute friend (coincidentally... and Asian/Pacific Island girl, yet again. Lol) Learned they worked at a local Casino. After chatting for a bit they went to the bathroom and I headed back to the dance floor. I found running man-girl again who, incidentally, was again doing the running man. I walked up and started dancing and said, "That really must be all you've got." She stopped and gave me the pout face. I put my thumb to her chin and told her to, "Buck up, buckaroo." She broke out in laughter and we danced again. Her hands were in the air and just as I was about the grab one and spin her into me, her friends came in and rattled my set a bit. From there I danced in the group a bit, but wasn't sure how to work around them. Still not quite calibrated for that situation. Larger sets are harder for me. Before I started looking odd and out of place I wandered off back to my friends. The club was closing down pretty much at that point and emptying out.

My buddy had mentioned that at that point of the night it was time to stop wasting time and be more direct. The asian girl I danced with and the asian girl with the bachelorette both left within a few minutes of each other. I was sitting out on the patio and saw them go. I thought about running up the Ms. Running-man and trying a # close but bailed on it. Thought about the same thing with the other, same result. Need to work on inner game big time and close it out.
We left the club and headed to a 24 hour mexican food joint and discussed the night. Exchanged stories and talked about key things and sticking points. Overall, for someone who is getting over AA, it was a pretty good night... but could have been better. Should have just approached all that got veto'd for me. Will be headed back into the field possibly tonight, definitely tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have some better reports.

Tips?

tl:dr spent a night in the field with some objectives. Opened a few sets. Some hooked, others didn't. Re-initiated those that didn't. Got blown out once. No closes. Still a good night practicing opening.

Also... I am a big story teller so I like to elaborate a lot. I apologize in advance for my lengthy FRs.

Good start