So call me "old-fashioned", but I'm really tired seeing people foolish enough to self-mutilate...
No, I don't think they're "cute", "sexy", or "art". "Art" is a fat kid I went to school with. Or maybe "art" is stuff you put on your walls. Sexy comes from withing, not some graffiti scribbled on you by a person of unknown cleanliness. If you have one, it is a mistake & we all make mistakes. If more than that, its a sign that you're a slave to fashion and/or indulging a fetish. Thanks for the warning. If you don't like my 'tude, your argument isn't with me. Its with God. Read Leviticus.

On that "fetish" subject, I'm not a "Harley Man" (whatever the HELL that is. I've seen some pretty disgusting stuff on those junkers). "Harleys" are a 2-wheeled version of the loudmouthed kid in the back of the classroom in jr. high; the one who never shut up until he flunked out after doing the 9th grade 'til he hit 18. Nowadays he just annoys people with loud pipes instead of a loud mouth. Its a toss up between that guy and the one too fat to find his penis, so he shoves an 800 lb. $30k vibrator between his legs and hopes for the best. I don't need an overpriced noisemaker to define me. I find it more expeditious to "walk softly and carry a big stick", to borrow from Roosevelt. And to the members of the other species out there, with all due respect, if the perpetual 9th grader is what you're looking for, please move on and happy hunting among the fashion slaves.

And speaking of "noise toys", remember when society had a code of honor & the masses expected to be subject the the vices of the few? By "code" I mean your internal yardstick for tracking how you measure up to a standard that is accepted by those whose values made this a great nation, not just those who contemporaneously surround you. Believe it or not, it is OK to NOT follow the crowd. This is to say, although society is definitely coarsening we each have the option of doing so, or not, along with them, don't we? I opt for the "not".

Once, to be an American gentleman meant that one was brave, loyal & true. When one was in the wrong, one owned up & took one's punishment like a man. One didn't take advantage of women or the disabled, but defended them from those who would. A gentleman wasn't rude or rowdy & didn't expect others to put up with his anti-social behaviors. He was gracious in victory & a good sport in defeat. Strong, quiet & resolute, one's handshake was more binding than any legal document. When the ship went down, one put the women and children into the lifeboats & waved goodbye with a smile. These values used to be rules. Now they are jokes to the offensive, crass & self-serving. Real men still boldly live by these rules. There is also still some stealth virtue going around--but many who do are embarrassed to say what they are doing. There was a time that when called to arms, The American man "stood-to" with a disregard for self & the overriding image of the greater good above "what's-in-it-for-me?"; we ran TO the guns & TO the fires, not away from them while expecting unnamed "others" to protect us while we cowered like frightened children. It was a chosen ethos. For some if us it still is. I have spent my adult life as one of those "others" who went to battle as the rest of you evacuated (read: "ran"). But generally, the code of the gentleman has collapsed, just as the parallel code of the lady has collapsed. Although the knights in shining armor still exist, it is just that few can hear them over the sounds of the orgy.

I am very much an anachronism; a throwback to a time when men were men & all knew that a man's word was his bond.
As Todd Robinson wrote in -White Squall-
"...Because there's something else out there. It beckons in the wind & sings in the shrouds...Voices...Whispering...They're voices of men. ...Calling... Men you don't even know. Men you can't even imagine. It's a seed, a wish, that part of you & I that aches to be alive, that was banished by everything we've ever been taught or told. It's a part of us that can only be found on mountain tops and deserts, in the deepest caverns, smoking battle fields &... across oceans.....
(With that, he disappears below. Nobody moves.) This is exactly the kind of man you want around when the sh!t hits the fan."

To borrow from Lt.Col. David Grossman quoting an old war dog; "...I’m a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf.” Or, as a sign in one California law enforcement agency put it, “We intimidate those who intimidate others.”

"If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen: a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence & no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath--a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, & a deep love for your fellow citizens? Then you are a sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero’s path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, & walk out unscathed."

When you have walked that path you understand these things. To those who haven't, they're just meaningless words. You're rudderless ships fearing the next storm. You lack the presence to just "be" without seeking the constant attention & approval of others to ratify your worthless existence. You have a need to define yourself by "things" & attention-getting behaviors, good or bad. Those of us who have lived that other life have had our mettle & metal tempered by the flames of years of mortal combat; not the game, the real thing. I/we have nothing to prove to anybody nor is your approval really important to us. Our history speaks for us. Take it or leave it.

In my world, "quality women" would be those women who subscribe to old-fashioned values in public, where men are men & women are women and it's easy to tell the difference. Chances are that if you are indulging in the fetish where you pay somebody to mutilate your body and call it "art" we're probably not going to get along. Everybody makes mistakes, but we're supposed to avoid encore performances. If you're multiply-tatted, or freshly mutilated, that qualifies as "encore performances". That taks up back to my opening paragraph. I know that you're a follower, not a leader; a weak personality. You don't learn from history nor from your mistakes It would also indicate that you lack long-term vision and a survival instinct and would need babysitting. Thanks for visiting...

...and to those of you who think all guys are "commit-o-phobics", that isn't true. A guy just has to know how to deal with the "c" word. I will toss out the wisdom of General Jack D. Ripper from Dr. Strangelove: ...Women uh... women sense my power and they seek the life essence. I, uh... I do not avoid women, Mandrake....But I... I do deny them my essence well...most, anyhow

I love long walks on the beach, cuddling by a fire, a day at the spa, romantic candlelit dinners (are you actually BUYING any of this??? Can you loan me the money for the candlelit dinner? Do TV dinners count?)
Well first I'd park the pizza car & lose the blue & red shirt switching into some thrift store *Harley Davidson* designer logo clothes so I'd look like yet another metrosexual renegade accountant making up for my lack of masculine attributes. I'd have you meet me someplace & I'd get there early so I could see what you look like when you got out of your car to walk in & being a guy (meaning: "superficial"), I'd sneak away if you didn't meet my criteria and leave you sitting there since I double-book all my dates. If you were "hawt" I'd follow you in and recite to you word-for-word all that your profile said you're looking for, tell you I'm looking for a one-on-one forever & marriage. I'd get drunk, grope you & try to swab your tonsils with my tongue. Of course I'd expect to go back to your place after the first meeting because that's what guys DO & we do it because women allow us to. Before I left your place I'd dig through your underwear drawer to find some to give (or wear) to future online dates. Oh....and I'd kick your cat while you weren't looking. How could you say "NO!" to all that wonderfulness?

OH! BTW, if your profile contains any version(s) of the words "b!tch", "beotch", "Princess", "queen", "expensive", "worth it" or "spoiled" or any other such terms for self-serving, predatory, shrill & demanding or socially unacceptable female behavior, thanks for the warning. I am sure there are plenty of desperate guys out there foolish enough to settle for that.