[ljacone]

Just throwing this out there: if you are going on a first date, try something where you have a task to accomplish together, like bowling, or a cooking class, or a crafting workshop, or a walking tour/scavenger hunt. Having something to do besides sitting at a table staring at each other will help break the ice, and get conversation going because you are doing the task together. It's sort of a cliche but it works.

Being friends with a girl you are romantically interested in is very frustrating, but without a basis of friendship, it's hard for a relationship to last. Again, another cliche, but my wife and I are each other's beast friends. We have some things we share an interest in, and some things we do not (the other night she said to me "I just don't get Ultra," heh!), but our relationship grew based on our respect and friendly admiration.

This is not to say that being stuck in the Friend Zone doesn't suck! But XW1n5t0nX (how the heck do you remember that when you log in?) is right -- you cannot succeed without the risk of failure!

And of course there is the old "go out with a group of friends" chestnut.