Stalker

People leave way too much information lying about the internet. I mean sure, there's a reason that they put it there, but with just very few pieces of information, anyone can dig up and make whatever use they want of a persons complete personal information. Maybe you don't get credit card statements, but you can find EVERYTHING.
When I do find people who I know, I'm afraid that I might come across as a stalker for finding all this information on them, but it's there for the taking, and at least I don't have a malicious intent.

This girl I'm talking about, whom I spent a lovely afternoon with btw, has given me her first name, the fact that she has skype, and her age. Armed with that, I could mine the internet for information about her and her friends. It's scary sometimes. I am aware of the trace I leave, because I check it regularly, but people should google themselves every now and then, to see what information they are leaving behind, and if it's actually something they want to share with the world.

On a not completely unrelated note, I had an epiphany today. I guess it's information that I've always known, but I realize that the people you don't immediately get comfortable with or get along with, very rarely turn out to be people that something interesting is going to happen with.
It doesn't matter if it's your future girlfriend, or just someone who's a good friend, if you don't hit it off comfortably in conversation from the get-go, it's doomed to fail. Not saying that it might not still fail, which it could, but these people that you see and you've known for a while, that you haven't instantly gotten to know really well, are never going to be "it" for you.

Exceptions to the rule, of course, but in general, I think this is the case. Based on my own experience, people who I've thought are nice, and in the case of girls, pretty or cute or whatever, but that I haven't really hit it off with, never amount to anything. Like my roommates for instance. I got along great with them from the first moment I set foot in this house, and now we're like best friends.

And girls, don't even get me started. People who I find cute, and can maybe have an awkward stuttering conversation with, NEVER, infallibly, work out in the long run.
For me, it's got to be great at the start, otherwise it'll never survive.
From now on, this is what I'll look for. I know myself better, and with that information, I can better predict the outcome of any given situation.

I was going to include a classic Sun Tsu quote about knowing things, but I realized that framing my potential new best friends in the guise of Sun Tsu's "enemies" might not be a good thing, hehe.