hi. i'm an 18 year old guy who enjoys playing aoe and *sigh* can never boast of having a girlfriend. however, i really don't care because i am having too much fun balancing my life's activities. i have a 4.0 gpa (over 100 with weighted courses) and study about 20 - 30 minutes a night and have to envision my english book as the aoe civs stats table to accomplish anything other than daydreaming. i think i am a basicly normal male, though i lack that manly chest hair and don't play jungle bob often. i play aoe about one a weekday and 3 or 4 times per weekend. i love to play sports and weightlift, though the only thing getting bigger me is my spare tire (too many ror twinkie breaks). i guess i am into too many things to be great at any one thing. i am a decent aoe player and enjoy reading the forums. i am follow all the advice listed by you experts and my game has vastly improved. i wanted to post to encourage everyone to keep posting such excellent advice and to let phreak know he isn't alone. i'm not a genetic mishap or missing any apendages, so i could get a girlfriend if i tried. i have many friends that are girls and we do things all the time. just relax, and let things happen. enjoy your youth. eventually, we all will get old and do nothing but work, work, work, and sneak in a game of aoe. well, maybe getting old isn't all that bad....