Sometimes I feel like such a social retard. It isn't so much that I want to change the essence of who I am....but on the other hand, it's downright painful to be so socially awkward, to not know what to say.

The real hell of it is that I tend to prefer other quiet, reserved people, and it can be seriously difficult to develop any kind of a rapport with someone like that. I can think of a lot of people, of both sexes, whom I'd like to have gotten to know better, but I didn't know what to say, so I said very little, and I never got to know them (predictably enough). I'm tired of this. I need to fix it, and I have no idea how.

Maybe....something direct? I'm good at that approach once I get the nerve together...

(more later)