Advice: There Is No Such Thing As a Sastronaut

The other night I watched a rerun of one of the best sitcoms currently on TV - How I Met Your Mother - that inspired me to write a post. Then I got sidetracked about how the show isn't as well-watched as it should be so first I must tell everyone to get with the program. HIMYM (I hate that acronym because it sort of reminds me of another word...but whatev, I'm very lazy) is incredibly well-written and funny, but it hasn't been the mega-hit of some of its similar witty, 30-something New York predecessors. While it's not necessarily the genius of Larry David, the cast - c'mon, it includes Jason Segel and Neil Patrick Harris! you gotta show that some love - plays off each other very well in some pretty hi-larious situations. So get the series off Netflex. Seriously, now, go update your queue.

[Note: For the amount I love to watch TV, it's fairly impressive I've limited my show plugs to brief GG, 30 Rock and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia references. If I haven't written about It's Always Sunny yet, here it is: it's effing hilarious. And if you're a girl looking to have something to talk about with guys, this is a great choice. Oh, and one last thing, it has been decided that out of me, The BFF and S (other friend since middle school), I would be Mac, The BFF is Dennis, and S is Charlie (Kitten Mittons!). I think that says a lot about us.]

Okay, it's Getting to An Actual Post time. In HIMYM (shudder), Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) is a total FJO womanizer. Then he dates a girl perfect for him, who happens to be his friend Robin, but eventually it ends. Please note that while they remain BFF, it's only because they only have like four other friends in the world. This is a rarity, remember that. Anyway, after the split, he goes right back to his incessant FJO-ish douchery of ensnaring more suit-loving ladies out there.

What unfolds in the episode is that Barney shares with his friends his hook-up Playbook that utilizes extreme imagination, set-up and faux-facial hair to orchestrate. Seriously, they are hilarious. You can read about every scam, con, hustle, hoodwink, gambit, flimflam, stratagem and bamboozle Barney used to pick up chicks here. 

My favorite is "The SNASA" when he tells an idiot girl that he works for Secret NASA and tells her he's been to the secret moon, the smoon. See below for that and a few other gems...



Besides sharing that with you for my own amusement, the actual point is that Barney's antics are very exaggerated events of real-life FJO dating. Think about it like teen romcom prom scenes compared to your actual prom... they're never that creative. There are never choreographed, all-school dance-offs.

Anyway, Barney has no desire to seriously date any of the girls who fall for his charm, but that doesn't stop him from reeling 'em in. It's not that he's actually the devil, but he is pretty evil to women. Although some do make it pretty freakin' easy on him.

My advice is to be cautious when you think you've just met the most perfect guy ever and he seems too good to be true.  Because, I hate to break it to you, he might be. Not to say you should be a distrusting Ice Queen to all men, but if a cute guy in a nice suit tells you he's an important businessman who has instantly fallen in love with you, don't be left the s'moron.

And to end this on a good note, I leave you with the suit-wonderment of Barney: