Description:

Desperate Measures was a deliberate acknowledgment of habitually compulsive gestures, such as offering a girl flowers, that were often used to nurse emotional injuries.

Although seemingly innocuous, this gift giving was ultimately done to mask embarrassment, rather than through thoughtfulness, and was almost like reflex; after being rejected, or in anticipation of being rejected. And, these embarrassed gestures rarely ever made those awkward engagements any more comfortable.

What I find most fascinating here, however, is that female friends were not in short supply. So, these anxious quirks weren't born from the lack of attention.

Instead, for the same reason addressed in My Flower, My Love... once interest was peaked, developing into something more romantic or sexual, an irrational infatuation would highjack all reason and would only substantiate my insecurity through self-sabotage.