That's just a digital photo with no depth.  His knee is in the air.  

Separated--I don't see it necessarily as a person headed back to their ex, or even with a possibility of doing so... BUT...

Any split from a long term relationship requires a time of adjustment, no matter the circumstance.  I have zero belief that any recently separated person is ready to pursue a new relationship.  None... sorry.

That's not necessarily a bad thing.  Not in the least.  They should be out dating.  They should be out exploring, growing, learning, expanding... but they're unlikely prospects for anything but a fling.  

I'm pretty sure he actually has his knee hitched in a "come hither" kind of invitation, but due to some wacky foreshortening, it ends up looking like its his hip and thigh, not his knee and shin.

Stress not, he's probably going to be less Ken-Like when I meet and subsequently ravage him.

The cynicism is overwhelming. Separated means what it sounds like it means.

There's an interesting dynamic on these date machine blogs.  The daily writers tend to pose questions... even zeitgeisty whose questions are often phrased in definitive statements clearly written to evoke discussion.  The responses, however, are often voiced as declarative statements, as if they were hard fast rules, rather than opinions, or expressions of personal experience.  I suppose I am often guilty of the latter, or could my responses could be construed as such.  

It recalls those strange people on Good Morning America and similar shows who are billed as "relationship experts."  The term strikes me as oxymoronic.  We've all had loads of relationships, but it almost seems to me that the real experts would be those who have had the fewest, but the longest term relationships.

In regard to casual encounters, both the concept and the respondent, aren't casual encounters for most people more of an accident?  Or maybe even an avoidance strategy?  

Just a thought...

Hmmm, how many women are that cynical?  Not everyone's dishonest.

I dated while being separated after being married.

To me, separated meant...there was no hope of reconciliation...and I was living on my own.

Since the marriage had been going downhill for a loooooong time, and I'd been living on my own for...a few months (? I don't recall exactly)...I was ready for...whatever...some dates, the beginnings of a LTR, whatever.  I still say now that I was.  Of course, maybe I'm wrong

:P

When asked by the government, say, what is my civil status? I was married, then I was separated, now I'm divorced. Online, I was married, then I was single.

Surly British snipery disregarded. You're clearly in no position to have any valid insights into my social life or mental health status.

Quit listening to your loser friends and Interpals and listen to the small voice inside you that is usually right.