when someone is keen for you, their mates try to (subtley) get you with them, then some how when you are keen they arent keen?
"Why chase after someone and ignore all those lined up waiting? Why, oh why? I have no idea, yet I cannot deny the strength of my feelings."
- Les Liaisons dangereuses - 1782
"Why do you suppose it is we only feel compelled to chase the ones that run away?"
- From the film version
"To understand the peculiar power of the Coquette, you must first
understand a critical property of love and desire: the more obviously you
pursue a person, the more likely you are to chase them away. Too much attention can be interesting for a while, but it soon grows cloying and finally becomes claustrophobic and frightening. It signals weakness and neediness, an unseductive combination. How often we make this mistake, thinking our persistent presence will reassure. But Coquettes have an inherent understanding of this particular dynamic. Masters of selective withdrawal, they hint at coldness, absenting themselves at times to keep their victim off balance, surprised, intrigued. Their withdrawals make them mysterious, and we build them up in our imaginations. (Familiarity, on the other hand, undermines what we have built.) A bout of distance engages the emotions further; instead of making us angry, it makes us insecure. Perhaps they don't really like us, perhaps we have lost their interest. Once our vanity is at stake, we succumb to the Coquette just to prove we are still desirable. Remember: the essence of the Coquette lies not in the tease and temptation but in the subsequent step back, the emotional withdrawal. That is the key to enslaving desire."
- The Art of Seduction
And, why are these dogs chasing this mechanical rabbit?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEMX3YVgoko&feature=related
