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Where the girls are
A guy gives his eight best spots to find a lady
BY ROYCROFT WALSH

Remember the early days of the college party when you stood elbow to elbow in someone's dirty Allston living room while warm beer was splashed on your Tevas? Remember how you could tolerate the blond chick drinking twice her weight in alcohol and puking all over creation, simply because she had a big rack? Times have changed. You've grown weary of waking up on a stranger's bong-water-soaked couch, and that blonde took a semester off to concentrate on her AA meetings. The occasional keg party is still okay, but you're going to need more arrows in your quiver to meet the right lady in Boston.

Grab a group of guys and head over to Kings (10 Scotia Street, www.backbaykings.com), where you can show off your skills in a game of pool or don a pair of bowling shoes and show those pins who's boss. It's a casual environment, so feel free to ask the gals in the next lane if they're up for a "girls versus guys" match. Losing team buys a round. Next thing you know, you're getting digits.

After a late night of partying, wake up on a Saturday and head over to Boston Common (bounded by Tremont, Beacon, Charles, and Boylston Streets, www.cityofboston.gov) for a relaxing afternoon. If you have a pooch, bring it along and watch the girls flock around you. Or borrow a friend's baby. That'll work as well. If you cannot find either of those items, bring your friends and a frisbee. When you see a saucy coed sunbathing on the sidelines, invite her to play. Afterward, treat her to a lemonade from one of the many park vendors. (Bring cash! There's nothing worse than a dude looking for an ATM when a lady is waiting.)

Meeting a woman at a bookstore is cliché, but it works. Browse the books and the educated beauties at Brookline Booksmith (279 Harvard Street, Brookline, www.brooklinebooksmith.com). The store has a wide selection of literature, a bargain basement, and weekly author readings. Resist the urge to go right to the Sexuality section and leaf through the Kama Sutra while making eyes at passers-by.

With the knowledge you've soaked up at the independent bookseller, head over to the Red Hat (9 Bowdoin Street, 617.523.2175) for "Monday Night Trivia." The upper level is typically packed with both guys and gals testing their intelligence, eating 10-cent chicken wings, and enjoying the mudslides. Competition is stiff in this city. If you find yourself losing, be the better man and buy the hot girl, the one who got the T.S. Eliot question right, a drink. Instead of wasting your time with a woman who rolls her eyes at your iPod playlist, flirt with the one holding season three of Family Guy at Virgin Megastore (360 Newbury Street, www.virginmegamagazine.com). Run upstairs to the Virgin Café with your new friend and discuss the finer points of Quagmire over croissants. Walk a block down to Newbury Comics (332 Newbury Street, www.newburycomics.com) and pick up an UglyDoll for your new gal.

Typically you'd need a date before heading to the movies, but the Coolidge Corner Theatre (290 Harvard Street, Brookline, www.coolidge.org) offers specialty Midnite Matinees where singles can meet. For under nine bucks, you can enjoy a late night of anime. And if you play your Pokémon cards right, you'll leave with the cute chick sporting the Hello Kitty backpack.

The Tribe, a group of talented Boston theater artists, puts on a creative and hilarious improv show on Thursday and Friday nights (Buzz/Europa, 67 Stuart Steet, www.tribeboston.com). With a gin and tonic in your hand, share a laugh with a sexy stranger. After the show, hit the many trendy clubs and restaurants that call the Theater District home sweet home.

There you go: eight perfectly good spots to meet your next fling. If none of these helps, there's always magazines.