Alright, finally got out to the bar tonight for a friend's birthday. I know the group of people she hangs out with and their even less socially outgoing than I am so it was a good excuse to get out and force me to sarge. By the time I got out the bar was packed and couldn't find anyone I recognized. I walked around looking for my friends and scoping out the crowd (lots of talent), trying to remember my material since it's been a while. After ~10 minutes I just went with the friends opener as an honest opener (literally: "hey, let's chat, I cen't find my friends) to a 2 set, HB7s. Just as I'm rolling into the 5-lies game I get blown out by their friends arriving, not sure how I should have counteracted this. I decide to try the 5-lies on one of the newcomers, it goes well but she immediately loses interest when it's over. Seeing I've lost the set I eject and find my friends at the next table (blind as a bat, I know). I chat with them for a few minutes, get the "i belong here" vibe going with myself then decide to get a beer at the bar. While waiting I engage an HB6 about the crowd and roll into the 5-lies game with a beer as the bet. She manages to win but already has a drink. HB6 tells me she's just in town for the weekend and to find her once I get a drink. I get tired of waiting and decide to just rejoin my friends. A few minutes go by and i see HB6 and her friend, HB8, by the pool tables. I wander over and start chatting up HB8 while HB6 is circling the table. I get through a short DHV story I call alien hunter, forget to kino escalate (always do) and start to lead into career discussion when HB6 indicates their going to dance. I can feel the mood shift but decide to follow them anyway. As soon as we reach the "dance floor" HB6 says they're going to leave. I eject, rejoin my friends and quickly call it a night.

Afterthoughts:
I'm definietly having trouble getting DHVs out there and kino escalating. Opening is easy for me and I have little problem doing it when it feels appropriate. I just have such a problem with maintaining conversation after opening that it keeps me from approaching more often. I think the set, HB6/HB8 blew out due jealousy from HB6 but I'm not sure how to prevent it in the future. Overall I'm sure I need more field time but I want it to be systematic growth instead of uncultured time wasting. I'll post about the alien hunter later for opinions on that.