I appreciate the responses so far. I think >>3's sounds reasonable -- concentrate on work. The current semester break is giving me plenty of opportunities to contemplate my situation. Even summer employment can only occupy so much of one's time. Hopefully, once classes resume I'll be able to get past this.

For >>2 and >>4, and even >>3 to an extent, I'm not being self-deprecating when I say that getting a girlfriend is an impossibility. I've posted here before, and suffice it to say that I'm not quite like most guys -- I'm an asexual. I still suffer cravings for companionship, but I have no natural outlet for these feelings. Something inside me yearns for the presence of a girl, but it's purely an abstract desire. Out in the real world, I feel no physical attraction towards anyone.

I suppose, hypothetically, I might be able to live with a purely platonic relationship, absent any sort of physical intimacy. But I strongly doubt, and for good reason, I think, that any girl would be willing to go along with such an endeavor. Certainly not on monogamous terms.