I was getting rather depressed reading this thread, but this post turned it all around. What a brilliant positive attitude! And excellent advise, doing what you love and talking to strangers (within the bounds of common sense) is a fab way to go about life and potentially finding a partner.
I'm sorry that you have had bad experiences in the past, but if you actually want a relationship (no worries if you don't
) this seems to me to be a rather backwards way to go about it... No one gets anywhere without putting themselves out there.