ccc...Courage

What makes the difference? A few friends of mine have been talking lately about dating and all of its nuances, and we're wondering: where is the line between freaky/stalker/too forward and confident/sweep off feet/thoughtful/romantic?  Once we finally know that we like someone... how do we go about pursuing them?  What kinds of things can we do to show them we're interested besides just asking them on dates?  What kind of things are more or less viewed as "sweet" and "thoughtful" that are non-threatening? Can a girl pursue a guy? What are the rules there? (I actually had an opinion on that one--and it wasn't that comforting to the parties involved... if I'm interested in a girl... I would ask her out.  Whenever I've had a girl ask me out... I've gone--and willingly--but they were never the greatest of experiences.  But there were also notable exceptions--but all of those I had been meaning to ask out). So, the best we could come up with is that confidence is key.  If you act as if you know what you're doing--as if it were completely normal and expected--that makes all the difference.  I dunno, what do y'all think?