I think my "stop coughing, go sleep" drugs just kicked in, but that won't stop me from posting!
1. I'm close to declaring "nice" a non-descriptor. Some guys use it to mean they're laid-back and unaggressive, which is prized in a a few circles but widely reviled as unmasculine. Some use it to mean they're considerate, which is a great trait if you can find people who aren't looking for the bad boys. Some apparently misuse it to mean that they sit in their room, twiddling their thumbs and wondering why nobody has teleported into their bed yet. Too confusing, I hate using it now.
2. The secret I was let in on, courtesy one of my wiser friends who approaches love as an exercise in natural selection: "bad" boys are good for making babies. "Nice" boys are the ones you actually RAISE babies with. Definitely not an axiom of human interaction, but I'd vote to avoid the ladies with a long and fertile (hur hur) history of baby daddies and interpersonal drama.
3. Speaking of, that first chick, the one crying on your shoulder back when about her awful boyfriend she kept going back to? GO. LEAVE. GET AWAY. RUN LIKE THE WIND. If you ever find another chick you think you might like with similar patterns of "my boyfriend suckssss, ok time to go keep dating him," TREAT HER LIKE SHE'S MADE OF EXPLODING URANIUM. You can't force yourself not to have crushes, but you can sure as heck choose not to indulge them if sanity and logic indicate that they're completely toxic. That kind of dysfunctional, borderline-abusive pattern CAN be overcome... but not easily, probably not without some serious hard knocks, and absolutely, positively not without the person in question setting out to fix it all on their own. Be wary if they come to you acknowledging they're broken, and stay far away if they're still oblivious or uncaring.
4. There are many ways to improve your romance skills, and half of them you've probably never thought of. There's experience, which is obvious and invaluable if used right, but there's also older and wiser people who will sometimes share
their experience; not to mention just getting out into the big wide world in unrelated ways will help. Basically: go live. If nothing else, you sure as heck won't be bored.
5. I don't know what your tolerance of "naughty" subject discussion is, let alone your experience. That said: Dan Savage's advice column, while often raunchy and very opinionated, has broken my worldview and put it back together again dozens of times, for the better. Good for learning just how weird and wide the world of romance is. (NSFW, NSFW, NSFW, possible NSFSanity at times, don't read it on a public computer if you can help it!
Linkity!) If you need something less outrageous, reading nearly any other advice column is a good way to introduce yourself to the surprisingly common fears and follies of humans. I can't promise it directly helps, but I find comfort in knowing just how far "normal" stretches.
6. And about that experience thing? Don't fear it too hard. We insist on endings, so they're inevitable. And by the time you add up all the ripples, it's nearly impossible to declare anything "good" or "bad."