and in a way, he's right. he expects me to fall in love and get married, and at first glance i felt the same rebellious stirrings that i felt when my mother belittled my relationships as "good experience" in preparation for the real thing. the rebellious stirring against this anathematic conception of love as something that happens at a certain time in one's life. the implicit assumption that i haven't found that person yet, and that i'm destined to in the future.
but, upon further reflection, i think i will find a partner and settle down. as i get older, it seems inevitable that my unconscious will start to push for this goal, and that the self-derived feelings of love will swamp the real-world situation. people go crazy as they get older, especially people without a safety net (love, religion, ...) like me. and one form of the craziness is the forced optimism, the necessity to take as axioms certain things about the world, such as the fact that i will at some point find mutual love, settle down, and procreate. (after all, it is by adoption of these axioms that i exist in the first place.)
so i don't doubt that i will at some point be convinced that i am in love and settle down. i just hope it happens before i delude myself into thinking it. before my standards start to slip.