I'm a starting newbie with a couple of experiences with FBSM places, but I want to move towards more intimate. I'm a relatively young guy, 24 years old, planning to be going to school in the LA area. When I try to make an appointment, references always block me from moving forward. Is there another way I should go about and handling this?  

One is to join a screening service, and the other is to find newbie friendly providers.

This is the most often asked about subject on this board, so do some research on the past threads and you'll find lots of reading.

There are 3 main ones, DateCheck, Preferred411, and RoomService2000.  RS2K is popular in the midwest, the other 2 more widely spread.  At P411, Gina and her staff will work with you to get you verified.  That site also allows the providers to indicate on their profiles if they are newbie friendly.  You will have to give up some personal information to get verified, but it's better to give it to one or two sites than a number of providers until you get some references.  DC and P411 are both good, check around in your area to see which is most popular.

Wow thanks this was informative. I'll go check these out.