Social Butterfly (on Roller Skates)

I almost titled this entry "Why I Should Get Out More."

On Thursday I hung out with a coworker. I have a sort of unofficial rule against fraternizing with people I work with-- hell, I see those people often enough, right? It's important for me to have a division between my job-life and what I unashamedly think of as my "real" life. But I don't know that many people in Santa Cruz, and I like her, so we got together. Sat outside a coffee shop and talked; it was really nice, a simple conversation. We have similar tastes in movies, books, and other miscellany, so that makes things easy. We have obsessions in common. And so on. We went to Bookshop Santa Cruz (both of us find the presence of books very soothing; one could extrapolate certain psychological facts from that, perhaps, but I'll refrain). We hung out there for a long time, me pulling books of poetry off the shelves and reading to her.

I love reading poetry. My own, other people's, whatever. I just like to have a receptive audience, which I did, so I was happy.

We talked about relationships, because we both think about them a lot. She told me that if a man can make a woman laugh, he's won her-- it's only a matter of time until she falls for him.

Damn. Why'd I have to be born beautiful instead of funny? :)

After Bookshop we were hungry, and nothing sounded good, so we came back to the Other House on Maple Street and I made us a really simple spaghetti.

It felt good to cook. That's one of the things I miss most about being with Meg on a regular basis; we used to cook together all the time. We had our old standards, and we'd experiment… It was part of the mortar that held us so closely together. We have a really good relationship. Something must be done about this appalling distance between us.

We talked, I drank a little gin, we watched some television. She didn't leave until around 2 a.m. A really nice time.

Last night, Friday, I drove up to Berkeley to see my friend Seanan. I've known her online for something like five years. We do call-and-response poetry together. I'd never met her, but I'd seen pictures, and I know her, so there was no noticeable awkwardness. We were at the Starry Plough. I drank pear cider, which, predictably, I love. I met her friends, really lovely people, and we watched two Celtic bands.

Mmm. The first, Avalon Rising, was a more traditional band. The performance was so tight. They've been playing together for years, I guess, and it really shows. I actually wished that I could dance, when that's an ability that I rarely envy (when I dance, it looks like a pig on roller skates. But I don't especially enjoy dancing, so that's okay) I had a blast. The second band, Anwyn, is a sort of Thrash/Celtic/Blues band. They rocked, too. Most of the people in the bar were clearly long-time fans, everyone singing along, everything friendly.

I'd forgotten how much I like shows. I used to see quite a bit of live music in Boone. I was a devoted 3-five-7 fan, I caught Jodie Manross whenever I could (she still plays a lot in Knoxville), and I was buddies with Agent Ink, emo-punks extraordinaire. I miss all those bands. I should go to more shows. I wouldn't mind catching Anwyn and Avalon Rising on a regular basis, especially if Seanan goes to most of their shows; it's nice to have company at those things, even if it's too loud for talking.

I left about 1:30, I guess, and after the requisite missing of turns and wrong-way driving I made it back to Santa Cruz. Slept. Rose today.

The reason I didn't call this entry "Why I Should Get Out More" is because, well, I shouldn't-- this was about the right amount of getting out. I'm already feeling a counter-impulse to cocoon, to do solitary, quiet things. I'm not a social butterfly, and I'm quite comfortable in my own skin, alone with my thoughts… it's about balance, right? Balance is the thing I've lacked-- I tend to swing too far in one direction or the other. But I'm working on it. I already feel more settled and soothed, like some mental weight is shifting to a less precarious position.

Going to enjoy the day a little now.