Yawn

A relatively boring day at work today, so what do I do? I blog. :-)

Actually it's been a pretty boring and socially uninteresting week in general so far; few dating prospects, nothing really going on other than "24" tonight and "Reilly: Ace of Spies" this coming Thursday. I really need to find myself a social circle.

Actually, this appears to be a pretty big theme with me lately. I'm a lonesome person, granted. However, I have a pretty diverse array of interests and one would think I'd have parlayed this into some sort of local social group by now. I used to have a group of local friends, say, three years ago, but since then they've all moved out of town; one to Chicago, several to the wilds of Maryland (driveable, but only just), one to Birmingham, Alabama; the list goes on.

Okay, fine, go out and find a new circle. Well, here's where the hitch comes. Where does one go to do such a thing? Bars? Yeah, right. Work? Not where I am; I've got one buddy here, and we do do a lot of talking, but he's twenty years my senior and there's little socially that we have in common save for checking out the occasional movie.

Hmm, dry so far... What else? Clubs? Church? User groups? Classes? Jeez, I don't know. Here's where we get way outside my comfort zone. I'm not naturally gregarious. People like Tripp, for example, naturally gravitate toward "people" situations. A dead evening for a guy like him (Hi, Tripp!) will only have him talking to five or so close friends, while a busy weekend might see him zipping among dozens of people. A gregarious week for me might witness me talking to a dozen people all told. I just don't seem to be wired that way, and the idea of just popping in on a social group for the purpose of meeting people is an uncomfortable and alien one. Artificial.

But then, what's the alternative? Evenings with my dogs and cat and an apartment full of whirring gadgets, and the occasional date from Match.com. Argh.

-Rich