Well I ain't a hermit no more, that's for fucking sure.

Last week was clothing make-over central. And last friday, in particular, was my test run in a social setting. Specifically, Drew's birthday party. It was a mix of psych people and a lot of his crowd. I'd decided on my new jeans (i.e. the ones that I don't have to cinch 8 inches), black tee, and small sweater. Over the course of the night I got about 7 compliments from people. They are really good jeans.

I also decided that, hey, my hair is buzzed, I'm mostly thin, and I have decent clothes, so let's try to pick up on chicks. And try I did! I quickly learned again for the first time that, yes, some women love to talk about themselves. The first one I talked to worked at an eating disorder clinic and seemed to have a martyr complex going. Thankfully 'boyfriend' poked up like a prairie vole finally, so I got to ditch that conversation after the mutual psych interest factor wore off.

I also went for the 'gradually weedle your way into a circle of people you don't know' approach. Somehow this translated into me meeting another amateur photographer who knew his shit. We exchanged sites and e-mail addresses. I guess that was a score?

My proudest moment was, with no pretenses, just going up to a cute woman and starting to talk. Her name was Christina. She was going into counseling psych to help disadvantaged people with vocational advocacy. Throw in some of my humor (?), mentioning my job, and that monkeys like to look at people with mirrors, and we hit things off beautifully. Things went so well, in fact, that the beaver-looking individual who'd introduced me to champagne + orange juice started doing that hovering male, showing affection to mark territory thing. Fun while it lasted, I figure.

I also talked with Erin for a little while about stuff I can't remember. She's pleasant, she's hot. Taken, true, but innocent flirting is innocent flirting. Although later on in the party she and another dude seemed pretty enmeshed in one another's attentions. Rumor has it, though, that her 'I won't visit Madison ever' boyfriend and her are close to breaking up. I only pay attention because I'd seriously wanted to date her at one point.

Most of the rest of the party I spent sitting on couches and talking. I learned Katie is really, really into animal advocacy and figuring out a way to assess psychological health. You could tell it emotionally meant the world to her. This came up in part because of an ethics discussion our area group had, with her on one extreme and Jason, a past study partner and rat researcher, in the other corner. For some reason she'd decided to sit on Physics Brian's lap. I say for some reason because her b/f Dan was 6 feet away. She and Physics had a discussion about him finding a woman and his wholesome, nice guy quality being a nice attractant. I almost laughed.

Brian was drunk for most of the party, then stoned on his ass for the 2nd half. Jarred and Tat were also pretty chill, but they seemed like I'd been beamed in from the planet Pimp by their reaction to my shit. I'll accept it, sure.

There were plenty of other people there doing their thing. But honestly. None of them are interesting enough to record for posterity. Except Drew. He's like Brian, but in a quiet nuttier way.

- - -

Things have been good with Hill. That makes it sound like we're going out. But that's not the dynamic. Can't really say what it is, except that she's a pro-active friend--that and she likes the poetry bit and random compliments, which is neat. I guess we're emotional supplements to one another, like a B-complex vitamin or something. There's just something unique about our friendship I can't put my finger on.

I've occasionally been worried because it seems like she's having sleeping problems. Or fatigue, maybe.

She also mentioned something this morning which seemed pretty big and unpleasant. I can't talk about it (you know my policy), but it was surprising that it happened. Not related to me, I can say that much.

- - -

And finally, something random.

So a few weeks ago my friend Ally decided I needed a MySpace account. She wouldn't take no for an answer, a few other people had asked about it, and I figured why not.

So last week I get a random email from someone I don't know. Turns out it was an Oberlin alumna who'd moved to Madison, wanting to know if I had contact with any alumni organizations or if I wanted to hang out sometime. This sprouted into a daily reply deal. Jessie seems like a good enough sort. She's 31, got her masters in Chemistry, moved here to get a job, is doing the whole hermit thing like I did because she's busy, and she's a geek. We'll probably go out drinking sometime, and I get the sense that I should introduce her to the psych collective sometime. She's looking for friends, so it seems like a good idea.

Now, I'm used to new and interesting people cropping up on occasion. This is a life long occurence that baffles me to this day.

Just to state for the record, though, I'm focused on finding and dating someone I meet face to face, and only face to face. No more long-distance relationships, no more net to real life relationships. I had my 40 years in the desert, got my t-shirt, and singed my ass at that burning bush quite a few times.

But when I do find someone, things will not change. I'll be the same, my friendships and b vitamin complexes with others will be the same. It'll just be my life + dating stuff.

Not like I've had an honest to God girlfriend anytime recently--but I can hum a few bars.

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