Post weekend update
Hi all... I know its been quite a while since I've updated. I've been working like a slave at Bennigan's... working a lot of double shifts and making a lot of money... I'm slowly getting used to working on my feet for over 8 hours a day. Its funny, having been out of the restaurant game for so long, I forgot what it felt like. I'm still trying for some credit-related opportunities around town, but honestly Austin is not a big banking center the way Dallas was. I'm thinking I'll stick with the restaurant job and start going to school full time so I can (finally) finish this damn degree...
This weekend was awesome, I got to hang out with Allison, Lacey, and Danny, and I met a bunch of people at Allison's place. I have to say, she has great taste in movies. We watched Mulholland Drive on Friday before the party, and she's introduced me to several movies that I enjoyed very much. I worked saturday and sunday (and banked over $200), Monday they made me leave early because I was way into overtime hours and restaurants don't like to pay OT. Worked again today, work again tomorrow, etc.
Monday night, since I got out early my roommate and I (we've known eachother since 4th grade) went to Razzoo's to have a few drinks, and we were talking to the bartender there. Usually when waitstaff or bartenders find out that a customer is in the restaurant industry, they are very cool about it. She gave us several free drinks, and we left her a 10 dollar tip. I also wound up getting her phone number, which is completely unlike me...
I was, up until the time I moved to Austin, in a 3-year relationship so I've been way out of the game... aside from that I don't have much confidence anymore when it comes to the dating thing. Slowly I'm starting to regain some confidence, but I honestly don't think anything will change much until I lose some weight... its one of those things I've been fighting all my life, and it has affected me in a great way. I know things will work out, and I don't know where it came from (asking for the digits), but I know that lately I've felt alone a lot of the time, and I don't like that feeling. Humans are social creatures.
I remember reading once about the human lifespan, and why, so long after fertility wanes, humans still survive. Most animal species don't live much longer than their sexual prime. A lot of animals don't even experience any sort of menopause. So what is the force that drives humans to survive so long? What caused our lifespans to increase a full 1/3 beyond our ability to procreate? The answer is social. Just like elephant herds have an elder female matriarch who is far beyond her sexual prime, humans live to be grandparents because grandparents play an important role in child-rearing and even parental education. Over time, those bands of humans who survived a little longer began to have a more successful litter, etc. Needless to say, the lack of social interaction is a definite detriment to the human condition.
I remember during high school, we toured some nursing homes, and the doctors there told us that residents who had regular visitations, especially by young people, survived much longer and were much happier than those who were alone most of the time, or only interacted with other residents. I read about an experiment once in a social psychology class where for six weeks, elderly patients in a hospital were visited daily by college students who spent only 2 hours with them. After the initial 6 weeks, half of the patients stopped receiving visitations. Within a month, fully 1/3 of the non-visited patients has either passed away or had severe complications, but those who continued to have visitations had only a 5% detriment rate. Could social interaction have such a strong effect?
Did you know, when you look at someone who you are attracted to (not necessarily physically, but overall), the endorphins released in your brain cause your pupils to dilate briefly? Next time you want to see if someone is attracted to you, or is really affected by your presence, pay attention to their pupils. This also happens when you have a thought that evokes a strong memory or attribution to that person. Food for thought.