fun things i have done lately, part 1

[erf_]

Yes, I do occasionally leave the house, or do things other than make stuff. Sometimes. On occasion. Every now and then.

Last week I met theotherbaldwin in person! It's weird; I've known him through the Internet for over twelve years, longer than I've known most of my closest friends, and he used to live less than an hour's drive from me, but we'd never seen each

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[erf_]

I vaguely remember a webcomic that sold a green shirt with the "TALK TO ME, I AM FRIENDLY" on it and a red shirt with "DON'T TALK TO ME TODAY" on it. That's so nerdy (and sort of desperate) that I think it would turn most people away, though.

[erf_]

New York in a nutshell: A thousand acquaintances and zero close friends.

Maybe a bit of an exaggeration, as I do have friends from Oberlin and Edison living in the city, but virtually all of them are too busy / live too far away / have too little in common / actually kind of dislike me / are unapproachable for various reasons / never answer their phones, facebook, or email / are awkward around me due to a looming specter of heartbreak left over from college. I can't even get in touch with my old high school physics teacher to hang out.

I would like this city a lot more if I had people to share it with.

[erf_]

The only reason why that number has jumped from ten to a thousand is because I've been here two years (soon three!), gotten sick of being alone, gone to bars, gone to clubs, gone to street festivals, gone to farmer's markets, gone to dances, gone to parties, thrown parties, gone to poetry readings, gone to fiction readings, gone to weird geek social events, gone to weird geek business events, gone to see my favorite hard rock bands, gone to see my favorite folk rock bands, gone to see college bands, gone to see high school bands, gone to Coney Island, gone to arcades, gone to webcomics conventions, gone to church events, gone to library events, gone to volunteer things in the park, and I STILL don't have anyone I see more than once a month (at best). When people tell me "it's not that hard" or "you aren't trying hard enough" I want to go aaaaaaaaaahh stabbity stab

[erf_]

I have gone as far as going drinking with homeless people, although that's something I wish most people would do more often, lonely or not. Some of the saner homeless I've met are the only people in the city I know who might be lonelier than me. It's hard staying friends with them because, being homeless, they never stay in one place for long. But some of them have a favorite supermarket or Burger King to panhandle in front of, and having them greet you by name as you drop some money in their cup or share a sandwich with them--it means something. It really does

an xkcd variant

[erf_]

http://store.xkcd.com/xkcd/#JustShy

This would never work outside of an awkward geek community, especially in a large public metropolitan area where people will mostly point and snicker. But it's a nice idea.