Conversation openers

Chatting to new people can be difficult. You remember the social group I joined back in February? Well, it’s probably best to say it’s been a slow burner, which is another way of saying that I haven’t really had the time to get that involved in their events.

What tends to put me off is the fact that you have to book and pay up front, so if for any reason you can’t go (or, *whisper*, something better comes up), you might lose money. As a result I haven’t really got to know people at anything beyond a superficial level. Making new friends is hard work. It’s about discovering things you have in common. I quickly realise that my experiences/interests and those of others differ widely.

In the course of one evening, I find I’m:

· Saying that I find Morris dancers who have been roaming the town with painted faces a bit freaky, and finding that others don’t agree
· Trying to explain how Twitter works, and why it’s interesting to find out what Philip Schofield is doing
· Defending Facebook as a method of communication – if you use it properly!
· Leaving the question ‘why did you join?’ hanging in the air.
· Trying to find an adequate response to the query ‘couldn’t you find anything closer to home?’ when I say that I work in Liverpool
· Discussing just how many of the pubs of York I haven’t visited (quite a few actually, believe it or not), and that whilst I haven’t been thrown out of any of them, I have been asked to leave quite a few*
· Defending the wondrous venue which is the Evil Eye against the shocking allegation that it’s a ‘den of iniquity’ as ‘they sell absinthe**!’

They are generally nice, and friendly, people. It’s just that at the moment it feels like quite hard work. I am going to try and persevere, particularly as Autumn is approaching, and at the very least it will get me out of the house.

*Because they wanted to close, I hasten to add.
**well, yes, they do, but I’ve never been brave enough to try it.

Cute, but understated

Once again, we’re 'in bed' at the Evil Eye, discussing life, the universe and everything. Sometime after I’ve tried to explain the difference between sci fi and fantasy, and bonded over the cat-love with D, we move on to other topics.

‘You could have stalking t-shirts done, you know like those gig t-shirts with a tour list down the back, you could have stalkees down the back’. We collapse in giggles at the idea of having ‘this year I’m stalking…’ with a list on. We’d have Griffin*, and ‘Corinne’s Richard’, and John Barrowman even though we haven’t stalked him yet.

I comment that I’d need a very big t-shirt. And it would have a lot of actors on it.

Having made Coza snort coke**, and nearly choke, we decide that we’re cute, but understated, stalkers.

* well, he’d have to be top, just in terms of sheer volume

**of the ‘diet’ variety, I hasten to add

The best laid plans...

It’s been a funny old week – things I’d planned for didn’t happen, things I hadn’t planned for did, so that by the end of it my brain feels pretty scrambled – or at least that’s my excuse for not blogging for so long!

Saturday and Sunday – we thought we had first one gig, then two gigs, and then, finally no gigs, owing to illness. But our planned party went ahead anyway, although it never got out of the confines of the wondrous Evil Eye* cocktail bar – well, if you have a bed, food, and a young man bringing cocktails to your bedside, how can you possibly move (other than for chips!).

Sunday - we shopped, we ate, I drank, and a generally good and relaxing time was had, until the evening, when I found myself seriously unwell**.

Monday – dragged myself to the docs – oh how I hate going – but then I was in pain, and it’s amazing how that focuses the mind. Anyway, no work for me for a couple of days and very little food. I am now on a seriously low fat diet, which means, oh horror, no chips!

Wednesday – back to work – but it was fun, although my almost coast to coast drive in the evening so I could meet an old friend was probably a little crazy, but then I hadn’t seen her for two years. Her children are incredibly well behaved! During the course of the evening, I talk to another friend about possibly getting away for a break later in the summer, and she mentions the fact that she fancies the Dordogne…pony trekking! Given that my experience on horseback is limited to the donkeys on Scarborough beach when I was 5, I decline the offer, and suggest a weekend city shopping break might be a better idea.

Thursday – back to work part two (I have two jobs) followed by evening drinks with another friend. We realise that more than 3 months have gone by without us actually meeting up. Yes, we have been talking about going to Stratford for months, and it hasn’t happened. Suddenly now we’re talking about Edinburgh, so watch this space.

In so many ways, I’m glad it’s almost the weekend.

*with thanks to Corinne, who has taught me how to do ‘pretty’ links
**which I stress was nothing to do with alcohol!