And I sat down to write something up about writers/artist block the other day.
Yeah, that's all I had.
Fuck it.
(Seriously though, I got something cookin'. I'll have it up in a day or two.)
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Cloverleafing Social Circles and You.
As I was driving to work today, I got to thinking about how people tend to attract specific types. I'm not necessarily talking about in a relationship-y kind of dating way. Just gravitating towards certain kinds of people. Like me, I find myself usually hanging out with other geeks, or other bartenders, for instance. It's pretty rare that these types of people overlap outside of actually sitting at a bar. It makes me kind of feel like a walking Venn diagram that contains like, one other person that I know. We develop circles of friends based on our interests, and we tend to keep them separate. Friends I know through previous parts of my life (bartending in the Carolinas or in Colorado, people I went to high school with, art buddies I talk to through PJ or SRK.com, people in my WoW guild, what have you) tend to stay in pretty small, self contained circles.
I used to date a girl who juggled several of these types of circles. She wasn't particularly extroverted, but when she did meet a new friend, she usually adopted that particular circle and kept it separate from the rest of her friends. On the odd occasion that there was a situation where the two worlds would collide, she would always comment that, "My circle of friends is cloverleafing! I don't know how to deal!"
Often times this leads to sometimes humorous and other times disastrous social interactions. I had a friend from Virginia staying with me for a few days when I was living in COS. We were invited to a party with some of my Colorado bartending friends. Most bartenders I know tend to be partiers, and are used to looking the other way if not actively partaking in certain... urban pharmaceuticals. It's just part of the casual restaurant and bartender culture. Doesn't mean everyone does it, hell, I don't, but I learned a long time ago to look past it. It's going to come up at some point with that kind of crowd though. Just the way it is.
My out of town friend? Totally not part of that particular circle. I didn't have any kind of a sheltered upbringing like she did. Needless to say, she really wasn't prepared for that kind of a party and spend most of the night extremely uncomfortable, but I will giver her credit for sticking it out and making an effort. It was just a kind of lifestyle that she couldn't (and still can't) wrap her head around. Partying, drinking to excess, things like that were taboo to her. As we were driving back home, she commented to me, "I never would have pegged you as they type of person to condone some of the things I saw in there. It's boggling to me how quickly you can switch between perfectly normal and safe to fitting in with that type of element."
Is it that unusual to compartmentalize our social interactions? Maybe it's just the different types of people we know, but I know that there are just some of my friends that I can't mix. I, for instance, know I wouldn't take some of my heavily religious friends out with some of the people I worked with in the past. Not just because of the theological differences of opinions, either. Hell, I go out of my way to avoid those kinds of conversations enough in my day to day.
Not that this is exclusive across the board. I'm sure I could pretty easily overlap some people of some circles together and they'd get along just fine. It's just that I can count those on one hand. For every time I've had it work out well, there's two more where it hasn't, and I'm slamming back shots just to make it through dinner.
I used to date a girl who juggled several of these types of circles. She wasn't particularly extroverted, but when she did meet a new friend, she usually adopted that particular circle and kept it separate from the rest of her friends. On the odd occasion that there was a situation where the two worlds would collide, she would always comment that, "My circle of friends is cloverleafing! I don't know how to deal!"
Often times this leads to sometimes humorous and other times disastrous social interactions. I had a friend from Virginia staying with me for a few days when I was living in COS. We were invited to a party with some of my Colorado bartending friends. Most bartenders I know tend to be partiers, and are used to looking the other way if not actively partaking in certain... urban pharmaceuticals. It's just part of the casual restaurant and bartender culture. Doesn't mean everyone does it, hell, I don't, but I learned a long time ago to look past it. It's going to come up at some point with that kind of crowd though. Just the way it is.
My out of town friend? Totally not part of that particular circle. I didn't have any kind of a sheltered upbringing like she did. Needless to say, she really wasn't prepared for that kind of a party and spend most of the night extremely uncomfortable, but I will giver her credit for sticking it out and making an effort. It was just a kind of lifestyle that she couldn't (and still can't) wrap her head around. Partying, drinking to excess, things like that were taboo to her. As we were driving back home, she commented to me, "I never would have pegged you as they type of person to condone some of the things I saw in there. It's boggling to me how quickly you can switch between perfectly normal and safe to fitting in with that type of element."
Is it that unusual to compartmentalize our social interactions? Maybe it's just the different types of people we know, but I know that there are just some of my friends that I can't mix. I, for instance, know I wouldn't take some of my heavily religious friends out with some of the people I worked with in the past. Not just because of the theological differences of opinions, either. Hell, I go out of my way to avoid those kinds of conversations enough in my day to day.
Not that this is exclusive across the board. I'm sure I could pretty easily overlap some people of some circles together and they'd get along just fine. It's just that I can count those on one hand. For every time I've had it work out well, there's two more where it hasn't, and I'm slamming back shots just to make it through dinner.
Monday, February 8, 2010
So you want to be a blogger...
Someone earlier today suggested I start a blog to help me kind of kick start my old writing habits. In theory, I thought this was a good idea. Not only would it give me a chance to get used to writing on a regular basis, but it would also give me an outlet to spout off on whatever I wanted to talk about, regardless if my friends were interested or not.
Sometimes, popping into Vent and ranting about some topics just isn't cool, ya know.
So here it is. The thoughts and opinions of a geeky bartender on whatever I feel like spouting about. Expect to see me rant about news, current events, art, geek related topics, WoW, and whatever the hell else I feel like. While I'm generally a nice guy, I'm also a cynical, smartass bastard with a dark sense of humor. You've been warned.
Sometimes, popping into Vent and ranting about some topics just isn't cool, ya know.
So here it is. The thoughts and opinions of a geeky bartender on whatever I feel like spouting about. Expect to see me rant about news, current events, art, geek related topics, WoW, and whatever the hell else I feel like. While I'm generally a nice guy, I'm also a cynical, smartass bastard with a dark sense of humor. You've been warned.
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