velvetpage (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
velvetpage) wrote2005-04-08 07:19 am
velvetpage) wrote2005-04-08 07:19 am
Happy introspections
It occurred to me last night, as I was contemplating the social event planned for this evening and generally revelling in the anticipation of it, that my entire outlook on meeting new people has changed since I joined the LJ community.
An illustration, if you will.
A little more than two years ago, while I was at the visible stage of pregnancy but had not yet reached the waddle stage, my husband and I went to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
thebitterguy's birthday party at a restaurant in Toronto. (Note: I knew thebitterguy in RL prior to this.) Across the table from me was nottheterritory. He realized I was at about the same point in my pregnancy as his SO, anidada, so we had things to talk about there. I shared with him my plans for a book, the concept of which happened to fit neatly into his areas of interest, and he made a suggestion that I immediately added to my outline for the book. (No, it hasn't been written yet. Someday it will be.) A few months later, when we were both parents of baby girls, the three of them came to visit the three of us and a proper family friendship had been born.
Contrast this with how I'm meeting new people tonight. A few months ago, I was chatting with another RL friend,wggthegnoll (formerly known as Rainwolf) via MSN. We got to talking about his Saturday night game and the people in it. I was so fascinated by the concept (sorry, guys, I'm sworn to secrecy) that I asked to have access to the journals and community where the game write-ups were posted. Thus I've been reading character journals and the game synopses as they happened, and I think I actually know more about the game than the players do. (No, I won't tell. Don't ask. Patrick would kill me. He'd have to line up behind Fleck, probably, and she's dangerous.) Over the course of a few weeks, I friended all the players, both their actual journals and their character journals, plus the wife of one player. wggthegnoll and ruiskafleck were entirely right; I'm going to get along splendidly with all of them. Tonight, I'll be showing up with sassy_fae, at a pub I've never been to, to meet at least three people I don't know at all, with the serious possibility that the two people I do know will not have arrived yet. These people do not use pictures of themselves as lj icons, so I don't know what they look like other than a pretty good description of mizheekay's hair. And yet, I feel like I know most of them quite well. They are more than friends-of-friends already. Much of the awkwardness of meeting new people will be absent, because they're not new. They're friends I've not met in person yet.
In other news, I am going back on a diet next week or the week after, depending on when I get the chance to do the shopping. (Probably the week after, immediately after all the birthday cake.) Reasoning goes something like this:
1) Seasons are changing, and I want to shrink a size before I have to buy summer clothes.
2) I want to stabilize at a lower weight before July, which is when Big Things start happening that will affect my body most seriously.
3) I've been eating crap lately, and that needs to stop now. Also, I haven't been working out much. The workouts need to start again. Committing to a diet will help me do those things.
4) Spring fever - I'm ready to try this diet again. I'm reasonably comfortable in my job at the moment, things at home are stable, and I'm not pregnant nor trying to become pregnant yet. (I've been forbidden by my sister to get pregnant more than a month before her wedding - she tells me if she has dresses made, and they don't fit because there's a baby in there distending things, it's my problem to fix, not hers. This is entirely reasonable, so I can't get pregnant before July no matter what.)
So the diet will begin immediately after the birthday parties for my daughter and husband. Stay tuned for further updates.
And now to get some work done before the kids arrive. Writing journals to mark. Argh.
An illustration, if you will.
A little more than two years ago, while I was at the visible stage of pregnancy but had not yet reached the waddle stage, my husband and I went to
thebitterguy's birthday party at a restaurant in Toronto. (Note: I knew thebitterguy in RL prior to this.) Across the table from me was nottheterritory. He realized I was at about the same point in my pregnancy as his SO, anidada, so we had things to talk about there. I shared with him my plans for a book, the concept of which happened to fit neatly into his areas of interest, and he made a suggestion that I immediately added to my outline for the book. (No, it hasn't been written yet. Someday it will be.) A few months later, when we were both parents of baby girls, the three of them came to visit the three of us and a proper family friendship had been born.Contrast this with how I'm meeting new people tonight. A few months ago, I was chatting with another RL friend,
wggthegnoll (formerly known as Rainwolf) via MSN. We got to talking about his Saturday night game and the people in it. I was so fascinated by the concept (sorry, guys, I'm sworn to secrecy) that I asked to have access to the journals and community where the game write-ups were posted. Thus I've been reading character journals and the game synopses as they happened, and I think I actually know more about the game than the players do. (No, I won't tell. Don't ask. Patrick would kill me. He'd have to line up behind Fleck, probably, and she's dangerous.) Over the course of a few weeks, I friended all the players, both their actual journals and their character journals, plus the wife of one player. wggthegnoll and ruiskafleck were entirely right; I'm going to get along splendidly with all of them. Tonight, I'll be showing up with sassy_fae, at a pub I've never been to, to meet at least three people I don't know at all, with the serious possibility that the two people I do know will not have arrived yet. These people do not use pictures of themselves as lj icons, so I don't know what they look like other than a pretty good description of mizheekay's hair. And yet, I feel like I know most of them quite well. They are more than friends-of-friends already. Much of the awkwardness of meeting new people will be absent, because they're not new. They're friends I've not met in person yet.In other news, I am going back on a diet next week or the week after, depending on when I get the chance to do the shopping. (Probably the week after, immediately after all the birthday cake.) Reasoning goes something like this:
1) Seasons are changing, and I want to shrink a size before I have to buy summer clothes.
2) I want to stabilize at a lower weight before July, which is when Big Things start happening that will affect my body most seriously.
3) I've been eating crap lately, and that needs to stop now. Also, I haven't been working out much. The workouts need to start again. Committing to a diet will help me do those things.
4) Spring fever - I'm ready to try this diet again. I'm reasonably comfortable in my job at the moment, things at home are stable, and I'm not pregnant nor trying to become pregnant yet. (I've been forbidden by my sister to get pregnant more than a month before her wedding - she tells me if she has dresses made, and they don't fit because there's a baby in there distending things, it's my problem to fix, not hers. This is entirely reasonable, so I can't get pregnant before July no matter what.)
So the diet will begin immediately after the birthday parties for my daughter and husband. Stay tuned for further updates.
And now to get some work done before the kids arrive. Writing journals to mark. Argh.