A year's discoveries

[avram]

Oh, what a lovely New Year’s Eve! It’s been I don’t know how long since I went to a New Year’s party, somehow I never wind up hearing about them or something and Chris and I wind up spending them alone together. But this year I had not one but two parties to choose from, and got to go to both.

The first, at the Queens home of batyatoon and sdelmonte was loud and jumpy (in a mostly good way), and I got to see cadhla one last time before she wings back home, and looked at more of camwyn’s sketches, and smooched in the new year with Chris. They threw us out at 12:30, but I was still in the mood to do stuff, so Chris and I headed back into Manhattan to see if the Columbia crowd party at JI’s was still going on, and it was. Much quieter, more relaxed, and absolutely yummy food (mmmm, stinky gruyere), a nice winding down. This would augur well for 2003 if I believed in omens and augury.

At some point I seem to have gotten onto 45 people’s Friends lists. How the hell did that happen? And why do so few of you comment?

It’s traditional to do some kind of summing-up of the past twelvemonth when the calendar cycles, so here, some of what I’ve learned in Ought-Two, and what I intend to do with that knowledge in Ought-Three:

• Discovery: My social life improves if I put some effort into it. A minimal amount of effort produces moderate amounts of good stuff. Resolution: Find out what a moderate amount of effort does.
• Discovery: Any weight loss plan ought to include exercise. If I work out strenuously and regularly and watch what I eat I can lose ten pounds a month. Resolution: Do that for at least six months.
• Discovery: Microwave, in the right context, is a very funny word. Resolution: Practice restraint.
• Discovery: Women really do like bald guys. I get more flirty attention from women friends now than I ever did when I wore my hair down past my shoulders. Resolution: Stay more or less bald. Also, don’t let anyone other guys know the secret to female attention; I don’t need the competition. So don’t, like, post this to the Internet or anything. Also, invent time travel and tell self this like twenty years ago, along with investment tips.
• Discovery: All TiBooks look alike. Resolution: Stickers, stickers, stickers!
• Discovery: The Boston area has lots of way cool people. Resolution: Go there more often.
• Discovery: Greyhound’s security people are evil and stupid. Resolution: Use cheap Chinatown buses to travel to Boston. (More buses. And still more.)
• Discovery: If I don’t make art, then no art gets made by me. Resolution: Make more art!

Comments

dunno

[jmhm.livejournal.com]

you seem so self-contained.

(Of course, that's no excuse, because I friended you in, I think, April).

erm.

Hi! (wave wave)

Julia
(jmhm/sisyphus shrugged)

[bohemiancoast.livejournal.com]

Er, well, commenting not ever my strong point; that's why I do a fanzine.

[hawkida.livejournal.com]

Are you counting me as not commenting? I can't remember if I've commented on your journal. I probably have. Well, I definitely have, now. If I hadn't previously then there's no reason beyond not having anything in particular to say.

[pookfreak.livejournal.com]

Hi there I found you through cthulhia a good friend up here in Boston. I'm not a huge commenter usually unless I have something to say but I should have at least introduced myself.

Happy New Year

Jeanie
ps you're right about bald guys ;)

[avram]

Discovery: The best way to get comments on LJ is to complain about not getting comments.

Or maybe I could just post something really offensive; that generally worked in apazines. (Not my strategy, mind. Just something I saw happen with others.)

[kuronekogirl.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a good evening indeed! And you learn something new every year. Or atleast one whould hope so.

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

I mostly don't comment because most of what you write about is far enough out of my knowledge base that anything I say would be stupid.

You're on my friends list because I think you're dangerous to turn one's back on. :)

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

I like your third discovery/restraint the best.

[mamishka.livejournal.com]

Okay, so now I want you to break your third discovery, screw restraint (whoo hoo!), and give me the story behind the microwave. ;)

As for why people don't respond, I find that people generally don't say anything if one's posts are happy, generically informative, storylike, or too long. On the other hand, whiney unhappy posts usually garner a response from at least a few people. Posts about doing unusual and strange things get responses too. Also bizarre short one line posts ("Cat on the Head! Cat on the head!" or "Short attention span sucks!" for example) seem to gain attention. People like a mystery and want to know what the heck you're talking about, or just offer their 5 cents. :)

[avram]

The microwave story isn't mine to tell, though I heard cadhla tell it three times and could probably do a decent job of it by now. Gotta be done in person, though. Trust me on this. Next time you're on the right coast, or I'm on the left.

[batyatoon]

Miiiiiiicrooooowaaaaaaaaaaaaaave!

Restraint is so overrated.