Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Lets Do the Time Warp Again!

Last night I tagged along with a group of people that went to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Palace Theater in Albany. That brought back some major memories of high school when a group of us would go to a party at Vinnie's house, have a few beers and then the party would move to the midnight showing at the Coventry (Art?) Theater. I also hung around with a group of people that dressed up and performed the roles onscreen. Last night's show was at 7pm, thank goodness - it was a school night! But then we went out to a diner, and I ended up getting home after 11.

This is the second group of people I've met in my quest to develop a social network. The first group was from meetup.com, the beer group. That was very enjoyable, and I've done a few things with them. The second group are the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). They do medieval stuff, which, believe it or not, dovetails nicely with my interests these days (spinning, herb stuff, dulcimer stuff, the old ways of doing things). The third group are the greenies, and I'll visit a forge with them on Sunday. I haven't met any of them yet, but there is an active group in the area.

Last night's group of people were really nice. I had a great time. I'm going to get a chance to practice my second law of building a life in a new place. (Review: the first law is to get out and meet people. Try many different things and groups.) The second law is, when you start to get invited to things - always say yes and go. Building a social structure is about getting to know good people that you enjoy being with. First meet good people. Then spend time with them so you can get to know them. Simple. (It's just sad that I've done this so many times I have laws about it!)

I approach building a social structure like I approach just about everything. Like a set of tasks that will achieve a desired result. In this case the tasks happen to be fun! I'm not all that patient about it though - I've been stacking up a few events every week to try and push the process along. The tradeoff is that things will not get done around the homestead, and I will not sleep as much as I like. (And I will put more miles on the car and more dollars fly out of the wallet than usual.) It is worthwhile work that I enjoy despite the tradeoffs - and I am happier, in different ways, than I have been in quite a while.

Anyway - I've been invited to a Halloween party Saturday evening and I've said I'll be there. Now I have to come up with a costume, something I haven't done in years! Years!

3 comments:

  1. Be sure to have somebody at the Halloween party take a picture of you with your camera so we can all see what kind of a costume you came up with!

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  2. I have a really lame idea involving my PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) from work. A lab coat with my name on it, safety glasses, a hard hat and boots. I'm SO not a halloween costume person! I wonder what a mad scientist looks like....

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  3. OK Jordan- leave off the hard hat...Look on my blog a few weeks ago and you will see what I did to my daughter's hair for Spirit Week hero day. She was Einstein! She gelled it & blew it dry upside down, which started it sticking out a bit, then I teased it so it stuck out all over and then we sprayed the heck out of it. While the spray was wet, I sprinkled it with some baby powder to whiten it a bit and then sprayed it again. The baby powder would be an option, but the spray was good..two coats, even better. I do opening for Bible School in the summer and some years have come up with some good costumes... I have tried to loan out my Scooby Doo outfit to several people, but so far, no takers!! It would be a lot more comfortable to wear the fake fur in October than it was in July! have fun at the party.
    When we were on our senior trip, one of our teachers/advisors took a group of us to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. It definately made an impression and we always bring that up when we talk about going to DC!

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