MISSION: Missions!

Used to be that my lack of social planning wasn't a major problem. I lived with a group of friends with schedules similar to my own. We would arrive home and simply ask "What are you doing?"... joining was so easy that it wasn't even joining anymore; it was tacit inclusion.

It's not fair to make negative statements about the differences between that situation and my current one. I live with my wonderful wife and our great roommate. We have really stimulating conversations about all sorts of social issues. We get out of the city occasionally. We laugh. What I miss is the nature of the recreation that I used to engage in. Building, working, doing... these things aren't gone but they have the volume turned down.

It's also not fair to imply, as I have, that my living with the two lovely women has caused any of this. The cause is from two major sources.

1. My friends all moved away. Not ALL, and not AWAY. I just don't live with them anymore. I'll be at school all day and come home and I'd like to drink a beer and work on a bike or go on a mission to the hardware store for some stupid thing we'd like to jury-rig together. It doesn't happen spontaneously anymore, and by the time I remember to instigate it, it's Monday again. There are several exceptions to this general lack of local male friends...
   • Tyler
   • Andy
If I was more a go-getter we would spend more time together. Of course one is married with two kids and the other lives in Waltham.
2. I'm kind of a lump. Alternate phrasing: I have extremely large social inertia values coupled with a low-grade negativity complex. If I start doing something like going for bike rides after work then there's a good chance that I'll be doing that a lot, often at the expense of other valid social activities. Or, I just refuse to do things because they aren't exactly what I want to do but they are better than sitting around the house moping that "I'm bored."

The solution is, of course, to call people and to do more. I probably need more exercise too. That always makes me "lumpish". This website was called WACKO because I wanted to keep the social network open for all the good people that have brightened my door. It has recently turned into my own postings about various things large and small. I could place blame anywhere, but because I'm the one posting I'll simply forget about blaming and make a renewed effort to get folks together through fun events. If you know of any good stuff happening, please let me know if you would like to post it and we will GET IT DONE. Of particular awesomeness would be "missions" of various types. Most of my college friends will know what this is, but here's a more formal definition.. (because everybody knows how formally defining something is the best way to make it fun.)

Mission (n) 1. A goal-oriented task in which a group of people collaborate to solve a problem, make a discovery, or create something original. Tools are often involved because they are intrinsically awesome. 2. A challenging task with few justifyable purposes other than "coolness" or "fun". Examples of missions could be making home-brewed beer (in progress), welding a work table (in progress), obtaining rooftop access to a very tall building at night in order to take in the lovely view (any ideas?), converting a motorcycle to electric power (in progress), Investigating paranormal activity (unless it's just stupid), and building a structure in a remote location (on an island in Maine?).

I need to get out there and do more stuff. I realize that lots of people are working on houses or just working or whatever. I just need to do more stuff. Going a little crazy. Comment below if you have an idea. I'd like to hear it. You could also comment if you want to get working on any of the other missions that I listed. It's fun to work on stuff! Sidebar: Pogo is funny. I hope Koenig is ok. He had a surgery today for a cancer on his leg. Human-dog relationships are powerful.