words

One handy thing about being able to maintain a high level of concentration - you can finish a book in one day. It took me approx. ten hours to read a 652-page book.

It was fabulous.

I laughed, I cried, I have a strong urge to buy a magic wand. The new harry potter was great, as expected. I foresee that this book may not be the favorite of the set for many. Most people will still say number four or five in the series is the best. I love them all equally for what they do, for the growth stages they represent. The best part (I will not be a spoiler) was where the end of book six leaves you.

The rest of the weekend was pretty nice. I spent some quality time with friends who have been just as busy with work lately as I have. It was really nice to see them, to catch up. We have all been working really late nights a lot lately, and Spaghetti even worked a whole 24 hours straight at one point. Those concepts of the single girl in the city partying like a rockstar, going out most nights of the week? Pshaw.

In the events of catching up with my gals, learned something new about myself. In an effort to really catch up on recent times, I asked my friends a lot of questions. Very carefully I listened, digested, really made an effort to see how they are doing. After several hours of me absorbing, I started to get angry because no one was asking me about myself. The feeling that I was only appreciated as an audience, a sounding board, made me feel so insignificant and hurt. I mean, don't they want to know how I am doing? How my weeks have been? Throughout the evening the frustration would build, and then several hours and several drinks later I practically exploded talking about my life, eeking bitterness. This same pattern happened two nights in a row.

The build up and explosion pattern is not what I learned. I learned that the problem is that I'm getting angry about something that I can fix. If I just said early on, jokingly - "hey, you should hear what is up with me!” or something of the sort - no buildup, bitterness, explosion. Once again learning how to ask for what I want, communicate my needs, seems the most obvious path to take, but was hidden from me.

It is so funny that I have mastered this ability in work, but it comes late in my social life. I suppose one lesson learned in a way led to the other. Now if I can master this new personal life skill maybe I’ll get the gumption up to reply to one of the fifteen winks and six emails I got from match.com. Yup, I posted again. After all, I was inspired when I just saw Shakespeare in the park:

"Most friendship is feigning, most love mere folly:
Then heigh-ho, the holly!
This life is most Jolly."
-William Shakespeare "As You Like It"