We all have friends that we wish we talked to more. Friends we think about all the time, who are genuinely an important part of our lives. But we never talk to them. After a seemingly arbitrary, yet tangible amount of time, you cross the threshold of "hi, how are you?" to "damn, I haven't talked to you in FOREVER!"
Once you pass that point, there's no going back. The longer you wait to call, the more awkward it gets, the less you actually have to talk about. You can't just pick up where you left off six months ago, and you can't fill them in on every detail. It's a cruel cycle. So what do you do? Give the most important events and whatever else you can, while trying not to have a 2 hour phone conversation. Then you vow to talk more often. Then you don't talk for another six months. Trust me, i'm good at this.
Right now, the blog is no different. I want to write in it, but I am in a state of paralysis; I haven't written in so long, I don't know how to start again. I guess I should follow the same protocol as before.
Oh Hi, internet! Thanks for calling. It's been too long. Yes, I know, i'm not the best at keeping in touch, but I promise i'll be better. Sorry, I can't really talk now. Can I call you tomorrow? Great. See you then.
Wait a second...
For those of you keeping score, it's been the new year for 19 days, and I haven't blogged in much longer than that.
What gives? I've been doing lots of cello playing and everything, and sometimes I get into these ruts where I block out the rest of life and go on in a trance practicing and eating and sleeping and whatnot. I'm waking up, and I think i'll start writing on this more. So i've made some new year's resolutions, a bit late, but in earnest.
First and foremost, I'm going to keep in better touch with my friends. If you're reading this, friend, don't be alarmed when I call. I do feel guilty, but it's the good kind of guilt. I have so many amazing people that i've been so lucky to have as friends it's pathetic how terrible I am at staying in touch. This was made apparent to me when I saw dear old Peter Lynn (visit his blog here) a few weeks back. Haven't seen him in years. No reason for that.
Next, I really have to start taking advantage of the city where I live. After being back in Kansas City for the holidays (which was awesome, btw) and Waco for the first time (also awesome), people asked how I liked living in NYC. I spent a lot of time talking about how great NYC is, but then I thought about it and realized that I don't really experience the city to it's fullest, and i'm not going to live here forever. But wait! Part of this resolution includes this blog!! In an attempt to take advantage of this fair city, i've given myself a challenge of creating more opportunities to photograph things, and to write about them. There it is. We'll see what happens.
Last, the obligatory exercise resolution. I really should do that more. It's not like I don't have the time. It's just that i'm lazy. Alyssa got a Wii (with wii fitness plus) for christmas, and that might help dispel the laziness if i can pass off video games for exercise.
Enough with the New Year's resolutions. As i've been writing this, Ted Kennedy's senate seat has been given, with the permission of a majority of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, to Scott Brown, a little-known, little-knowing republican who ran solely on the premise of stopping legislation that became Kennedy's life's work. Brown isn't proposing some kind of new regulation or ideas or something smart; the only thing he has is a number. Senator No. 41, stopping health care with just his existence.
Massachusetts, you should be ashamed. Just because Curt Schilling and Cliff from Cheers like Brown doesn't mean he'll do any bit of good for anybody. The most poignant irony is that Mass. has a health care system that resembles most closely a single payer system, and the people that voted for Brown are the ones who benefit most from it. We've been confounded by Massachusetts before (insert Dukakis joke here), but I thought they were better than that. Maybe it's time to be a Yankees fan.
