Ah, for the days when my social life was satisfied by deciding between doing homework in the lounge in ESG or on Black Hole! Yesterday I almost-satisfied my social obligations with two dinners (with ESG and FBC folk) and two after-midnight visits (Lucky Corner Ladies and the Opium Den), but I was sad to miss seeing SCA folk at dance practice.

For all the joy I get from my projects, I think, like the old woman from Waking Life, the most important thing I’ve been involved in is people. I spent most of my social efforts in college being a part of my communities– I don’t think I just hung out with anyone for friendship’s sake until senor year. The strong friendships I formed were by chance, and maintained by coincidence. I have a better sense now of the fruits of friendship as a product of intent: time and effort and organization– if not through an organization (a community) then by constant planning. But every acquaintance I’ve made a comrade out of has been a reward worth the effort.

One technical problem I’ve never solved is keeping in touch. The moment I leave a place or take a break from an activity, I lose contact with the people involved. The immediacy of life gets in the way of well-meaning to stay in touch with friends. LJ makes it a lot easier (especially as I convince more people to join this borg), but it isn’t personal enough.

I have high hopes for my newest system: I’m combining my calendar, todo lists, and keep-in-touches in a kind of delayed-reminder system: I have a box of notecards, with dividers for each day in the coming week, weeks in the month, months in the next year, and beyond. Each notecard has an event (SCA Dance Practice), a todo (Write LJ Entry), or a person (Fred Flintstone). I grab the day’s pile of cards each morning, along with some blanks, and refile them at night. If I didn’t do something I meant to do, it goes into the next day; if I did, I can put it any distance into the future to pick up again then.