Weekly New's, Week 9
This has been quite a week. I don't know what I'm going to do next week that is "new," but it might be something sort of low-key to make up for all of the (fabulous, exciting) stuff I've done in the past seven days. Technically what I'm interested in chronicling the new stuff, so I'm going to write about that first (although I'm finding that my weekly posts are becoming increasingly "diary-like" in nature, which is sort of a victory in its own right, as that's been something that's become challenging for me in recent years).
New's (not in any particular order):
1) Extreme Science lecture (for FREE!) at Berkeley Rep on Monday. I am by no means a scientist (just ask my high school chemistry teacher, with whom I had a really traumatic conversation on the day before my end-of-term final about how I didn't actually know any chemistry). However, I am generally interested in our world and our universe on a theoretical level. This lecture was, therefore, sort of perfect for me. These scientists were able to put their incredibly interesting, technical research into layman's terms and then discuss it. I learned about microbes that live in unbelievably acidic environments, bacteria that can be harnessed to convert sunlight into fuel, and a lab at the South Pole that is collecting information on neutrinos that are shooting through the earth. It was awesome.
2) I went to a 3-hour class on acupressure at Berkeley Adult School on Saturday morning. The teacher was really personable and knowledgeable, and she led a great class. I wouldn't say that I'm an acupressure expert, but I know far more than I did before. There were only 8 of us in the class, and I was the only person under 40. As usual, I apparently have no concept of what is interesting to people in my own age bracket.
3) Oh, after class I met my friend for brunch at a vegan donut shop on San Pablo Ave. called Pepples. To say it maintains a low profile would be an understatement (it has this hand-stamped sign which says "Donut Farm" in one corner that is all but invisible from the road), but inside it was hopping! Tasty (but sorta pricey) vegan brunch, and yummy vegan donuts to go. And I'd certainly never been to a vegan donut shop before!
4) My friend and I climbed Mission Peak in Fremont today. It was short (a 6-mile loop), but pretty awesomely intense. We climbed something like 2,000 vertical feet in under 3 miles. Also, the trail (and the summit) were PACKED. Apparently the locals spend all their spare time scaling cliff-like pinnacles inhabited by cows and countless orange peels (apparently "leave no trace" hasn't made its way to Fremont yet). The weather was unbelievably gorgeous: 77 degrees with blue skies and a light breeze. As much as I wish it would just rain good and hard, it was difficult to argue with the perks of this global warming business on a day like today.
5) I went to an engagement party on Saturday night (I may have been to one before, but I can't remember doing so right now). So much fun. More on that later.
6) I actually set up a meeting with my principal to discuss something that she was doing that was upsetting me. I've been putting this off for about three weeks because I was nervous and didn't think it would go well, and instead she was totally responsive and supportive and it turned out to be a really productive meeting. Yay.
7) I cancelled a field trip. We were supposed to walk the 1/2 mile or so to our local watershed to meet a naturalist and learn about life cycles and conservation, and it was pouring down rain, and there was no way we were going. Boo.
8) My beautiful, thoughtful, funny, quirky, intelligent, creative, all-around awesome friend asked me to be a bridesmaid at her wedding this autumn! I'm so honored. Enormous yay!
In other news, I feel like I need a social skills class for grown-ups. I've talked to a couple of friends about this now, and they concur (about the necessity of one in general, not for me specifically). I met/reconnected with several people this weekend who I had such a great time talking to/getting to know, and who seemed to really enjoy talking to me too. I really want to become better friends with them, and I literally don't know how. It would be easier if I had the type of friends who went to bars or did other things and didn't mind having random people come along, but a lot of my inner circle at this point are far more introverted than I, and I don't think they really like having new people sprung on them... and we don't do things like go out to bars a whole lot. So it would involve me really just sort of putting myself out there and reaching out and saying, "hey, come be my friend!" I feel like my 15-year-old self used to do that all the time, but in the interim I feel like the rules have gotten more complicated and it's challenging to find ways to reach out to others. The funny thing is, I'm sure that if I just invited them to go on a hike with me, or grab drinks, or whatever they'd totally be game (I know that I would be, if I were in their shoes). It just seems awkward anyways, somehow. Also, one of the people I was talking to this weekend was a single guy, and I'm a single girl, and while I just want to hang out with him as friends, I feel like that makes the rules 80x more complicated because whatever I ask him to do will look like I'm asking him out :/