Now along comes Days, a iPhone app for doing exactly what we did: using photos to stay in touch. What's the difference between this and say, Instagram? I think it's more a culture thing. Days prevents you from retouching your photos, it's supposed to simply be a record of events. It's supposed to be ugly (and probably boring) by design. I would have scoffed at such an idea if I didn't have that blogging experience with my friend. I mean, who really needs another photo app to document your life? Between Facebook, Instagram, Path, etc. it's more often you'll see three versions of the same photo. With Twitter for little thoughts and links, you could hypothetically know more about someone just by following all their shit online than actually seeing them.
Which is, in a way, what I expect people to do. I've recently discovered that I'm pretty bad at keeping people in the loop. I dislike catching up, I can't stand recapping stuff, I don't know how to fill friends in. But without those things, you can't really move forward I guess. Generally I just assume that if someone cares, they can check out my blog, my moblog, whatevers. Really, who has time for the minutiae of people's lives? I can barely keep track of what I've done, much less stay up to date on the lives of the people around me.
But that means you're also missing out, I guess. The minutiae is what bonds people, not to mention it often tends to yield the more interesting stuff. Unlike me, my friend has a friendship model where she's in constant contact with her close friends. I'm basically in zero contact with my close friends. I've generally always been that way. My top five friends from college and on, I'd probably see most of them once or twice a year, at most. And speak with them on the phone about as often.
Actually, for most of my twenties, my current roommate was one of those top five people, and now that we're in close proximity, we see each other only in passing. Our first excursion together into the city was two weeks ago. This after living here for six months. And we're both great with that. Different models, different ways of being close. Although it could be argued that not knowing what's going on could be construed as not that close. A debate for another time.
The friend I did the blog with, I haven't even seen since being in New York, despite being separated by a mere five miles or so. Maybe we need to get on Days.
After about an hour or so, her dinner friend arrived and the five of us had a good time chatting it up while the rain poured outside. We hit it off so well that Rachel invited us to her house for dinner. Apparently Rachel and her husband did a dinner party each month where they invited ten semi-friends or near strangers. It was a thing to meet new people, and to eat good food. That "D.I.N.N.E.R." happened a few weekends ago, as the three of us trekked up to Harlem.
Strangely, despite how often I've hung out with JMZ and Jenn, we've never really done the social thing as a trio before. Mostly I'd say it worked out well, and the dinner was fun and a good experience. Our hosts were tremendous and they showed us their art works and projects. Having a house gathering in New York seems like such a novelty, but perhaps only to my personal sphere. I guess you can't really invite people over for dinner unless you cook…and have the space for it. Rachel's apartment had a big round dinner table that seated everyone, which was impressive by New York standards.
Another night, I was talking to my other friend about how we'd like to switch over some friends. Not friend dump per se, but like a culling. New people, new perspectives, new conversations. I've been feeling this way for awhile, and had been waiting for summer -- when people come out to play -- to implement this. My friend and I compared it to adding a new wardrobe for the season. Out with the old, in with the new. This may seem shallow, but it's really more about shaking things up, or being a bit tired of it all.
In June I'm headed to a wedding in Vegas, followed by a short sprint in San Diego, and a very short jaunt up to San Francisco for Camp Grounded. The latter is a "summer camp for adults." Then it's back to New York to fully enjoy summer. The weather is still not shorts ready yet, but soon it will be.
New York is about to start its bike sharing program and I have visions of myself zipping around as I drink lots of calamansi juice. Calamansi is my new non-alcoholic drink of the summer. I don't know how my Filipinos have failed me, since not one of them have ever told me about calamansi juice. I'm hoping Jamba starts incorporating it into their lineup soon. And courtesy of Amit, my alcoholic drink of the summer is Grey Goose and soda, with a splash of pineapple. It's appropriately called "The Amit."
Oh yeah, I had a book come out last week. I'd nearly forgotten about it. It's ghostwritten so I'll be flogged for publicly revealing the title. The cover is shiny and pretty to touch. Seven years, three books. I'm on a roll. Clearly.
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