i don't know that i'd be able to move to a new city. i've forgotten how to make new friends. when was the last time, outside of school, that you met someone totally independent of your circle of friends and got to know them and hung out with them on a regular basis. it's really hard, i think.

-excerpted from a friend's email-



the last few "new" friends that i've met have all been through the usual channels. i didn't have to meet them, they were connected to me through one degree or less of friendship separation. galvez, mike, may, christina, lilly, and gene. connected by (respectively) eric, lynn, gaga, hong, amit and hong. well technically i met christina at school but apparently, an in-class meeting is not comparable to an at-the-club meeting. the only friend that i might take "credit" for is my friend sara from multiple classes at ucsd.



i've made no significant work friends, i've not ventured out and met any random friends, everyone i hang out with in san diego are established friends or friends i've gotten to know better or friends that i met through other friends. boring isn't it?



but this is how it works. friends of friends. the circle of life is dependent on your people knowing other people. the advantages of this method are clear. less effort, more trust, more insider knowledge before you commit. but what happens when your friends run out of friends? when the circle collapses in on itself and nobody knows anybody else new? at this point, some brave soul will have to be shipped off to go in search of new people. this should be a requirement actually. like missionary work. every two years, have everyone split up so the waters of friendship don't remain stagnant. ideally, this would be naturally occuring because life shouldn't be so permanent that everyone sticks around for an extended amount of time anyway.



i suppose there are worse things in life than running out of (new) friends. what they are i don't know but i'm sure there are worse things.