Hi! I think I'm drunk. But the laundry's done. How odd that these two things could happen concurrently. But I'm the only one home so it must have been me. hmm.

Aw. Cute drunk!Laga.

What I discovered when I moved here was that people would start treating me like a friend as opposed to an acquaintance about a year after I'd given up on them and pulled up my own social and emotional drawbridges. It baffled me at first--I'd think, "Wait, I thought you didn't like me, and NOW you want to know how my novel is going and want my advice on dealing with your mother-in-law?"

Yep. It takes longer, but the thaw does come. Interesting that Seattle is so similar to the Northeast in that way.

Heh. Well, I HAVE noticed how crazy polite everyone is here, especially when driving.

But also, after the ice skating several people came back to my house for cookies and cocoa, and we realized that all five of us were DC transplants. :)

It's also possible that, being me, I just haven't noticed the freeze, because people are polite and nice but reserved and I just barrel ahead and say "So you should come to this event and that thing and we should get together on Saturday and you'll come ice skating, and have you met so and so, she's alos very cool...." Heh.

Nicole, you have to stick with the series to the very end to get to the part you are asking about.

Now I'm at OKCupid. I can't decide how I feel about this. I think I might not be able to do on line dating anymore. I took the "how jaded are you by online dating?" test and scored a 75. Laughing like a freak the whole time. And crying a little. God people suck. Why don't they like me?

Maybe it's the latitude!

Though, of the four places I've lived for a year or more, Philadelphia was the most social and easy to make friends in, even when I leave out freshman year of college when EVERYONE was a stranger and desperate to make friends. My small-town Alabama hometown was a bit harder to break into if you were new or were trying to move between circles, but it's also the kind of talky, gossipy place where everyone knows everyone else's bid'ness. And I had an easy time making friends when I was in Bristol, though I think part of that was that as an American I got a sort of "honored guest" treatment--people were anxious to take me sightseeing, explain cultural nuances, and so on.

given the choice between Seattle and LA, Seattle seems like the better bet. I'd rather have to earn a friendship over time than to get handed one and have to figure out over time the level of sincerity.