Monday, November 2, 2009

Nine days of Nolstaga

I had a very special nine days in the Midwest. Probably some of the best nine days in the Midwest that I can remember. Things:

  1. Concert with Chris - We've been seeing shows together for almost 10 years, and its been 8 since we first saw The Lawrence Arms opening for Alkaline Trio at the 2001 Halloween show. Just wow.
  2. Zombie Crawl with Chris, Andy, Jared and others - All sorts of DSF/Chicago drinking memories coming back to life.
  3. Week at home with family - Good to see everyone. I got a night out with my brother, mom and dad. Would have been nice to spend some time with Deni, but she was sick and then back at school.
  4. Driving to Michigan with Chris and Football Master - I spent years making trips to Michigan with Chris and many others. Doing it again, despite the 6 hour drive there, was fun -- I can feel you breathing.
  5. Halloween Parties in Michigan - I hope that there are and that there are not photos of the hyjinx that ensued Friday Night to Sunday afternoon. Great times with great people.
I swear that every time I go to the midwest its going to be my last social visit. I don't know when that will ever really happen though. Every time I go, I leave hoping that the next trip will be as good as the trip just ending.

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Thursday, October 20, 2005

Social Darwinism

My friends Chris and Steve developed a theory called Social Darwinism. Just as in Darwin's Evolutionary survival of the fittest; the theory supposes that over time those people who are not strong enough friends will fall away and that the remainder will be a closely knit batch of true friends. Fallout can occur a number of ways: One is through transformation into a monster, (Screwing multiple friend's girlfriends or multiple friends (note the apostrophe) girlfriends, etc.). Actually, writing this down, it seems that Girls are a pretty quick tool for becoming a monster. Another, through less evil act of fallout is moving more than one hour away from your friends. (Michigan == 30 minutes away, Brookfield == 25 minutes away, Canada ~45 minutes away, Chicago == 3 hours away)

So what happens when an otherwise good friends leaves the state for greener career pastures? How can this person stay in close contact with his friends and how will he prevent himself from becoming a pariah? I think you can stay good friends with someone even if you don't see them every weekend or even every month. It takes effort and if you think your friendship is valuable, that effort becomes a non-issue.

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