Met People! Didn't Die!

I rode with four strangers to San Francisco last night, to attent an "after hours" event at the California Academy of Sciences museum.  Let me tell you-- being in a museum when it's usually closed it awesome, turning down the lights and giving people alcohol is awesomer.  The lines were long and the drinks were $9, so I didn't imbibe, but I imagine it was enhancing.  The main event (for me) was Adam Savage of MythBusters doing stand-up with some other SF comedians.  Here are some clips from the youtubes of the fabulous talent (no sarcasm, I laughed til I cried):

Alex Cole

Dave Thomason

Emily Heller

Emily Heller, Dave Thomason and Janine Brito (didn't see her, but I'd like to)

There were a few stinkers, tired old gender war jokes and one unfortunate (and likely accidental) date rape reference*, but all in all it was a great evening.  A reference to feminism was all it took for me and another of the participants to figure we were on the same foot, and when Adam Savage explained to his teenage sons that "The internet hates women" we both applauded.  I was also surprised how much San Franciscan comedians leaned on the "everyone in SF is gay" stand-by, especially since none of them were.

I'm proud of myself for getting out and hanging with complete strangers. Even happier that a few of them seemed like people I could genuinely be friends with some day.  Making friends is not effortless at this stage of life.

*To be fair, it was something a parent said to a child when they got flustered by a sex question.

Meetup.com in San Jose

Now that it's official, I signed up for a number of groups on meetup.com so I can jump in immediately.  Being in Silicon Valley, you have to wade through a lot of tech stuff, start-ups and New Age-y awfulness.  I was afraid that being in a non-tech field, having no children or power crystals, I'd be up a creek.  In the country's 10th most populous city, though, I will be ok.

The Non-Moms Club- Lots of clubs for moms, for all ages of children, but not a lot for just women specifically.  This group was created not to be anti-mom, but pro-we're-childfree-now.  They do a wide variety of stuff (drinks, hikes, charity), so hopefully I'll meed a variety of people.

Bay Area Ghost Hunters- J thinks I'm nuts, but I've never known any ghost hunters and it looks like fun.  Do I believe in ghosts? Well, not really, but I believe in having a good time.

San Jose ASL Meetup- This will help me practice the little bit I've learned in class so far.  I'm sure I'll be awful, but this is the best way to get better.  I've yet to practice with an actual deaf person.

There's a lot more, a lot of craft groups and biking groups, but I'll stick with these few at first.  The internet has made it really easy for me to have almost too much to do when I get there. Yippee!