Shall We Catch Up

Hopefully I'm not the only one with this problem,
I really don't think I am,
but I often forget about people.
Not in a "Oh, I forgot you existed" way,
although some people actually fall in that category.

I'd like to explain myself as an "out of sight, out of mind" kind of guy.
If I don't see you on the regular,
chances are you won't hear from me often.
If I do think of you, it's most likely as a memory.
"And then she held my hat as I threw up on the side of the road.
Hmm, wonder what she's up to now? ...oh well."

There is definitely a list of people with whom I want to link up with
but I'm often busy with this or that and have no mode of transportation.
Even when I'm not busy, I'm too afraid to contact other people
because I figure they're busy with their own lives.

Then there are those people I don't know how to hang out with alone.
If I were to describe myself again,
I'm better as a group friend than an one-on-one buddy.
Chances are I wouldn't have more than 17 minutes of material
I could talk about with certain people,
that I would be comfortable enough talking about I should say.

I suppose there are few things more awkward
than running into an old friend unexpectedly though.
You're sort of thrust into a conversation
of seemingly meaningless small talk
until one of you has to hurry off
while the other says "We should hang out some time."

But I've been wondering lately,
how sincere are those offers?
Do people really want to catch up with you
or are they fine not giving a care about you?

Speaking from my own experience
it's sort of a combination of the two.
Yeah, I would definitely love to see you again,
but I can keep it moving without you as well.
Sad as it is, there are a lot of people in the world,
enough for me to forget all about you for prolonged periods of time
no matter how undoubtedly awesome you are.

That said, as I prepare for an actual life after college in Baltimore
I'm putting forth more of an effort to connect with my friends local to the area.
I've seen enough of my friends graduate and move back home
to realize I have to spend energy to maintain or rebuild friendships.
Because before you know it, you could be all alone.
And that's not a good look.
Word

59) Go without meat for a month

Vegetarians and vegans have always been something of a curiosity to me.
I suppose as a man, meat plays an integral part to my diet.
However, I wanted to see what would happen
if I took it out completely, without warning.

Now, I asked my vegetarian and vegan friends beforehand
about proteins alternatives besides peanut butter and beans.
They told me a few good things, like kale and such.
One suggested tofu,
but I've tasted tofu and it isn't for this negro.
I planned to stock up on different items,
cook different vegetarian dishes for myself
Neither happened.
Nevertheless, on October 1,
I embarked on my meatless month.
[Yes, many gay jokes ensued
the moment I mentioned it on Twitter.}

I basically continued to eat the same campus food minus the meat option:
pizza with no topping, burritos/quesadillas with black beans as the star, salads with no chicken.
At the time of consumption, I would feel perfectly satisfied. However, within an hour my stomach annoyed me with hunger.
As I figured, peanut butter became my best friend: the perfect anytime snack on a cracker, bread, or spoon.

There were often times when I wanted fast food.
But the thing about fast food is... it's all meat.
Yeah, there are salads, but if you buy salad from a fast food joint
you may want to reevaluate your life.

During my stint refraining from meat,
I may or may not have had slip ups.
When you've been eating meat repeatedly for 15+ years, it's a habit that dies hard.
For instance, October 2nd I ate a friend's dip sparingly for an hour after she said it was buffalo chicken dip before I realized the buffalo taste was coming from chicken.
A week later, at 9 am, I came across an opportunity for free bacon.
You don't pass up free bacon, unless you're (a real) Muslim.
I was chewing up the dead swine before I realized I couldn't eat meat.
That's was the hardest thing I've ever had to do:
spit out that delicious meat that made my mouth water.

However, I trucked on...
until I said f*** it two weeks in.
That's right, I only made it halfway.
I got tired of being hungry and cranky everyday.
Ultimately I asked myself what others had posed to me: why are you doing this?
I wanted to see the effect it would have on my body; I felt sluggish.
I wanted to see how vegetarians did it; by smiling through the tears.
I wanted to show off and be able to say I did it; two weeks is more than most Americans will ever put themselves through by choice.

So how have I felt being back on meat this past 2 weeks and a half?
A bit more content after meals, for sure.
At the same time, I've noticed a sluggishness afterwards
that wasn't there during those two weeks.

Overall, I've determined I don't need meat with every meal
for it to actually be consider a meal in my mind.
...I just need it with most of them.
Word.