1)Last Tuesday, get a friend to tape the State of the Union.

2)Compile a list of buzzwords.

3) Get a bunch of friends together on Saturday night, watch the tape, and drink for each buzzword.

Our list was heavily slanted towards international issues, which we'll have to modify next time. The end result was that after 20 minutes of "Freedom terror terrorist Iran freedom terrorist" we had a roomful of angry drunk people with nothing much to do but listen to all the stuff about health care and scientific research. Which of course made us even angrier.

Anyway, kudos to Aaron for coming up with the idea, and providing many drinks.
***
There was one conversation that should be preserved for posterity, because my friends are in fact geniuses. (OK, yes, this was actually earlier in the afternoon, and not part of "Slam State of the Union" at all. Shut up. I've got a narrative flow goin' on here.)

Bizarro Jesus. That's right. Bizarro Jesus. He does the opposite of everything Jesus did.

There was the day he turned wine into water. "*Sigh* Thanks, Bizarro Jesus..." He turned totally healthy people into lepers. There was also the time he brought a multitude of loaves and fishes, and made one guy eat all of it. I could go on.
***
Every time you are significantly messed up, you should try to find a Great Truth. (I don't always succeed. One time, all I came away with was that cigarettes last longer if you don't light them.) This time, it seems to be that finally, I've succeeded in making non-Tau friends.

In Milwaukee, everyone I knew was more a roommate's friend than mine, and really more "stoner associates" than friends. If I said what was really going on in my head, they just looked at me funny.

In Nekoosa, my social life was all about the Nurgles. Which was great, of course. I would have gone insane without them. It was just frustrating to know that most of my witty thoughts about books and the right kind of movies were going right over the heads of 90% of the people I talked to on a regular basis.

Then, I moved back to Ripon. Nurgle had proposed the theory of people who "could have been Taus" but I hadn't met any of them. D and I moved back to be among our own kind. Finally, I could say "Arthur!! I have POCKETS!" and everyone in the room would be on the same wavelength.

I was terrified to move here. I remembered all the nights that I'd lived basically anywhere BUT Ripon, and my socialization options were limited to watching D. play video games, or get drunk/stoned and talk about how cool it was to not be sober.

But this time, it's ok. There's Aaron, and Chrys and Ian. Sometimes, there's even Dale. (Dale says he and Ian were part of a Taulike group when they were in college, which is also a little mind-boggling to think about. You mean...there's MORE of you?? Like, A LOT more? And NONE of them were anywhere near Ripon??)

The main problem is that all the people who enjoy antisocial activities like reading and watching old British TV shows tend to spend their free time alone. They're hard to meet in most social situations. When you're lucky enough to find them, though, it really is kind of amazing. "You read books? Wow! I thought I was the only one..."

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