Post-Christmas Party

I did end up going to the work Christmas party, and despite the fact that my boss wasn't there to see, I stayed for a massive 2.5 hours! That's 1 hour longer than my boss thought I'd stay, and half an hour longer than Grad Daniel thought I'd stay. But it didn't end there. We decided to go to Costco afterwards to try and find a PS4 for Intern Daniel, but it was a failure, as there were no PS4s in stock. However, I did get to play a poor duet on the keyboard with Grad Paul which he failed after playing 3 notes. I actually had a really good time, although the fact that I had a cider and a Guinness may have contributed to my positive memory of the evening.

In response to my last post, Super Chris said:

I think the reason people might get a bit peeved about turning up for an hour then taking off is that, if you do this consistently, then it kinda sends a message that the only reason you're going is to keep up appearances instead of genuinely wanting to be there. Or it could be that the people telling you this are just dicks.

I can definitely understand the reasoning behind that. I guess I always just thought they'd prefer that I "kept up appearances" than not showing up at all, but maybe that's not true. Although it wasn't my intention, leaving early probably gives the impression that I don't like that person, or I am not enjoying the event. That's my main motivation for trying to get myself to stay longer. I need to focus more on the fact that I'm there to enjoy the company of the people around me, and the activity isn't the main focus. So that's why, once again, my new year's resolution is to try and say no to less things.

On a more positive note, I feel like I am moving into the next stage in my life. I've mostly moved on from the university mindset, and my friendship group has really changed since then. It's almost like this is the end of a season of a TV show, and now the cast is changing to keep the show "fresh" and to replace the people who have moved on to bigger and better things.

(Warning, these are links to TV Tropes!)

The Cynic is definintely J. Of all the people I know, he makes me feel the most like a wide-eyed idealist, but at the same time, he is such a strong programmer that I find myself emulating him a lot.

Love Interest has definitely not changed, and is still MrMan5.5.

Ensemble Darkhorse is Grad Paul, who upgraded from Token Minority (is it mean of me to think of him that way?) and I find his Deadpan Snarker attitude suits my sense of humour so well. That and that fact that we seem to have some sort of unofficial Settlers of Catan alliance going on means that he's always fun to have around at work.

The Confidant goes to Albert, which is strange, because when we first became friends, I thought he was really one-dimensional. But it turns out that he just wasn't really used to talking to people about things that were really important to him. I think over the year, we've both opened up a lot, and even though he doesn't play Dota, it feels like he understands a lot of what's going on in my life. Plus, he has been a huge motivator for me to lose weight. He has been on his own fitness spree, and any time I feel like reverting back to my old ways, he is always there to push me to keep going.

Grad Daniel is the other half of my Adventure Duo. I think when it comes to work related things, I am more the main hero and he is the lancer, but when it comes to social related things, he is the main hero and I'm the lancer. We both like to comfort each other in our social awkwardness, but we've gotten a lot better since the start of the 2013. He also likes to push me into going to work events, which will help me keep my resolution this year.

¡Three Amigos! is either Olek/MrMan5.5, or Char/Julian. When it comes to MMOs, MrMan5.5 and I are a Battle Couple, with Olek rounding out the party. In strategy games, it's more Char and Julian.

I kinda feel like Sharon and Graham got Put on a Bus this year, but maybe that's my fault for not keeping in contact as much. Hopefully The Bus Comes Back this year. :)

Hmm, that's not very many people, actually. Well, here's to 2014 and meeting new people!