A few good friends

I was invited by Allen to comment on this blog because I write a lot of my own stuff, but I haven't figured out exactly how to contribute things that go along with this blog's themes.

Nevertheless, I'd like to say a quick word about the author, Allen: He is a good friend. I'm not a big fan of getting older but I've decided to soften the blow of age by going onto facebook and inviting many of the people I'd like to see, to a birthday party. I don't know if that's lame or anything, people are usually celebrating each other's birthdays and going out for the occasion.

The last two times I've attempted this, the only person who showed up was Allen. Another friend in each case met me on my actual birthday, but still. I'd like to thank him but also just take a moment to think abotu how bad all my other friends are. They had such pathetic excuses too: A pair of my friends who live together treated the evening like a normal Saturday night and said, "We're not sure where we're going, we'll give you a call back when we figure it out." In other words, they had no pressing commitment. About three or four of my friends were this way. I had another friend, who said "Sorry, I can't come, I'm watching the UNC basketball game," which was odd because I was at a sports bar where the entire UNC fan contingent of Northern Virginia was probably at this bar. The whole affair just made me feel rather depressed, and to have a birthday was already depressing enough. All I know, is that the people who I invited are all people that I would go out of my way to attend their birthday parties if it made a difference to them. Honestly, I've never ever succeeded at getting all my friends together at one place.

Many people profess to be big fans of me because I have a certain style about the way I go about things in life. Some might even say I'm a popular person or have been a popular person at many points in my life. In fact, I learned in a gened class once on developmental psychology that there are four types of social categories: Rejected, Accepted, Controversial and Neglected, and realized that at various points in my life, I've been all 4. Growing up, i was rejected, than around high school i became popular, but after a while I started doing things that made me controversial, and when I first transferred into James Madison, I became neglected. So in response to people who tell me that I'm popular or well-liked, I've always brushed most of those comments aside. I once made a video on the popular website J-Maddy that was a big hit and sometimes people would recognize me from that video but that didn't matter to me, because popularity is short-lived.

What's good is to have friends. Reliable friends who if you're throwing a party would be eager to show up. People who aren't just someone who's your friend on facebook but someone who's your friend in person. So my message is to make an effort to be a better friend to your friends, because in the long run that matters more towards your character than compliments you pay or being a nice person. I also wish to shout-out to some mutual friends of Allen's and mine: Evan, Nick, Jason, and Josh, you have also been sincere friends of mine at one point or another and I thank you for that as well.