It's pouring right now, and I couldn't be happier. I like when it's raining because it's perfectly acceptable for my jobless ass to sit at home and watch crappy TV. Of course, I'm beginning to go completely stir crazy. I've taken to forcing myself to take at least one trip outside each day. Usually, it's to the park to read for an hour or so. It makes me feel as if I've accomplished something.

Should I be worried that I'm not insanely reading the canon of my academic field this summer? I have one friend who "studies" every damn day even though he is not taking any classes and has plenty of time. Personally, I consider that a one-way ticket to Burnoutville, but that's just me.

We went to a barbecue yesterday at a friend of J.Bro's/new acquaintance of mine. The first time I met this girl, I hated her. She completely ignored me and Mike and spent the evening engrossing J.Bro in stories that included such lines as "what I was really arguing about with my dad is what constitutes art." She was pretentious and obnoxious and seemed to dismiss me even though we're both studying in the same field. (She, of course, at the fancypants Ivy school in town.)

The next time I got dragged to something she was at, however, she remembered me perfectly and we had a real discussion. This impressed me greatly, because lord knows my biggest pet peeve is when I have to be introduced to the same person a ton of times and they pretend to not know me.

Anyway, long story short, we went to the barbecue at her house. It was incredibly awkward because most of her friends are completely socially retarded and didn't seem to know how to talk to people they didn't know. The one girl who made an effort turned out to be someone who would hate everything I enjoyed. Example: Me: "Oh, you live near Low-Cost Bar!" Her: "Um, yeah. I don't know if I'd consider that a good thing." She also talked shit about Cheetos. Not cool.

The only person willing to talk to me was a 7-year-old girl. Yup, good times. It reminded me of when I first started going to stupid hipster parties in Athens.

All in all, it made me appreciate my friends all the more. Y'all are friendly, good people who can actually hold a conversation. And you continually surprise me. I had an IM conversation with one of you late Friday night that just amazed me. (I didn't mean to bag out early, but my computer started flipping out, hence the abrupt end to it with no goodbye.) So, in a longwinded way, it's raining and I love my friends. And Cheetos.