January Goal #10: Accomplished*

My roommate decided not to take the job offer in Oakland anymore.  This of course was great news for me because you never really want your good friends to move (I already had to deal with my ride or die chick Samantha moving to Israel this past September).  I didn't quite accomplish the goal by sending him job listings in LA that were comparable to the same job being offered to him in Oakland, but I will take credit for helping him with his pros and cons.  Although, the first and only con that should have persuaded him to not go was the fact that he had to move to Oakland.  I mean OAKLAND, that's not even San Francisco.  I'm pretty sure a friend of mine described it best when he said "Oakland is home to the Raiders.  Enough said."

Other reasons include, but are not limited to:
1. The weather sucks.  It's always cold and muggy (I know as someone born and raised in the northeast, I have no right saying this, but I did kind of move to LA for the weather and to also pursue my dream of being Britney's back-up dancer).
2. Crime - I'm surprised the show "Cops" only shoots in Florida, but not in Oakland.
3. Staring over!  I mentioned to my roommate how awful it would be to have to start over when you're around the age of 30.  I briefly mentioned this NYT article Why It's Hard to Make Friends Over 30? and at that point, I saw the horror on his face as he slowly started reading it.

Two quotes from the article really hits close to home:

"No matter how many friends you make, a sense of fatalism can creep in: the period for making B.F.F.’s, the way you did in your teens or early 20s, is pretty much over. It’s time to resign yourself to situational friends: K.O.F.’s (kind of friends) — for now."

"After a move to New York in his 30s, Dave Cervini, a radio station executive, was so lonely that he would walk his cat in Central Park, hoping to stoke conversations."

I actually saw the second one as an opportunity to kind of get rid of Nala.  I told Tommy if he was going to move to Oakland, he can take her with him to walk in a park because god knows she needs to shed a couple pounds.

While home for Christmas break, my sister asked me how often I see my best friend or even some of my really good friends in LA.  I answered with almost on average every two weeks.  She was kind of shocked and thought that was really good.  Is it really good that you only see your friends twice a month?  She mentioned that she may only see her best friends once a month for a quick dinner and even then that might be a stretch.  The unfortunate thing is that I actually think I am one of the luckier ones.  I try not to go too long without seeing friends because then they just resort to being "Facebook" friends where you keep tabs on them and if something interesting happens in their lives you may want to "like" it or leave a comment, or even just go "oh, how interesting" and call it a day.  Yes, I'm aware technology has made us all very lazy individuals.

After all was said and done, we just sat in the living room on a brisk Monday night and watched a show that I will not name or will admit to the general public in which we just made fun of a whole bunch of hot mess women looking to find love in 9 weeks and shouting at the television set.  I just love the feeling of accomplishments!