Sorta OT: As you have gotten older....

[Mac Man]

Wow... this post is pretty point on, as my wife and I were just discussing this since my last buddy just moved back home to London--he had a job and house waiting for him and his wife there, and they were having rotten luck here.

 

Unfortunately, my department is filled with women at the college where I teach, most of whom are all new grandparents. The only two people close to my age bracket are two women--one married and one engaged. SO... between that and the 65 mile commute (one way), work isn't really an option to find friends.

 

We also have two kids--2 1/2 years old and 4 months old--and they are fantastic but real time intensive. Heck, my wife and I struggle to find time just to talk some nights between our kids and jobs. Having friends seems like I'd just be getting greedy.

 

In all honesty, it'd be nice but between family, work, and doctoral work, I don't know where I'd have the time. Shoot! It's part of the reason I'm hardly on the boards lately, and people whom I normally PM on a regular basis usually only hear from me once or twice every few weeks now.

[supapimp]

Not a single comic collector in the bunch...

 

me either. but that's a good thing. don't want to be a nerd 24/7. (thumbs u

[chrisco37]

Still one of my favorite trips was to Baltimore (where i live now ironically) and we drove down together, crammed ourselves in a hotel room, and all had a chance to hang out -- did it a couple years, or things like Bruce sleeping on the kitchen floor at my house with us all spread out in Philly. I still laugh about that stuff...

 

Yeah, it's weird that as you get older, you do grow apart. I have a couple really good buddies that I still keep in contact with and see occassionally. The nice thing is that I may not see them for quite a bit but when we get together it's like we haven't skipped a beat.

 

Two of my most favorite comic memories are the one year that I stayed up with you for the Philly con and the the Dynamic Forces shin-dig (still my favorite ever!).

 

The Philly show was great. IIRC correct, Bill (Shadroch) and I both crashed at your place. I think Gene was there too as I remember driving around playing the Killers in my gf's car.

 

The DF show was just the best ever; Litch, Peter (Paradise), Dave, you and I went out to eat at after the show. It was at the mussel bar. I hadn't even planned on staying up there (didn't even know it was happening until a day or two prior when Dave PM'd me). You guys convinced me to stay up there for the night. Then we hit the town and that bar that backed up to the courtyard at your place. I remember going outside for a smoke after you all had gone to bed and chatting it up with some local hotties. They both were hammered (so was I) and the one was getting sick on the street.

 

Good times, for sure!

 

 

[chrisco37]

All that said, the boards have been my social network for the past 9 years. And, I have made some really good friends thru them. Much more so than just "randomly" meeting people.

 

I feel like I have great peeps just about anywhere I go. When I moved to NC a few years back, Sal & Arex greeted me with open arms. We did the Bmore show one year (along with Watson & Guy); I got a speeding ticket on the way up. Sal has stayed with me a few times, and I consider him one of my closest friends.

 

When I went out to SF many years ago to visit a childhood buddy, the first day I got there he had to work. Supa invited me over to his place and gave me the city tour for the day and night. I swear he must know everyone in SF. Knowing I was a big Sandman fan, he gave me one of his Sandman #8's. FFB and Pov met up with my buddy, his girl, and I the following night down at some Goth bar. It was wild with Mike (Pov) showing off some of his awesome pre-code books in the strobe lights at Milk.

 

Borock and I hit it off right away way back in 2003 Philly show. A year or two later, I went down to Orlando to see a buddy of mine and rented a car and made the drive to Sarasota. Got the tour of CGC and stayed at Steve's house for the night (after a great steak dinner and drinks).

 

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention my homey, Lantern. He moved to MD years ago from Nebraska. I helped him find a placve for him and his wife to live. We used to meet up every few weeks for dinner and conversation for quite awhile. They used to listen to all of my crazy adventures from when I was single. Actually, just saw him about a month ago after a long break.

 

Oh. and one of these days, I'm going to get back over to Europe and see some of our British buddies. I expect that to be an awesome time. Although it will be interesting to see if I can jump around the continent in the time-frame as I will, almost certainly, be staying in Belgium with my oldest boardie homey.

 

I love the boards.

[dupont2005]

I really don't have any friends in real life

[Scrooge]

I am getting married in October though, so maybe my days of blissful ignorance are numbered.

 

Damn, you and your OO collections. You actually make $$$ at this collecting thing. I don't ... but at least I can relax to know that you're getting married. Life can't be all that great for you

 

Congratulations and many wishes of happiness :hail:

[adamstrange]

 

I think this article relates directly to the topic,

 

The pattern of calls and texts between humans reveals how women invest more heavily in their main relationship than men; and how this changes as they age.

 

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/27538/

[dupont2005]

I am getting married in October though, so maybe my days of blissful ignorance are numbered.

 

Damn, you and your OO collections. You actually make $$$ at this collecting thing. I don't ... but at least I can relax to know that you're getting married. Life can't be all that great for you

 

Congratulations and many wishes of happiness :hail:

 

 

Ditto on the congrats

[adamstrange]

Brian,

 

The timing for your post is surprisingly good. I just got a call a couple days ago from a long time friend whom I hadn't seen in a year. He's been taking care of his mother and realized he was going stir crazy so we're getting together to watch the Superbowl.

 

I used to do a lot more with friends when I was a traveling consultant. Even though I had less free time, I made a point to visit more Comic Cons and friends/family than I do since I stopped being a road warrior.

 

I am actually going to get out more this year and have just firmed up details for a Vegas trip to meet up with a few Boardies later this month. Can't wait

 

P.S. Your invitation to visit remains open. Give me a shout if you are ever in the area.

[ComicConnoisseur]

Most of my male friends have disappeared once I started a family.

We use to break each other balls and rag on each other during poker games.

I don`t know if I miss that experience or not.

[Dr. Balls]

Most of my male friends have disappeared once I started a family.

We use to break each other balls and rag on each other during poker games.

I don`t know if I miss that experience or not.

 

Ahhh yes, I miss my Saturday night poker game with my old buddies, too. We did it for over 10 years, but it fell by the wayside about five years ago. Major bummer for me.

[spidrvacc]

More I read this thread the more I lament. Used to play golf every Saturday. Regular bowling nights. Darts. Poker 7-9 times a year. Drive to PA to play golf 3-4 times a year. 10+ new York Rangers hockey games a season. Big super bowl party every year. Spend a fortune on prop bets, Madden challenges. We even used to play Madden online 1-2 times a week.None of that the last few years. Play Madden with my son mostly and watching Superbowl with my wife and son. Will add we still allget together once a year for our Fantasy Football draft from our league(which I won this year.6th win in 11 years.thank u Mr Foster). Cherish these drafts now.

 

 

[Trev]

'hanging out' certainly doesn't really happen much for me anymore, and when it does, it feels awkward in a way that it didn't when I was younger.

 

We have a core group of friends and within that group various guys and girls get together every once in a while. Definitely has changed since college.

 

I would say I have more loose friendships and acquaintances these days rather than the deep friendships you form in high school and college when there is more time to hang out and people are moving in and out of relationships.

 

A couple of my closer guy friends and I are a bowling team and we all work in the same industry and have similar hobbies (except comics). So every Monday night is the 3 of us getting together to drink beer, chat, and bowl.

 

My wife and I did a ritual for a while where we were at the same local pub with our toddler every saturday around 4 pm. We did that and just broadcast to everybody that we were there and our friends would pop in and out. Now we host it at our house a couple of times a month. Our 2 year old gets too bored at bars.

 

Texas Cons and the big sales events at my lcs are usually the time to get together with my local comic book friends and talk about comics. We occasionally get together for lunch or dinner too.

 

Back in the day, all my housemates from college would get together in vegas at least once a year for a long weekend, but as more of us got married and started having kids, that's fallen by the wayside. May pick it up again in a few years.

 

Then there's a group of comic book friends I meet up with every year at SDCC. Great thing about that con is that it's so big and 5 days long. So I get to spend a week in San Diego, hang out, and talk comics with a lot of guys who have become pretty good friends over the years. Probably my favorite week of the year right now and the main reason I go through so much hassle every year to get tickets. Comics is the backdrop for spending a week with good friends, staying out late, not having to drive, eating good food, and drinking.

 

I think I'm lucky to live in a town that has so many guys my age, in the same industry (tech) and with similar likes -- makes it easier to find people to hang out with and an abundance of decent bars makes it easy to get together