I just called John ("Uncle John", of Rachel & Jaimes' house) and asked him if he'd like to hang out with me sometime. We've never hung out on our own before -- we've seen each other only in the company of Jaimes, Rachel, and any number of other people, or at Tango dances every now and again.

For those of you who don't know, this is a big deal for me. I don't just call people I don't know all that well, or ask them to hang out with me. I mean, once I get to know them and am certain that we have already settled on grounds for a friendship, I'm happy to call. But until then? It sounds like a conundrum; I don't call or ask people to hang out until we're friends, but then how do we ever actually get to be friends in the first place?

I'm not sure how it works. Maybe, since most of the people I am friends with now were swing dancers or were friends-of-friends, I had plenty of opportunity to get to know them as friends before actually having to face up to taking initiative and calling or looking to spend time together on our own. Or maybe my friends tend to be better at reaching out initially than I am -- Jaimes certainly falls into that bucket. Or maybe, without even thinking about it, I grab email addresses before phone numbers whenever I can so that I can deal with new people in a less intimidating medium?

Whatever the case, I called John, despite not having a settled history of friendship. We're going to hang out on Friday! I will also see him at Tango on Wednesday if I stay in town instead of going to Tacoma.

I am excited. I think shaking up my social life a little bit will help jump-start me out of this emotional slump I've been caught in. And John is interesting and fun to be around. Should be good times! Be happy for me, that I am being so brave.