Make new friends

One of my friends is married to a possessive wife and has a little girl, so I practically never see him, another drives an ambulance, 24 hours on 48 off, and another moved to Tampa, Fla. A 4th friend is still stuck doing the same things we did over 7 years ago…so yeah, I need to get out there and meet some new friends that live here in Atlanta, are more accessible and more interesting.

In the last month I’ve attended a bunch of meetings with the hope of making new friends in artistic circles:

- Art meetup group
- Urban Exploration photography meetup group
- Photography/Model meetup group
- ArtWorld Atlanta group
- Madratz InfoShop group

I’ve participated in a demonstration for the Five Day Weekend on a busy Atlanta street corner, and signed up to volunteer with Planned Parenthood to defeat pending legislation in Georgia that could have devastating consequences (for anyone that believes in the concept of birth control).

I’ve met several new people as a result of all this, and continue to learn about new events/groups from the folks I’ve met.

I’m joining a new group for lunch tomorrow – we’re going to talk about the beginnings of an Atlanta urban explorers meetup group. It’ll be nice to get together with fellow creative types interested in exploring the city.

I’ve signed up to volunteer for the Atlanta Jazz Festival. I’m going to be working backstage fetching water for the bands on the main stage. Should be fun! I’m also volunteering for a jazz education program for high school jazz band students. I get to be an usher, or something like that. One of the headlining acts is going to give a lecture on improvisation.

I’ve also agreed to volunteer for Arts for Independence, a Jewish art fair at the Marcus Institute. Last year I handled signage and traffic. A great way to meet new friends.

And then there’s Eyedrum. Haven’t done anything with them in awhile, so agreed to help out for one of their shows. Eyedrum is a fantastic art space, and I think it’s important to help them out whenever possible. It’s a volunteer-run organization, and I know they can use the help.

I went to a meeting of this new group called, “Association of New York and New Jersey Natives”. It was a great way to meet new friends, and I look forward to going back. I met two fellow musicians. And I responded to an ad on Craigslist (or Atlanta Community Musician, I forget) and we’re now getting together to practice jazz guitar every Saturday.