Yesterday Mister T and I found ourselves downtown with a desire for socializing and consumption of alcoholic beverage. We checked out Upstairs real quick, but alas we were all alone with no band. And so because it was a warm day we went to Brutopia for a few beers. The place was empty, relatively quiet. There was some old guy on stage with a guitar playing some blues. Nothing special, but it suited my mood. We found seating on the terrace in the back. Nice warm outdoors, not crowded, we proceeded to drink. The conversation eventually shifted on my fear of approaching random people. I have this problem starting the initial “icebreaker”, but once introduced I am capable of following the lead and starting a conversation of my own. My greatest problem is literally the first five seconds where you make “contact”. From voice contact I can drive no problem. T is of the opinion that the best way to cure me of my aversion to “first contact” is to put me in a situation where I am forced to make that contact. T is a big fan of travel, and he envies me because I have the option to pretty much travel as much as I like, even though I don’t like to over-juice my parents. In his mind I should go someplace I've always wanted to go, but alone. Knowing myself, I know that I would rather experience new things with people I like, who are cool. Such is human nature. T believes that travelling to places alone brings people together and gives great opportunities to break ice, meet new people. He is correct, but I argued that such a situation wouldn’t benefit me because putting myself in a different country/culture, would automatically make me stand out and become more approachable because of my differences. About this time we were interrupted by a polish individual who happened to overhear T talking about a trip to Poland. T invited the fellow over to sit with us and we spoke of random things. I know he wouldn’t have invited him if not for our conversation, but it was cool talking to some random person and having a beer with him. The Pol wasn’t anything spectacular, and at the end of the evening I think I was relatively indifferent, but it was fun and the alcohol was good.

More people picked up guitars and played some Dire Straits. The night got cool. Around 2 AM we parted and went home.

After some reflection I’ve decided that random travelling would not solve my concern because I already have friends all over the world. What I desire is to meet more Montrealers and meet new people. This is almost solely in the aim of meeting some feminine counterpart/fun. I do plan on travelling this summer, but I still don’t know if I will go alone.