Evening News

A quick plug for tonight's Full Measure concert on the Penn campus. 7 to 9 at the Cathedral at 38th and Chestnut. This is Penn's Christian a capella group, which Amy and I were actually members of (at different times) when we were wee undergrads.

I wish I could tell you more about the concert or about what Full Measure is like as of the start of the new millennium. But, I was supposed to go to an alumni dinner when I came home from work that evening and Amy told me she wasn't feeling well. So I decided to stay in, sent an apologetic email to the dinner coordinator, and was soon fast asleep on account of being old and tired.

Yup, this is what our Friday nights consist of. I was actually out late (well, late for me: 10ish) one night this week, a combination of our monthly church leadership meeting followed by hitting the neighborhood grocery store for a few things for a luncheon Amy was going to mid-week. And that one night just wrecked me. And so what if it had been two late nights in one week? Well, maybe it was just merciful that I couldn't make the Full Measure dinner.

In contrast, apparently the rest of the world actually does stuff in the evenings. I went to one meeting which concluded with two colleagues of mine, both older than me, kibbitzing about this big gala thing or that big gala thing that they were going to end up at that night. It was a Wednesday! Meanwhile, I routinely hear my twenty-something co-workers in the hallways swapping tips about fun things to do at night.

I say all this neither to wallow in my pathetic existence nor to wear my asceticism as a badge of honor. Really, I'm not unhappy about my lack of social life, and far from being proud I'm more than a little embarrassed.

But, ultimately, as an introvert, I need my alone time. My busyness means I need my sleep. My drivenness means I make choices to not do some things so that I have more time and energy for other things. And, I suppose the four-year-old and six-year-old have something to do with my lack of evening plans and my lack of energy even if I did have plans. So, at least for now, I'll have to take it easy on those evening plans.