Planet of Women

I have some good New Years/Birthday Party stuff to write about, but will wait until I can get pictures up on here to share those yummy details.

It is 4:00 a.m. and I'm sitting here with a big bowl of Cheerios. I didn't have any kind of dinner, and I fell asleep at around 10:30 p.m., which explains for this late-night foray into blogging that hasn't occurred in quite some time.

Tonight was my monthly book club meeting. I have been a member of this particular book club since April 2004. I have also been an inconsistent member for that long. It was never this bad, though. At first, I went every month, maybe missing one once in a while. But in the last year it has come down to going every few months. I am both a literature major and a slow reader, so I just can't find the time to read books in addition to whichever ones are on my current syllabi. I feel badly about this, because the group is made up of a good bunch of 20-something women (I am the youngest) and we have not only read good books, but also frequented good restaurants and shared good conversation. I really like them.

The last meeting I went to was last May. Seriously. How wrong is that? I felt terribly guilty for neglecting them for so long, but I did not do it on purpose. Anyway, we began instituting this new policy in which members take turns choosing what we read. Last month, they were gracious enough to give me a turn, and I chose Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress by Susan Jane Gilman.

Boyfriend asked me a few questions about my book club; namely, do we only talk about the book? (my answer: no) and if not, what do we talk about? men? (my answer: rarely). After having told him that (mis)information, the meeting was surprising.

I arrived a little late after having gotten lost. (Bad directions: saying walk against traffic while meaning walk with it.) Five women were there (different ones make it each time, I think we have a total of eight members, after some having left because of being too busy, like myself!): I will call them K, M, K2, J, and I. I had never met J and I before, so we were introduced. M, K2, and I (uh, I as in me) once went to a fabulous multi-author reading together, and K is the group leader, so I know the three of them "well."

I awkwardly sipped Diet Coke and listened to the five of them talk. I was the George Harrison of the group when it was first formed, but eventually I felt comfortable enough to be more vocal around them. Time away, it seems, leads to regression, so I quietly listened to everyone else converse. It brought about new revelations. I didn't know K had a boyfriend, or worked for a magazine. When did M begin law school? No kidding? I felt very sorry that I had no idea about any of these details, and they had no idea about my recent stuff.

At one point, M asked me, "So what have you been up to lately?" I gave them the usual B.S. about how school is and how it keeps me busy and how sorry I feel that I haven't been there in so long (like I'm more busy than a married woman in law school *rolls eyes at self*). When I first arrived, they had asked me how long it took to get there (I live far) and I explained that I had been with Boyfriend not too far away so I hadn't come all the way from home. They pressed me for details now. "How long have you had a boyfriend?" "Where is he from?" "What is he like?" "Tell us everything!" So I gave them some basic background information, and they wanted to see a picture. I had a couple of the two of us on my cell phone, and they cooed, "He's cute!" It was so stereotypically girly that I had to laugh, especially since the book we had read for this meeting was a memoir by a woman who is totally feminist and counterculture. I also talked a little bit about my possible job in Venice for the summer, and M smiled and said, "I feel like we see you every four months, and every time we do, we are all so jealous of your life!" I kinda scratched my head over that one; they are all involved in activities that are equal to, if not greater, than mine.

There was pizza and wine and salad and spinach quiche (supplied by me), but I didn't touch a thing but the Diet Coke. Didn't feel like eating, in fact, felt a little faint but toughed it out for two hours because I am already the delinquent member. It was fun to catch up, I suppose, but I felt like such an outsider. It's my fault, and I hate to have regrets concerning missed opportunities, so it was kind of sad. But, what can I do? Perhaps I will make it to more meetings in the future. Next month's read: The Tropic of Cancer.

I am in another book club, one that was put together for the fellows in my program (it is 99% English majors, hee hee!), and am now reading Angels in America for that. I'm in love with it. In love!