As of last Sunday, i've made the conscious decision to try to, as the subject says, broaden my horizons. I'm trying to put myself into new situations, because as far as i'm concerned, the situations i've been in haven't worked in 27 years. My life is pretty much the same thing day in and day out. Sure I hang out with friends now and again, but more often than not it's the same thing. Wake up, sit at home, go to work, come home, sit at home, go to sleep, repeat. After such a long period of time, that shit starts to wear on you.

Last week, I went down to Dana Point with Ben and some of his family members to watch the local fireworks show. After it was over, instead of sitting in an hour or so of bumper to bumper traffic, we went to kill a few hours at a nearby bar. That was...I believe, my second time in a bar, ever. The first time was just to see a local band play. I didn't do any drinking (either time, but I moved back to this last week), just hung out with Ben and Ewa and played pool for about 3 hours, while they drank. I had a really good time just visiting with them, and we talked about a bunch of stuff, and it was really cool. The only downside to it was that I had to work the next morning, so needless to say I was freaking tired.

Last Sunday, I went up to my friend Liz's son's birthday party out in Chino, and hung out there for a few hours. Midway through the day, when everyone else was in the pool/jacuzzi having fun, I slipped off on my own to have a little alone time. While I was out there, I did a lot of thinking, and that was when I decided that I needed to move out of my comfort zone more often than the never i'd done up until that point. Hell, I even considered starting to drink when out with my friends like the previous Friday. Haven't yet, but i've thought about it. Not necessarily to get hammered or anything, but more to loosen myself up in a more public situation, in the hopes the liquid courage will kick in, and maybe i'll take a chance on a woman that I wouldn't had I been sober.

Cut to tonight (Friday night), and Ben and Ewa called me up and asked if I wanted to go with them to a bar to play pool. Initially I declined, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to go, and eventually I did. We went to a bar not two blocks from my house, but it was super busy, so we moved to another one. The pool tables at the second one were both occupied, so instead of waiting, we headed to another bar where we decided to stay. We were there from about 11PM to 2AM, just playing pool and hanging out. Met a couple interesting people, and played pool with a guy named Oscar. Overall it was a real good time, and i'm glad I went. The only downside, as I discussed with Ben, was that there was this AMAZINGLY hot chick there playing pool at the other table. I literally couldn't take my eyes off her...but of course I did my best since I didn't want to seem like a leering asshole. As strange as it may sound, it was actually mentally painful to look at her, mainly because I know that, most likely, I will never score a girl like that. Sure, it's not a total non-event, but the chances aren't in my favor, lets say that. So anyway, it was like torture having her around, but on the same token, she was great eye candy. :p

So, that's been my experience so far in trying to get out a bit more, and so far i'm two for two. Here's hoping further ventures will pay off more.