Is There a Game on or Something?

I happened to see a Super Bowl sign somewhere yesterday, and I asked whomever I was with, "oh, is that tomorrow?" That might give you a clue about how (un)informed I am with when it comes to football. Sports have just never been my thing. Chris isn't much into sports either so I've never had occasion to try to transform myself into a big sports fan. I can say with positive certainty that I've never known Chris to watch a football game, that's for sure.

So often I find myself on the other side of what everyone else is doing/saying/liking. I spent Super Bowl Sunday cleaning, doing laundry, reading, critiquing a friend's writing, and prying Mathilda's sticky fingers out of Lucy's hair. Most people I know spent the day preparing for Super Bowl parties, and they're now happily settled onto their couches, placing bets on how many touchdowns whichever team is going to score. In this age of Facebook, I probably know more about football than I've ever known just by reading my friends' status updates. I feel like just about everyone I know is swept up in this game in which I'm not even slightly interested.

The same goes for television. Besides the small handful of shows I bother to watch (and not one of them is in season right now), whatever is going on in the world of T.V. viewing is beyond me. I catch little tidbits here and there, but by and large I'm a total T.V. ignoramus.  Now if we're talking Backyardigans, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, or that annoying Australian mermaid show, well then I'm totally informed. Actually, not really. But I'm at least aware of them and might be able to hold my own in a conversation about them. Not like any of my friends are discussing the latest episodes of anything that airs on the Disney Channel. They're talking about what's happening on Glee or the Real Housewives of ___________. And I am merely a clueless bystander.

Watching the news (or reading it) depresses me to no end, so there again I am totally out of the loop. I know I should be a more socially responsible human being and be knowledgeable about what is going on in the world. But when it leads to nightmares and long periods of melancholy, then I have to conclude that my mental health is more important. Again, thanks to Facebook I get the gist of the big stuff. And Chris is a newshound so he keeps me marginally informed. But generally speaking, the news is just one more thing I can't have an intelligent conversation about. If I hear of something that's of particular interest to me, then I will look it up and read various online newspaper articles about the topic. But if it involves a psychotic baby-killing mother, I'll probably pass.

Being an introvert and someone who doesn't generally like the things most other people like puts me at odds with the world. Double whammy. I appreciate my friends for their unique interests and personalities, and I'm pretty sure they return the favor. As a child, I went through a long period of having to adapt and being forced into learning how to effectively make friends because I moved so much. Then I went into a long period of complacency when my introversion got the best of me. And now I'm more or less in a happy place, where I'm more comfortable in my own skin and more at ease with cultivating friendships, despite the fact that it's sometimes challenging to find a common ground.  It's a nice place to be.