Why is no one spontaneous?

I decided to be spontaneous tonight. I called my friend Diana and asked if I could stop by. It was 8pm. I knew she was home because her husband was out of town for the week. she was suprised and invited me in for some wine. After an hour or two of catching up, I went home.

I miss spontaneity. I sometimes see my friends in other countries or cities more often than I do my neighbors in DC. We have to schedule to meet for coffee, or to say hello, or god forbid, to have a meal. I feel too scheduled and overwhelmed by the tyranny of the calender and clock in DC. Every minute of my days are scheduled. I miss spontaneity.

When I lived in South Carolina, we were always spontaneous. Maybe its because we were slackers, but I miss it. My friends would be driving through my neighborhood and would pull in to the driveway. If I was home, we'd chat or drink tea or beer and then they'd be on their way. They'd leave notes if I wasn't home. It was always a fun surprise to get a knock on the door. In Sri Lanka, I got stuck in a small town because the leader of the Tamil Tigers was giving a political speech. We stopped in the driver's cousin's house who hadn't seen him in months. Within fifteen minutes, we had hot tea, rice, lamb curry, coconut sambol, and fresh pineapple. My colleague, Joel, turned to me and said - if you had unexpected guests, could you do this? No.

So I say, bring back spontaneity! Drop by and visit me! I'll put an extra bottle of wine in my fridge. I'll keep frozen goodies in my freezer. Let's break through the tyranny of the calendar.

Big Week in Careerland

This past week has been really great for me career wise. My event was covered by the New York Times and the LA Times and then picked up by the AP and Reuters. I was on Canadian Broadcast tv, BBC radio, New Zealand radio, and then today - Fox News. Fox News was horrifying... they piled on pancake makeup all over my face and gave me scary "Lindsey Lohan" eyes. After introducing me under the false headlines of "UN Peacekeepers guilty of rape and pedophilia with war refugees!!!!" I then heard my own voice through the ear piece and got thrown. Watching myself with my brand new "Anne Coulter" face as I frowned trying to concentrate on the interview was terrifying. I hereby resolve to lose 20 lbs and get botox in my forehead.