...or should I say, "out of the pan and into some pot"

I helped to start and grow the Atlanta C Sharp users group.  Originally there were only three of us (four, but Louis only made the first meeting and wanted to talk about social issues rather than programming - perhaps he should start a social issues group, he'd be outstanding in that role!).  We met in an office behind a bar.  Then we met at New Horizons learning center.  There were as many as a dozen of us every other week.  We grew into a very exciting and enjoyable professional group and meet now at Microsoft headquarters (thanks to the diligence of Michael Earls).  Unfortunately, Microsoft moved their headquarters to Alpharetta and I can't really travel that far for a social group while I have a pregnant wife and a young child at home.  So I have relinquished my role as group leader.  Paul Lockwood now manages the details of group organization and moderation.  Chris Ramsey hosts our website.  All of us contribute in some way.  I truly wish I could continue to join the group but, geographically, it is no longer convenient.

I miss the folks in the group.  I miss the social outlet.  I am still benefiting from the momentum it created in my professional life.  It helped elevate me from washed up, complacent, big fish in a small pond to virile contributor to a group of skilled developers.  I will indeed join them on occasion, whenever I can.  However, I need something close to home. 

I am considering taking the leadership role in a meetup.com group.  Musicians.meetup.com.  This would require that I show up to something once a week, spend a few minutes here and there to organize the events, etc.  Its a double edged sword but it pays off in the end.  When I started the AtlantaCSharp user group, I met some really great people and developed both professional and personal relationships that are incredibly valuable to me.  I made at least one friend I may never have run into who is now truly one of my best friends (even if I can't afford to work with him).  I am a loner by nature and that can lead to feelings of loneliness.  A person whose natural tendency is to be overweight should not just get fat and accept it, they should practice a healthy lifestyle of careful diet and exercise and change their fate and their situation.  So it is probably in my best interest to do this, to get together with people I don't know and try to make something of it.  In the end, I'll probably be very glad I did.  Its just so much easier to sit in the house and think about being a musician then going out and being one.