I was never a scintillating conversationalist.  For one thing, I am the sort of geek who would actually find a way to use “scintillating” in a conversation.  I write like I speak, so if you are having trouble slogging through my prose here, I suspect talking to me in person would be equally trying.

I have found recently that my conversational skills have declined even further.  I was at a company party over the weekend with a woman who is a friend of mine and a wicked-ass writer (published writer, not the sort who hangs out in coffee shops and b***hes about noone understanding).  I kept running out of things to say.  It was driving me crazy.  It’s not like we have *nothing* in common, we both have kids, are both career women in our respective fields, both have Alpha Male company spouses.  I just couldn’t think of *anything* that would keep the conversation going.  The absence of kareoke was probably a contributing factor as well.  I can see I’m going to have to get out and start talking to people again or risk becoming that quiet girl who sits by the wall at the school dance…