Whenever I think of a hermit, I always picture Terry Jones’ character in Life of Brian. I’m not 100% sure that he actually was a hermit; more of a spiritual dude doing monk-type things (being naked and taking a vow of silence?  And growing juniper bushes?). But whatever.  Hermits.  They don’t go anywhere. They don’t socialize. They revel in their own abode, doing wonderful solitary things like sleeping, reading, watching television and/or movies. Maybe do a bit of internet lurking. I’ve been about that hermit life lately, and while most of their typical activities are right up my alley, it wasn’t something I particularly wanted to do.

Last year, around the holidays, two massively expensive, craptastic things happened.  A new washing machine was purchased, and my dude discovered a tiny hole in a pipe leading to our water heater, which resulted in a new pipe.  Hooray.  Basically, my laundry room was the asshole room of the house. These two things woke me up.  In order to take care of our crippling debt, we had to make some extreme changes.  Spending money BAD. No more going out to bars/restaurants and being a social butterfly.  This, along with the usual seasonal depression, turned me into a really sad panda.

At the same time, I was right in the midst of taking an improv class, and really enjoying the shit out of it.  There were great folks involved, I was learning cool things, and I didn’t feel like I sucked at it.  Well, I missed one class because of illness, and then another because of the sad panda thing.  So I basically flunked it on my terms, because if I don’t do everything that is required of me, I don’t feel like I accomplished a task.  BOOM.  More sad panda-ness.

I think things are slowly getting better.  I realize sacrifices can be made without completely isolating myself.  As long as I learn more frugality and stuff.  No need to become Howard Hughes, who I just remembered as I was typing this blog, was a super crazy hermit in his later life.  No, I will not pee in jars and grow my nails out super long.  I’ll get out once in a while to see my peeps and support the local comedy scene.  I’ll rack my brain to come up with a cool idea for a podcast of my own, while still being a part of the Mouthy Broadcast.

You know, at this point, I feel like I’m about to break into Let It Go.

The cold never bothered me either.