As I've been ever so slowly moving towards job-search ramp up mode, I've been trying to cultivate more community contacts. I really think that the way to land a job is via someone you know. I haven't hired a ton of people, but everyone I hired was recommended by someone else.

I am lucky because my friend was partner in a company I was with for 4-5 years. I reported directly to her for a while, so she is very aware of my capabilities. It's so freeing to have someone who knows my strengths and weaknesses want me to work for her! Whenever I get one of these moments where I think 'oh, god, I don't really *know* that well enough to say I know it,' I remember that she's seen what I know.

I agree about practicing chatting! I did that to sort of reacclimate myself to being social again. It really does help! I love that the guy in your acting class turned out to be super shy. I've used that kind of comment as an icebreaker at social events and find that so many people feel the same way. We just need one of us to talk first

The business thing... it just gave me major 'I don't fit in' vibes. Some of this may be hormonal. The majority of the people there didn't know each other. People were friendly, so I really need to stop being weird about it. I just don't project a professional/expert image the way I wish I did, in any context - so sometimes I feel like people just skip right over me as they are scanning the room looking for people to talk to.

The woman you've been talking to may be waiting for the right time. I had no idea how gung-ho my friend was until this week. It turns out that she wasn't sure if I was interested and didn't want to pressure me-- and she also was waiting for the right opening to broach the topic with her people. This whole thing has been a good lesson for me in not reading too much into a response/lack of response...