A common thread

There is the common thread of topics that I share with old friends and new. Everyone has a set of their own common interests, while the number and variety is probably directly proportional to the the size and depth of their circle of friends. I'd like to think I have quite a broad selection that allows me to easily strike up a conversation with new acquaintances as well as re-energize and keep old friendships healthy (there's also an overlap here to the In Joke post as well). I'm not saying all my good mates share all these interests, but many can shift quickly and knowledgeably between many common topics of interest. I'm also not saying that I dislike or avoid time spent learning about new subjects or hearing about friend's interesting professions and pursuits, although I'm not exactly certain if I'd call myself a neophile (is there a difference to a neophite?). Taking a small tangent here - perhaps it's a sign of the times and how full people's lives are that I don't seem to come across many neophiles these days. e.g I don't recall the last time someone asked me to explain the difference between computer RAM and disk space. So for me, I know I'm in the company of friends that share similar threads of interest when time just flies by and we're already talking about the next time to get together. My shortlist:

Music: Modern, mostly Brit based with nostalgic historic connections to past rock, new wave and punk years
Sports: football (soccer); Toronto Raptors; F1
Sports activities: ultimate; golf; football (soccer)
Social activities: having a pint or a glass of wine and talking about the topics in this list
Movies: the more the better - a walking imdb
Technology - from IT, thru blogging to HD
Children - note that this topic is highly dependent on the narrow band of age characteristics
Appreciation for the arts - from photography to theatre
International travel - I love listening to peoples views and stories of foreign places and people

This theory was put to the test recently, where I met a neighbour where we instantly hit it off because we both loved football. This week we got together to watch the Euro final and found out we also shared a love of photography. We ended up spending a lovely afternoon and an impromptu pizza dinner with our new friends...and there's another common thread..."the impromptu get-together" - much better than having to schedule visits months in advance.

I don't think my life is that complicated.