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Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.
Just so you all know, I’ve been having trouble leaving comments on some WordPress blogs recently. They ask me to log in even though I’m already logged in, and then when I leave my comment it never appears on the post. If I don’t comment on your post, I am not ignoring you.
Now onto today’s topic.
I wish I were better at starting and keeping conversations going with people I’ve either just met or don’t know much about.
As someone who is shy and introverted with a splash of social anxiety to add another layer of difficulty to it all, I still do not always know what to say to enrich a conversation.
I worry about accidentally hurting someone’s feelings by mentioning something that is a sensitive topic for them.
If I’m talking to someone I already know, I can easily steer the conversation away from topics I know are tricky for them and to things I know will make their faces light up with joy.
With a stranger or acquaintance, you can’t possibly know in advance where all of their sore spots are even if you try to avoid the most obvious topics that should be handled delicately if at all.
I’m also uninterested in stuff like sports, fashion, or celebrity gossip that many people use as icebreakers. So you can ask me about that sportsball game or which actors are secretly dating if you wish to…but I won’t have a solitary clue what you’re talking about and so will just be smiling and nodding along without anything new to add to whatever just happened.
This is something I’ve gradually gotten better at over the years, but it’s still not easy for me to come up with general interest topics that are inoffensive and interesting but that I also know enough about to keep talking about.
Thank goodness for books is all I can say. Without them and the interesting ideas they contain, whether they’re science facts or cool plot twists in fictional tales, I truly would be permanently stumped.
I am not very talented at making generic present suggestions because so much of what goes into gift buying for me are the specific personality traits and interests of the recipients.
1) Their favourite sunscreen, bug spray, anti-itch cream, or lotion.
Oh, this week’s topic is easy.
This year I am grateful for…
Other than regularly looking away from tv shows and films just before something important happens, I am every cat’s best friend. They would like nothing more than to follow me around and go on feline-friendly adventures while I would like nothing more than for them to pick a new human to bond with.
I feel like I recommend a lot of the same books here over and over again.
The Woods 
Therefore, I don’t always remember who recommended specific books to me. In order to participate this week, I ended up needing to work on this post a little at a time over the last month or so as folks mentioned books they’re reading that they think I may also enjoy.