I think, after some weeks of thought and intermittent attendance, that I'm probably not going to go to the Calling any more.

For the past few years, my aim in going to the Calling has been to see a selection of lovely people who I don't have the opportunity to see often enough, or at all, in any other context. But I don't end up achieving this to any great extent any more: several of the people in question don't often go to the Calling themselves any more (or, in extreme cases, don't even live in Cambridge any more), and I seem to have failed to retain the interest of several of the others. And even the remaining people often don't really want to stand around talking to me at the Calling, because talking to people is not what the Calling's designed for. (And fair enough, I have to say; it certainly isn't the venue I'd pick for normal social interaction if I had an entirely free choice. I only used it for that myself because I didn't.)

I've been going to the Calling, on and off, for nearly ten years: my diary archives tell me that I first went there on 1998-01-29. It's generally been good to me: it's the only nightclub I've ever really felt at home in, it's often been fun, it's always been a useful change from any other environment I regularly spend time in, and the best relationship of my life so far was with someone I met there.

But the value of me continuing to go to it has been dwindling for months, and has now sunk below my activation threshold. So enough is enough; unless someone persuades me very convincingly, I'm calling it a day, and leaving it to younger and more energetic folk.