It's true--the ability to extricate myself from a situation makes a huge difference. Your mention of talking about things you're interested in sparked a thought for me. It occurs to me that the social situations that drain me most are where people are talking about the surfaces of their lives without any desire to dig deeper. I'm not saying it all has to be great philosophy--but I need some kind of debate or examination. if you put me at a table where people are talking about *ideas* I am THERE.

Otherwise, I think my perfect social situation is dancing. It's the one thing I love to do with other people--it's something about that collective sense of freedom and happiness.