the alpha vs the omega

I know someone who is always trying to get me to go to the Alpha course, because she knows I'm fascinated by faith and religion. I couldn't be less interested for two reasons: 1) My family motto might as well be: "We aren't joiners." 2) Give me a fucking break.

In discussing this Alpha course thing with another friend, I joked, "Sign me up for the Omega course. I hear that there's more drinking allowed on those ones, and you can sit around and listen to music as you wait for hell to envelop you."

I thought I just made it up, but as it turns out, there already IS an Omega course, (and it doesn't sound like much fun at all -- even though it momentarily sounded okay when I thought that it might be run by the International House of Pancakes, aka "the other IHOP").

Nevertheless, maybe I'll start my own. The food will be delicious, and each week we'll walk to a different park and hang out, sometimes (or always?) with beer or wine, (though nobody will be required to drink). On the agenda, things like daydreaming, making each other laugh, maybe ad hoc poetry slams, feeding the ducks, kicking around a soccer ball, and occasionally not showing up at all because you need to stay home and do laundry.