lol nope its not weird. I do the same thing, but apparently much more emotionless. its a social safety mechanism.

"And yet, to say the truth, reason and love keep little company together nowadays." -William Shakespear, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 3, Scene 1

What you seem to be describing is really the only way I know of socializing. You find out what a person likes, and you emphasize that aspect of yourself. Most people do this, subconsciously or not; it is why cliques of people seem to be all so similar, yet often times everyone involved is very different.

Furthermore, I doubt you are a "blob of people pleasing jelly". You want friends, just like every other human on this planet, and you are apparently pretty good at making them.

If long periods of isolation and a semester of psychology have taught me one thing, it is this; we definitely do have our own personalities and identities. It's just a huge pain in the a-- to figure ourselves out.

It's late, and I can't decide if this comment is arrogant and bitchy, or comforting. Obviously, I intended it to be the latter.
Anyway, good luck

No sweetheart. People pleasing jelly is KY.

What you are, as Elph correctly pointed out, is a diplomat. You seem to enjoy exploring new things, and so when you find a friend you want to make who is into something different, you give it a go so you two will have more in common. Certainly nothing wrong with that. It will make you into a renaissance man like me - able to converse intelligently on almost any topic, or participate in most any activity. That can only be a good thing, because no only will you make friends by pursuing those you want, others will be more drawn to the experience and self-confidence you gain through every experience.

As to changing your personality to suit your situation...I do it. I think everyone does, to a certain extent. We behave diffently with our parents, our grandparents, our friends, even different groups within our friends. If you, like me, are fortunate enough to be able to befriend people of all types and from all walks of life, you'll find that your friends don't always get along with one another. That's where all your learned diplomacy skills come into play. Stay out of conflicts between two friends (or bf's or gf's). If yo love them both, give them both an ear, and support, but do not take their side, and explain why. If they are a true friend, they will not ask it if you. Occasionally, you can help to mediate such conflicts, but approach that with extreme caution.

The different "personalities" you exude are just different facets of your one personality coming out when they are most needed. You would not act the same at a goth concert as you would at a snowboarding tournament or a family gathering. Some people think of this as not being yourself, but that isn't true. As long as the "self" within you is that same loyal, smart, caring, loving boy, and you don't constantly tell lies about your likes and dislikes, or say nasty things about one group of people you like while hanging with another, all you're doing is, to paraphrase an old saying, "putting your best face forward". This will, over time, net you thousands of friends, of various closeness levels, from all over the world, who genuinely love you and care about you. Yes, I speak from experience.

As to your anger - does it really just float away, or do you bottle it up? If the answer is A, then it's fine. You're just not an angry person. Most things that people get angry about are things that, frankly, do not require the attention and energy that anger costs. With the exception of righteous anger - say, anger over some social injustice - it is almost always worse for the angry person than it is for the object of the anger.I find very few people who actually feel better after fighting or yelling or just being furious. As Buddha would say: Feel the anger, acknowledge it, then let it go and move on. Sounds to me like you're following Buddha's advice without even knowing it, and that is a good thing.

If you really need help finding your central being, I have a great meditation tape on my server. I'd be happy to give you the link so you could DL it. It's not the "ohm.... ohm..." kind. It's really cool and fun and relaxing...even a little sexy. PM me if you want it.

You're fine, sweetheart. You love all kinds fo people, and you want to have all kinds fo friends. That is something you have in common with me that I'm actually happy about. Lol.

Hugs,
Pat

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- Pat Nelson Childs
"bringing strong gay & lesbian characters to Sci-Fi & Fantasy"