I’m on a bit of a roll. A mini roll. But a good one. Part of it will be lost because I’m not quite as giddy now as I was last night but the feeling is still here.

We won last night. Our mixed team. I was wrong. We can be OK. We’ve improved a lot the past few weeks and last night we beat a decent team by one point. I scored the last basket with 10 seconds to go… but only after I stuffed up the chance to go up by one about 15 seconds earlier. And I missed eight free throws all up. And… alright no negativity.

My friend, A (clever eh, that I called him ‘A’ so that you won’t be able to tell that I’m talking about Alwin), came back from China for a week and a half or something and I gotta say that that had a lot to do with this roll.

I’ve never believed that you can have close friends that you don’t see or speak to or write to very often. A lot of people say ‘I hardly see Sammy Saussagehead but every time we catch up it’s like nothing’s changed and we’re still best friends.’

I think that’s rubbish. I don’t see how someone can be your close friend if you can’t even be bothered to hang out with them (unless you hang out with nobody… then that would be different, maybe).

I still believe that. But I also believe that A, to me, is an exception to that rule. Maybe it’s because our lack of contact is due to oceanic expanses more than anything else, but whatever.

So he came over, without notice (because we very rarely email each other) and for the past week it’s been catch-ups and whatnot. And I feel great about it. Genuinely great. About a lot of things.

Thursday night was Oriented. I hate these events. Last time I went I was stuck talking to some IP lawyer who was telling me that his job is so hard to get into. He was there again this time. And he remembered me. On the other hand, this time Ben unloaded this drunk Indian guy who was very interested in the fact that my name tag said that I am Jean Lee from UBS. But he forgot who I was ten minutes later. Asked me again if I worked at UBS. I just walked away.

Anyway, the point is, this time it was fun again. I was intoxicated, hanging out with good friends, meeting random people. It was liked uni days all over again.

Then came Friday, Shuai and I went to see The Vasco era (see my last blog). I love this band. It’s the kind of sound that I’m really into at the moment. Think White Stripes, Black Keys. They weren’t quite as good as they were at the festival but still pretty good. While we’re on guitar music, the week before went to see my guitar tutor’s band, Livewire. That was fun. They’re an 80’s glam metal band that just refuses to leave that era. It was obviously a rent-a-crowd. But good luck to them. Ben’s a truly amazing guitarist.

Saturday, I’m tired as hell but it turns out to be another fun day. Both day and night having a decidedly maple leaf theme to it. Lunch at Spice-I-am (my current favourite restaurant) followed by pre-night karaoke and then dumplings and handmade noodles for dinner. After that we said farewell to our friend Gord, who’s going back to Canadia. I’ll be visiting him later in the year.

Sunday I spend the entire day playing guitar and pretending to be a rock star of sorts. Then at night I catch up with my psych friends, including Gina who’s also come back to Australia for a short visit, having been working in Jakarta the past year on the avian flu for the WHO. Psych outings can often be hit and miss because it’s generally a conservative group who are mostly married (and act married). But this night was fun. And we figured out that next March will be ten years since our first year psych camp so we’re hoping that everyone can get together then, which for this group is easier said than done…

Monday, I get myself a 20GB iRiver H10 mp3 player! I’ve been eyeing this for a while, watching as the price slowly dropped at JB. I got it for $336, which I’m happy with. I’m always so far behind in technology and when I catch up, I get the biggest one, choosing function over form. The iRiver is like the iPod’s stocky but reliable uglier cousin. But this is the best toy I’ve bought since my electric guitar!

Monday night is A’s departure vigil. We play Scrabble (my first time – it’s a good game) and then I hang out and chatted with him ‘for about 15 minutes’ which turned out to be 3 hours and I get home and I wake up late to work the next day.

I was going to write something mushy and sentimental about him but I think I’ll just forget about it. It’s pointless. He’s my oldest surviving friend and I love and respect him for that. That’s all you need to know. But I will say this, the two of us having gone our separate ways have brought us closer to seeing eye to eye on many topics than we ever have before. Strange how that’s happened. We have a much more similar world view now.

Anyway… I best be getting some sleep.

Or maybe a bit later.

I’m in a good mood.