Sept Ans

Today, I have accumulated seven years of blog.

So, I've got the itch to blog. To mark this day in the only way I can - online.

It's been a while. I got into the game a lot earlier than most people I know. The internet used to be just a place to find out things, not "Find Friends" as social networking sites suggest that I do, every time I log in. I never used to be all that open about forming friendships online, in fact, I still don't tend to talk about it because unless you give an acceptable context, many people would still find it strange. It is strange.

In this modern world of a working girl, I have no friends that I see particularly regularly: on a daily, or even weekly basis. Most of my close friends live in a different locality to me; trains are a pain and travel is awkward. You don't take a two hour round trip, just to sit for an evening in front of a TV with someone. So I don't see most of my friends all that often, no doubt the meetings will dwindle further as people do the growing up thing - get married, get mortages, get munchkins. Our interaction is largely limited to a virtual presence and how is that all that different from people with whom I initially began interaction that way? 

Vingt-Quatre

Today, I have accumulated over two dozen years of life.

My twenty-fourth year was a good one. I got a graduate role, finally, after a year of limbo. I met people from the internet, finally, after many years of on-line acquaintance. I made new friends; I did new things. I am so glad  that I do not have exams. I am so glad that I am not unemployed. I am ostensibly content, to a certain extent.

My twenty-fourth birthday was a good one. I met up with the girls for brunch; we painted nails in the sunshine and it was fun. Then we went for coffee & cake, and chatted about boys and chocolate. It was the most I've laughed in a long while; we giggled ridiculously over stupid things, acting like the fourteen year-old school kids that we once were.

It's weird being an adult. My job isn't ideal; my career path is unclear. I do not know where I will be when I turn twenty-five, but I'm fairly satisfied with the way this year has turned out.

Flitterbox: Florrie Arnold ~ Sunday Girl

Flying Kites

The right kind of day for kite-flying is hard to come by. But sometimes, you get lucky. A bit of a breeze, but not too blustery, enough to pick up the kite and allow it to swiftly swoop in the most deliciously satisfying way, like your stomach does on a roller-coaster ride. Even with the appropriate wind speed and direction, there is some concentration involved in the process. The correct amount of tension in the strings that connect you to the kite, managing the way it glides through the sky. The many forces that need to balance in order for the kite to stay soaring, slight friction, not too much, with a bit of resistance. All these aspects come together to give the perfect flight and when it works, it feels fantastic, like you're making progress, like you've learnt something. Being aware of the stretch in the strings, knowing exactly the pressure to exert in order to control how it turns. It takes practise, sure, but once you've sussed the basics, you can work it any way you like.

Until, all of a sudden, there's a change in the wind or you move your arm a little too quickly, the string slacks somewhat. The kite stumbles. Sometimes, it picks up again with the next gust and the panic subsides. Sometimes, it falls, abruptly, without warning. A nose dive, straight to the floor. The gravity that was doing so well in keeping you grounded has won out and the kite sits there, lifeless. After a few more attempts to get it up again, you decide to give up and go home. It's a lot of effort for a small reward and it's just not as fun any more.

I don't tend to fly kites all that often; the right kind of day is hard to come by.

Flitterbox: KT Tunstall ~ (Still A) Weirdo

Wrapping Words

I want to wrap my words

around your mind

and let them linger there.

I want to stitch a speech

that slips into your heart

when you least expect it.

I want to flick lace-edged phrases

across your eager eyes

so you can feast upon

the literary delights from my

treasure chest of clichés.

But I can't.

Flitterbox: Feist ~ Secret Heart

Working Girl

Five years ago, I started university.

This year has been an interesting one. It's been so far removed from the preceding four that I've almost forgotten what it's like to be a student! Do I miss university? I'm not quite sure how to answer that question; it already feels forever ago and perhaps I do miss it in wistful moments of reminiscence. But it's not university itself, really, more the individual people and specific experiences that I remember and there's been many aspects I've been grateful to get rid of, or at least not felt that affected by their absence.

Confetti Confessions

This is the first year where people I actually know, beyond a passing connection, are getting hitched and boy, there's a fair few of them. It's so weird, but I suppose you just kind of accept it. Some are older than me (though not by much!) but several are the same age, or younger. It seems 2011 is the year to get married.

Meating Out

Two days.
Three plates; four places; five faces.
It was aces.

Meal One: bean burrito with sweet potato fries and sparkling conversation

It was kind of peculiar but not in a pinpointable way. We met as arranged and I was scanned from head to toe, as if being seen for the first time. It's been a while. A short walk, a sit-down and few bites later, it was all flowing easily in a not entirely unexpected manner. No topic was left uncovered as we smoothly sailed through politics, sex, money, education and religion like a raspberry dream with a side of ice-cream. It was delightful. The afternoon was quite enjoyable and full of sunshine, with banter of blonde moments; a sighting of sequinned singers; a frisson of fabric and uncomplicated chatter of relationships, men, women, how the world is all beautifully - sometimes surprisingly - interconnected. We arrived at a general conclusion that many people are unfortunately terribly ignorant. Luckily, we are exempt...