Palfrey's life

I already wrote a bit of this text before, just as I got the mad depression bit around my bday. I couldn't finish it then, because there were more important things to talk about then. This is one of the things I meant to do but hadn't.

So what happened you ask? Well some of you already know, because you were there for at least part of it, but the rest hasn't been fleshed out yet. So here's the post.

Xmas: Went to parents, saw friends there, didn't kill brother/mad religious grandparent. Saw Rebecca (first ex, as well as my brother's ex... yeah, complicated, and that's the *short* version) again for first time in 2 years, she's now in the depths of semi-south-London that is New Malden. She's good. More stable than I remember her last. One of the various rel'ships of her's I missed hearing about before (Sophie I think her name was) appears to have helped with the stabilization there. Photos of her are in the Xmas set referred to below.

By now, given the years of complications, the splitting up of the group and the saliva/fucking/crushes tree of last Xmas, you'd think my Ealing friends would have stabilized (certaintly in their in-group rel'ships). But no. Xmas eve consisted of waiting 40 mins in the queue for the Drayton pub, giving up, going to the offie, getting booze, and sitting in a local park. Memories of yesteryear, but without the dope. Which is a definte improvement in my view. So there's me, Ben, Louise, Laura and Rosie there chatting. Rosie leaves a bit before midnight to get to a midnight mass (she got religion a while back, bit scary), leaving the rest of us sitting on a bench in a Laura-Ben-me-Louise order.

Now, I'm talking to Lou, lots of bits and pieces about her bloke Steve (not engaged yet, but effectively there). Got an egoboo comment from her "you're a fucking good bloke" (with the "but not my type" disclaimers, but by now I know she means it still. Thanks Lou), after a bit of my whining re: my lack of/fucked up love life. We're all a bit trashed by this point, but Laura is very mashed. She's had a phone convo with her bloke Ben earlier (not the one she's sitting next to for those keeping track), which ended up with her hanging up on him and being a bit pissed off. Now, I'm not quite sure exactly what happened here, but next I know I realise that Laura and Ben are kissing. This is somewhat unexpected, given a) Ben's still not-really-ended-but-not-really-happening relationship with Lizzie (very complicated) and b) the complete lack of any indications of this being likely to happen before. Eventually we all decide we need to go to our various homes, and Ben has volunteered to make sure the pissed Laura gets home ok. Now, given that Lou+Laura live fairly close off in one direction, and me+Ben live fairly close in the completely opposite direction, I volunteer to keep Ben company/not get killed on his way back from guiding the girls home. So, we walk along, Ben basically propping up Laura to stop her from falling over she's that pissed. We drop Lou off at hers, and keep going towards Laura's. Then Laura claims she can't walk another step further and forces us to sit down on a wall. Net result of this: Ben/Laura sitting on a wall snogging, me wondering how much more a lemon I can feel here. Eventually (thru my pissed haze) I gather the hand signals from Ben mean "go, I'll call you later". I walk home, managing not to get mugged. Or see another living person on my way back.

Xmas day comes and goes. Presents are exchanged, I see the grandparent. Boxing Day comes around, and I get a phone call from Ben asking if I want to go to the pub. The Kent (our normal local, now a "trendy wine bar" apparently) is also closed as it's just past 4pm (silly buggers), so we wander along to Duffies - the other pub on Pitshanger Lane, and previously tagged as the realm of parents, but it's not that bad. Esp. as I haven't had enough draft cider since I'd got back, and a whole bunch there was most welcome. Ben has managed to do some damage to his right eyelid, and turns out this consists of him managing to fall off the wall outside Laura's house on the Xmas eve. Events I missed: Falls off wall, he's effectively forced into her house, and goes into the kitchen to clean it up. Dog wakes up, he's trying to fend it off while trying to clean himself up. Laura meanwhile is trying to stop her parents from coming downstairs (after they have been woken by the dog noise). Ben makes a hasty retreat. Now, it's friday. On saturday, Lou/Laura/Allison (other friend of both) are going out for dinner, and Ben would really like to talk to Laura before they get an opportunity to take him apart. Except, he doesn't know what to do/what he wants. Hence, the pub. On the one hand, Laura is gorgeous, smart, and Ben hasn't got laid in a while. On the other hand, she's living in Oxford now, she already has a bf (tho maybe not for much longer), and screwing up friendships is a really bad idea. We basically sit there, hash all of that out many different ways, catch up on a whole bunch of other things and agree that he should phone her ASAP and find out what the hells is going on.

People were planning on doing things on that sunday (like more catching up, there's a lot of it), but my attempts on the saturday/sunday to find ben and figure out what's going on, and then ringing Lou to find out more stuff, result in working out that Ben's gone back to his uni house in NE London (and I've lost my mobile w/ all the numbers in), and so goodbye everyone there. Oh well. Got a bit of the catching up done, saw Rebecca. Didn't see Neil or John, but I guess you can't have everything.

New Years/Gwen's bday: A number of you were there for this, so I'll summarize. Glad that Kate offered me a place to crash, bit on the chilly side, but still glad to be in bris.

• New years was suitably drunken, at Gwen's, didn't kiss anyone at midnight (something I mean to fix one year), met lots of ppl again


• Random eating thing with Ed and raygungothic (who is trying not to call me palfrey IRL, but I don't mind. I'll try not to call him raygun) doing bunch of cooking of very good lasagna for large group of us. chocojon brought confusing card games and addictive 3d ball bearing puzzle


• Gwen's bday. Less drunken (had to get up next day very early), more ppl - some friend of Gwen's called Ryial (sp?). Cute, welsh, another one to the list of random ppl I will odds are never meet again. SNAFU. Twister. Very dodgy pictures regarding myself and Sam J. That and my buggered knees is why I generally avoid Twister.

Notes on this: yea fucking gods I am glad I decided not to try and persue Kate. That looks like a horrifically complicated situation even if I was in the country (it's amazing how much you can work out sitting on a sofa with a camera). GL to everyone involved..... I don't want to be around if/when that one starts to generate fallout.

Xmas photos and New Years photos are now up btw.