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◄ La Scala: fiendish narcotics agent deathtrap...

Hopefully the Psion 3a will arrive soon, and I shan't have to do much to its left hinge. I cracked... the need to not have to retype scribblings and to be able to work wherever I am grew, so I poached one off eBay. The laptop just isn't that portable, in addition to being a tad expensive to replace... also, I'm going to take good care of my palmtop, because no-one seems to make anything with a keyboard any more. All I want is a scratchpad I can type into... but apparently there's absolutely no interest in satisfying that market. It half-tempts me to work out the logistics of such a business venture...

Anyway, I'm well overdue a shout-out to our rapidly-expanding Bristol contingent, it taking me until the end of 2002 to fall into a carriage and onward to Temple Meads... I'm almost the worst person for writing letters I know. I say 'almost' because it does take more than one person to kill a chain of communication, but as virtually everyone else has relocated to a handful of dwellings thence, I feel the onus to transmit rather reasonably falls on me. Besides, 'tshould hopefully be understood that this lack of conveyance stems from no lack of affection... I'm that bad at letters, the only exception I've ever managed on a regular basis being letters to Sarah-Jane... occasional emails, attempts at telepathy, smoke signals and asking after at every opportunity don't even constitute good intentions when the person concerned is, well, your partner. And anyway, however kindly they might have been received, I'm even less coherent in handwritten sentences. So I consider these (erm, also somewhat infrequent) 'diary' entries as representing an effort to keep people in the loop, such as it is, and hope lots that I'm not alone in regarding them in such a way. :|

Happier thoughts... new years was wicked! I was barely messed around by the train services on the way up (yeah, they'll probably have something especially horrible in store for me next time now that I've said that, but it happens to be true.) Despite starting to gibber a bit alarmingly every time he answered his phone, Mark had already procured club tickets, sorted out sleeping arrangements for many people and made plans to drive to Dorset... but still very kindly picked me up from the station. :)

(Something I was even more grateful for several hours later when Dan got massively lost trying to find the house...) Anyhow, grabbed some snack food and beers and waited for everyone else to show. Damn it's nice to see people... why did you all centre on Bristol? I'm going to be keeping Virgin in business for yonks! ...well, for as long as y'all can stand the sight of me or I find a job and house there, anyway...

Clubbing was remarkable for variety of reasons. 1) I was totally sober. Two pints whilst playing pool in the afternoon don't count, and it's the first time I've been near so much 'club' music without being reassuringly merry. Blue Mountain isn't a bad place, all things considered. 2) It was fun. My attention-span lasted 'til about 4am... okay, I spent the last hour or so dancing to the music in my head (Green Day) and working out just how much stuff I'd put aside to do when I got home (Christmas was hectic. That deserves a paragraph of its own; more later...)—but it's very enjoyable switching your brain off with a lot of other people who don't care that you can't dance and who are very huggy, loved-up and grinsome. By midnight, I was considering world peace as an almost realistic possibility under certain conditions... 3) Christina didn't fall over. :D

Only thing I forgot to do was take photos... ah well. One day all of the elements (camera, memory, subjects) will come together... Gaz's take on this is interesting; he plans to track everyone down in twenty years or so—whether we've stayed in touch or not—to take photos. Following through impulsive plans after their fact is cool...

'Twas charmingly like old times (old, old times in fact when the lights went out) waking up later that day... rather like the flashback to the first year I just got (people are shrieking, laughing and running down our flat corridor as I type this)... and whilst I'm not idealistic enough to believe that what I think of as our 'student' mindset can (or will) last forever, there's no reason we can't... erm, explore space together... I apologise for beating this line to death, but I'm with Bill Hicks on this score, as so many others: life is like a ride in an amusement park. We can change it anytime we want. No amount of effort, work, no job, no savings and money involved... just a choice, between fear and love. The ride... it's what we make it. :smokin:

Christmas was also pretty cool... being stuck out in the middle of Wales can make one uncharacteristically homesick; travelling home for a friend's funeral perhaps doubly so—but if there's one conclusion I've come to after every such occasion, it's a bloody- minded determination to live. It was fantastic to see so many people again, before, during and after New Year. My congratulations to Andrew especially, whose 2003 began with becoming an uncle... rather you than me mate, but you know I'm happy for you. A big hello to Glyn, Stella and Sarah-Jane, thanks once again to everyone in Bristol for a great celebration, and warm regards to everyone with the dubious pleasure of knowing or being related to me. Hugs to y'all, may your penguins never rust! xXxXx

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