This is a picture of me and my friend Vicus. Some of you may know him from elsewhere. We have known each other for 39 years. We first met when I briefly attended a teacher training college, in the vain hope that I could somehow get a career and be 'normal'. Alas, or perhaps thank god, I realised it would never work out, and three weeks into the course I left. The absolute clincher for me was when this tutor instructed me to pretend I was in a 3' high glass box, and I thought, 'you fucking twat!', and I never returned, except to the canteen where every morning they served a fantastic poached egg on toast.
In the late 60s me and Vicus took acid together on more than one occasion, and generally overdid it with other minor drugs, until Vicus decided a clear head would be more helpful to his search for reality. A couple of years later I reached the same conclusion - mind you that doesn't preclude the odd foray into altered conciousness at family weddings and the like.
What has this to do with relationships - well, it's a relationship of sorts isn't it. I don't like having too many friends - that might be code for 'no-one wants to be my friend so I'll make it look like it's my idea'. I learnt pretty early on that you don't want to be dependent on some other person who's gonna run off with some other sod any time they feel like it. That hurts! If anyone gets too friendly I move. I used to think I was weird - now I know I am.
I don't mind being friends with Vicus, cos he is too lazy to be much of a pain. We never spend more than a couple of days together anyway - he's funny for a while then he gets boring and talks about classical music and fucking authors who I have never heard of.
That's a great picture of you two, you look so....cozy.
ReplyDeleteOld friends are the best. There is something to be said for someone who has known you since your youth and is still your friend.
I can't stand him.
ReplyDeleteAs the great Norwegian novelist Henrik Alteredstad once said "Who is that bearded twat?"
And another thing. You say "sex and love are coming later". We have had this discussion before. They are not coming later, particularly in the manner you have often described, in unnecessary detail in my view. The fact that you have very few friends may be correlated with your less than normal proclivities. I am not being judgmental, but as a caring friend I do have concerns.
ReplyDeleteBetter him talking about fucking authors you've never heard of than about fucking Jeffrey Archer.
ReplyDeleteFriends do bugger off and live their own lives, don't they?
Oh what a nice pic!
ReplyDeleteI suppose Vicus shaved and got all dolled up for the occasion -unfortunately, he lost the intellectual look he had in his blogpic-. You look good. As usual.
'If anyone gets too friendly I move' (is this a men's joke about guys?).
Can't wait to read 2nd and 3rd instalment of your trilogy (i.e. sex & love).
Very very vice new pic in your profile, btw. ;)
Me thinkth that Vicuth doth protetht too much.
ReplyDeleteI just knew you were an old hippy of the same generation as me, Tom! I
didn't do the drug thing at all, though, but that doesn't make me a bad
person, does it?
Friendships that last a lifetime are special. New friends are special too,
and I can't believe that it is still possible to meet people who move you
from the start, and you just know you are going to be friends. People who
make you think you've known them for years.
Does gender make any difference to true friendship?
It shouldn't, but some people (& my aged pa is one) reckon that (if you're
hetero) you can't have a truly platonic relationship with someone of the
opposite gender: The closst you get is if one fancies the other, but it's
not mutual.....
Is that anything to do with the subject on the card?
I dunno, but glad you've got at least one friend, other than Sarah, Tom.
Them and the horses should keep you a very contented person!
Me thinkth that Vicuth doth protetht too much.
ReplyDeleteI just knew you were an old hippy of the same generation as me, Tom! I
didn't do the drug thing at all, though, but that doesn't make me a bad
person, does it?
Friendships that last a lifetime are special. New friends are special too,
and I can't believe that it is still possible to meet people who move you
from the start, and you just know you are going to be friends. People who
make you think you've known them for years.
Does gender make any difference to true friendship?
It shouldn't, but some people (& my aged pa is one) reckon that (if you're
hetero) you can't have a truly platonic relationship with someone of the
opposite gender: The closst you get is if one fancies the other, but it's
not mutual.....
Is that anything to do with the subject on the card?
I dunno, but glad you've got at least one friend, other than Sarah, Tom.
Them and the horses should keep you a very contented person!
I would have thought it would be interesting to hear Vicus talk about fucking authors, even if you have never heard of them.
ReplyDeleteHe does seem to have a good technique for preventing you from moving away, though.
Sweet picture.
I'm still laughing at Vicus's trepidation about the forthcoming parts of the trilogy..HAHAHAHA!
ReplyDeleteI prefer that 'old shoe' type of love between old friends..not friends that are old..you know what I mean. It's the most relaxing kind of love innit?
High School in the early 70s just wouldn't have been the same without the LSD...it was so much fun to melt in and out of the space/time continuum.
Great bit of sharing Tom...splendid.
Pamela - and I hadn't even had a glass of wine!
ReplyDeleteVicus - read any good Russian authors recently..... yawn yawn!!
And yes, I will be discussing sex and love shortly.
Geoff - yep, I thought I was gonna end up with no friends but amazingly I have met one or two people in the last few years that I get on with. Although friendship is a little more than that - it's kind of an unspoken commitment to look after each other - Watch Vicus run NOW!
Leni - Yes, you're right, Vicus spent hours getting ready for that pic. Still, it was worth it wasn't it. I'm not sure about my new 'hat' pic, but I'll go with it for a while.
Row - I have to say that me and my wife are pretty good friends. In fact she is my very best friend, despite the fact she is soooo annoying. Being friends with other blokes was so good when I was growing up - we got into so many scrapes, and stuck together like glue, but as life goes on you kind of don't need other people quite so much - here's a depressing thought Row, is it cos we have to make the final journey on our own, so we wean our friends away.
Erica - I presume you are joking about Vicus being interesting!
Donn - yep, I love Vicus, specially when he is approximately 200 miles away. To be honest, I was lucky to come out of that acid culture with the few brain cells I have left - at times it did look a little dodgy.
I hope you're already writing part 2 of the trilogy... ;))
ReplyDeleteHmm, friends are okay to be around for a few hours at a time, as long as they go home at the end of the night and don't want emotional support and all that sort of nonsense. Going on holiday with friends is also a no go area. You always end up planning to murder them (thankfully I've never followed through such a plan ... or have I?)
ReplyDeleteOMG... LOL... you two are beautiful together. I love you both!
ReplyDelete