Old chores in a new bottle

I changed my blog template. The old, tepid, stale, boring green had to go. So for the time being, and like all good caption-kickers for a lot of Page Three pics, we’re 'black to basics'.

In other news, my parents have been out of town. And despite having the place to myself for three days now, I think I’ve been a remarkably well-behaved child. Bordering on boring, but maturity, I’m told, comes at a price.

I’m doing an exercise in shortening sentences and keeping verbosity at bay. I’m not sure where I’m headed, but a short cut to there can’t harm.

I have three, maybe four, coffees planned for this week. Like an unpaid phone bill, it is at the back of my head. I tell myself I will stop being an asocial bandicoot. I will pick up the bloody phone and call the people I said I would.

One is my brother’s childhood friend who just got promoted to Chief Officer. He’s a sailor then, and I’ve been putting it off forever because he tries too hard and I generally assume he’s hitting on me.

The second is another friend of my brother’s from boarding school whose sister (now married) and I studied in the same convent for a bit. He’s a fun person in a dead job, and the irony therein tickles me. I owe him a frappuccino because a drink, he won’t let me buy. I take it he’s being gallant. When we’ve met in the past, he’s asked me, “How are Sir and Ma’am?”, while enquiring about my parents. This also amuses me. That if it doesn’t take an Army brat, it takes a public school brat. To my way of thinking, there can be no other explanation.

I also have to meet a college junior who used to sometimes keep me company in the U-special (university buses), telling me about the plays he’s acting in, and what ails the dramatic societies of North campus. He later switched to south campus -- not simply to save on the commute. Recently done with his masters (some sub field of statistics incomprehensible to me), turns out, he got disillusioned with theatre altogether. This I know through three facebook messages exchanged between his birthday and mine. Figured it just makes more sense to meet. Also, I must admit, that to an extent, there is a journalist motive in meeting these three. Interesting people make for interesting stories.

You might want to place a bet though, that on Friday nothing would have changed. My people-to-meet list would still be pending. And my grouse would remain that with the exception of a handful, even meeting good friends has become a chore.