Rainbow 2013, Maitreya 2013, Grumpy And The Katana Of Friendship, Camille O'Sullivan and Imogen Kelly.

Got back yesterday from Rainbow Serpent 2013, which came close to not happening. Photos are here.

The festival was as good as ever. Well maybe not. Less friends there due to the Eclipse Festival in Cairns earlier which chewed up the funds and time off for many people. Camped with some good people, and frustratingly didn't find some people I wanted to camp with. I joked about not catching up with them for the entire weekend, and that's exactly what happened in the end. Bumped into so many randoms and old friends, but not these new friends. Not for the whole weekend.

Still, can't complain about four days of dancing and decadence in the sunshine. I still live for this kind of stuff. Maitreya festival in early March for a delayed birthday party for The Dreaded One and me. Good friends are coming down from Sydney... sweeeeet.

Speaking of friends, here is my new Grumpy column in Tsunami Mag about Friendship. Or one friendship. A not quite friendship. It's called Grumpy And The Katana Of Friendship, and I'm pretty happy with it. I think it's pretty funny. And as always, it's a completely true story... well almost completely true story. Embellished is a nice word, isn't it?

Also, seeing Camille O'Sullivan again tomorrow night, this time in something completely different. Interview I did with her is here.  I think I'm the only writer to not have used the word 'chanteuse' in the story. I'm also doing something with Imogen Kelly, Australia's burlesque queen of the wold (officially) shortly and am hoping seeing her at The Spiegeltent in a few weeks.

And finally for this post, how exciting! Prime Minister Gillard has just called the next election date! Thrilled?

Nope. Whatever.

Do read Grumpy And The Katana Of Friendship if you feel like a smile. I can't give a rat's arse about Australian politics.

2013. Bring it

Here is this. It's a link to Tsunami Mag. New Grumpy column is up. I'm kind of amused by the fact that I used to be a sub-category in the Columns drop box, but there are currently no other columns, so now Grumpy is a drop box of its own. I am in a category all of my own.

So, 2013, eh? Wonder what's going to happen. Wonder what new adventures are about to unfold. I feel pretty sure stuff will unfold. Maybe it will completely unravel.

Weird start to the year. I'm off to a wedding this weekend. Haven't been to a wedding in years. I hate the bloody things, but sometimes when the person is special enough you have to make the supreme sacrifice.

But it's in Stanwell, just near Wollongong, just south of Sydney, and there are bushfires everywhere. I'm really hoping for an uneventful drive up there, and for a wonderful event. It's the marriage of my long-time friend Chloe and the man of her dreams Toby. I met Chloe through the most fleeting of circumstances years ago. It was the most random of encounters in a club so long ago. A rambling club conversation in which something happened because when she finally said she was going to go I hesitated, knew that if she went she'd probably be engulfed by the world, and I asked for her number. I explained that I have never asked anyone for their number in a club, and she said she didn't normally give her number to strangers in clubs, but she gave me her number.

I'll add here that my eyes were wiggling at the time and I couldn't type anything into my phone and had to hand the phone to her (there is much more to this story, obv) and it was her chance to give me a wrong number. We said goodbye. I wasn't convinced we'd ever see each other again.

We got in touch. We made plans to meet again. We met again. We became friends. We have stayed friends.

It's fair to say we've been through a lot in the intervening 10 or more years. I've watched a remarkable person become even more remarkable. Not once in all these years have I been angry with her... maybe a couple of small things, but really, nothing. I've felt nothing but like, then love, then admiration.

And gratitude for the way things have worked out. We might not have been at the same club that same night. She may not have spotted me in the crowd and made her presence known. We might not have enjoyed talking and I might not have asked for her number. I fucked up typing her name in and handed her the phone, where I could have attempted the number too and gotten it wrong. She might have left and we might not have seen each other again.

But here we are so many years after that fleeting encounter and I - who doesn't do weddings - am excited at the prospect of driving up to spend the weekend with her. She deserves the best and in Toby I think she has done well.Great guy.

Oh - and I almost wasn't going to go. It was all getting a bit complicated with getting time off work, acommodation etc and I sent her a message asking how much trouble I would be in if I didn't go. My dislike of weddings is pretty well-known.

She didn't reply.

I phoned her a few days ago and the first thing she said was "When are you guys arriving?" This amused me. Seems we were going afterall. Found out a lot of guests are camping, so that was acommodation sorted. I was also told we could stay the night at Chloe's place after meeting for drinks in the afternoon, and this was the clincher; I had been thinking I wouldn't get to spend any time with her. But I get to hang with her the night before. All is good. I know this is going to be a beautiful weekend.

This is a very good start to the year.