| 4:12p |
"Innocence, Saturday...and a picture of you." (The Whitlams, "No Aphrodisiac")
I find myself in the strangest places on Saturdays. Take yesterday, for example. One moment, I was happily cruising along, practicing my driving with my dad. Shakira and Guy Sebastian (my Mum's CDs, not mine, I promise!) blared pleasantly and boppily out from the stereo. The sun was shining, I got to drive by some water, and I had just dropped off a CD of illustrations at Lucia's place. My dad and I were getting on capitally. I was clocking up my hours. Nothing could be more pleasant. Though of course, a nice hot pink manicure can never go astray when you're practicing being a spunky little driver. However, the next moment, I found the bumper bar of my mum's car trying to make friends with a parked metallic purple Harley on Burwood Road. I didn't know I hit it until my Dad shouted, "WATCH OUT FOR THE BIKE!" and I noticed that all of the people sitting outside of the cafe next to me were staring and laughing at me. In shame, I relinquished my position in the driver's seat, and we drove home in silence. "Was the car okay?" I ventured to ask. "Yes," my dad replied. A pause. "Was the bike okay?" "Yes." No problem as far as I could see. No hairy bikie had chased after us, hurling abuse and leather things. And now I had a great story to tell at Ian's Amazing Barbeque that night. Oh yeah, and no more driving lessons with my dad anymore. I think I scared him too much. Oh well. A girl can only try her best.
Last night's much-hyped Amazing Barbeque at Ian's was wonderful. After MYC, as you may recall, I wanted to convince someone to have a barbeque at their place. And who should e-mail me and volunteer his beautiful house, but IAN! Lots of people came, and we had loads of good laughs. I did some somersaults, and blew a lot of bubbles, as well. We gazed at the orange and white lights reflecting off the water, as Ian rescued the soccer ball that he had assured us would not end up in the liquid. Basia and I teamed up (we're mutual fans of each other) and did one of those scary Maori chants before we started playing soccer in the dark with the boys. Unfortunately, that was our only act of intimidation, as I screamed whenever the ball came towards me, and Basia soon found herself icing her leg with a can of 7-Up after being hit by the ball. I was more successful with my potato salad and chocolate muffins. It was a lovely night, made perfect by the wonderful company.
My friend Jungle Jane's 21st birthday party was also on a Saturday last week. The theme was "Disco", and Jane put up these groovy coloured lights that shone out in stripes, and there was also a smoke machine thing. Her best friend wore rollerskates, and we had punch with little umbrellas. The cake was in the shape of a 21, and was covered in M&M's. Obviously, I was an immediate pushover, and soon found myself leaping about to Britney's "Toxic" and the Pea's "Let's Get Retarded" (my new theme song!). At the end of the speeches, Jane gave a really sweet speech- it wasn't about herself, but instead, about how much she loved each member of her family and her best friend. And who can leave a party without saying that they've had the bestest time of their lives when the party is attended by The Village People themselves? How we boogied when "YMCA" played! Some girls fancied the Sailor ("He's just so camp," a friend confided), some girls were seduced by the feathers and facepaint of the now politically incorrect American Indian.
And me? I was in love with them all. |