My Pal ‘T’

I’ve made a new friend.

This is all rather unexpected.  At my time of life, you tend to acknowledge that you have made, more or less, all the close friends you are going to make in a lifetime.  

And, don’t get me wrong, I have great friends, lifelong friends who I would do anything for and who I feel might do anything for me.  It’s just that those friends have been blown around the world by the winds of time and so they are not prominent in my days like they once were.


I have a great friend in work too and some great friends around town.  It’s just that my life had panned out such that, when the evening comes in or the weekends come around, there is nobody who might say, “Come for a drink,” or “Let’s catch that old lads film that the ladies won’t want to see.”  I’m not complaining – my family, my scribbling and the other things I like to do have meant that I am never bored or at a loss for entertainment and diversion.  It was never really a problem, it was simply a fact.

Still, how nice and how very unusual that a new friend would show up for me this late-on.  One who would be so alike to me and yet, somehow, so profoundly different.

How odd…

And what an amazing friend my new friend has turned out to be.  We meet up practically every day and we just talk about stuff.  I feel I can tell my friend things that I simply wouldn’t bother telling anyone else.  Nothing earth-shattering or profound, just day-to-day thoughts and occurrences which would normally be too small to verbalise but which seem worth saying once they have been said.

My friend is great on current affairs and keeps me up to speed on the latest stuff that’s going on.  It’s not just passive news-chat either, this friend can get really passionate and outraged when things are clearly not right.  Sometimes that anger can even make a difference to the news that causes the anger… that’s power, man.

In the evening, we might watch some shit television and we might laugh and have a bit of fun with what we see but if something is good, we respect that and we’re not afraid to sing its praises.

It’s more than that though, this ‘new friend’ thing, more than fun and games.  If my friend is having a hard time, I feel it too and I might try to give a little moral support.  Similarly if I’m the one in the rough place, I know I can count on at least a kind word.

My friend isn’t perfect.  Sometimes, when together, we can get a bit over-excited and fixated on stuff that isn’t positive or constructive.  Sometimes I need a little time-out to clear my head of the things that my friend says.  Perhaps that’s the way it should be with friends, perhaps it’s good to be challenged.

I feel I’m a better person now that I’ve got my new friend.  I feel I am more outgoing, better informed, a little more caring even and, most importantly, I feel my friend has allowed me to show a part of myself that had become largely dormant and underused.  The ‘smart arse’ side, the ‘sharp’ side, the ‘fun’ side.  The way I’m allowed to be with this friend has enabled me to be better with my other friends too, I think.  My opening up has benefited all aspects of my life.

This friend demands quite a lot though, or is it just that I want to visit more than I should?  I have yet to completely figure that out.  When you’ve got a friend as good as this, you want to meet with them as often as possible but there’s got to be a limit too.  I’ll have to keep an eye on that.

I’m really glad that my newest friend turned up.  All in all it’s been a good thing, I think.

People often ask me what I see in Twitter.

At the moment, this is the best I can do.

7 comments:

Ken Armstrong said...

As a footnote, I must say that I have made individual friends on Twitter who are very important to me.

This post is just my attempt to capture the important role a silly website has come to play in my life.

Bella7 said...

I say Hurrah for Twitter. It too has brought me into contact with such a wonderful array of people whom I also feel the better for knowing. Meeting you has been a joy. Your clever puns always raise a titter.

Another enjoyable blog Mr Ken.

Claire x

hope said...

I'm stretched too thin (which sadly, doesn't work out to actual loss of body weight) to play with your new friend.

I am content to play with my witty friend Ken here, in his own backyard. :)

Jim Murdoch said...

I am still resisting Twitter. I have an account – needed to create one to make contact with an author I wanted to ask some questions about – but that is it. And, no, I won’t be your friend on Twitter. We see quite enough of each other as it is. In fact I have no intention of friending anyone on Twitter that I am in contact with in any other way. It would just be pure replication. But the problem is how to find new friends and what would I say to them? It’s not that I can’t express myself in 140 characters or less but I find I have very little I really need to communicate to the world that I don’t express – albeit somewhat unsuccinctly – in my blogs. There are people out there who say that I just have to be on Twitter but then they said I had to be on Facebook and I’m not sure whether the benefits outweigh the time and effort involved in keeping up to date with it. Oh, and can someone please tell me why anyone would need a Google+ account?

maybepoet said...

Your puns - good or bad always raise a smile. I also dip my toe into your eclectic pool of music and do discover some unexpeceted treats. For me, Twitter is like seeing someone you know driving there car. They lower their window and exchange a few pleasantries before driving away. I am a bit of a Facebook addict and love to leave witty messages for people who appreciate the trouble I've gone to. With Twitter there's probably only yourself and a few others who bother to reply. Can't abide the Sleb 2 Sleb Sycophancy.

Laura said...

Always nice to find you poking into my Twitter feed. Seldom see you with the time zone difference though.

Karin Walker said...

I concur with so much of this blog, as ever it seems with writing by you. I cannot read anything you write without nodding my head in time to the words and I found myself nodding particularly vigorously to this.
My nodding went into overdrive when I got to the bit about how twitter has changed you. I too am different post twitter; I feel all of those things you do. I also feel more secure somehow, like I have a 24 hour portal of comfort and support at my disposal, sitting warm and smiley in the corner of my living room. If I feel sad twitter will make me laugh, if I feel happy I can tell the world. If I read a particularly funny book I always arrive at the school gates the next morning with sharpened wit (okay so it doesn’t take much) and a burning desire to make people smile. Twitter does this to me too. Some might say us twitterers are seeking a boost to our ego, I say self-esteem.
The addictive nature of twitter is taking a toll on my daily life, and I too need to keep a close eye, but I think…I think, that the twitter pros outweigh the twitter cons?
Who are these people with whom we correspond, and who have become our friends? And how funny that we have entered one another’s lives. The more spiritual amongst us might say that they were pre-destined, I think they’re serendipitous and we should simply enjoy the fun, support and daily joy that we get from these strangest, yet most wonderful of friendships.
Thanks Ken, for consistently bringing a smile to my face and keeping my faith in the human race (oh blimey, I didn’t mean for that to rhyme, I’ve ruined it haven’t I).
Karin :-)