Outward appearances

I'm sitting here in our pool room (and by this I mean the room with the pool table in), with the Christmas lights that Gilles hung up the other day around me, and near-darkness. It's strange how such a simple thing as light can affect your mood so much. White Christmas lights + dark room + sofa = relaxation and happiness.

On Saturday night I spent the evening playing pool, listening to music, lying on the pool table at 1am in the dark and talking, enjoying some good company and learning more about other people's lives. Sometimes when you think you know someone, they still manage to surprise you. Not just the way they behave now, but the way they used to behave in the past. Sometimes you can't believe that the person you thought you knew fairly well is actually very different. It always fascinates me to realise how little we really know about people, and how much people can change. Maybe it's just the psychologist in me.

But Saturday night was good because it reminded me of all the nights that I spent with good friends at University, lying around in our rooms and talking crap, sitting in comfortable silence in the darkness and relaxing, venturing onto fire escapes with some alcohol for company, lying on the grass and watching the world go by, debating topics such as cartoon penguins and PhDs in potatoes, running out into a thunderstorm to stand under the torrents of water, or simply appreciating the proximity of another person. I've missed this level of comfort recently - it was nice to have it back for an evening.