ponderings

There are rare moments in my life, being the ultimate champion whiner, when I actually feel blessed. Today is one of those rare days.

I feel blessed for having friends who can laugh with me (and sometimes, at me) and not give me strange looks for the odd jokes I have a penchant for cracking. I feel especially blessed for the new friends I have recently made, and revisiting and strenghtening a what had become a waning friendship over a few years with a university mate.

The latter is Ross. Computer geek and previously, a major weirdo in the student newsroom. A (now ex-)girlfriend and working life had changed him and sometimes we hang out for sushi and ponder about how it will feel like to bite into a huge chunk of raw salmon. Do other people wonder about that? (And of course, we also ponder about other things. Like exploding toilets and sorts.)

And in the former group, there is a friend whose acquaintance I had always wanted to make since I met him at an assignment over a year ago. I never had the chance, I don't know why, but recent circumstances has led to a friendship that is suffice to say, unique.

We must be two very different people but he laughs at my jokes. He laughs at me often. I launch into a ranting tirade at him for throwing plastic rubbish into the glass bin. Actually, I rant at him every single day. But he's still hanging around. Sometimes in the background, sometimes in the foreground. And I find his presence very endearing.

Sometimes I am in awe of this friendship that we have. (By the way, is it friendship that we have? I don't want to make the embarrassing mistake of assuming one thing when the other person clearly does not see it the same way - the mistake that big-breasted friend of ours made, yeah?) It makes me go: "Why are you friends with me, again?"

It is a question that I have asked many friends as many of them are, truth be told, nothing like me at all.

Like Fatie. The ex-gangster girl turned government bitch. She's sweet, sometimes naive, cranky on PMS days and now when I call her, the first thing I ask is: "Fatie, are you having sex?" just to bug her. And she laughs at my jokes.

Or Eubs. Self-proclaimed gigolo and most horniest person I know. He's a nag sometimes and he has this no-nonsense attitude when it comes to stupid people (and you know how the world is so populated with stupid people, don't you?), lazy people, whiny people (which includes me), etc. Basically, he's the guy you don't want to mess with unless you want to get an earful of insults but he's alright. Calls me 'princess' and he doesn't really laugh at my jokes but goes: "Bangang."

Or Kalbana. Major party girl with a heart of gold. Biggest procrastinator in the world and very generous with hugs. The only problem is that she has no concept of time at all. (Please, get a watch.) Not just that, she has this set of friends who are always caught up in some Bollywood-style brawl over pointless things like girls, booze, who-has-the-cooler-gang kind of shit and stuff. And for some reason, her friends (and even herself) have a habit of getting into motor accidents. God knows how often she goes visiting at the hospital. Or, the police station. And she laughs at my jokes too.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that laughter is what bridges a friendship. A 'friendship' without laughter isn't really friendship at all. Like how it is with a lot of my colleagues, the people that I meet on assignment, the man on the street. Those are not friendships. Maybe acquaintances. Maybe work contacts. People I'll forget after a bit.

And the best friendships I have is with those who find my off jokes funny. Who can follow my lead by adding more funny imagery to the disturbingly strange joke of the mayor and his fictitious kambing Kassim. And plot with me about kidnapping a hated colleague, tie him up naked to a lamp post, spreading a generous helping of Dunlop glue on his chest hair and then sticking a big, live rat onto it. Or the great impress-your-dad Valentine's Day plan of having the guy you like appearing in front of your door, all bundled up in a rice sack with a ribbon tied round the neck? Remember that, Elayni? (I know you were way mortified that I just came up with the idea in front of your friends, but they laughed too.)

God. I'll always stay this way. Nothing will ever beat toilet exploding jokes.