In Good Company

When I was about 14 I decided I had gone off reading. I resorted to playing Football Manager and watching hours of pointless television. Reading really is great and I underestimated how much more enjoyable reading a book (with my cat at the bottom of my bed) is than sitting aimlessly in front of a TV screen watching the Sky Sports News headlines over and over again untill I could recite the post-match interview with Ronaldo by heart. I'm currently about to finish Brideshead Revisited, a book by Evelyn Waugh, which I am studying for English A2 Level.



Its brilliant and I can't get over how easily I have been sucked into it. Finally, 'unputadownable' means something to me again.

I carried out arrangements to see a friend today. She surprised me by telling me that she used to be a tom-boy and by giving me a real run for my money at a game of table tennis. I have a ping pong table in my garden but today was the first time I had opened it up in ages - possibly 2 or 3 years. It was literally covered in spider webs and dead leaves. What a disgrace it is that I am lucky enough to have a table tennis table but never even bother to play on it when I have people round!

We went for a walk on the heath as the weather was good. Again, I live a 15 minute walk from Hampstead Heath and I rarely even bother going there. It really is right around the corner and I am passive enough to just sit at home when I could be going out and enjoying the sun as well as another person's company in an atmosphere that is vastly superior to that of my Spurs-decorated bedroom. My room also happens to be untidy and filled with more uselessness than a water-proof sponge factory.
I would usually have planned a day like today out but instead decided to see what happened. It was good hanging with somebody I hadn't seen in ages but not so good when I bumped into a teacher from my school in the process. This is always awkward. Always.





Later I found out that many of my friends were going to my ex-girlfriends house as her parents are away. Naturally, (especially due to how recently we split) I wasn't invited so I had to find something else to do. I was kind of annoyed I would miss out on seeing a lot of people I wanted to see, all in one place, drinking and presumably having a good time. Fortunately, I found something else to do and spent the best part of my evening chatting and playing Whist. I definitely had a better time than I would have pretty much anywhere else. Sure, we weren't numerous or doing anything particularly active but when you're with two good friends you realise that you don't need to be at a party to have fun. As Will said - "why do people seem to think you need to be in a big group to have a good time?"

He's right and people tend to forget that. I did. The disappointment when texts saying 'hey are you doing anything tonight?' are met with replies along the lines of 'nothing I can't find anything' is unnecessary. Why, I wonder, do some people then think there isn't any point in going out? I reckon everyone must have a group of people they consider to be their closest companions. So on a night like that - go see them. Why the hell wouldn't you? You'll almost certainly enjoy it more than sitting at home by yourself.

Today I learnt that reading is as great as ever and after I've finished Brideshead I'll move straight onto my next book. I reinforced the old notion of looks being deceiving and believe you me - you would never have thought my friend as ever being a tom-boy if you met her now. I learnt that I have to try harder to take full advantage of the resources around me - the heath is a perfect place to go if I have nothing to do on a clear day. Lastly, it’s obvious now that I don't need to be in a big group of people who are smoking or drinking to have a good time - it’s the company itself that really counts.

Lie-ins Are Overrated

I woke up at around 10.15 today which is really early for my holidays. I turned on my phone and I had a really unexpected message asking me to come play football somewhere. It was a journey that could take me two buses and about 30 minutes plus I found out people would start playing at 10.30. In the spirit of my previous night I just decided to go. So I skipped a proper breakfast, eating a couple of Nutri-Grains and a Tracker Bar on my way, and went to play some footie.
Usually I wouldn't dare to do anything like that - not knowing who was playing (a huge amount of my friends are away on taking camps), not knowing how long I would be there for or what I should bring with etc etc. I just went because I liked the sound of it and made a decision without thinking about it too much, which is really unlike me.

Turned out it was a friends older brothers' football team made up mostly of university students. We did circuit training, attack vs. defence and shooting practise among other things. It ended up with them offering me a place on their team.
The team is in the men’s Jewish leagues and the last time I joined a team was around 5 years ago and I left almost 3 years ago because of GCSE's but I've always missed playing. So I thought 'why the hell not?' and said I would join. Its a men’s Jewish league so I doubt we'll encounter Dad's who tell the ref to 'leave my darling Moshe alone' or Mums who tell them 'not to get too muddy'. Yet somehow I think we'll end up playing teams that look like this:



I had no plans for the rest of the day until I heard my friend (the one who asked me to come to the practise in the morning) say he was thinking about going to the Emirates Cup to watch Arsenal vs. Rangers. It occurred to me that sounded like a fun idea and we arranged to go.
I enjoyed it even though I'm a Spurs fan. It felt like I was letting down my family heritage of avidly supported my beloved Tottenham Hotspur but I just figured that I wanted to watch some football while I was still in the mood. I hate to admit it but Arsenal do play some bloody good football and that Jack Wilshere is going to be awesome.



He's younger than I am and scored two goals! Unbelievable.

Today I learnt that it’s good to just start your day as soon as you wake up. I’m starting to believe that lie-in's are overrated. They just waste your day completely and even though they can be nice it’s not worth uselessly burning time in a life we only get one shot at. If I had one this morning and stayed in bed till 11-12 like I usually do during the summer I wouldn't have had the chance to play football, been offered a place in that team or gone to the Emirates. I had another nice day with another positive outcome, similarly to last night, where I've just done something off the cuff. Its not like I have joined the Space Program on impulse or enlisted into the Marines but its better than what I normally do which usually entails me being up-tight and putting far to much thought into decisions that don't require it. So I hope these last two days have been trend setters.

A Few Realisations

London is very possibly the most amazing city in the world. It has practically everything any tourist or resident could desire and even though it’s right under our noses it’s easy to forget just how brilliant it is.
This evening I went into central London without any plans or an idea of what I was going to do. The two friends that I went with were on the same page. I think we were just satisfied to be in each others company which was helped by the energy surrounding us on a Saturday night in the West End. It made it really enjoyable and one of the most pleasant evenings I have spent with friends in ages. Especially because one of my mates is somebody who I used to be really close with and haven't spent enough time with in the last few months. Plus we also met Monty Panesar the England Cricketer which was pretty cool.
This afternoon I got hold of another person who I haven't seen in a long time. I wanted to just send a casual text to her but I think it’s much more worthwhile to call people up and speak to them properly. Sure, it’s more expensive and more of an effort but a text is just so much colder, uncaring and complacent. This ‘texting culture’ has led to people finding it harder to communicate with one and other. Now you can speak to somebody without really speaking to them at all. It all just seems a bit false and lazy and I certainly fell victim to it. I aim to change that.
That’s the only major downside to London - a real lack of communication. In European cities it’s easy to find a friendly person to chat with and a lot of them even show genuine interest in speaking to you as well as being reassuringly familiar. Speaking to a Londoner is very different. Going up to somebody and just starting a conversation often leads nowhere as people here seem to treat others with suspicion. Obviously not all Londoners are rude or unfriendly but I think it’s generally something that brings down the city.
Today I have learnt that it’s important to positively exploit your surroundings. I underestimated how much I could enjoy going out without a plan and just letting go a bit. I learnt to appreciate London a lot more. I learnt that when you miss the company of a friend, that’s the moment you should get hold of them - it’s not worth risking losing a great mate. And finally I learnt that when you're trying to get hold of said person - you should definitely avoid texting them and ring them instead.
Most importantly, though, I discovered that a mate of mine is a really deep thinker. He’s generally a quiet person but revealed that underneath that he’s just as engulfed in self analysis as the rest of us. I learnt that even those who seem very different to each other are more similar than they may think.