Introduction
I don't care about Valentine's day, really. I think its a bit odd to have a special day to remind you to remind someone special that they are special to you. In Estonia, Valentine's Day is called "Sõbrapäev" which actually translates as "Friend's Day" - it is therefore a day for remembering your friends, and your admiration for them, instead of someone you are romantically involved with. (Unless you are romantically involved with all your friends, or have no friends.)
Being that I am now rather unwell with M.E., I find it hard to visit, see, travel, or talk to any of my friends - this makes me a bit sad, and also makes me feel a bit useless when I struggle to even write a simple message of Hello. So, seeing as it is Sõbrapäev (No, I don't know either,) I thought I'd write about everyone I can.
I don't care about Valentine's day, really. I think its a bit odd to have a special day to remind you to remind someone special that they are special to you. In Estonia, Valentine's Day is called "Sõbrapäev" which actually translates as "Friend's Day" - it is therefore a day for remembering your friends, and your admiration for them, instead of someone you are romantically involved with. (Unless you are romantically involved with all your friends, or have no friends.)
Being that I am now rather unwell with M.E., I find it hard to visit, see, travel, or talk to any of my friends - this makes me a bit sad, and also makes me feel a bit useless when I struggle to even write a simple message of Hello. So, seeing as it is Sõbrapäev (No, I don't know either,) I thought I'd write about everyone I can.
ADAM
Adam and I have extremely similar interests and personalities, I think. We both smile as soon as we see each other coming down the road, or departing from the bus, and then we’re right into conversation about something funny that happened, or something interesting we’d thought of. He is very polite, kind and humorous — he never swears or does something inappropriate. Every moment with him passes at a pace that is calm and fun, and he is always trying to think of something interesting to say, or to do in the future, so I find that everything he does adds just a tiny little bit more to the world. Still, following a shocking plot-twist, unseen by viewers, he regenerates into me.
ANDREW
I have always had fun with Andrew — he’d talk to me about Star Wars or Doctor Who or Legend Of Zelda. He used to visit my house from time to time and we’d play with Lego or something. In a way these things don’t seem entirely remarkable, but it means a lot to me because both Andrew and I express that we miss school, or indeed that that part of our lives has just leapt away from us all too suddenly — I do not see him much anymore, and so he represents these past positions. He is always jolly and fun to be with (and has nice hair), and once stole a Hello Kitty Marshmallow from the suspiciously well-stocked cupboard of grumpy History Teacher, Ms Lomax.
SAM
I used to spend a lot of time with Sam at school, charging around the school field playing my Role Playing Game, Tempus World. So many amusing scenarios sprung up: having Butler killed over and over again, accidentally, and having to pop down to the land of the dead to retrieve him. As much as I enjoyed sitting with Sam in class, drawing pixel art on his laptop, or talking Douglas Adams, the freedom and exploration of Tempus World was really the most exciting part of the day. We got warm in the sun, or lost in the storm, or soaked in the rain while performing “The Spanish Inquisition” sketch, and had to run and full speed for cover. We occasionally play games together now, but they are never quite right without Butler or Oswald to be in the way.
LAURA
She once made me a cup of tea. After about 2 minutes, she said, “So how long d’you want your teabag in?” to which I exclaimed, “It’s been in all this time!” because I have very weak tea. Laura is always fun to be around, always a jolly person, which is why I enjoyed going back to her kitchen on a Monday for a cup of tea. Since then, she has gone to Chicago for a year and is back in my class where we read each other’s writing and talk about probably something silly as if she’d never even left.
OSCAR
Oscar is friendly, and makes a lot of jokes in class, but he isn’t loud about it — we both think of silly little things to say to each other. He was my soundman when we made our film — always reliable and offering useful opinions, he was great to work with. He made the film seem like a project with friends instead of a complex working environment. I’d made a funny little film with Oscar before on my video camera and monopod table leg.
AMANDA
Amanda and I walked to college together almost every day for two years — there and back, and sometimes there and back again for lunch. How she managed to put up with me, I don’t know, but we talked about many things: of Doctor Who (mainly) and Dave the Geography Teacher, and exams. We walked through breezy summers and icy winters, and sometimes I wouldn’t feel like going in — the evenings were late and the lessons long — but Amanda would always be there at the end of the road, or coming down the hill, and that would cheer me up. We once found an ominous, pointing glove in the ice.
BIZ
Biz is talented in both art and poetry, although she will be far too modest to agree. She is always calm and interesting to talk to — I never feel rushed with her, and we always have a mixture of laughs and philosophical conversations. I enjoyed working with her on projects because she is always reliable and perhaps a little bit of a perfectionist. We take interest in each other’s work, often attending events, like she attending my film premiere and I visiting her art exhibition.
HAYLEY
Hayley was the wonderful producer on our film, but mainly she is expertly organised and really great to work with. It wasn’t work at all with her at the helm — we had a lot of laughs, a lot of fun; she is good to talk to about all kinds of things, and she really supported me as director. She and her Husband are extremely kind and lovely people; they make me feel so welcome in their house.
JONNY
Walking home with Jonny was always fun, we could talk quite a lot really. I remember we’d never really have a silence, as each of us built up on what the other was saying until we had to say goodbye. I also used to sit by him in ICT — being that both of us were good at computers, we talked a lot there too, and messed about with the ideas: like when we had to make websites, Jonny Googled “Smiley Man” and found a picture of Derek (?) Smiley who he proceeded to hide all over his website on rollover graphics.
SOPHIA
Sophia was my next door neighbour in our university accommodation. We came to talk to each other often for respite, really. We were struck with such misfortune and found comfort in moaning to each other about it all — gosh, the milk being stolen, maggots in the food bin (while Sophia was trying (failing) to eat her carrots and chicken.) Sometimes we went out for walks in the evening when it all got too much, and I really enjoyed that: we escaped into a winter night, away from the idiot milk thief who would occasionally come back banging on walls in a tantrum. Like me, Sophia was shy and polite, so we just got angry about it all later, and I think we supported each other in that.
TOLLY
Tolly was editor on the film we made, but he also took over as camera temporarily when the awful camerawoman went home — that shot, where we sweep across the kitchen, had Tolly and I working together in synchronisation and it was the best shot of the whole film, if you ask me. He said his parents named him to sound like Jolly, and he certainly is very jolly — an absolutely essential member to the team and a really nice guy. He refers to me mainly as “Mr Director,” or “Sir.”
ALEC
Alec was my other faithful Tempus Worldian, who caused great amusement in randomly killing a character just at the very denouement of their plot. He and Sam had different modes of operation when in the game, but all three of us played so comfortably together with many laughs, puzzles, fun, and rolling about. Alec is always keen to think of new events that we can do together, like playing on the Wii, or beating each other at Pokémon, and we carry on as if almost no time had passed since our last Battle.
WILL
Will lived along the same corridor as me in our University accommodation. He would often come storming cheerfully into the kitchen to tell tales of his day — I found he always lifted the mood; considering we lived with essentially a thief, this wasn’t always easy to do. He was a chef, and a jokester, making us laugh; but what I remember most was sitting against the wall in the corridor with him after we’d all be woken up by a fire alarm at midnight (caused usually by said thief.) I felt so ill being awake like that, but Will and I had some long talks about his acting, or my scripts, or just anything really — he was always engaging, funny, thoughtful, and occasionally wistful too. And then I’d finally go back to bed feeling far better about having been woken up. The only thing I don’t miss is the fire alarm itself. (Will also has a range of highly popular cyberpunk novels out.)
LEAH
After a few years of being at secondary school, Leah left for Australia, which I think felt a bit odd for everyone because when you’re that age everything feels static. She was always a very good artist and I used to take her pictures home with me, or get her to draw me others — it was a nice reminder of the classes and those long summer lunchtimes. When she left, I offered her a choice of any of the pictures I had drawn — I was rather proud of some of the Manga-style characters I spent a while drawing, but she chose one of the simplest pictures: a collection of drawings of Oswald, with his round head, round hands and round feet; of course, that is the one I am most proud of now.
JASON
I first met Jason when he overheard my name and used it to pretend to know me, talking as if we were already friends. That openness stayed with us, and I used to love our Wednesday chats where we would talk about anything and everything. Jason also wants to be an actor, and I often spent time working with him on scripts and encouraging his skills, while he folded up his crisp packets into bemusingly expert triangles. Wednesdays were a day we both infinitely looked forward to, and now both infinitely miss.
DAVID
I have known David for a very long time — I suppose he is my oldest friend, (he’s 97!) In primary school, we sat at the back of the hall, talking, while the younger kids rehearsed for their nativity play. Ten years on, we sat at the back of the classroom, talking — he getting told off for not doing any work, and me not getting told off by pretending to have done work. We always had a good laugh in English and Psychology; I felt more confident and calm sitting with him — he would say clever, fun or strange things that really added to the day, and we’d write haikus for each other. He’d put up with my jokes: we giggled over the ambulance whizzing past the window and, “He won’t sell much ice-cream going at that speed, will he?”
PHIL
Phil has always been supportive to me. I grew in confidence when it came to filming, but I could not have done it without him — the first day, I stood before the camera and said, “Phil, I can’t do it,” and he stood beside me then, and everything felt right. We’ve always had a lot of fun, laughing about things, and talking deeply about others; he’d come back to my house on a Friday for lunch, and we’d make sandwiches together. I remember being proud to see him coming down the stairwell at college — he was dressed smart in a white shirt and black velvety blazer, and out of his top pocket curved a sun-yellow banana; typical, magnificent Phil.
LOZ
Well I could say so much about my own sister. One of my favourite things is having a laugh: when we’re together we laugh in a way that is impossible to achieve with other people. We start choking and coughing, and falling over, and rolling about on the floor, and crying, and goodness — it is rather a workout. Crying with laughter is only something I do with her — she makes me laugh just by laughing — and it is great to see her and end up on the floor crying and coughing all over the shop, it really is. Other than that, I am incredibly fortunate to be very close to her, unlike many siblings, so that we can go anywhere together and talk about anything.
NAOMI
Naomi is kind and supportive to everyone she meets, and I am lucky and proud to have her as a friend. We have a lot of fun playing Super Mario games together, and discussing all sorts of things about our shared passion: books and writing. She is very appreciative of my skills and has been unendingly supportive since my realisation that I am actually very unwell. We go on fun days out when I am strong enough, and we both help each other when we need it. I am very fortunate to know someone so helpful and thoughtful.
NITA
Nita is my Penpal from Albania. Well, we email each other, actually. She is really fun to read and reply to: we tell each other all sorts of things that are happening in our lives, and I really appreciate that she takes the time to reply. We make each other laugh, and I find it interesting to hear from someone who is far away from all the things I am used to, and yet I can talk to as if we are not far away at all. Sometimes there are shootings and things in Macedonia, where she lives, and she tells me about people being beat up outside the restaurant where she happens to be sitting — classical music playing overhead. This sounds scary, but she says Albanians are tough, so it’s okay, right? (She sent me this picture.)
JOSH
Josh and I were friends for a long time — from playing Super Mario World on his SNES, to sitting by him in any lesson at school — science was our main, though. We’d laugh about all sorts of things, or he’d try to talk to me about something rude, or do a rap that I didn’t understand then write it down in my book. If you talked to him, you’d probably think he was the total opposite of me, but he was always so perceptive and intelligent. He made me a lot more confident; always supporting me without ever appearing to — I like to think I supported him too. I enjoyed talking to him, and I thoroughly enjoyed our drama lessons together — he was my original comedy partner, and I miss that, because it made me a better person.