People are precious

For all the ease that modern communication affords us, I have verifiable proof that no text message, no missed call, no voicemail left or email received is in any measure equal to the satisfaction of a smile shared, a hand touched or an eye met.

It may well be possible to live one's life from the safety of one room - shop online, date online and play online - but when I spend an evening like this evening, in the company of good friends, smothered in an array of textures and moods to tickle the senses, I am reminded all too clearly how important people are. Real people. People with hang ups and hardships, quirks and confusions, twinkles and passions. To be sure, I am and have always been a social person, but in quiet moments of contemplation, nights like tonight serve to revitalise the senses and remind me how much I do indeed love my friends. This is perhaps especially true in a foreign environment where one's friends naturally conjugate into 'framily'. The fact that we have all known eachother a relatively short time is neither here nor there (just as 1999 is neither now, nor never, never - no?). The fact is, we share an energy, an Iggy Pop lust for life and a retro keeness for community.

This is why we live.