Florence Watches Gales at Night

James found a nice young Japanese man on a bench at the park and brought him home to stay with him, his name means Mountain God, which, really, is hard not to admire. He’s a proper lunatic Japanese too, he’s got a friend, a girl, I know this seems sexist but you’ll grasp the reason in a moment, probably sooner if I hadn’t done this qualification and really who reading me thinks I’m a sexist anyway, unless they’re hysterical lunatics. Ahh, poor taste. Anyway, his friend is meeting him in Sydney, she flew down to Melbourne first and is riding a bicycle from there to Sydney, about 1300km all up with side trips. Amazing right? I know they like bicycles over there, god I like bicycles I spent most of my youth on one, but that’s an unfathomable amount. I saw a picture, she’s like 5 foot nothing, wears glasses, has a diminuitive stance, going on a mighty journey, a ride that is many times larger than her own country.

There really is a great joy in meeting people from different cultures, even if it ends up being that not all cultures are agreeable to you. It’s worthwhile seeing how others live, what they value and rely on, he’s the first person I’ve met in my age group who has a sense of ‘duty’, something that was largely cast aside after the two great wars, in my English Colonial background.

Post-colonialism is the biggest joke of a genre.

Brent and Natalie left well, I can still feel it on my neck where he kissed me, my body acted on it’s own, I grabbed him with all my strength to get him off me, I’ve always been protective of my neck, I’m a pacifist if I can be, I dislike violence, it rarely solves matters and honestly I think it just belies a lack of intelligence and control in the person, I managed to keep my cool, I managed to treat them like a human being, why can’t they do the same for me?

A violent outburst is usually a selfish outburst, childish, illconsidered and of course, hurtful. Strangers and enemies I can sort of understand, but between friends, why would you want to hurt someone you value? To what ends? Anyhow, I wasn’t always like this, in highschool I broke a guys arm because he tried to strangle me, I dislocated another person’s finger when they tried to strangle me, anything untoward my neck I used to just lash out reflexively, I didn’t even think about it my hands moved faster than my thoughts, again, childish, so I practiced control, so this time, instead of trying to dismember Brent as it seems is my inherent reaction, I simply dropped my weight so that he couldn’t hold on.

I’m playing tour guide at the moment, I’ve got Kami to show around and Natalie’s best friend Courtney who moved here a couple of months ago. She’s interesting, she’s dating a beautiful man apparently whom is stupid but he’s so pretty she can’t break up with him, he’ll call her up asking her how to spell words and makes her take his go in Scrabble games because she’s better, it’s quite sweet really, he sounds lovely, sort of person I’d like, it’s not easy for a male to rely on a female, I know I know, all men do, but it’s not something they’re usually so open about, he has done well to drop the bravado most males have, so he must have a good mind even if it isn’t too sharp. I look forward to meeting him if she doesn’t leave him.

I played tennis my with dealer friend, poor lad, he smokes so much of his own stuff that he’s sort of losing the distinction between his lucid moments and his impaired moments, he watched that Zeitgeist documentary, he’s now talking in hushed whispers about The Illuminati, he’s very intelligent though, my word, and he’s charming and compassionate, but he’s losing his shit. I’m setting up a home security network for him, it’s quite astounding. He lives in housing commission with his mother who is mentally challenged, it’s the usual awful apartment tenament system, you can smell piss on the carpet going up the stairs, there are Australian flags on the doors, dogs barking, always someone in the hallway talking to themselves, couples fighting and yelling, babies screaming, it’s not a happy or nice place, until you enter his apartment, which is this, just, he has laid down beautiful intricate floor rugs, french polished tables, art deco lights and fittings, beautiful large mirrors and art works on the walls, it’s, quite striking.

I met a lovely African man who sometimes ‘stays’ with him, obviously a higher up in the line, it was such a beautiful night last night, the moon was full and low for a long time, I told him I was going for a walk and he accompanied me, we talked about the moon and constellations, I’ve got something of an interest in constellations, as such my family for my 21st bought me a star for the southern hemisphere index, you can see it with binoculars or with the naked eye out in the country, anyhow he was telling me about the constellations as he knew them as a boy in Africa, it’s always nice to learn. Then he began, in his beautiful deep accent and intense eyes, about how the small things like that and how to milk a cow the correct way are what make up a culture, small plain and common bits of truth that come together to form a mindset, to define a people, he says that too many people focus on the greater truths, the accomplishments and goals and standards of a people, which is why they feel disconnected from their own culture since they’re comparing themselves to what are essentially the finest philosophers and whilst that is a beautiful part of culture it is in the higher cerebral end and not the common end.

Anyhow he and I are going out again soon, it was nice to talk to him, I didn’t agree with everything he said, but I understood his reasoning, which I think he appreciated. A lot of people don’t see that distinction, but it is very important, it’s, arrogant, to expect people to agree with you, but it is important that they understand, if they agree that’s wonderful, but it’s not necessary, in all things there are parts to admire and admonish, arguing that it is only one or the other is just absurd.

Oh and this is the best song I’ve heard this year, just, remarkable, she builds the tension beautifully, she doesn’t belt it out like a soul singer she holds a little back, it is so ridiculously fucking good, we had it playing in the car on the trip, I was banging my hand on the car door along with the beat in a hypnotic state, I’ve heard it a dozen times already and my hair still stands on end, just, remarkable. Oh and if you do decide to listen to it, the louder the better, you can’t feel the heavy beat of the bass in the youtube version unfortunately. To be perfectly honest, the song is absolutely carnal.