Three things I read today...

1) This one is sad but I'm trying my best to be philosophical: the friend who was being odd with me has turned on her (virtual) heel and gone off as one might have done at the age of 10. Can you believe that a 34-year-old ended a 12-year friendship (by email) for no good reason? Ah, life is a playground. It was depressing reading, naturally.

So, she isn't my friend any more – her reasons are paper-thin and this is probably why my repeated offers to meet and talk were ignored. She has dug her heels in and now they are stuck. Sadly, I am not a cobbler and there is only so much I can do. I would have her step out of those shoes but they are her shoes and they fit just right, even though she can now no longer actually get anywhere with them so firmly jammed.

I have cried a lot about this situation, been annoyed, hurt, all those things you felt when you were a kid and were 'left out' on odd occasions, but am now just a bit numb, as she failed – totally failed – to really try to understand why insomnia, and its extreme treatment (brain drugs for fuck's sake), may have meant I was out of sorts and not feeling sociable enough for her satisfaction. I have, apparently, 'blanked' her. There were no allowances made for my sickness, headaches, unbelievable lethargy, curfew or low periods. I have some wonderful friends (fleshy and bloggy), so I'm a lucky boot, but this did knock (and shock) me for six.

2) I read some 'restricted' notes over someone's shoulder while going home on a crowded train. I don't think they were that exciting but there were warnings about 'going in armed' and strangely, on the same page, instructions from this company about 'men and women being careful about their interactions while abroad, as it could have a negative effect on other relationships'. Oo-er.

3) A woman was sitting gazing at a list of waxing treatments: brows, chin, lip, legs, arms, bikini line, Brazilian, Hollywood, I dunno... Copa Cabana... She looked at the paper longingly for rather a long time. Then she became all self-conscious (this was again on the train) and put the pink document away in her purse. She didn't look like she needed waxing but maybe there were bits that I was shielded from, mercifully, by dint of her being fully-clothed.