Tristan's Birthday

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.

Tonight was my friend Tristan's birthday, another old friend from Magdalene. I had been telling people on conference calls at work about how we were going to celebrate Guy Fawkes Night tonight, with fireworks and a bonfire. I love Guy Fawkes Night, as it's sort of like the Fourth of July (those fireworks!) except it's chilly and includes a massive fire, which is perfect for a pyro like me. Okay, so it was the 6th of November, but we were dragging our celebrations out over a few days!

Unfortunately, it was raining when I headed out, causing all of the buses to be late. Hence I got to the party quite late, but found that everyone had given up on watching the fireworks anyway, although I still saw some going off. I arrived at the right location and called Tristan, who directed me into the flat across the street, where everybody was standing around in the living room of his flat drinking mulled wine.

He got me a glass of mulled wine, and then I spent a while talking to a guy called Adrian I knew from Magdalene, as he had come the year after me, and every time I went back people used to say, "Adrian! Here is the Adrian who replaced you!" Apparently you always need an Adrian at Magdalene...

I then got talking to this guy Ed who was stuck on crutches, as apparently he had been bitten by a spider in Morocco and it had become infected. It was funny though, as he was such a dead-ringer for Prince Harry, I almost wondered when he walked in if Tristan had posher friends than I knew. Not so, but a nice guy, who unfortunately got stuck on the couch whilst everyone else was standing, as he couldn't stand on his injured leg for very long. So I did spend some time sitting on the couch talking to him, although it was funny how young this little 23-year old adventurer seemed to me!

Spent the evening greeting a lot of people I knew from Magdalene, including one guy I'd hooked up with about two years ago, and who hadn't really spoken to me since. I will never understand boys that way, as it's like when they don't know what to say to you, they just respond by avoiding you. Still, I just chatted to him normally, to try and make the point that he really needed to get over himself. Although, who knows, he didn't talk to many girls throughout the evening, in some ways I think he is like your typical British public school boy, with absolutely no idea what to do when it comes to girls.

In contrast, another guy who showed up that evening was the guy I had rebounded with after I'd broken up with my boyfriend at Oxford. Sounds strange to say that a man could prove himself to be your best friend by sleeping with you, but trust me, at the time it was exactly what I needed. At yet afterwards we went right back to being friends, and he is still one of my favourite people to talk to. (And he DOES talk to me frequently, unlike The Former Hook-up! Maybe it's because I never had sex with The Former Hook-up, and he's still annoyed about that? I will never understand what boys are thinking in that regard)

We had pretty much decided to skip the fireworks due to the rain, but then someone pointed out that we should be able to see the fireworks from Tristan's bedroom. So we all dashed in there and saw a spectacular fireworks finale. Makes me wish we had been watching the fireworks the entire time, but at least I still got a little bit of fireworks!

I then spent some time talking to a very nice Scottish lawyer, and debating whether he should join the O&C or the Caledonian Club. He seemed to be leaning in favour of the Caledonian, although as long as he shows up to Inter-Club events, it doesn't matter much to me, as long as I get a chance to know him better at some point... (Okay, very young, only 25, but very nice!)

Somewhere around midnight, the party turned into a massive dance party, with all of the furniture pushed to the sides of the room. Someone brought out a blue lipstick, and after painting his lips blue, Tristan went around painting Aboriginal blue stripes on everybody's faces. I looked like some sort of Amazonian warrior, with these blue streaks on my face! I don't know how it got started, but after a while people really all started looking weird, with blue streaks everywhere...

Finally, at around 2:30 AM, I was really just getting tired, and figured it was time to head home. So I went to Tristan to let him know I was leaving, and he insisted on walking me to the door. As we were walking, he asked me if I'd gotten tickets to the Christmas ball, as apparently his whole group had tried to get tickets as well, although the only one to have succeeded was The Former Hook-up. Argh! Are you kidding me? The only person I know who is going to this ball is the guy who won't talk to me? This blows... Lesson for next time, buy two tickets and see if you can find someone else who needs one!

As he said good-bye to me, I gave him a kiss on each cheek, and then just gave him a kiss on those very blue lips. It's something I frequently do with Princess, as it's not really a romantic thing, but just a little ego-boost way of saying, "Yeah, girls still think you're cute."

Tristan seemed a bit surprised, but then as I wished him a happy birthday once again, he smiled and said, "Thanks for that!" Definitely a cutie, left me grinning the whole way home!