Obscurity

I've recently stumbled across a fabulous site, Hey! It's That Guy, which lists actors who have built extensive careers, but never managed to achieve any real fame. Hence, when you see them on screen, you exclaim 'Hey! It's that guy!' The descriptions of the actors' careers is hilarious.

Certainty

We had a party last night to celebrate Geminis generally and Caz and me in particular. It was Caz's birthday yesterday, and mine is on Thursday. We had a really nice night, although I didn't get to talk to people for as long as I would have liked. At parties I always seem to miss out on catching up with a few people.

Towards the end of the night, a friend asked me if I was certain about getting married. I had been thinking about it just the day before. Doing a bit of the 'what ifs': what if we fall out of love, what if something bad happens, and so on. Then I realised that speculating on the 'what ifs' is pointless -- all that I can really know is what is. And this is what is: with Heather, I laugh more than ever, and worry less than ever. I've never had so much fun, or been so loved. You can make these decisions as simple or as complex as you want, I suppose. I would rather go for simplicity. Last night, I looked my friend and said: 'Yes, I'm certain I want to get married.'

Woe

Caz was just telling me and Heather that she was born on a Sunday, and according to the old rhyme, 'The child born on the Sabbath day/ is blithe and bonny, good and gay.' We laughed at this for a bit, telling Caz she must be gay, ha ha (she's not).

It all turned a bit sour when I decided to find out what qualities this rhyme ascribes to me. Caz could only remember the glowing lines that described her birthday. So I found out that I was born on a Wednesday, looked up the rhyme, and this is what is said: 'Wednesday's child is full of woe.' At last I understand how I got to be like this.

Heather was born on a Saturday, and apparently 'Saturday's child works hard for a living.' Probably so she doesn't have to be around her woeful girlfriend all day. Glad I didn't know about this news when I was a child. I'm going to sulk now.

Affection

On a gorgeous Saturday afternoon last year, Heather and I went for a stroll near Albert Park in the city. We had only been dating for a little while then, and we just wanted to touch all the time. Of course, some idiots drove past, saw us holding hands, and screamed insults at us. Tonight we were walking home from a friend's house when I realised then that we no longer hold hands on main roads, only on the side streets. And never in the daytime, only at night.

Blood orange sorbet

Heather and I went out to dinner with friends last night. I fear that what I'm about to write will sound like an advertisement because everything was utterly delicious. We went to Mondo Organics, a West End restaurant that serves organic food. I had crispy squid stuffed with seafood, pistachios, and rice, and Heather had the 'grilled organic eye fillet, potato, roast tomato & basil ragu, black olive & red wine jus'. Michael had the fish, and I think Elizabeth had the 'spinach & almond rotolo w ricotta, herb, roast garlic lemon cream, roast tomato & harrisa caponata'. Yum! Fortunately, there was a glossary on the reverse of the menu so we could work out what things were. Even better (in my opinion) were the desserts. The chocolate pudding was so delicious that I think I'll have to go back regularly just for dessert. Heather was rapturous over the blood orange sorbet.

Elizabeth and Michael had said previously that they wanted to help celebrate our engagement in some way. We said we thought it would be silly to have any formal sort of engagement party. When we met at the restaurant, Elizabeth and Michael gave us an envelope containing two gift vouchers for massage treatments at a place in New Farm! It was such a lovely idea, and we appreciated it so much. And then, to top it all off, Elizabeth and Michael paid for dinner when we weren't looking.

It's funny how having other people want to celebrate with you makes you realise that, yes, there actually is a lot to celebrate. After dinner, we felt grateful to Elizabeth and Michael, but we also felt grateful to have each other. We always do, but it was an even stronger feeling than usual. Elizabeth and Michael have been married for a few years, and we talked to them about what it was like to get married, how they met, and so on. It was a really nice, intimate night. I can't really explain it, but I felt like Elizabeth and Michael gave us so much (beyond the wonderful dinner and gift vouchers), some kind of pure acceptance and encouragement that made everything feel just right.