ian picks me up in a super car, it's some kinda shining speed demon with a super massive soundtrack and hi revolutions we depart the front garden as my mum watches curious as to who my strange friends are. he passes me a joint.
we go to the country pub where we drink guiness under a willow tree in the setting sun by the canal. it's relaxing and takes me back to a softer gentler england that i did enjoy many years ago.
i tell ian what a strange, eventful day it's been and how one phase of my life seems to have ended and another begins. we go to a few other pubs, all quite tranquil and very nice, i'm feeling quite drunk.
we head to his house and smoke more, his wife joanne comes down and makes us food, really good food, we talk about the past, that strange country that keeps coming back to me now i have the right cues.
strangely when i was doing some pro photography in sydney i used an image of ian on my business card, it was taken with a pin hole camera and i really liked the energy in the image, it seemed tpo capture a moment, a now, from a sequence of time. the image was given a new context and a new reality, i kinda liked that about photography, it was magickal and a form of time travel.
anyway all those years ian was still there, part of me and strangely in the secret sections of my wallet i trawl out a card, i'm not sure why or what it was doing there but there ya go.
ian was amazed.
we are smashed, laughing about films we saw together, animal house where bluto turns around to us, the only two in the cinema and says his famous words, which ironically i forget now, apocalypse now, star wars, the time bandits, we spent a lot of time watching movies as ian worked at the cinema, i recall him now in his box tie and jacket, that young baby face now looking worn and worldly.
there's one thing about ian i love, it's amazing to watch and see because it really is something rare. he absolutely loves his wife and she him. mans gotta respect that.
joanne is easy to love though, she's kind and generous and gentle, very honest and funny. i can see why they get on so well. i'm really happy for ian, for them.
so we watch star trek the new one, which is amazing and then i crash ourt on the sofa.
later ian drops me off and i go for lunch with mum and dad and martin, it's very nice, beautiful summers afternoon, really perfect day. we go to a small pub restaurant but as soon as we arrive mum starts behaving over the top and i want to just disappear. poor dad unable to even get a word in.
anyway it's a good lunch.
i'm dropped off at the airport 5 hours early so they can watch the football, i wander around looking for something interesting to do but generally end up spending all my loose change on strange elderberry drinks.
i'm in korea now, killing five hours again, i slept most of the flight, woken only to eat a strange korean meal that was mostly noodles and seaweed. now i walk the massive airport surrounded by the strange ambiance of people in transit. life in transit. actually airports are a perfect enviroment, reflecting the real nature of transition. korea has nice lounges and lots of space, it's well organised and efficient, there's only a tiny amount of chaos and it's always behind you.