Friendship ...

Did you know that there is a drink called "Three Stages of Friendship" ? Found this on drinknation.com:

Combine the following in a shot glass:

1 part Jack Daniel's
1 part overproof Rum (151 proof)
1 part white Tequila

it gets a 9/10 rating - mind you, only 2 votes so far - presumably the rest are still passed out in a gutter somewhere .... lol. Mind you - further research turned up a different recipe for friendship on drinkswap.com. They recommend the following - again combined in a shot glass:

1 oz Vodka
1/3 oz Tequila
1/3 oz Bourbon

Mmm - oh well - I guess you can have more that one friend - at any stage.

The most important ingredient (apart from a bottle of Tequila!) would seem to be a good friend to catch you as you fall off the barstool, to pick you up out of the gutter and to support as you stagger home. Maybe those are the three stages of friendship.

Or maybe - after the introductions, the getting to know you stage, the steady growth of regard and trust - a good friend, a close and lasting friend, is someone who will not judge you for your shortcomings, someone who understands you enough to know when to pick you up when you are down and when to leave you where you fell, to lie on your back and contemplate the stars (although they might check you for head injuries and throw a blanket over you before leaving you to your contemplation). Above all a friend is someone who you can trust to be there to take care of you when you need it. After all - you would do the same for them ...

Good friends are few and far between, in a world full of billions of people how many do we truly connect with at anything more than a superficial level? While many would argue that they are happy with their own company the reality is that your own company can be an emotional wasteland. Of course friends can hurt you, and who could hurt you more than someone who knows you inside and out? But to deny yourself friendship because of the risk of getting hurt is really to commit emotional suicide and condemn yourself to your own lonely wasteland.

On that note:

Beneath The Shell

A curtain of hostility I wove
between myself and you to save me pain.
Resolved to live my life bereft of love,
sure that my work would always keep me sane.

I had no need for friends, called no man brother.
Stepped back from friendship well before the start.
No time for sister, family or lover,
Let quest for new discoveries shield my heart.

But I must reassess my self control.
I see now how our lives are intertwined
and I myself must play a leading role
to safeguard all the fragile ties that bind.

From friendship and from love I will not flee.
No man can be an island now I see.

by Amararti

Treasure your friends,
AMx