Today is my Mum's birthday, but she's flown off to Malaysia to visit my grandparents. So I got home from work at 7:30pm, fed the cat, made dinner for my dad, ate and watched the news together, then settled back with a glass of wine and played a game of chess, like two old bachelors. Except I had to do the dishes, even though I won the game. It was the first time I've ever beaten my Dad, and he was forced to pay me the princely sum of $1. Next time we play for $10!

One thing I don't like about chess is the intense concentration required. It's a game that demands patience and a methodical, analytical approach. You have to work out each possible move and evaluate the various outcomes of that decision at least two or three moves ahead in order to win the game. It's not a game for the lazy or sloppy, which happens to be my current preferred mental state.

Work passed in a daze today. I'm still a bit overcome by my weekend of unexpected debauchery. After a fizzle of a Valentines, the weekend was looking pretty shabby. But I woke up early on Saturday and went sailing on the harbour with some friends, before enjoying an afternoon beer at the Commodore. Then we drove out westside for a Russian-Chinese-Finnish engagement party, where I stuffed my face with meat and more beer before rushing back to the city for free entry into Jigsaw. After a few more drinks I was getting downright skanky with five lovely ladies. Halfway thru the night, some guy even tapped me on the shoulder and shouted "You the man!" Which is ironic, cos really I was just being one of the girls...

Sunday I was supposed to go to Wu Shu and photograph the anti-war protest, but I slept in and found out it was my Mum's birthday lunch, for which attendance was mandatory. So we had a picnic by the harbour and I ate a boatload of seafood whilst listening to the old folk discuss the pros and cons of starting my own business. Then my aunties started feeding the gulls and all hell broke loose.

I took a photo of some mistletoe before the rain started.

Tomorrow is G's birthday. My friends will be there, but I will not. Sometimes I wonder, if I had not met them at Miso's birthday in 2002, would it be the other way around today? I guess it's a stupid question. Life is like chess, you can't take your moves back, so dwelling too much on the past will only impede your ability to make better moves in the future. Though my life now seems so surreal, as if I am living out one of those "What if..." comic books I used to buy back in high school. It makes me sad that I have to do the things I do.

But I must look forward. I knew everyone at Yaki's in 2003. I have a good feeling about these people. Some of them will be around for a very long time, maybe for life. This tells me I have come far, and this year will be different.