please empty your brain below
Wow - interesting DG and brave in a way as things like this always look more stark laid out on paper, so to speak. Think I'd have a lot more red but no more rows, but that is fine as it's quality that counts

AliE17 | 04.08.15 - 7:27 a.m. | #

Sometimes the best friends are the ones you do not see for possibly years on end, but when you do get together it's as though no time has passed at all.

Waterhouse | 04.08.15 - 7:44 a.m. | #

i would love to know what happened in 2012 with friend no 7

dave | 04.08.15 - 8:10 a.m. | #

Yes number 6 and especially number 7 look the most interesting from a detached perspective. Tell us more tomorrow?

brian | 04.08.15 - 8:14 a.m. | #

Not a chance, obviously.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 04.08.15 - 8:17 a.m. | #

The older I get, the fewer close friends I have (the ones I see rather than phone or text). It's not me, honest - it's just that they are downsizing/retiring and moving out to something called not-London.

MOTB | Homepage | 04.08.15 - 8:21 a.m. | #

Looks like you're doing quite well, but then I've got (very) pesky children.

Erm I thought #7 a bit curious too (before I'd read other's comments). Perhaps they moved away, or are encased in concrete in the murky depths of the Lea/ Fleet.

Lorenzo | 04.08.15 - 8:38 a.m. | #

"And I wonder how your friendship table might stack up". Oh ffs, that's two hours of my morning gone making a list and colouring in boxes!

At least i reckon i know which number I am though... :-/

[not offended]

Geofftech | 04.08.15 - 8:38 a.m. | #

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7920434.stm

dave | 04.08.15 - 8:40 a.m. | #

No 4 is the most intriguing - no contact at all for nine years then pops up again this year.

timbo | 04.08.15 - 9:07 a.m. | #

You are not married or have children, (as far as I know, so your friendship circle is going to be different to people who do have those things. I know lots of people who, superficially at least, share characteristics of your lifestyle but they spend lots of time connected with clubs and societies. They would admit privately that 'friends' are not necessarily found there either. Between 6 and 12 is a manageable number when effort has to be made. Otherwise, what's the point of more?

B | 04.08.15 - 10:00 a.m. | #

The fact that we live fairly close to each other, and having met you once I did send you an invite to my garden party several years ago and you never even replied, and a couple of months ago I spotted you sitting at the bus stop opposite my house but you never knocked my door, but that's fine and not a problem, I shall still say hi and pass the time with you if I bump into you in the street and I still think you write the best blog in London.

Fishislandskin | 04.08.15 - 10:01 a.m. | #

Oh my goodness! I read Best Mate's row (line) as best mate's row (argument) and decided that this was a passive aggressive public outing of a major falling out! Now I understand. Look, DG, get a kitten. Cats are a man's best friend forever ...

dg writes: Ah yes, best rewrite that...

Antipodean | 04.08.15 - 10:56 a.m. | #

Cats are a man's best friend forever... Double Entendre ???

Bernie | 04.08.15 - 12:01 p.m. | #

@Antipodean
I too read "row" to rhyme with "thou" rather than "though", and couldn't work out whether "Best Friend" was No 4 (ten year feud, only recently made up) or one of the two (Nos 6 and 7) who DG no longer (or at least not currently?) counts as friends.

timbo | 04.08.15 - 1:48 p.m. | #

Most of my friends either died or had to move away because they couldn't afford the cost of living in Seattle. So you're doing way better than I have.

I've noticed it is difficult or impossible to make new friends - somehow the old friends seem to count way more.

But on the bright side I found an old high school friend on Facebook and that's been a wonderful rediscovery. And, since I've been following your blog for like 8 years I think I'm a distant cyber friend of sorts.

john | Homepage | 04.08.15 - 2:28 p.m. | #

@ Bernie - no double entendre intended ! Not sure what you are seeing that I am not...

Antipodean | 04.08.15 - 3:07 p.m. | #

Not everyone is good at making friends (or 'networking' in new-ghastly-speak), and those we meet don't always have staying power. A friend is someone you still like despite knowing (almost) everything about them - go with what you've got.

Joel | 04.08.15 - 3:25 p.m. | #

[dave's link]: What's the ideal number of friends?
6 (obviously) if that TV series corresponds to your definition of friendship.

Less facetiously, it can be as few or as many as you have, provided that they are good ones.

Bob Lindsay-Smith | 04.08.15 - 5:04 p.m. | #

Thanks to my friends being dotted about all over the place I'd say there are probably only 2-3 that I physically get to meet up with once in a while!
But many more that I'm in touch with almost daily through Facebook, we just never actually see each other face to face or hang out.

Cornish Cockney | 04.08.15 - 5:40 p.m. | #

So...I spent part of the afternoon on my chart. And it looks like this: Friend1, 2001-2015= Yellow/Orange. That is it folks! Now I know why I am "Grumpy Anon".

Grumpy Anon | 04.08.15 - 5:42 p.m. | #

Thanks for sharing your exercise in introspection - or at least self-examination. I can't recall when I last made a "new" friend, but am fortunate to have a number that I've known and meet regularly that have been friends for over 30 years - and a 'best mate' that I first met in 1979!

Frank F | 04.08.15 - 5:50 p.m. | #

Not sure if the Dangleway is Friend 7 or Friend 8. It did open in 2012.

Wolf | 04.08.15 - 7:33 p.m. | #

in the last 10 years several of my friends have left London because they (or their husbands) retired, and also a few have died, though I still see two of the widowers occasionally (and purely platonically). As stated above, it does seem more difficult to make friends later in life, most of the females of my age I meet seem too involved with grandchildren to want to make new friendships.
Cats are much better anyway, they're affectionate and bring me presents of dead mice, what more could I want?

amber | 04.08.15 - 7:45 p.m. | #

I have a good handful of friends from my twenties who I only see now and again, but they're the easiest company.

You don't have any yellows or oranges that have turned to red... this will be an interesting one to revisit in years to come.

welshkaren | 04.08.15 - 8:01 p.m. | #

As is often the way, Jerry Seinfeld has nailed the subject of making friends later in life http://youtu.be/B7JcGYilsuE

will | 04.08.15 - 9:15 p.m. | #

its easy to make new friends at any age just pursue new activities et voila there they are and an advantage of doing so is you may profit from remodelling your character with each soul as a better more worthy more interesting more fully-rounded, in my best mates annoying phrase, version of yourself.

Noel | 05.08.15 - 12:08 a.m. | #

I have discovered the old saying to be true, that you can always make new friends, but you can't make old friends.

RogerB | 05.08.15 - 8:14 a.m. | #

"and not included mates I simply bump into somewhere once a year"

Oh yes, there I am down as friend 82314 ;) (not offended)

Kirk | 05.08.15 - 7:21 p.m. | #

I'm a bit late to the party, but I agree with the last few comments.

I'm only in my 20s and moved to the UK 10 years ago. The 2 people who I would say are my best friends are those who I met when I was 6 years old and now live 6000 miles away, I haven't made any long-term friends in this country as my social circles keep changing (went to two universities in London and worked in 2 places outside of London)

JQ | 10.08.15 - 10:38 a.m. | #











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