It's good to be a girl. Or: a tribute to Sex and the City and my girlfriends

I just watched the farewell to Sex and the City. Is it wrong that I cried a lot?

Of course it's not. 6 years is a long time to grow attached to characters, especially when their world is kind of like your own, except much cooler, richer, prettier, and and harsher. And their hair is much better, and they have much higher and more expensive shoes.

What Sex and the City often does, is remind me how lucky I am to have the amazing friends I have. And the penultimate episode, where Carrie asks "What if I'd never met you?" is a very real example of how women feel about their friends. I don't pretend to be an expert on men (bwah ha ha), but it seems to me you guys don't have that. And that's really sad, because I don't think you can ever really know yourself until you see yourself through the eyes of a truly good friend.

My friends infuriate me (You look fine. Can we go get drunk now? Preferably on Horny Monkeys?). They teach me (Volio fare questa! WTF does that mean again?). They feed me (that scary/bad butter chicken stuff! and enchiladas with bubbly and Clare's special chicken. And endless upon endless cups of coffee). They inspire me (Can I have a wedding just like yours? And while we're at it, a few of your experiences?). They call me on my bullshite (heh. still, the best call ever). They make me proud (Trace, I can't believe you're a mum. And that you're just so damn good at it). They get me drunk (I'm just gonna sit on the floor, cos then I can't fall any further. And Bells, what was that guy on the tennis court's name again? And does it still taste like cinnamon? And racey, just turn it inside out, no-one will know!) They have really long memories (Shut up about Anthony already, seriously!). They make me want to be a better version of me (if I'm half as good a journalist as you're gonna be, I'll be happy. Well, I won't really, I'll be trying to beat you, but you know that's the point right?) They play netball with me, and as I said in my acknowledgments, don't laugh at me when I run. They never laughed at me when I was pretending to be Irish. They supported me when I had to make tough decisions. And they never told me what they thought I should do until I had actually made the decision. They support me when I'm too drunk to stand up. Well, they'll put me in a taxi anyway. They understand why I was pissed off when I thought I was Bette Midler. They understand and even feed my obsessions. They get the Audrey thing and the Moulin Rouge thing and the Secret History thing and they know the reasons why love scares the shite out of me. They see right through me and have the grace not to tell me when they do. They are smart and talented and dynamic and hilarious. Importantly, they think I'm funny too. They love me for who I am, and yet want me to always be better. They come when I need them and always have the right things to say. They challenge me, call me an idiot, listen to me, agree with me, disagree with me, tell me to shut up and get over myself already. Yes, sometimes they piss me off, and sometimes they are annoying. But that's usually when they are telling me things I don't want to hear. Or that I'm actually never going to marry Phill. And they buy me presents.

Did you just try to figure out which one of those sentences was about you? I bet you did.

My friends are amazing. Does that mean I get a little reflected glory? Cos, if nothing else, they put up with me?

The thing is, I wrote a play, about women and friendships. I never realised it until just now, but it was trying to be Sex and the City. And based on that, it really sucks!

I don't want my guy friends to feel bad. I love you too, it's just that I'm in an amazing women frame of mind. Ironically, until I was about 15, most of my friends were boys. And I would have said girls were annoying. What with the hair, and the makeup, and the not liking sport and getting muddy.

One of these days, i might find love in the same way that the all those characters did. Maybe I won't. But if one day, I can sit around with my friends and talk about stuff, just the random stuff that comes up in your life that only your friends get, with that amazing shorthand friends have, well then, I'll have something, won't I?

God I'm soppy. Pathetic really. Here's to amazing women. Yeah, you.