No doubt, all of you have heard me bitch constantly of late about the number of birthdays that i've had. Since the last weekend in August, i've had a minimum of two birthdays per weekend, and it is only just now beginning to clear up... although my bank account is certainly feeling the pinch a bit not to mention the fact that I constantly look tired and run down...
Let's have a look at this weekend...
Friday night... I honestly can't remember what I did... but since I had to work for most of Saturday, I suspect it was a quiet night in. Nup... i'm sitting here still thinking... I know I was running around trying to put together some new masters for a compilation that i'm helping out FMR with, and finding it increasingly difficult... it's hardly news worthy, so let's leave that there.
Saturday... got up... went to work for the day... not used to working Saturdays and certainly felt it later that night... finished work... went over to my friend Leo's place to put together these compilation masters since he had the missing tracks that I needed... got home again about 7pm, in time for Matt to pop around with a 'surprise for me'... the 'surprise' in question being the return of our beloved Hussey from the UK. There is a certain level of irony in all this, as just earlier that day, Matt had told me how he was planning to return home to Melbourne in six weeks time (he relocated to Sydney over a year ago). My reply was, "All we need is for the Hussey to return now and it'll feel like 'home' again..." And sure enough, on my doorstep that night, like I had clicked my heels three times and done some chant, Micheal had returned.
From there, I went onto Michael (as in, Michael & Jimmy) party. I felt it was a rather brave move actually... it was the first time I suspect that his family and his 'gay friends' were all in the same room, and certainly if the campness of his friends wasn't an indication, or the obvious dynamic that exists between Jimmy and himself (potentially, the most perfectly matched couple that I can think of), then the music was a dead giveaway. Any play of Kylie is bound to raise suspicion... but then when you have a double play of 'Boom Boom, Let's Go Back To My Room' followed by Man 2 Man's 'Male Stripper', you know you're not in Kansas anymore, Toto. (Note: not sure why I have so many bloody Wizard Of Oz references in this post... it must be something subliminal).
Many highlights for the night... from a few unknown cute boys wondering around the room to one of Jimmy's remarkably accurate 'Beyonce' strolls that he does... i'm not sure if it is a Greek tradition or just handy crafty work that lead to the girls tying the helium balloons around the guys heads, sitting there like multicoloured lightbulbs... At some stage here, it should be pointed out that I told someone that my days of partying till 8am in the morning were pretty much over, and that tonight, I was feeling especially tired and achy. Infact, I began to develope the strangest pain in both wrists in exactly the same spot... have no idea what caused it (and no smart arse comments thanks) but it was certainly causing me a fair amount of discomfort through out the evening.
It was commonly decided upon that The Market was to be the choice of venue post Michael's Star Bar celebrations... and so I quickly raced home to drop off my camera, check my hair, and head on back out.
The Market had some big celebration on... I believe it was to celebrate the birthday of the rainbow flag or something along those lines. I did point out to people that gay men hardly need a reason to celebrate anything. You could tell them that vodka had been invented on that night, or it was the night that Jennifer Saunders first muttered 'fabulous, sweetie darling!', and they would throw a celebration for it. I had arrived at The Market and gone straight in, waiting to hear as to when Michael, Jimmy and friends were due to arrive. About an hour later, there was an sms from them telling me that they were stuck in the queue outside. I had gone out and asked Brett kindly if there was any way they could be advanced, but due to how busy it was that night, it just wasn't possible... and so I went out and stood in the queue with them. I knew a few of Michael's female friends were big QAF fans, and so I 'pre-warned' them that The Market was the closest to the club scenes in QAF than usual. They were pleased to hear this.
Once inside, I found Anthony, who was with his usual partners in crime, Rina and Pat (a married couple who prefer the gay clubs to the rest). I've been rather impressed with his friends... I remember the first week I met Pat, heading to the dancefloor at one point during the night and looking up to see him dancing away on a podium. I thought, "hmm... that's pretty cool." This is where things between Ant and I are working really well... he isn't clingy in anyway, and I think that is an important thing if anyone wants to actually be with me. He comes with his friends and spends time with them... I have my friends and spend time with them... it's not like we ignore each other or don't spend anytime together or with each others friends... but at the same time, we recognize the fact that we have our own friends prior to meeting each other that are important to us, and that these are relationship that we want to see continue just as strongly. So i'd often run up and down stairs, having a quick chat with Ant, then running back to Michael and Jimmy and co, and then over to Steve, and then to the bar or the loo... generally being a social little butterfly regardless of the fact that I was complaining initially about being tired, feeling anti-social and having 'sore wrists'.
My mood did continue to improve throughout the night, and by the end of the night, there was Michael and Jimmy dancing away with Ant and I dancing beside them. I'm sure that people were dancing around us thinking, "freakin' couples..."; but hey, we were having fun. And worst of all, thinking back to a comment that I made earlier, we finally stumbled out of the venue at (ahem) 10am...
It was also a good opportunity to chat with Ant about 'things'... For the longest time, i've known that i'm not a very 'relationship' kinda guy. Infact, I think it is safe to say that I do have a fear of commitment. I'm, strangely, comfortable with this fact as well. But I wanted to tell Ant just so that he knew what he was 'up against', and the fact that armed with this info, he and I might be able to work on this together... I'm not that stupid that I don't realise when i've got a good thing, and Ant is a really sweet, intelligent and likeable guy. I guess it is just one of those Capricorn traits that we are rather viciously independent and take a while to build trust up towards people, even those that we 'like'. I'm definitely someone that people get to know over a period of time, and my close friends are the only people that really get to see 'me'... but i'm beginning to feel myself getting more comfortable around Ant, especially as I discover more about his creative/dancing side. After all, we're talking about someone who has been a dancer in shows like Rocky Horror (with Jason Donovan), Mamma Mia! and Oh What a Night... It was fun dancing with him on the Sunday morning, and certainly his compliment that I was a 'little groover' was appreciated... although all my friends know about my philosophy on butt wiggling.
Went home... went to bed... stupidly... as I had my nephews 18th birthday on that day, and thought I would grab a couple of hours sleep prior... woke up... it was 7:30pm... I cannot begin to tell you the level of guilt that I felt. I quickly phoned Deb to see if it was too late to drop around and give Alex his present, and she said it was... which reminds me that I might see if I can drop around there tonight and take his present to him and personally apologize for not showing. I personally would view my actions as the height of rudeness, and so I really want to make an effort to let him know how apologetic I am. But as I was saying, so many birthdays and celebrations lately that after a day of working, compiling masters and parties the day before, I was just exhausted come Sunday morning...
That night, my housemate Andrew made dinner for me. This is probably the first time in about two years that a housemate has actually made dinner for me, and considering I was feeling like crap, I cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciated that. I've come to the conclusion that Andrew is one of the most considerate people I know. Of course, I don't mean any disrespect to any of my previous housemates, who were all fabulously unique in their own ways... but Andrew is the type of person who will phone you if he is at the supermarket to see if you need anything... or sms you to see if you've had dinner yet if he is making something... He truly is a remarkable man and I make no effort to hide the fact that I find him somewhat inspiring of late... he certainly is someone who i'm glad to have in my life at the moment cause I think he keeps me a little more on track.
We ended up grabbing some snacks, a bottle of wine, and watching 'Little Shop Of Horrors' on Sunday night... which seemed like a great way to end the weekend. Monday morning was a little hard, crawling into work and faking enthusiasm to help people. I knew it was going to be one of those days when the first call I received was some kid who must've been all of 13 barking, "My internet doesn't work..." as an opening line down the phone to me. But the week does seem to be getting better. Firstly, I think i've found possibly the most ideal and suitable replacement for me at Alphalink... he says, looking over in the Hussey's direction... and secondly, although I can never be sure this will go ahead, but I received a phone call from Shock today telling me to expect another phone call today from someone as they feel there might be a position better suited for me within the company if I was interested in taking it... talk about thrilled! It's definitely making me feel like I am back in business!
This week... quietish week I think... a bit of gym, if I can (Ant and I are going to help each other there)... have dinner with Kieran and Tim over at Andrew's place towards the end of the week... the final Piano Bar at Chapel Off Chapel this coming Saturday night... and finally get back to bowling at Strike on Sunday. It truly is amazing how much someone's life can change in such a short time, but i've often had these periods before where my world just seems to turn around within a matter of a few weeks. It happened when I first went to Mushroom, getting a new job, home and partner within the space of a month... and now again, I have a new housemate, new job and new partner all within the space of a month... you have to admit, it's kinda spooky... but I just roll with it.
