I told a friend of mine recently that I was beginning to realise that your 30's was all about becoming the things you generally mocked in your 20's. You hit that point where you realise that, yes, you will actually stop feeling the urge to go out and party all the time. Yes, you do reach that point where paying a bill seems more important than impulse spending. And yes, settling down at home over the weekend with loved ones, fish & chips and a DVD seems like a bloody good idea. (This last sentence does run the risk of being banned in the UK.) And, most surprisingly of all, you find yourself actually rather all right with that concept. So, I do sometimes fear that updating my blog on a regular basis may just expose me as being somewhat boring.
However, I have made the rule, especially since Ant still loves to party, of allowing myself the luxury of a big weekend out every once in a while. I can justify the spend and, because it isn't all the time, can actually look forward to it. This past weekend was my weekend to go out and party.
We started off by catching up with Audi and Vanessa at Pink. Catching up with Audi and Vanessa is always wonderful. Pink, on the other hand... yes, well... Pink does have an excellent drag show that pays tribute to The Sound Of Music. Strangely, i've not ever seen The Sound Of Music all the way through (I also now imagine a clutch of gay men gasping, holding their hands in horror over their mouths and wondering if I am actually 100% truly gay.) I'm sure I will one day, but the urge has never really been there although, like most people, I certainly know most of the music. We left shortly after midnight to head on home and get changed before meeting Michael and Jimmy out at The Market.
Upon arrival, the place was already packed. We ran into some other friends, including my good friend (and full time boss) Michael Broderick. Thus began a rather fun but at times exceedingly odd night. It was the night were several boys kept seemingly throwing themselves at Ant - not that I can really blame them. It was the night where we ran into the very drunk man who just broke up with his boyfriend that night and who kept swinging wildly between 'let's party' mode and 'how could he do this to me' mode. It was the night of the attractive but rather superficial topless boy who seemed to think that, since Ant had some part of his chest developed, was automatically a 'slut' until Ant pointed out that I was his boyfriend. He then looked up at me, looked me up and down, and then walked off like I had never existed. Charmed, i'm sure.
But hey, this was my big fun super dooper night out and no 'upper defined torso slut' was going to bring me down. Oh, no! Despite having an intensely bad week at work the week prior, I had ended this week feeling back in the game. I had bought some new clothes. I had moisterized my skin. I wasn't feeling like the hottest creature on the planet but I was feeling like one of the more fun ones and tonight, we were living it up large. Besides, I had my best friends with me, especially in the form of Michael 'the friend' and not Michael 'the boss' and I was going to make the most of it.
So it did surprise everyone when, come the Market's closing time, I agreed with Michael 'the friend not the boss' to head up to Diva Bar for recovery. By this stage, morning had broken but I was on my 'the biggest night ever in the existence of July 8th 2006' mode and so I was ready to continue on.
Diva Bar was... well... even more sad than Pink really... especially at that time of the morning... but we were here to have fun. Jimmy, stunned that this was even continuing, popped himself up on a speaker while Michael 'the friend' (as opposed to Jimmy's boyfriend Michael) raced to the bar to get more drinks. At this point, a group of three guys walked in who we later realised were straight. One of them, known at this point as 'Hot Cop', was dressed (ready for the twist...) as a cop. And he was hot. Thus the nickname 'Hot Cop' (are you following me here?). Right... so we start chatting with them, all drooling over hot cop (he was really really hot) when he takes rather a liking to Ant and seems to immediately befriend him (not that any of us were disappointed because it meant we could really just stand there and take in Hot Cop).
Before long, we're all buying drinks and chatting away. At one point, it gets the better of me and I have to ask, "So, like, I think it's great and all that you guys are comfortable with being here and that, so don't take this the wrong way... but I do have to ask... why are you dressed as a cop standing in a gay bar drinking at this hour of a Sunday morning?" Now, keep in mind that i've reached giggling schoolgirl stage by the end of this. He could've uttered baby noises or gone into an indepth discussion on quantum physics and I wouldn't have noticed the difference. However, he did state that he had gone to a fancy dress party the night before as one of the Village People. It's only later that I realised this explained the part of the question about why he was dressed as a cop, but not really much else. However, between the arms, the body, the handsome face, the attitude, the uniform and the sunglasses, I was too awestruck/intimidated/excited that, frankly, I wasn't going to be anything even remotely close to a match for him. He had me licked. Hmm... licked.
It did actually lead to Jimmy and myself having a rather interesting conversation on gay politics; not that I am overly political, but I do believe that you need to make a stand. After all, we're living under a government who, because of the way I was born, believes I don't have the same rights as straight couples. I am, apparently, a threat to the family unit. You know what I think? Cheating on your partner is a threat to the family unit. Violence on your partner and children is a threat to the family unit. Gambling... alcohol... abuse... they're all a threat to the family unit. Can you honestly tell me that the care of two loving adults, regardless of if they're gay or straight, is going to be worse than living in a family unit where you're abused, threatened or fear for your safety? And that's why I feel gay people do sometimes need to push those boundaries, even if it is to let others know just how absolutely normal and boring we can be most of the rest of the time. If you don't believe me, read my first paragraph again!
But hey, we got to the end of the night, saying good bye to Hot Cop (who's name turned out to be Adam) and his friends, and finally made our way home. I'm not going to disclose the time as it is... well... a bloody good effort in most people's books. I did say goodbye to Michael 'the friend' and he said, "I guess you're going home." "Yes, I have to work tomorrow morning", I said. "I won't tell if you won't" came the reply. In my mind i'm thinking, yes, that's Michael 'the friend' talking although i'm sure, come tomorrow morning, if I pulled that stunt, Michael 'the boss' would not be impressed.
Time for bed... and back to me boring but happily content life until my next 'You won't believe how big this is but it's really bloody huge' weekend.
