went out for drinks to

went out for drinks to Kazbar last night with Tim which was really nice. bumped into José who I thought was in Spain but turns out he is back on holiday so that was nice too. He has invited me over for a holiday and I must say if it wasn’t for my hectic schedule at the moment I would book it today. Next week I’ll be over in Dublin and then next Sat/Sun flying to Washington for 3 weeks and then back into sunny London on the 4th August – hence the lack of holiday so far.
It’s Jacs birthday party tonight in town so I have been out buying decorations and baloons and things – have no idea what to get her for a present though. Maybe I’ll wait until I’m in the states and bring her something back from there.

I got off the train

I got off the train last night at Clapham [I get the Silverlink train that goes from Olympia to Clapham via West Brompton] to a sea of homosexual madonna fans who had taken the 4th of July theme to heart – stars and stripes sarongs and red white & blue glitter in the hair and that was just the lads 😉 I am so excited about going now – 7 days away woo hoo.

I heard recently that one

I heard recently that one of my ex partners [who was HIV+ when we dated nearly 8 years ago] has passed away. I’m not entirely sure how this makes me feel. I actually bumped into him a few months ago at the 2 brewers and the only thing that stopped me from going back to his to repeat a night from the old days was the fact I had to go home and walk Jack at some stage. I regretted that choice for ages as he still makes me tingle when I see him. I never ever quite got him out of my system – we worked together for nearly 2 years after we went out which I am sure didn’t help matters.
I was around when he first discovered his status and was with him during the getting out of your mind stage – which usually involved the two of us finishing work and heading off to the Fridge to take more drugs than is possibly good for you and then heading back to work the following morning. Eventually he calmed down and I guess dealt with the news in a more sane manner. Well a less public manner anyway.
Naturally since he was +ve I also went for testing which was probably one of the most traumatic experiences of my life waiting a week for the news.
I guess the last couple of weeks have meant I put a lot of things in perspective. I have very little to worry about.

So Mardi Gras, I guess

So Mardi Gras, I guess I better write a bit about it then? Met up with the usual suspects and friends before wandering down the path in hyde park thereby cutting off the start. Mark and Ryan who were staying with me [and had helped start the day with champagne on the roof terrace] asked if this was it 😉 Little did they know. It was Ryan’s first Mardi Gras/Pride event so I guess he didn’t realise. We merged with the actual ‘parade’ at this point and I lost everyone a few times and spent a lot of time trying to get the works camera to function. Some good shots and some bad shots but more importantly some missed shots :o(. Cute boy in cap with boyf you know who you are 😉 We were bored by Picadilly Circus despite frantically looking for the closer to heaven float to try and catch a glimpse of Paul Keating – I am not alone in this however as Ian had already texted me about the man and the float!]. We then made our way to Finsbury Park.
Jacs and I went in the press entrance and then arranged to meet everyone else at the champagne bar. After wandering around for a bit, I went in search of the regular big events crowd. You know the people you only ever see at pride or Walk for Life and such. I went looking for Tony & Baloo at the line-dancing Area [which was as usual one of the busiest venues]. Bumped into some people at the bungee that I knew from somewhere but couldn’t place the name. Saw a few of the blogger boys – erm David, Jonathan and Ian, or was that 2 David’s? Not sure now – Oh cos I had met up with Scally too cos he is part of the gang so you know he’s always around.
Wandered back to the champagne bar and watched some of the main stage stuff and then saw two guys from holiday in Gran Canaria Rob and Steve [Mark who was staying, was another of that crowd] we made vague plans for a return trip and drank some more champers [?35 a bottle was a bit steep mind]. Now my usual gripe about Mardi Gras is the nasty pop acts you normally get at G.A.Y. all onstage together. This year though Steps joined the line up and the crowd went wild [well actually it may have just been Camilla]. Wandered backstage purely because I could and met up with Mark who I haven’t seen for ages [he is a promoter for DTPM and has been jet setting around the globe the last few months which is a step up from being a waiter in the London Ryan Hotel].
Supergirly did a couple of classics which reminded me of a. when I saw them recently in Croydon with Spence and b. when they came to our Christmas Party and the microphones didn’t work so they never did the act. I missed Ken Livingstone and Peter Tatchell who by all accounts were actually quite a laugh. The pre-recorded video message from Josh from Big Brother was no surprise as it had been widely rumoured he had taped one [not that he is doing BB purely for the publicity you understand or that of his company]. Now the problem with ego and pre-recorded footage is clear. He is full of himself but has not been popular. A chant from the crowd made it clear that they would have preferred a message from Brian – “Brian, Brian, Brian, Brian” they chanted clearly they have picked their favourite. Oh and the fact that the event rganisers had managed to obscure the company name Josh had plastered across the bottom of the screen only made things worse for him 😉
Wandered back to the champagne tent where I was looking around for the others when a nice young gentleman crossed my path and looked back [result I thought] but did absolutely nothing about it as usual. So met up with the others and then made to sit down and who should be nearby but the cute guy. So anyways after a bit of looking back and forth I finally wandered over [very unlike me – must have been the champagne] and uttered “um errr Hi erm um how’s your day been?” So Stevie if you are reading this [in the EasyEverything Internet Cafe in Amsterdam] I’m amazed you actually spoke to me but glad you did 😉 That’s all on that particular subject until August the 4th.
So how was email(‘your’) Mardi Gras?