Update
It's been a very long time since I updated here. Apologies and all, but it's the usual story: if you're busy doing stuff, you're too busy to write about it.
I've been home in Liverpool for the last few months and am having a wonderful time. It's a real breath of fresh air to be away from Exeter and it's been great to catch up with mates around here- thankfully the Moxx of Balhoun has not been around so there haven't been any awkward scenes. It's quite amazing to hear just how many people she's pissed off with her selfishness and drama-obsession, now that they're prepared to talk to me about her. It's a shame when I look back and think about how popular the MLG used to be before she came along and started setting people against each other. Obviously it's not the only reason for the group's decline, but it's why at least 3 or 4 of the old-timers don't go along any more.
I'm really not looking forward to heading back to Stepford in a few weeks' time. Still, it's only for another year and I can escape. The pity of it is that there are some incredibly lovely people there who I'll miss terribly, but I really cannot cope with living in the 1950s any longer. Give me a decent sized city with a bit of life about it!
In a fortnight I'm off to Venice and I can't wait. I've never been there before, or anywhere in Italy for that matter. I've heard such amazing things about the city that it should be a ton of fun. And, best of all, my wee sister is coming along so we can have a decent catch-up without one or other of us needing to drive home afterwards.
Last weekend I went to Manchester Mardi Gras. Despite all my misgivings about Gay Prides, this was great fun. It dropped a lot of the political trappings of the London Pride and concentrated on the fun bit. Sadly, I missed both Belinda Carlisle (because I didn't realise she was playing til the day after) and The Sheilas (because Merseyrail are useless), but caught Betty Boo and had a nostalgia fix from that. Sense took over however, when Gareth Gates came on stage and I fled for the nearest pub that was out of earshot. I went on 3 consecutive days (Saturday, Sunday and Monday) and had 3 very different experiences. Saturday was with himself and we had a lovely, relaxed evening. Sunday was with my folks and again, we had a lot of fun, but this time my mum got a lot of attention from the gay blokes. Story of my life- any fag in sight will elbow me out of the way to chat to her. Mind, the way she looks it's possibly not a surprise. She even got her picture taken by a load of the wandering photographers (eg. http://www.flickr.com/photos/paul_jones/1257229630/in/set-72157601617655542/ )- again, it may not be a surprise how I turned out! Sunday I went across to catch up with a few mates, none of whom could make it sadly. Ah well, I got chatting to some entertaining lunatics and one dull, weeping drunk who wanted to tell me (a) what a sad life he'd had and (b) how much he'd like to cop off with me.
I'm sure there's other stuff that's happened but never mind. Most people probably lost interest/consciousness half a page ago...
I've been home in Liverpool for the last few months and am having a wonderful time. It's a real breath of fresh air to be away from Exeter and it's been great to catch up with mates around here- thankfully the Moxx of Balhoun has not been around so there haven't been any awkward scenes. It's quite amazing to hear just how many people she's pissed off with her selfishness and drama-obsession, now that they're prepared to talk to me about her. It's a shame when I look back and think about how popular the MLG used to be before she came along and started setting people against each other. Obviously it's not the only reason for the group's decline, but it's why at least 3 or 4 of the old-timers don't go along any more.
I'm really not looking forward to heading back to Stepford in a few weeks' time. Still, it's only for another year and I can escape. The pity of it is that there are some incredibly lovely people there who I'll miss terribly, but I really cannot cope with living in the 1950s any longer. Give me a decent sized city with a bit of life about it!
In a fortnight I'm off to Venice and I can't wait. I've never been there before, or anywhere in Italy for that matter. I've heard such amazing things about the city that it should be a ton of fun. And, best of all, my wee sister is coming along so we can have a decent catch-up without one or other of us needing to drive home afterwards.
Last weekend I went to Manchester Mardi Gras. Despite all my misgivings about Gay Prides, this was great fun. It dropped a lot of the political trappings of the London Pride and concentrated on the fun bit. Sadly, I missed both Belinda Carlisle (because I didn't realise she was playing til the day after) and The Sheilas (because Merseyrail are useless), but caught Betty Boo and had a nostalgia fix from that. Sense took over however, when Gareth Gates came on stage and I fled for the nearest pub that was out of earshot. I went on 3 consecutive days (Saturday, Sunday and Monday) and had 3 very different experiences. Saturday was with himself and we had a lovely, relaxed evening. Sunday was with my folks and again, we had a lot of fun, but this time my mum got a lot of attention from the gay blokes. Story of my life- any fag in sight will elbow me out of the way to chat to her. Mind, the way she looks it's possibly not a surprise. She even got her picture taken by a load of the wandering photographers (eg. http://www.flickr.com/photos/paul_jones/1257229630/in/set-72157601617655542/ )- again, it may not be a surprise how I turned out! Sunday I went across to catch up with a few mates, none of whom could make it sadly. Ah well, I got chatting to some entertaining lunatics and one dull, weeping drunk who wanted to tell me (a) what a sad life he'd had and (b) how much he'd like to cop off with me.
I'm sure there's other stuff that's happened but never mind. Most people probably lost interest/consciousness half a page ago...