Tuesday, June 29, 2004

Today is an anniversary day for Davie – 3 years today since I landed back upon these shores after my extended stint back in the UK. Lordy. There have been a few changes in that time. I’ve been through four jobs with three companies, five houses, five flatmates and two proper boyfriends. There were a few more improper ones, obviously :o) I’ve run two half marathons, two City to Surf races and two 10K Bridge runs. Been to Melbourne twice, Brisbane, Byron Bay and back to the UK just the once (and believe me that’s going to change in the next three years – I’m determined to have more long weekends away!). I’ve become and Aussie citizen and got an Aussie passport and exercised my new found ability to vote (though fortunately not been called up for active army service yet). I’ve had visits from Stevie P; Karen and Melissa; Sarah; Darryl; Paul, Alan and Dr Darren; Scally, Jonathan and Mark; David and Brett, Paul and Dino, Rob and Adrian and Mark, and most recent of all, Nick. Where are the rest of you? I’ve currently got braces on my teeth and inserts in my shoes to help my feet. The rest of me seems to be holding up OK… I’ve bought half a house here and am trying to sell an apartment there. Best of all though, are the number of fantastic mates I’ve made in that time here. I wasn’t going to single out people, but I guess I have to mention this core group without whom the last three years wouldn’t have been half as much fun – Rich and Russ, Pete, Adrian, Gary, Pete and Johnno, Aaron and Bobby. Thanks guys. Am looking forward to whatever the next three years and more may have in store…

Friday, June 25, 2004

Doh. Another Friday creeps around and I wonder what I’ve been up to. In the words of Japan, I second that emotion. No, er visions of China. Er no. Here comes the quiet life again. Well it beats the rain I suppose. *stops waffling*
Well Friday night was indeed legs at the gym. Thence home. I’ve a feeling I went out, but I can’t quite remember. Actually no, probably not as I was due at the gym Saturday at 10am. Which I did. I kind of piked the run afterwards though, as my legs were aching. Home and food I think, then up to meet Bobby and into Oxford Street to have coffee and a catch up with Wayne the dentist. Went to Foodgame. Noice! Then we hit the Colombian for a swift vodka and cranberry in memory of Pete but it was vile so we headed back to Newtown instead. Think eventually we hit the Newtown again after I’d had a nice dinner with Pete, Johnno and Paul. The Newtown wasn’t up to much though, it has to be said. Tony popped down for a beer and it was nice to see him. Home and to bed not long after midnight.
Sunday. Up not too late. Brekky with Rich and Russ at the Chocolate Dog. Noice. Home and rest a bit before doing a hilly run in the park. Obviously I needed to relax after that and so ended up round at one of the guy’s places from last weekend. Just to be polite, naturally. Finished being polite around 7pm and headed home so I could wish Dad happy Father’s Day. Then went for a quick beer at the Newtown with Bobby which was so hideous we drank our beer and left. Straight outside to a cab to take us to the Shift. Which wasn’t that much better… except for Mad Mark being there. Mark’s a guy that we see out at some of the parties – Indulgence, Bad Dog etc. Sporadically. Sexy, hairy, cute – but completely barking. Or at least out of control on party times. Anyway one thing led to another…
Mark very kindly dropped me home at 7.30am Monday. Ugh. Not much sleep after beer and… well, let’s just say I wasn’t at my brightest. Good job I had a full day of learning to be a back up trainer that day. Monday night was quiet. Tuesday work and then tried to run at the gym. My legs really ached – almost like shin splints. Danger! So I stopped. And went home pissed off. Wednesday was work and gym with Peter and then dinner with Bobby who wasn’t at his best due to a work cock up and his visa. He wasn’t best pleased, but I think by the end of the night he felt a bit better, and me (and Alan on the phone from NZ) convinved him to still do Melbourne (more shortly). Yesterday work and then shopping in town and Oxford St. I bought socks and a CD and some DVDs. Yay. Home via the Happy Chef for fantastic wonton soup. And so here we are again. Friday. Today is slightly different though as I’m flying off to Melbourne for the weekend. There’s a bit of a bear event happening, and it’s a good chance to catch up with a few people too. Beers and social events with what I’m sure will be a selection of sexy men. Can’t wait. Can’t wait to get out of Sydney either… it’s been too long. Roll on the 8pm flight!

Friday, June 18, 2004

And lo, it came to pass. Did Gary’s thing on Wednesday night which was fun. He liked the bag of english sweets – what memories!! I’d forgotten about Frazzles. And I now know where to go if I get a sudden urge for a jar of Piccalilli! The ceremony was long as the were doing over 300 people, but I kept myself amused chatting to Marcus, Phil and Graham. And checking out the other gay men being done. If you know what I mean. Then it was a glass of chardonnay and a meat pie with the Lord Mayor. How aussie! Then home and internet play before bed.
Yesterday was work; gym at lunchtime (chest and triceps); run in the evening. About 7K maybe, round the park with hills. Home, shower, supermarket, dinner for Bobby. He came down to use my PC to send some stuff to Pete and we had a natter and drank tea :o)
Today work, not much else. Heading off to the gym now to do legs. Then in the morning at 10am I’m doing back and biceps. Then I’ve got to do another run (6K – flat) straight after that and then on Sunday I’ve got to find some hills. I’m on an 8 week countdown to the City to Surf and trying to stick to my training program. It’s the only way I’m going to knock 7 minutes off last year’s time – and that works out that I have to run each kilometre 30 seconds faster than last time it’s quite a hike. If you get my drift!!
The rest of the weekend has no plans. There may be coffee and the odd beer. Other than that… as they say in Yorkshire… nowt.

Wednesday, June 16, 2004

On the eighth day machine just got upset… a problem man had not foreseen as yet. Ah, dear old Hazel O’Connor. I did hear rumours of some new material recently. I think. Or maybe it was all a dream…
Anyway, my machine will be upset if I don’t blog again soon, so here we go – eight days on.
Tuesday night, Wednesday night and Thursday nights were all spent in, watching Angels in America as previously alluded to. There was some gymming and limited shopping involved over those three days too, but little else. The show was good – great performances from Merryl, Al and Emma. Catch it if you haven’t. Friday night was work and gym again. Thence briefly home before catching a cab with Bobby and Aaron to the Oxford for some town beers for the first time in ages. Mind you, realised pretty soon that I hadn’t been missing much by staying away from Oxford Street. Various people came and went, the beers came and went, we went to different bars, came to in different bars and ended up quite drunk in Manacle with the usual suspects. Home. Sleep.
Up early on Saturday to have some brekky before heading off the the gym. Good workout on chest and triceps, which was encouraging. Yay. Home and then someone I’d been chatting to online decided we should do more than chat. Well if I have to… :o) Home and veg out a bit. Everyone else was heading off to Big Queer Nation but I’m having a (relatively) healthy month and so managed to say no. Instead Bobs and I did beers again, though town was empty. And not much fun all in all. Fun with Bobby, but we missed a couple more people to bounce off. As it were. I hit home around 1.30am. Slept badly and was awake fairly early Sunday morn. Another chap off the internet that I’d been chatting to recently thought we should do more than chat too, and so I toddled off to meet up with him. Nice guy and fun was had. That took me to mid afternoon, when it was time to head to Gary and Peter’s new place in Tamarama. We took George for a walk on the beach at sunset, which was quite striking. Pink and purple skies darkening over the valley where Tamarama nestles near the beach. Noice. Home for wine, stew, chats and Cher. No really. And another guest Neil is someone I’ve seen around for ages so nice to finally meet him. Cab back to the Newtown, but it was deserted so I went home to sleep.
Slept badly again :o( Somehow convinced myself I’d done something to my phone which made me wake up every 15 minutes – so guess what? I did. For a lot of the night. Weird. Monday was a holiday here and I was originally gymming again, but I felt almost fluey when I woke coz of the interrupted sleep. Decided vegging on the sofa with brekky and the Fifth Element was the best way forward. Yay! By 2pm I was feeling myself again (!) and so I headed into Newtown for a walk in the gorgeous winter sun. The weather lately has been fantastic… in the low 20s but clear and sunny. Fantastic! Had food and then went home and then came back out again for quiet beers with Bobby. Bumped into Jason Clarke for the first time in ages which was nice. Relatively early night. Yay. Got home to find out that Dad hasn’t been well – Melissa alerted me to it by MSN messenger bless her. Phoned Dad and spoke to him but missed Karen so didn’t get the full version. We’ll see. It’s at times like this I feel so very, very far away from the UK…
Slept badly again, again. :o( Continued with yesterday’s dream and the 15 minute thing, but somehow rationalised it all again in my head so it could keep happening every 15 minutes. I had graphs and everything. Apparently. Grrr. Into work. Dull. Finished late and then hit the gym. Was meant to run too, but it was just too late. Home, food, tidy up (house inspection for the house sale sprung on the boys late yesterday!). Bed.
Up early-ish this morning. Still didn’t sleep great again, but I think the 15 minute thing has had it’s.. er.. 15 minutes. :o) Work. Dull. Heading off in a tick for Gary’s citizenship ceremony at Town Hall. We’re being austra-cised one by one! I’m going to try and visit a place that sells english sweeties and get him some stuff as a pressie. Hope I’ll get there before it shuts!
No real plans for the week. Gym a lot. Sleep if I can. Running. That’s all for the moment!

Tuesday, June 08, 2004

It’s a Tuesday update! A rare thing. How excitement! Friday last I went from work to the gym and then from the gym home, after a run and a bit of a leg workout. As previously described, Aaron was recovering at Rich and Russ’s and so I was free to do whatever I wanted for the night! That turned out to be have a lovely dinner (pork and veggie stir-fry on a bed of sweet potato mash) and then go to bed. I decided I was just too tired to go out. Saturday was a relatively early morning at 9am, though I’d not slept well due to marauding house guests. Brekky and then gym again. First Saturday session with Peter. By the time I got home it was about 1pm and after lunch I decided to head into town to shop. The fates were against me however, and all the trains were replaced by buses. That all seemed too much so I walked to Broadway. However part of the way there I realised I probably woudn’t buy anything and so got miserable. I got there, did the briefest of looks round, then turned on my heels and walked all the way back home. Grumpy so I slept a while and then got ready for dinner at Dave’s in Potts Point. Rich and Russ came and got me and we hit Dave’s after a bit of a parking fiasco. Dinner was lovely. Mark was there and two other mates of David’s from Perth – Darren and Ricky. After lots of wine and food Rich and Russ kindly dropped me off at the Shift for Jason’s birthday drinks. I was tired still though and so lasted only 2 beers before getting myself into a taxi and heading home. Bed.
Sunday was another relative get up early and I trotted off townwards cleverly using a different train station to miss the replacement bus service. Sneaky! I’d planned on having my favourite brekky at the Chocolate Dog, but on arrival Aaron was there with a new shag and some of his mates and I decided I didn’t really want to go through all those introductions and small talk etc. I walked on instead. :o( So, having missed my favourite brekky (sweet potato pancakes with bacon and sweet chilli sauce, if you’re really interested) I sulked all the way into town. I had a relatively successful trip, though failed to buy work clothes. I’ll leave that til next week’s long weekend now. I did manage to get most stuff for my gym supplements and some gym socks. Woohoo! Back to Newtown where I dragged Bobby out for coffee and cake. And a whinge. I felt better after that. We then retired to Bobby and Aaron’s place, where I finally managed to chat to Pete in the UK for the first time in ages. It was great to speak to him and I realise how much I missed having him here as a mate. Well it seems like he’s coming back – and so he wants back into the house. The good news on that is that it would free up some cash for me. I’m going to have a think…
Thence to the Newtown to meet Robert for drinks. It’s also been ages since he and I caught up, and it was good to see him too. A couple of beers followed by thai and wine. I then decided that since I was now in such a good frame of mind (violent mood swings anyone?) I’d head out for more beers. Bobby and Mark were at the Shift so… as if by magic!! Ta-da! More beers there and then suddenly things took a turn for the slightly irresponsible. Arq. Doh. I should have known. I kind of did really, but didn’t care! And suddenly it was 6.30am and I was heading off to some hotel room with two very nice boys from Perth. As you do. As I did. Headed back to Newtown at 4.30pm Monday after a lovely time and afternoon fruit salad and coffee. :o)
In that situation there’s only really one thing left to do. It’s pointless even trying to be virtuous and so I dragged Bobby back to the pub (he’d already been!). Beers, pizza and fun til about9pm when it really was time to call it a day. Home. Brief internet and then to bed with Wicked by Gregory McGuire. It’s a more modern take on the Wizard of Oz, as told from the wicked witch of the west’s perspective. A few pages of that and then sleep. Work today and bed and nothing. Angels in America is screening over 3 nights on the ABC, and it’s the first thing in ages I’ve fancied watching. Go square-eyes Davie!

Friday, June 04, 2004

The less I blog, the less I seem to remember what I've been doing! Last Thursday I was possibly going for a drink at the Newtown after work.

Let's just say I've no idea if I did or not. Actually I think I did. I think I met Bobby and his mate Brent. We had beers, pizza and then I think I finally retired almost gracefully. Friday was more work, gym and then decided I really couldn't be arsed to do anything at all. Was in bed by 10.30pm. Up Saturday with the lark. And ready for some larking about. In boats as it turned out. Went over to David's for the start of the date. We took his dogs to the park (Janet and Leroy) and then it was back to his to get better acquainted over a bottle of wine. All this by midday! Then we took a trip down to his boat as some friends wanted to borrow some things with a nautical theme. We took the chance to get a bit nautical ourselves. Or should that be naughty-cal? Anyway... back to Newtown for some lunch and we went our separate ways. He seems like a nice guy - fun and sexy. Let's see what happens. Home to chill and then Pete and Johnno arrived home from the gym with Paul. We all had dinner (lovely rack-off lamb!) and drinks and then as if by magic we were playing pool at the Newtown. Not sure what was in the air (or the vodka perhaps?) but I played like a man possessed! Practically every shot went in, whether a normal shot or a more flashy trick shot, but boy did we have fun. Finally as more mates appeared we just chatted until as if by magic we were at the Phoenix! Til 5.30am Oops. And then Pete and me couldn't let it lie and ended up at Arq...
Finally home around 8.30am. Slept from about 11.30am til around 3pm. Up, sorted and then down to the Green Park with Aaron for Tony's birthday drinks. From there onto Missy Elliot. My first proper rap concert at the age of 39. Get me! Sadly it wasn't great - a real missed opportunity. The Sydney Morning Herald reviewed it pretty accurately, so have a read of what they had to say. Still it was something different. I got home very tired about 11.30pm. Sleeeeeep.
This week's been dull. All work and no play makes a very good description of what's been going on actually. Except for beating myself up about all my procrastination. I've set myself the end of the month to get all my life admin in order as it'll be three years since I arrived back on 29 June. I stayed in Monday and Tuesday. Gym Wednesday. Dinner over at Tim and Ross's last night as it was Ross's birthday on Monday. Noice. Heading to the gym shortly and again in the morning. Was meant to be spending the night at Aaron's to make sure he was OK after the small operation he had yesterday, but apparently he's recuperating at Rich and Russ's. Don't I feel wanted. Actually, no I don't. :o(
It's also Johnno's birthday today, so there's a chance we might well end up playing pool at the Newtown again, now I'm not playing nursemaid. Otherwise tomorrow holds work clothes shopping, sock shopping and then dinner at Dave's tomorrow night with beers after at the Shift for Jason's birthday. How come everyone's having birthdays all of a sudden?
More from the front line as it happens...