Mega-Update!

For those of you who are still hanging around here, yes I am still alive. I haven't had the inclination to blog about anything much in a long time - maybe all my creative juices have finally leaked out.



So Baltimore is indeed a fine place - if you're some kind of mugger or crack-whore. The university itself is nice and expensive looking, with big white columns on most of the buildings - just to emphasise how well-to-do you must be to attend. The people Im working with are also pretty cool I have to say, and I have made a few friends, which has made the time here all the more bareable. The city itself is another matter. For example, one of the students who was here was driving his scooter, when a gang of kids tried to pull him off the bike by his packpack, while he was stopped at a traffic light, and at the same time another gang of kids were trying to hijack a moving car by attempting to smash the windows in with half a tree trunk. Also one of the girls got mugged by someone with a gun the day she arrived, and another student from the university was mugged just outside the grounds in the early afternoon. The local paper has quite a jovial column on the number of homicides that are commited each week. Currently I think the count is around 20 or so, from the time Ive been here - although the paper only includes deaths by gunshot. So you see, the city does have a really good sense of community.








Actually, around where Im staying isnt so bad, but you cant walk a block east or west, without feeling extremely intimidated, and its far too dangerous to walk into town or anything, which kind of limits the possibilities of what one can do with one's time. Luckily, the work load is ridiculous - hence me being the only person in the lab at 8pm, and any time off is usually spent hanging around in someone else's apartment, which leaves me less time to get homesick, which is a very good thing.



So what have I done since Ive been here....well not a hell of a lot really. Went to Ann Arbor in the second week to give a paper at a conference, which was truly horrific. The hotel I was staying in was 5 miles from the city centre. At my talk I basically got told that the research Id done was a load of shit, by a complete asshole, from Microsoft nonetheless. And having no company or colleagues to back me up it really was a deer-in-the-headlights moment. I just got the fuck out of there as quickly as I could and off to the only gay bar in the town. It was a nice enough spot and I had a drink outdoors. When leaving, some guy who'd been hanging around the bar attempted to cruise me, and when he saw me getting into the taxi that I had rang from the bar, he gestured suggestively at me and made it clear that he had money to pay me for my..err...'company'. So what a fantastic day that was - to be called a failure and a prostitute, who could ask for anything more. The taxi man, being a fellow pink-player then suggested I go out and have some fun for the night, despite the fact I told him I had a boyfriend. Its nice to see Michigan has morals!



Another weekend I went up to New York City, getting a free lift from someone here. I met up with a few friends on J1. We attempted to go out Saturday night to some gay club, which I was really looking forward to, as, up to then, my social life had been somewhat lacking. However, a bottle and a half of wine later and I was in absolutely no condition to go anywhere. I think I got as far as Manhattan before I had to be taken back to their apartment in Queens, aparantly falling on some innocent woman on the subway along the way, who thought I was attacking her. I passed out back in the apartment and had an extremely unpleasant journey back to Baltimore the following day. The thing is, I didnt even drink that much, but it was just a mixture of the heat and the fact I hadnt eaten dinner that day. Oh well.



So since then Ive just been surviving the swealtering heat and never-ending, completely unsatisfying, work. I have been out a few times, including a local arts festival which was pretty cool, and one or two nights on the town, including a trip to the Baja Beach Club, which was full of topless guys (yumm) and sleazy older drunkards molesting the closest innocent Baltimorian female (not so yumm) - it brought back so many fond memories of Copperface Jack's (although, it must be noted, I have only been there once and after being confronted with a huge turd in men's urinals, I vowed never to return again - its just not that kind of action I was after).



Ive only around two and half weeks here before I head to New York for a week of fun and frolicks with the boyf who's flying over. I can't fucking wait!

Off to the USA

Despite my recent lack of posting, I am still alive....barely. This is just a short one to let you know that Im off on Sunday to Baltimore, where I will be till the end of August. Hopefully Ill get back into blogging while I'm away to recant tales of my adventures. Wish me luck!



And to all my limp-wristed brothers and sensible-shoe wearing sisters out there...Happy Pride!!!!

Show me the way....

I just had to link to this video created by the British Troops in Iraq. (via Proceed at your own Risk).

Let the Good Times Roll!

First and foremost, thanks to everyone who made an appearance on Fri night -and to everyone who couldn't. I had a fantastic birthday weekend! I would say memorable, but the fact is I can't quite remember all of it. I took Friday off to prepare. I needed the lie-in after slaving away making the king of all birthday treats, rice-crispy buns, for everyone the night before. My sis took me to lunch in Luigi Malones where I indulged in a great big slice of toblerone cheesecake for desert...mmm. People started to arrive around 8, but the place was packed by 9 - I think everyone I invited showed up. Had the music blaring, but still conversation was so loud you couldn't really hear it. Most people were talking about the photos that I had showing on the TV after I hooked up Dee's laptop, so was well chuffed that it worked out. Got fairly merry on the punch Id made up, then everyone headed into the Dragon just after the water in the apartment failed, and people couldnt wait much longer to use the toilets before their bladders imploded. After that I don't really remember that much (which I naturally blame everyone else for) - apart from cocktail after cocktatil being handed to me, and the moment when a condom landed in Ciaran's drink. Who said gay bars weren't classy! Even my brother came along, which was a huge deal for me, which I let him know in a drunken text on the way home, after the boyf had to escort me home in a taxi early as I couldn't stand up straight. Paid for it the next day as I shouted down the big white telephone, which wouldn't flush cause the water was still off, making everything seem that extra bit nasty. We didn't actually get our water back till Monday - which led to us living in a somehwat Flistone-state, having to resort to filling up the toilet manually and splashing our faces with dirty dishwater.



Sunday started fantastically when boyf woke me up and to my delight presented me with the best birthday present ever....an iPod photo! I couldn't believe it - esp as he's not working at the moment. It's fantastic timing as I can now bring my entire music collection to the states with me. I bet your all jealous....go on...admit it! Have to get a cover soon for it though - cause I can't bare the thought of getting it scratched. I had dinner with the family + boyf, followed by some delicious extra-chocolatey cheesecake he made for me. Was just a really nice and relaxing day, and the perfect ending to a fucking excellent weekend...Roll on 25!!


In other news - this blog has been selected as the "Best Personal Gay Blog" this week by Best Gay Blogs in the self category. And Ive won tickets to Glitz tonight, so Laddy Luck (no, it's not a typo) seems to be siding with me! Way to go me!

By By Fishies

Im all over the place this past week, so forgiveness for not posting...once things settle down Ill get back to some more regular posting. I'm up to my eyeballs in work. Got the last paper I wrote accepted to a conference in Michican, so it means Ill be going there the same date I was supposed to head out to Baltimore, and fly from there to Baltimore a few days late. Im also working on two other papers that have to be finished by the end of the month, and haven't even started my transfer paper, plus I've all this work to do before the meeting in New York at the beginning of next month, so its crazy. Have had to cancel my dental appointments, so guess my teeth will just have to stay fucked up for a little bit longer. Had a great weekend though. Went to the opening of the Dragon - the new gay bar on George's street, formally Sosume. The place looks fantastic. They've moved the dancefloor downstairs at the back, and put an open-air smoking balcony upstairs at the back. Im sorry to say Dave, that the fish are gone - actually I think they were serving them as apperatifs at the opening party. Was great cause they had free cocktails at the start of the night, then all drinks were 2eur up till midnight. Didnt really take full advantage of it tho, as I was tired and had to be in college early the next day. Went to see Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy on Fri night - was better than I expected, but still far, far too British for my tastes, if you know what I mean. On Sat night I went out to the Flounge and met up with a few of my old LGB soc people for drinks - then headed onto the Dragon afterwards. It was packed and lots of faces haven't seen out and about before - then again I haven't really been out and about properly in ages. And this weekend is going to be even better as its by birthday!! Celebrating with drinks at mine before heading out - looking forward to it, though its all a bit hectic trying to get in touch with everyone and planning things etc. Im sure you'll hear all about it.

Some People Don't Change

I don’t know really how much detail I can go into here, without risking the certain anonymity of the situation, but I’ll do my best. It’s safe to say that most people everybody that knows me will know exactly to what I’m referring, so I suppose that will have to do. To the rest, I apologies if what follows seems non-sensical.



I found out the other day that people who used to be reasonably close friends have been bitching about me behind my back. Now, its not that the bitching has made me refer to them as former-friends, I still consider them as friends, its just since the whole thing started way back when my opinion of them has become somewhat tainted.



A while back I got completely caught up in an on-running situation involving a few different people’s relationships, from different groups of friends. The basic story is that there was (as it looked to me, and to many others) some unfaithfulness going on and basically a big mess ensued into which I was unwittingly dragged, mainly because it was completely unavoidable, to a certain extent. People on ones side were asking me to hide facts from other people, who in turn asked me if I knew what was going on, to which I had to play dumb. Although I did not directly tell people what was going on and did my best to not get directly involved, because frankly it was none of my business (which I realise now, more so than I did then), I think the fact that the word eventually got out did not bode well for me. To hear that the whole thing has resurfaced again just makes me sigh.



Apparently the main two people involved, who are now back together, have been talking about me behind my back in order to validate their relationship. They’ve been saying that I made everything up about the two-timing because I’m a “drama-queen”. I mean, why would I even make up that shit – I may have my own opinion about what was going on, but why would I lie? What did I have to gain from the whole thing? The fact of the matter is, I’m not the only one who saw what was going on. To hear that they’ve been calling me a liar behind my back, does not really make me that angry or upset, it makes me disappointed. Disappointed by the fact that things don’t seem to have changed. Disappointed that people have to resort back to such petty measures. At the end of the day it seems that people don't really change really, they just become slightly different versions of themselves – maybe a bit more mature, maybe a bit wiser, but still, deep-down, they’re the same.



I think I'm just going to ignore it. I think my best option is to avoid involvement at all costs.



If people are totally confused let me know.

Boy For Sale

I had to post a link to this listing on EBay, via towleroad. How desperate can some people get?



*UPDATE: The link has been removed, quite possibly because slavery/prostitution is disallowed by ebays terms & conditions.

The Word of God...in Colour

The Bible...with illustrations! I never knew Godzilla was in Revelations either. Maybe I should have paid more attention in religion class.

All that Jazz

We had to get up at 6.30 on Friday morning in order to get a taxi to the airport in time to catch our plane to...London! He had the flights booked so that we would get over nice an early so we could grab some lunch before checking into our hotel. The train from Stanstead to Liverpool St. Station was absolutely packed meaning we had to stand for the 45min journey along with a lot of other people. We had contemplated sneaking into First Class, but decided against it. It was funny however, when we were getting off the train an extremely posh British woman opened the first class carriage doors, looked at us disgustedly like the lower-class train-travelers we were, expecting us to move out of her way, and instead got stuck in the automatic closing doors, while trying to retain a dignified look on her well-chewed-toffee face. Karma's a bitch!



We arrived at the station, and grabbed the tube. For the whole trip I was working blindly, as I had no clue where we were going and what was planned for the weekend. We got off at Euston station and made our way to our hotel. My jaw dropped when we stopped outside non other than the Hilton hotel! The hotel was really nice, although not completely opulent. We sashayed in....cause it seemed like the place that required a sashay-type entrance, got the keycard from the desk and went to our room. We managed to figure out how to open the stupid door with the keycard just in time as one of the chambermaids, or 'help', walked by in the corridor, about to offer assistance. The room was reasonable size, nice big double bed with white down-filled duvet and pillows, large TV, kettle, gorgeous big bathroom etc. It was just so nice that he put all this thought and organisation into it, especially since it was me who did all the organising for our trip to Paris.



We grabbed some dinner that evening in Garfunkel's just off Oxford Street, before going back to the hotel to get ready for the evening. All I new was to wear something dressy and that we had to be there at 8. We got off the tube at Charring Cross, and from there walked up to the Adelphi Theatre to take our seats for the 8.30 show of Chicago! I mean, the flights, the hotel and now a west-end show! I couldn't believe it!



The seats we had were in the second row, meaning we were basically right up against the stage. The show was fantastic - especially seeing as we got an extra-special view of the male performers in their awe-inspiring, crotch-hugging, ass-lifting trousers and bare chests. There was so much action at times that my head was spinning to catch it all on stage. The lighting and live jazz band were amazing, as well as the dancing and singing. Michael French (ex-Eastenders) who played Billy Flynn just proved how shit Richard Gere was in the film. I really really enjoyed it - much more so than I had expected too. Although, the German-tinged over-emphasised Am-or-icayne accent of the actress playing Velma Kelly at times made me chuckle - especially during the "I love this country (America)" speeches. The show was all that jazz, and much, much more.



After a fantastic nights sleep, we spent most of the day Saturday around Oxford Street doing a bit of shopping, although I was a little disappointed that nothing was that much cheaper than it is at home. And is it just me or do all the London men look, well, gay? I mean the straight ones. It seems like GHD owes its existence to the London metrosexual (or here) population - simply due to the fact that every second man had a straightened 'do, which reeked havoc on the gaydar. And don't get me started on the clothes they wear - tight t-shirts, crotch-hugging jeans and tailored suits. My gaydar was sent into even further confusion when we went out that night to G.A.Y. All the gay men looked 'straighter' than the straight men, right down to their ben sherman shirts *shiver*.



G.A.Y. looked like an older version of the Redbox. Located in the Astoria theatre, the place was huge - with a big stage, big dance floor, seating up on the balcony and second bar at the back. The music was pure 90s with P.A.'s from Michelle Gayle, Chesney Hawkes and Dana International. Chesney proved to be the most entertaining on the night - getting the crowd going with a rendition of American Pie. Michelle Gayle seemed to forget the words to her own song and Dana was basically a glorified drag-show complete with bad miming and glittery body-suit. One thing that struck me as really odd, was that hardly anybody who got up on the stage danced. They just stood there, so why the fuck did they bother to get up there in the first place?? All in all, not that many people were really dancing - it was more of a stand-around-the-place-and-shuffle-your- feet-side-to-side type of affair. Very strange indeed. We had a laugh, though there was only so much of old Steps, Corona and N-trance we could take before we called it a night. We flew home on Sunday (incidentally a mix up resulted in us being 2 hours early for our flight) after having a fantastic weekend in London. Highly recommended!

Mystery Annivesary Weekend

So the weekend has come and passed, without too much pain. After all the stress and work involved and the 9-7 Saturday and Sunday, inlcuding entertaining duties on Saturday night, I figured I needed the rest so I basically took Monday off and have been doing fuck all this week in work. Everyone at the workshop at the weekend was nice, apart from the cunt that is the main guy from Hong Kong.



He is very well known and respected in his research area but he also likes people to be aware of this fact. He has the knack of being able to make someone as clever as Einstein feel stupid. We would have got twice as much work done if he hadn't kept interrupting with arguments about terminology and quoting random papers that nobody else had read, much to his delight. He's just the time of guy elligible for a good ol' cock-punch. On the Saturday night he was even more annoying asking stupid questions about what is "traditional" Irish food and was quite dissapointed that my answers didn't match those in his guide book, and on buying whiskey he proclaimed - "this is no good, it tastes like any other whiskey". What the fuck did you expect?!? After all that, I think I deserved to take the week easy. I learnt that the second meeting in New York is on the weekend of my birthday, which is more fantastic news - but at least I get a trip to NYC for free, even if I have to put the money up front first.



This weekend is our anniversary (I can't belive its been one year already - is that a good or a bad thing? I, myself, actually feel really good about the whole thing which is definitely a step forward from my past neurosis!), so the boyf has has something planned for ages, which he wouldn't tell me anything about. The only thing I knew was that I had to take this Friday (tomorrow off) and have no plans for the weekend. I got the following email on Wednesday with some more information:

The following items shall be required for this weekend:

1. A Passport.


2. 300 euros.


3. Three sets of clothes covering the basic needs of casual and dressy.


4. 2 sets of shoes.


5. Hair and facial products


6. Enough Insulin etc. for three days.


7. An inquisitive mind.

Be at ____ this Thursday night. This email shall now self-destruct.

I have a few ideas of what he might have planned, but I'm trying not to think about them to keep the whole thing a surprise. Im actually really excited about it....I get goosebumps even now thinking about it.