Social Whirl O' Fun



Crippled as I am by a debilitating shyness that makes me cling to walls at parties so tightly I merge with the gyprock, I started the year thinking I really needed to make new friends....actually no, I didn't (and I am about as shy as the USA's commitment to combating climate change), but while I value my friends dearly, who doesn't want to meet new and interesting people and expand their social network ?! Well, apart from the Unabomber and hermits, that is....



The massive expansion in my social network started innocently enough this year with the usual January excursions to Symphony and Jazz in the Domain, where I get to sit in searing hot sun for 2-3 hours before the sun mercifully dips beneath the ridge of buildings on Macquaurie Street....typically it's just my best friend Warren, and dear friends Toby, Peter and Ian...ah yes but this was anything but a typical year.....melodramatic enough for you? Just like a Channel 7 promo it will only disappoint I am sorry to say.... Toby had invited some wonderful friends of his Luke and David and Aldo, and through talking to them (putting my painful inability to articulate or emote properly to one side - lol), I ended up attending Fair Day a week or so later, which is the big gay Mardi Gras pre-parade day at one of the inner city parks....it's full of stalls featuring all manner of gay sporting, art etc clubs, and services, and is a really fun, though hot, day....at Fair Day I met some more really great guys who invited me to a gay bush dance over at Marrickville, where I met some more guys (sensing a pattern here? LOL), one of whom I even dated for a while, which lead to me meeting my now ex-boyfriend....



This all took place in the lead up to that wonderful celebration of colour, fun and community, the Mardi Gras Parade, which was full on and went for 2.5 hours this year, after which I found myself hosting a dinner for 40 gay men ( and a few female friends) at a Thai restaurant near Taylor Square....I had to reflect on just how far I have come since I came out in July 2004, and it was exciting and thrilling all at once..... finally comfortable in my own skin after years of hating myself for being gay, surrounded by a bunch of wonderful friends, and at the heart of what is a spiritually uplifting community event.....I did, however, put the reflection aside long enough to dance my feet off at a trance party at ARQ after the dinner, and got home sometime after 5 a.m., which my Morning Person body wasn't thrilled about, but put up with it for the warm inner glow that accompanied the exhaustion....



The social ripples continued long after February with the establishing of a movie club on Tuesday nights starting in March, any number of parties, and even some further dalliances on the fraught world of online dating....while the dating may lead nowhere, it often results, if handled properly, in some new enduring friendships....or restraining orders...but either way, it is never dull...lol... Through my new network of friends, I continue to meet a whole host of fascinating men, with varied careers, personalities and lives, but most of whom have proven to be great people to know......it's been a great year and I am looking forward to 2008, and the hopeful arrival of Mr. Right.....