Ho Ho Fucking Ho

Christmas - 3 days of food, booze, and visitors. I don't think I coped very well. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were spent trapped in a houseful of possibly the LOUDEST people ever... add to that the fact I was spending it without my sweetheart (see previous post), and the confusion and loneliness of relocating to a new city, without all of my usual friends, associates and familiar surroundings... very depressing.

Boxing Day morning, Ange and I decided we were heading out early to partake in that totally 'un-Christmas-like' tradition - the Boxing Day sales... Not just for the bargains, but also to get the hell out of the house... 2 full days of it was more than I could handle. So, along with Ange's man Craig, we drove (well, thats a fairly loose term... the fingernail marks in the door handle will be a permanent reminder of Ange's driving skills....) to Northlands Shopping Centre. A shopping mecca in the heart of the suburban sprawl (or should that be drawl) - 'twas a generic place, like any other Westfields or the like. Same stores, same style, the only difference was... the people. I think I was the only man not wearing flanellette, track pants, footy tops, or a combination of all the above. It was loud, obscene and even a tad creepy. I think I was the only gay boy in the whole centre - possibly because they had beaten the rest of them up already.

So wandered around there for a while, bought a few bits and pieces, really not getting into the spirit of post Christmas sales - but did manage to get a charger for my ipod (unnecessary - as I was to find out later) ... I can now immerse myself in Janet, Justin, Missy and Christina once again...

Headed back to Mum's about the time my little brother Jack and fiance Amy came over, bringing with them my darling niece Ava Grace. The remainder of the day was focussed on Ava - playing, being silly, brushing up on my baby talk, etc etc... God I was getting so clucky.... got to get me one of these.... :o)


They left, suddenly the fear of being here without something to entertain me returned... Ange, Ange, what are we gonna do - let's go out... Pub? Cafe? Even a sulfur mine? Anything... please...
So the three of us cleaned up and headed out for the rest of the afternoon. They took me to a place called Angler's Tavern (I think...) somewhere they had been about 2 years earlier and said it was great... oh... no... another nasty pub makeover was apparent - it looked more like an RSL club - and to make it worse, had a Childrens Play Room... where you can lock your kids away while you get trashed and flush all your money away on the pokies.

My turn to save the day - So I took them to Bimbo's on Brunswick Street @ Fitzroy. Love this place. Dean and I went there one time a few months ago to have a drink with Pauline and Joel. Dark, grungy, VERY Newtown. Loved it. Weird ass dolls all over the place - especially the (ahem, well endowed) S&M one hanging from a harness above the bar. I posted a pic of this from my last visit... here it is again :

So anyway, we hung out there for a couple of hours, maybe longer, not really sure... we got relatively sloshed, before Ange decided she wanted to go to a gay bar... hmmm... I know there are some over near Chapel street, but that was the best I could do. SO we drove over there and wandered up Commercial Road looking for the tell tale signs of homosexual life - music, squeals, lights and colour... Arrived at DIVA, empty... quick exit. Next was Heaven's Door - was told this was a gay bar, but I think I was the only one in there. It was very busy, but from what I could work out, all straight. Hmmm... So after a drink and a boogie, we popped back to DIVA. The barman insisted there was "a group of 10 coming shortly..."... so we decided to hang there and see what happens. Sure enough, 15 minutes later - count them : 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9... 10! They had arrived. We were well and truly trashed at that stage, so I was happy to just wander around and talk to strangers. Met a few nice people - well, they could have been awful, but in my condition, everyone was wonderful... chatted for a while. They were a lovely middle aged couple having a quiet drink. Sweet. So at this point Ange and Craig decided they had had enough - and abandoned me. Left on my own, I was a little worried, since I didn't know where to go... but someone mentioned XChange - a block further up the street. So I headed up there. I remember going there about 4 years ago - hadn't changed. Bought a drink, wandered around, chatted to strangers. As a new addition to the Melbourne scene, I was quickly dragged into a welcoming group - took me under their wing, so to speak. They were nice, friendly. I was invited back to a party at someones house - so the whole group made their way there. No idea where it was, just followed the throng... Hung out there with everyone - I think there were about 10 of us - a few girls, most of the guys were mid/late 30's and 40's. Don't remember most of them... I fell asleep briefly, woke up to find almost everyone had already left. The ones still remaining had also passed out. Headed home to clean myself up before heading back into the city to see Dean.

Horribly hung over, the tram trip was vile... made it to Dean's about 12. He opened the door, and we stood in the doorway holding each other. I had a bit of a cry - Dean was somewhat unemotional, and it worried me. I thought this was it. So a little shaky, I followed him inside and we went up stairs. More hugging, nuzzling...

Afterwards, Christmas gifts... Dean got to open his from me on Christmas Day... So mine were still sitting in his bedroom.

Funny, as it almost seemed like any time over the past 6 months I saw something and commented, he must have made a mental note... Hot new Tigers, the sexy beach towel from G-Star Raw, cute sleep shorts and tank tops from Peter Alexander, a new dock, charger and leather case for my iPod, 4 packs of Melbourne Deck of Secrets Cards : 1 for shopping, 1 for bars, 1 for restaurants and 1 for culture (museums, art galleries etc).

All very cool.

After that, we drove back to Mill Park, gorged on McDonald's (and made fun of the people - purple hair on a 30something housewife really is asking for it...) and then he dropped me off at home. As much as I wanted to spend more time with him, he had things to do... and it was probably good that we just take it easy for now anyway. The rest of the evening I just chilled, ate, then headed for bed at 8.30.

For the first time since our argument on Saturday night, I had a great, full, uninterrupted sleep.