My Funny Valentine

Today is Valentine's Day.

That great song My Funny Valentine will probably get an airing today. It was written by Lorenz Hart (above), a closeted gay man, who was full of self-loathing over his sexuality, small stature, looks and drinking problems. That is a tragedy as he was a brilliant lyricist and is famous for his extensive work in collaboration with Richard Rodgers.

Although My Funny Valentine is always sung as a heterosexual lament in reality Hart secretly wrote it as a gay love song. In that light it's lyrics are especially poignant.

I hope my readers have the day that they wish for themselves.

"My funny valentine
Sweet comic valentine
You make me smile with my heart
Your looks are laughable
Unphotographable
Yet youre my favourite work of art

Is your figure less than greek
Is your mouth a little weak
When you open it to speak
Are you smart?

But dont change a hair for me
Not if you care for me
Stay little valentine stay
Each day is valentines day

Is your figure less than greek
Is your mouth a little weak
When you open it to speak
Are you smart?

But dont you change one hair for me
Not if you care for me
Stay little valentine stay
Each day is valentines day"

Personal housekeeping!

Thanks to http://hothardcock.blogspot.com/ for a funny video.

It's done

(Photo: Sydney Morning Herald)

This morning the Australian Prime Minister delivered the long debated 'sorry statement' in the form of a motion put to Parliament. The motion stated

"I move:

That today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.

We reflect on their past mistreatment. We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations - this blemished chapter in our nation's history. The time has now
come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future. We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.

We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country. For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.

To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry. And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.

We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation. For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.

We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians. A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again. A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.

A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed. A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility. A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia."

I'm glad that it's done regardless of whether, as the doomsayers worry, compensation claims come rushing in. The sky hasn't fallen in following the statement and hopefully we all can move on for the betterment of the country and all its inhabitants. Listening to the Parliamentary Network on my way home this afternoon I heard part of Question Time and the politicians were back to what they do most naturally, political point scoring.

What is it they say about the more things change?......

Rain

Once again the little weather man on this page is signalling rain and indeed as I set off now for work in the Day Centre it is again raining. That is good and bad news. This is our wettest summer in years.

Cyberdating again

I had another instant message chat with the man but I can't see anything good coming from a relationship with him.

It was a brief chat. He seems very keen on a relationship and flattered me with comments about how attractive I am but this type of compliment has always embarrassed me.

Anyway, my interest in him started to wane from the moment he told me his marital status. I don't want to be his bit of fluff on the side.

Sorry about that

I tuned in to Channel 10's main news bulletin tonight expecting today's historic opening of Parliament to be the main item and was disappointed to see it only ranked third in the network's opinion.

When they finally did cover the opening it was heartwarming to see bits of the Aboriginal welcoming ceremony and hear excerpts from speeches by Kevin Rudd and Brendan Nelson.

I'm hoping this new spirit continues and builds.

The long discussed 'sorry' statement is on the agenda for Parliament tomorrow and according to 10's report the Opposition has decided to endorse the motion. It will be good if the motion is passed unanimously.

Would you like fries with that?.....

Completely out of the blue today I was reminded of something I experienced eons ago when I was working in London.

It was 1975 and a cold and wet Sunday morning in Leicester Square. I was sitting in a Wimpy Bar (I think that was the name) eating a Wimpy Burger, food that was as unsavoury as the name. Sitting across from me was a man who I suppose was aged in his 60s. He looked like a lost soul not in the best of health. But what drew my attention was that he quite unashamedly had his penis out and was masturbating in a mechanical way as though he was in a trance.

This man was not attempting to conceal what he was doing and it must have been obvious to others at the restaurant including the staff. Noone spoke to him about it. At the time I thought to myself 'I hope when I am his age that I'm not in that sad state'.

I can't think what triggered the memory. Thirty-three years later I am closing in on 60 myself and thankfully I am in a reasonable mental state. But the image of this sad man lingers and makes me feel for those who battle mental health issues, especially if they are homeless to boot.

Making a point...badly

We seemed to be quite a few volunteers short today and only five of us lunched together.

Cs seemed to be in a good mood until he decided to get stuck into Ca for not yet having arranged a replacement for when he is away the next two weeks. He was quite rude to Ca, a fact not missed by Ge. I tried quietly to calm him down but he wouldn't let it drop. Not suprisingly Ca didn't hang around with us at lunch and left fairly quickly.

I suspect Cs realised what he had done as he later told me Ai had spoken to him previously urging restraint in his communication.

Juno

It seemed when I awoke this morning that we were in for a second unusually cool and bleak February day. The temperature was only 16c and conditions looked dark and rainy.

So it was off to Bondi Junction again to the movies, this time to see Juno. Being the 10am session the audience was small (eleven people) the majority looking barely older then the sixteen year olds' depicted in the movie. But it was an appreciative audience with the younger members sniggering at the sexual innuendo and laughing heartily at the genuinely amusing moments.

I enjoyed the movie. The Juno character is both streetwise and naive as well as being irritating at times; all of which I imagine is typical of today's sixteen year olds. I particularly liked that almost all the characters looked so ordinary and normal and that they all had their strengths and weaknesses. This was not a film populated entirely with impossibly good looking folk a la the current television sensation Gossip Girl.

After the movie, I again purchased a sandwich from the deli counter in the food court but learning from last week had one made up that was a more manageable amount to eat.

By the time I left the centre the weather had cleared completely and I was far too warm in my jumper and jeans. Feeling a bit frisky I drove down to Centennial Park in the hope of meeting another cruiser but the leisure areas adjacent to the cruising area were too populated with straight picnickers and social cricketers for there to be any obvious action. Two good lookers, both wearing lycra bicycle shorts and displaying tempting bulges, wandered by but they seemed more interested in each other than in collecting a third.

So after hanging around only a few minutes I drove home alone picking up lamingtons on the way for afternoon tea thereby completely undoing whatever benefits I derived from my healthy lunch sandwich.

Austen for dummies

Today's visit to the movies was to see The Jane Austen Fan Club which attempts to provide the synopses of her six books through the meetings of the club and the story lines of the film's characters. It is a pleasant enough film without breaking any new ground. Maria Bello and Emily Blunt appealed to me most of the mainly female actors with Hugh Dancy, Kevin Zegers and Marc Blucas providing a pleasing range of eye candy for the gay viewer. Jimmy Smits has gained weight and it seems is past his best looks.

Zorba the Aboriginal

Next week the Australian Parliament is expected to express sorrow to Indigenous Australians regarding what is referred to as 'the stolen generation'. This video shows our original Australians having a lot of fun with a western favourite.

Naked Gay Ted

There's always one in the workplace!

Ginger Meggs

I grew up enjoying the cartoon Ginger Meggs which relates the life of a 12 year old red headed Aussie boy; hence the nickname Ginger.

I read where Ginger Meggs has been a cartoon tradition since 1921 and he has been 12 years old for all those 87 years. The fourth cartoonist to draw him was James Kemsley who drew the cartoon from 1984 but he died last December. The replacement is Jason Chatfield and at 23 years he is by far the youngest to draw Ginger. Jason's first Ginger Meggs cartoon will appear tomorrow. Looks like Ginger will be moving into the 21st century.

Park and shop

When I lived in Hong Kong decades ago there was a supermarket called something like Park and Shop. The supermarket was pretty small by today's standards and the available parking was ludicrous; about three parking spots from memory. But it all seemed so futuristic in those days.

For some reason I was reminded of that store today when I drove into my local shopping centre in Edgecliff (underground in the picture above). I was on my way home from work and wanted to buy a loaf of bread. The centre is a modestly sized affair compared to some but still has this cavernous underground parking station that holds hundreds of cars.

Parking there can be a very irritating business. Cars can only progress single file through the station. At every point you are delayed whilst other drivers block the passage as they wait for that perfect parking space which is about to become vacant for them even though already vacant spaces are clearly visible further down the station.

Before that perfect space does become available for the driver blocking your way Madame Hausfrau has to empty three trolley loads of shopping into the departing car, fiddle with her purse, get into her car, adjust her makeup, switch on the ignition and check her rear view mirror six times. Then she slowly moves out of the space in a manner that suggests she is carrying a beating heart for a transplant operation that must under no circumstances be moved at faster than 10kms per hour.

If not the arriving/departing car tango then it is the trolley man who is blocking everyone's way. He slowly drives his trolley carrying vehicle around the car park stopping, as at The Stations of the Cross, to collect numerous abandoned trolleys.

Why do I fall for this stress inducing treatment so often? I would be much calmer and healthier if I walked to and from the centre.

Play it again Sam

In the first episode the music was playing again as I embarked on my latest cyberdating.

I noticed 'the man' logged into Yahoo messenger so I messaged him to say hello and as it was within business hours I enquired if he was busy.

The music playing - lah de dah de dah.

The man: "Just a minute, I'm finishing chatting with a mate"
Me: "That's OK"

lah de dah de dah.

The man: "Sorry about that, how are you?"
Me: "Fine thanks, and you?"

lah de dah de dah - pleasantries exchanged.

The man: "Do you have webcam?"
Me: "Yes"
The man: "Would you like to go to that?"
Me: (thinks - are we moving to cybersex already? says "ok")

lah de dah de dah - webcams connected and viewing.

The man is in a bare room evidently fully dressed, I'm at home in my underwear....well that's what I had on at the time. I wasn't expecting webcam company!

More pleasantries exchanged. The man, it turns out, is in his office.

The man's webcam freezes.
Me: (thinks has he switched his cam off, does he not like what he sees?)
Me: "your cam has frozen" (echoes of Puccini, "your tiny hand is frozen")
The man: "Sorry, let me reconnect"
Me: (thinks - OK so my image hasn't scared him off yet)

lah de dah de dah - cams reconnected.

More pleasantries exchanged before his cam fails again.
Me: "your cam has frozen again"
The man: "do you have MSN?"
Me: "yes"
The man: "Can we move there?"
Me: "OK"

lah de dah de dah - we connect to MSN and cam through it.

Pleasantries turn to exploration of each other.
The man: "Have you always been gay?"
Me: "Yes....and you?"
The man: "Yes.....but I sublimated my feelings and married the first woman who came along....and we have three children aged 17, 15 and 13....and when I turned 45 my sexuality came to the fore....but my wife and kids don't know"

THUD - the music stops.

Me: (thinks WHOA! - says nothing)
The man: "Is that a problem for you?"
Me: (still thinks WHOA and then thinks that little detail wasn't in your profile.) Says lamely "well that's not my preference"
The man: "I'm not looking for a long term relationship and if we're not into each other sexually well at least we can be good friends"

THUD, THUD, THUD - music starts again lah de dah de dah only this time I recognise the tune as 'Play it again Sam'.

Yes, the same old same old - a married man and my dreams of growing old with my gay partner in a loving and sexual heaven have drained away.

We chat on very pleasantly for another 15 minutes. Then being the softy that I am when it is time to end our chat I agree to chat with him again.

He may become a new friend in time but in reality he is the latest cyber and real dating non-goer.

Cyberdating update.....

I'll provide an update on cyberdating in a later post. Suffice to preview that posting by saying the dance music turned out to be 'Play It Again Sam' and that the story hasn't ended.

Out Games

Kn is back from Melbourne where he took part in the Out Games and he is thrilled he (and his team) won a gold medal in rowing. They are the only members of their club to return with gold.

Haven't yet heard whether he medalled (terrible verb) in sex games as well but no doubt he'll tell me when he is ready. Knowing Kn's 'pulling' power, I have little doubt he scored more than a medal.

Drama Queen Devil

I told Cs at lunch about the devil and he was thrilled to be compared with Stanley Tucci who he admires as an actor. He demonstrated his pleasure with a drama queen size sweep of his arms.

Cyberdating

I've had a home computer for about five years. In that time I have joined numerous gay sites, deposited my profile and then sat back waiting for the invitations to pour in. Of course they didn't pour in. To say that I received a trickle would also be overstating it. But some invitations came and a few of these led to the occasional real date. Each time an invitation arrived my imagination ran wild seeing myself settling down with the love of my life, the two of us living the rest of our days together in bliss and sexual heaven. Each time the reality was stark and I landed with a thud. I have gained some new friends from the Internet but not yet the close really loving relationship I still hope to enjoy.

I have danced the dance numerous times.

Well, I can hear the music again. I no longer routinely visit those sites hoping for a message but once in a while my email account tells me one has been received. And so it was yesterday. I cautiously checked the intray half expecting some generic promotional material of no interest. Instead I found a real person expressing an interest in my profile. His message was short but to my liking. Next step was to check out his profile. Mmmmm, not bad - some similarities of interest (social and sexual). What about his photo? Mmmmm, not bad either. Must be something to worry about. Checked his height and weight, maybe we are completely out of kilter there. Amazingly very similar stats to mine, so can't complain there.

Ok, took a deep breath and sent him a reply. Maybe he won't respond to that.......I've had non responses before from guys who had initiated the approach in the first place. But he did reply, fairly promptly too and with a bit more detail that also pushed the right buttons for me.

So next step in the modern courting ritual, we added each other as contacts on Yahoo messenger. Now we are in the "lets chat and see what develops" phase. The music is louder and the dance is about to begin.

Naturally there is one teeny weeny hurdle. I live in Sydney and he lives in Townsville. For those who are unfamiliar with Australian geography that's a distance of, let's say, about 2100kms. A 26 hours' drive! He says he visits Sydney 6 times a year.

Maybe I have nothing to gain but I have nothing to lose either. Let's dance.

I'll keep you informed.

What the devil.....

It's strange how you can notice something in a movie at a later viewing that you didn't notice the first time.

With nothing appealing on televison last night and the rain falling I decided to view a recording of The Devil Wears Prada. I'm sure I enjoyed it more last night than when I saw it in it's release at the movies. What struck me when I watched last night, that I never noticed the first time, is how much Stanley Tucci's portrayal of the gay Art Editor resembles Cs at the hospital. I meant to mention this to Cs at lunch today but forgot and will try to remember to tell him tomorrow. I'm sure Cs won't be offended as he is quite the drama queen and he knows it.