Journal Entries
An interesting week
Posted Feb 15, 2004
Well, quite a lot of stuff has been happening over the last seven days. I can't remember every single detail, but I'll do my best to give you the gist of it!
To start with, one of the things that has happened is to do with my Faceparty profile - I've basically had one for a while, but I've only recently started to update it regularly. I've also bought the Cool Tools package that allows you to see who's visited your profile. And believe it or not, I have had far more visits to that profile in a week than I have had in the last 6 months! It's also been productive as far as meeting new people goes: I'm currently chatting online regularly to a couple of guys from Manchester, one of whom appears to be pretty keen on me - so much so that we're planning to go out for a drink on Wednesday evening. I'll let you know how that goes, BTW! 
Musically, I've had an interesting week as well. Last Sunday (a week ago today) I attended a orchestral workshop at the Royal Northern College of Music. We were working on Mendelssohn's Hebrides (Fingal's Cave) Overture, which is actually one of the pieces I'm playing for another orchestra - so it was good to analyse the techniques for playing it! The following day saw me going to a rehearsal for the Oldham Symphony Orchestra, where we played Honegger's "Pacific 231" (basically, how to make a symphony orchestra sound like a steam locomotive! 
) and the theme to "Star Wars" by John Williams - such fun!!! Wednesday: UMIST Symphony Orchestra - we were practising Brahm's Symphony no. 3 in F, which I've actually grown to love. I also had a rehearsal for the Gilbert and Sullivan society's "Princess Ida" (I have discovered that I *will* be able to play for them after all!) and one for the Congleton Youth Orchestra yesterday morning. Busy week, you might say - well, I haven't finished yet!
Work at uni has been going OK, if a little slowly and frustratingly (as far as collecting data is concerned). However, I was told that the field testing (which is supposed to happen in East Kilbride near Glasgow now) cannot take place until April because one of the processes for preparing the probe has not worked. Not only that, but the guy responsible for this has erroneously blamed me for the problem, as he claimed that I delivered the probe late to him - absolutely untrue, as it had been lying on his workbench for about six weeks! However, while everyone else knew I wasn't to blame, I still felt rather down on Tuesday evening (when I was told this), and since I had already decided to go to a Refreshers Party for the Uni of Manchester's LGB, I decided to get drunk and go to Poptastic with some of the others.
So after meeting HonestIago and two of his mates, I also met some guys that I'd met a while back and since they were going to Poptastic, I decided to tag along. So after getting drunker in Spirit 
, we finally got into Poptastic at about half 11, and after leaving my coat in the cloakroom, I got myself a coke to drink from the bar. However, a couple of minutes later, a guy near to the bar who had a couple of ladies with him beckoned me over to him and once I was in front of him, he took my glasses off and ruffled my already-waxed hair a bit while saying that if these things happened, I would be rather fit ... hmmm. He then gave me back my glasses and pushed me away. Rather odd that ...
About quarter of an hour later, I was dancing with my mates to whatever music Poptastic tends to play on a Tuesday night, when I spotted this same guy again (this time without the ladies). After observing me for about five minutes, he then beckoned me over to him again - when I got there, he put his arms around me and we started snogging (and groping, but the less said about that, the better! ). Basically, until Poptastic closed, we stayed together, moving around the club hand-in-hand, snogging at every opportune moment, him buying me drinks etc. Afterwards, he took me back to his place in a taxi along with his two lesbian housemates (who I think were the ladies at the bar). We all watched a video, drank a glass of Lambrini, and once the ladies had gone to bed, me and this guy made out some more before we finally went up to his room. Now for reasons of taste and decency, I cannot divulge exactly what happened there, but I *can* say that I finally left his house at 1:15pm the following day with stubble rash on my face and an overall feeling of contentment! 
Unfortunately, what happened that night is very unlikely to be repeated, since the guy already has a b/f (who was in Essex that night, which was why the guy was able to take me home). I don't know if I should feel guilty about this or not - he told me that he had a b/f while we were still in Poptastic and yet I still went back to his place afterwards. 
(Responses about this would certainly be welcome.)
Another side-effect of this was due to the fact that Mat (James' b/f) had spoken to me and seen me with this guy, so I got a call from James that evening to ask for details and - let's be honest about this - to spread the rumour to the UMIST LGB! It was also fun on Friday afternoon/evening, as we also had lunch and then drinks on Canal Street while we were discussing things (not just the rumours about me, but also a trip to Blackpool - I might be driving the minibus for that - and various parties and other events).
So that was a full and varied week - I'm hoping the next one will be just as good!
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: Feb 15, 2004
Various bits and pieces
Posted Feb 2, 2004
Just thought I'd catch up on a couple of things that have happened over the past week or so ...
The Chinese New Year celebration concert thingy went OK - the three violinists and I played our piece and we got applauded, so that was fine. Although the husband of one of the violinists also videoed us on his digital camcorder, so I'll be getting a video file of the performance fairly soon!
As far as work's going ... I've finally made some good progress on the safety documentation I'm supposed to complete for the test measurement probe, although this might not actually be needed for a while as we may be going up to Scotland to test it instead of Canada, where explosions are unlikely to occur! The only problem is that the week when we may be doing these tests is the same week when I have two days of management lectures - I've asked the people running this course about it, and they've basically said I cannot miss them. I don't think it's a major problem if I don't get to go, but I'm just annoyed that I can't take part fully in those tests. 
I've also had my hair restyled - it's now spikey at the top after I put the wax in in the mornings. Although I (slightly stupidly?) went to Toni&Guy's in the centre of Manchester to get it done - it cost quite a bit more than a lot of other places, but at least I know what to ask for next time!
But the big thing - last Saturday night, I went out to Canal Street along with some other people in the UMIST LGB (well, it was me and three other members including James and his b/f Mat, who isn't actually a member) as we were meeting the Hertfordshire LGBT society. We initially started out in Manto's, but because the Hertfordshire lot weren't allowed in (too many of them, apparently), we showed them the eating places and then took them to Spirit. While we were there, most of us signed up to this Speed Dating thing (I'm after anyone, but they should be human! )and I discovered that one of the Hertfordshire lads came from the same village just south of Birmingham that I used to live in. Not only that, we also went to the same primary schools (where he was in the year below me) *and* both of our mums used to teach there as well! But after we had some drinks there, we went to Baa Bar for some cheaper alcohol and we finally met the Hertfordshire lesbians, before we split up - Mat went somewhere with the lesbians, a couple of people went to Poptastic, but the rest of us went to Essential and danced the night away. Nothing really happened to me - apart from some mystery person pinching my bum - but I still had a good night and I eventually crashed on James' floor (Mat didn't turn up at Essential in the end - although he did try to get in - and I think he went home).
Well, that's about it really - apart from me trying to find somewhere to live for next year (I'm applying for halls again, but I might also have to look for a house just in case I don't get a place).
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: Feb 2, 2004
Why can't I say "no"?
Posted Jan 19, 2004
As far as I can see, I have one major problem ... I'm just too nice a person for my own good! Two things that have recently come up should illustrate this nicely ...
First thing, just before Christmas I was asked whether I could play my viola in a performance of Pachelbel's Canon in D (the one that *everyone* knows!) for a Chinese New Year celebration this month. I naturally agreed and I spent an hour or so yesterday afternoon with the three violinists (unfortunately no cellist, so I did the bass line) rehearsing this piece. When we were packing up ready to leave, the lady who was organising this nonchalently told me that not only were we going to perform in front of 1700 people, but cameras for a TV station in either Hong Kong or mainland China (or even both) were going to be there, i.e. a total potential audience of about 1.1 billion people! So naturally I'm just a little bit petrified about it all - and it's on this coming Friday! 
The other thing happened the day before - I spend some of my free time helping to recatalogue the Butler Library at Esperanto House. When I arrived that afternoon, I discovered that the Esperanto event "Ni Festivalu!" was using the library, so I couldn't do any work. However, I got roped into a play on the early years of the Esperanto movement in Britain and I'll now have to act out five lines (in Esperanto) at the Esperanto congress in Felixstowe in April/May. Now considering I have never really done any acting since primary school *and* that I'll be acting in a language other than my native tongue, this is obviously making me even more nervous!
That's basically it ... apart from the usual gumpf about trying to find a boyfriend, work etc. etc.
Discuss this Journal entry [5]
Latest reply: Jan 19, 2004
What a relief!!
Posted Jan 7, 2004
So Christmas and New Year have come and gone - at long last (although I did get a DVD player from my mum)! But bitching about what a boring Christmas and New Year I had is not the reason why I'm writing this journal entry ... no, two big things have happened in the last two/three days.
The first one is actually rather sad and upsetting - last Sunday, one of our three cats (Gizmo) had suddenly fallen ill (we think he had had an epileptic fit and he couldn't stand up properly) and had to be taken to an emergency vet hospital. We discovered that his kidneys had failed and so they put him on a drip to help him recover and at first he seemed to be OK. However, the following morning, we were told that he had not made any improvement overnight and that he would be unlikely to recover from this very serious illness. We therefore made the decision (painful though it was) to have him put to sleep. 
In truth, it was sort of a relief, as he had had so many health scares, fits etc. over the 8 years that he was with us.
The second big thing happened only yesterday ... I had not yet come out to any of my family, but I had made a decision to tell at least one of them that I was gay this year as one of my resolutions (see below for the other 5). Over the past couple of weeks, I had made up my mind to come out to the eldest of my three younger sisters who's studying at Lancaster and because I was taking her back there, I decided that would be a good time (once we'd arrived - not while driving!) to tell her. So after we'd driven up and I'd done the web page consulting for a local primary school, I finally plucked up the courage to tell her. To my great relief, she took the news exceptionally well - although when I first said I had something to tell her, she was nervous as she thought I'd broken something of hers. So you can imagine how relieved both of us were when I eventually came out! She was really pleased for me and glad that I'd finally managed to tell her (we 
ed a lot, BTW) - she even suggested that I should definitely tell my mum (although I'm gonna wait a while before I do this). She also wanted to know the details about my (limited) sexual experiences, as well as asking me to take her and her gay best friend to Canal Street at some point this year. I now couldn't care less about what I get for my birthday tomorrow - this is the best present I could possibly have!
So that's that resolution covered - I've now just got to: do well in my doctorate, make new friends with gay guys, get a boyfriend, do more exercise and return to a civilised sleeping pattern this year (although if the middle one happens, the last one won't! ).
Discuss this Journal entry [5]
Latest reply: Jan 7, 2004
The Christmas Ball (and afterwards)
Posted Dec 16, 2003
Last night was rather interesting ... it was the LGB Christmas Ball, for which I had been preparing for a couple of weeks (e.g. buying skincare products, hairgel, cufflinks, a silver bowtie). So anyway, after meeting a few of the UMIST LGB guys (and the two Richs from the UoM one) in Spirit, we ambled along to the Palace Hotel - very nice place, possibly *too* nice for us. We had our dinner but I wasn't drinking any alcohol, so most people were getting progressively drunker and drunker - dancing inevitably followed, which I can now say is virtually impossible with drinking any alcohol at all! 
Basically, when the Ball came to an end, I was still stone-cold sober and at a bit of a loose end, so James (the afore-mentioned UMIST LGB treasurer) and his current b/f Matt took me along to Cruz 101 - after a bit of a delay while they changed and I got lost! We also met "Bitch" Rich there, so we all ordered drinks (I was still not drinking alcohol). A little while later, Rich asked me to say hi to this largish Chinese guy at the bar that he said he fancied. Initially I refused, but James and Matt also goaded me into it, so I got this guy's attention and told him that this guy behind me wanted to say hi - only Rich had disappeared. However, this guy had a woman with him who insisted she tried my glasses on - and then *she* ran away! In the meantime, this guy had grabbed my crotch and then (after I had turned to try and see where this lady had gone) pulled me towards him and started snogging me! The slightly shameful thing is I didn't actually try and stop him (I kinda kissed him back 
, although I wasn't physically attracted to him) - and bear in mind I was still sober. This went on for about a minute and a half, two minutes, before the woman came back and berated the guy for being gross (although she didn't aim this at me and gave me my glasses back) before taking him away.
Now I was still in a slight state of shock and was ready to throttle Rich (or even reciprocate in kind). However, James eventually persuaded me to have a drink (an alcoholic one) - well, he actually kinda ordered me to have it and I gave in but under protest! So I got an Archers and cola and (surprisingly) I actually quite enjoyed it, so this got followed by a small bottle and a half of Smirnoff Ice. The thing is, I normally do not drink at all, so this was my first experience of getting p****d, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be - I did feel a little bit more wobbly on my feet than usual, but apart from that it was OK. I remember spending quite a while chatting to Matt while James had gone to the toilet (I think he took about half an hour, so we chatted for a long time!). Eventually, after the club closed and I got lost yet again, I finally found James' hall of residence (mostly to use his toilet) and we did some more chatting with one of his flatmates before Matt walked home and I took a taxi back to my house.
So what conclusions can I draw from that night? Well, first of all, I didn't really have as much of a hangover as I feared, so that's OK. Secondly, I finally managed to get my first snog in about 5 and a half months! I actually kinda feel indebted to both Rich and James for that evening - yet another couple of inhibitions removed.
Discuss this Journal entry [9]
Latest reply: Dec 16, 2003
Mikeo the gregarious
Researcher U201990
Write an Entry
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."