Venial Sin

A friend of mine passed this e-mail forward to me today from his university GLBT alumni group listserv. It’s a few weeks old from what I can tell, but a lot of it speaks to me very clearly, and I think it’s worth a read through: Dear members of Pride, alumni, faculty and staff, I am writing to resign from my position as Programming Chair of [Academic Institution] Pride. I am resigning because I can no longer perform my duties [...]

OK then. It’s Monday afternoon, and I’ve been incapable of making myself go to class for the last few days (Thursday, Friday, and now today as well). Part of that is because the last few months have borne an incredibly disturbing resemblance to the events of five years ago, both in terms of situation and approach, and the idea of reliving that set of circumstances scares the faecal matter out of me.

“You know, I feel really weird.” “Why?” “I don’t know.” “Is it because you’re wearing bug-eyed sunglasses at 2:00 a.m. at Heaven?” “No, it’s not that.” “Is it because you’re wearing a tank-top over a button-down shirt?” “It’s not a button-down.” “What the hell is it?” “I’m not really sure how to describe it…it’s more of an Asian-influenced…” “Bugger me with a courgette, you’re wearing a cut-off kimono underneath, aren’t you?” “No! It’s a V-neck t-shirt!” “It’s a D-grade fashion [...]

About two weeks ago, I got a phone call from another one of my many investment-banker friends, demanding that we both go out together to “Club Kali”, a twice-monthly gay and lesbian party for South Asians (or just Asians as we brown folk seem to be known here in the UK). Held somewhere in the north of London, away from the civilised bounds of Zone 1, Club Kali wasn’t exactly high on my list of places to visit, if only [...]

Well… Nothing terribly interesting. I text messaged Ozzie a few times, got a fairly vapid response, but will persevere until all shame is lost. Then, tonight, I made the tragic mistake of kicking a mugger in the head and broke my right ankle. It was a lovely kick, my instructor for Muay Thai would have been proud, but apparently some form of calcium deficiency kicked in, because after kicking the SOB in the head, my ankle started to ache. Half [...]

I’m not quite sure how I found myself singing “Waltzing Matilda” with two Australians, a very confused Redheaded Wench, and a horde of drunk Irish families at a gay indie bar in London called “Trash Palace” this past Friday night. I wasn’t hung over on Saturday, so it definitely had nothing to do with the amount of alcohol I’d consumed, so I’m blaming this (in no particular order of precedence) on the Redheaded Wench, Australia as a whole, and the [...]

It’s somewhat discouraging to realise that even though one may oneself have standards (if not actual morals), the rest of the gay community doesn’t. At least, not the gay company to which I was exposed tonight. I mean, why is it that I consider it somewhat unacceptable to (a) sleep with someone who’s already in a relationship (if gay) or married (if straight), and (b) to poach on the territory of other gay men (if someone else is hitting on [...]

You know someone’s your best friend when they not only bring you about 40 books that you’d left behind in the US, they also stop at your favourite deli in the city to have them pack (for international travel) what is perhaps the best goddamn chicken sandwich known to humankind. I can happily certify that it’s the best sandwich I’ve eaten since October 2003. And as for a personalised, autographed (in your name) edition of Gregory Maguire’s Wicked? That’s just [...]

I won’t be blogging for a little while. My best friend from DC is coming to visit me as of Tuesday morning, and I just won’t have the time, not with exam preparation and everything else thrown in. Trust me on this. See you all on the flip side.

…that I had my first law-related exam on Monday. I was convinced that I’d pass, but just barely. Today, we got our results. About 800 people in my college took the exam. About 20 of them got scores of 90 or higher. I got a 95. Oh yeah, House of Lords. Who’s your daddy?