My school reunion last night was a very casual but very fun affair. Our graduating class had about 180+ students in it but there were only about 50 there last night, and it’s only been today that I’ve been thinking where was so-and-so or I wonder where he or she was.
Some people had barely changed in the 19 years since we finished, others had well and truly outgrown their old waistline and a fair few of the guys had outgrown their hair. It’s amazing that after so long you can just easily slip back into conversation with some people.
I arrived with a couple of the girls I’m still in touch with and we ran straight into a group of guys that I recognised, said hi and shook all their hands. One of them I just had no idea who it was until I walked away and turned around for another look. Apparently half of them couldn’t remember who I was either, but the one guy I hadn’t recognised at all, and who hadn’t recognised me turned out to be a guy I’d gone through ALL my school years with and grew up in the same street about 8 houses away. We had a good laugh about that.
Some people were socially awkward and odd back in school and at least one of them was still well and truly awkward last night. That was a brief and stilted conversation. All in all I had a fantastic night catching up with old friends. I also liked that by now, most people had seen on facebook or heard on the grapevine that I’m gay and even the “tough” guys that I wasn’t that friendly with back then, really didn’t show any signs that they had a problem with it last night. It’s nice to know we all do finally grow up.
A mate of mine has a great singing voice. He’s currently trying to break into the industry again after several years off. I’ve only heard him sing a couple of times live and I envy anyone that has that gift. To be able to sing well has the power to really move people and can be very personal.
Apparently Graham got bored the other night and did a piano cover version of Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance. It’s not as bonkers as the Lady’s but it’s a great version and is quite haunting. Check it out!
As someone who has been interested in photography for many years, and whether I was willing to admit it or not, in hot men for just as many, there was no way I couldn’t notice the name David Vance. David has been at the top of his game for a number of years and has recently been published in the pages of magazines like DNA. The number of stunning men that have graced his studios and locations is totally astonishing.
So when an email popped into my inbox from a U.S. model friend of mine saying he’d done a shoot with David Vance, I was so thrilled for the opportunity for him. Then I opened the images attached. I knew my friend, also David, was gorgeous and incredibly photogenic but he looks even MORE stunning in these shots. There’s not an ounce of fat on him and David Vance has captured his brooding sensuality. Yum!
To round off the four guys I shot last weekend, Jonathon was the reason any of the shoots happened at all. He was preparing for the Australian Bodybuilding Championships when we discussed recording his achievement just after the competition. As it turns out he went on to win Mr NSW. I took more photos of Jonathon than I did of the other 3 guys and that’s why I’ve put of sorting them out. There were 200 shots to go through.
He’s in incredible shape and is something like 19kg heavier than when I shot him last time. Congratulations Jonathon!
I met Phil a couple of years ago and, Sydney being what it is, we have dozens and dozens of mutual friends. Phil has always been good looking but apparently before I met him, he was a bit chubby. He decided to get himself into shape, and what spectacular shape he’s in. Phil was my last model of the day on Sunday and I was getting tired and not concentrating as much as I should have but we still got some great results.
I’ve been a bad friend. A very dear friend of mine sent me an email yesterday essentially telling me to pull my head in, which when I think about it, I thoroughly deserved. We’ve been friends for several years now and I guess I was taking things for granted. We’ve had a friendship where teasing and good natured joking has got out of hand in the past and it has done so once again. I’ve become a bit too vocal in some instances about choices that have been made that I disagree with, when in fact I should have been supportive or just shut up.
We do need to sit down and chat properly about things as there have been times I’ve felt uncomfortable as well, and it’s time to clear the air, clean the slate and start again. I think our friendship has slipped into stirring and teasing a bit too easily sometimes and it’s become habitual and not very healthy at times. This week I’ve upset a dear friend and I’m very disappointed in myself for doing it. Our friendship is one of those ones where we have quite different views on things and at times that does get heated when we can’t get our heads around the other person’s point of view. So, I’m putting a big fat apology out to the universe for being a dickhead.
Last night I went out for dinner with fellow blogger, up and coming photographer, damn nice guy and friend, Shannon. We chatted about our ideas for photography and other bits and pieces over a cheap meal then a decadent dessert (mine was a gooey chocolate souffle). I thought I should finally get around to posting about Shannon’s new photography site. He’s getting the chance to shoot a lot of hot boys for various commercial things and portfolios. He really wants to branch out into fashion shoots which are very different to hot boys in swimwear. Head on over to Shannon’s site to show him a little love. He’s got a fantastic attitude and a great eye!
Today has been very slow for me. I got to bed at 2.30am after a really nice dinner at a friends place that, typically, was flowing freely with booze. I made a conscious effort to pace myself and did a reasonable job, but only managed 5 hours sleep before the sun streaming in around the edges of my blinds woke me up. Coffee, coca-cola and mcdonalds have slowly, very very slowly seen me return to some semblance of normality along with the sunshine absorbed while out getting coffee etc.
The dinner party was great, it’s a nice bunch of guys. A couple of times late in the evening the conversation ventured into territory that had potential to become heated but thankfully didn’t. It’s a sign of a good mix of people that those conversations can be challenging in a good way without anyone getting angry.
I think my couch is calling for some more slothful activity.
Last night was the combined 40th birthdays of two of my very dear friends who are also a couple. The party was filled with a very eclectic mix of guys, who, along with the third birthday boy, a vast portion of, had slept with each other. A few people at the party were on a mission to find me a husband but I left without one solitary pash but definitely not disappointed. It was a brilliant night filled with a HEAP of good mates and lots of laughs and apparently several vodkas.
For a room full of gay men with a very tangled web of previous sexual and dating histories I was very pleasantly surprised at a total lack of drama and an abundance of very big smiles and warmth. I guess it shows what great friends these two guys are. Love em to bits.
Some friends of mine routinely disappear out of the country for work for a month or two at a time and I always miss them. Thankfully it’s always very easy and no fuss when we catch up. It’s one of those great friendships that just fits well. Tonight was the first time I’ve seen them since they got back a few days ago. I love friendships like that… they just work.
I’ve just been having a quick beer with a good mate of mine. The poor guy is under a lot of stress at work and hating his job but in the current climate, not having a lot of luck in moving on. On top of that there is a lot of stress and frustration in his relationship and he feels like he just doesn’t know which way to turn at the moment.
He’s been a very good friend to me over the 7 years that I’ve known him so it’s nice to be able to return the favour of a shoulder to cry on and an ear for his problems. And dammit, I really felt like that beer too.
This week at work, while not stressful has been long and rather busy, but it’s now over and early tomorrow morning three of us are boarding a plane to meet two others in Byron Bay for four days of relaxation, and a wedding for me.
Weddings can be an emotional experience for me because as yet, I’m not allowed to have one, have no one to have one with but still make me smile and warm inside because you see two people so full of hope and love and expectation.
Another friend is visiting from the Gold Coast for a day and a night and will probably join us at the beach. He’s as prone to stripping off his clothes as I am so that will be good. There are going to be three days with bugger all on the agenda apart from relaxing. I won’t be online until I get home on Tuesday night. So enjoy the break from my ramblings. Go bond with family and friends, masturbate, read a book, whatever it is you feel like doing.
Tonight is a bit of a late one for me. Usually on a “school” night I’m tucked up in bed by about 10.30 at the latest so I can go to the gym early in the morning, but tomorrow I’m skipping the gym because of my hamstring (leg workout day). I also happen to be going to the movies with a new friend.
I chatted to this guy a couple of years ago online but haven’t heard from him as he ended up in a relationship. That relationship turned out to be abusive so he’s left that asshole boyfriend and through a couple of twists of fate is now living in some friends’ spare room. We met up a couple of weeks ago and decided to catch up. We are off to have a bite to eat and then go and see Milk.
Every few years the new generations seem to come up with new words or phrases that seem to take hold. One of the more recent ones that I’ve heard that you don’t hear a lot of, but enough to peak my interest is Bromance.
From what I can gather, a bromance is basically a really close friendship between two guys, that if it were to become sexual would be a fully fledge romance but instead is a friendship based on shared in-jokes, mutual understanding, common interests and sense of humour.
Personally I’ve never really had one. I have some great mates, straight and gay but nothing quite like this. My really close gay friends are either people I’ve dated who’ve become friends, fuck buds or guys who are great friends but not what I’d call Bromance material.
I love this video that I found yesterday while looking through the Make Me A Supermodel videos. It follows two Bromances in the series. The one that I touched on yesterday between Ronnie and Ben and another with Perry and Casey (?). It’s cool to see two guys who trust each other and get each other so well. Love that stuff.
I posted yesterday that I thought, given I am going to be house sitting this week, it might be time for a nude gathering. Now I don’t know if it’s going to happen as two of the main participants, and regulars, probably won’t be able to make it.
I posted a while ago that swimming nude is one of lifes simplest and best pleasures. Well for me, having friends that are keen to hang out nude without self consciousness or embarassment is another one. I don’t get why we’ll get nude in a heartbeat with a total stranger if we think it’s going to end in an orgasm but a lot of people are too shy to be seen naked by the people who are supposed to be there for us no matter what, our friends. Odd.
