Pneumonic !

Well, what a week it has been. I have been home ill all week long while fighting off pneumonia, and been going stir-crazy in the process. Ok, where to start. I felt this sever pain on my side on Monday night and took a cab down to the A&E at Charing Cross Hospital. I was incredibly scared and tired and emotional while waiting to see the doctors, less so when Simon came over to stay by my side, and what an angel he has been through all of this. Its been bed-rest and lots of anti-biotics since Monday night. I am getting better, although I do feel really tired still and the doctor said it will take some time for me to regain my strength completely. I am going to take it easy for the next while as I need to stop abusing my body the way I have been over the past year or so.

Moonriver

I am not sure what it is, but no matter what mood I am in, whenever I hear Moonriver on the radio I start to tear up. I don't really know what it is about the song, but it really haunts me. I was discussing this with my friend Lee and apparently it has the same effect on him, although its the Audrey Hepburn version that gets me going, while he's a sucker for the Andy Williams rendition.

More of the Same ....

Its been two weeks since 7/7 and things have gotten back to somewhat normal in London, everyone back to their usual routine. I know I got back to mine fairly quickly. And now it seems to be happening all over again, the attempted attacks yesterday and the shooting in Stockwell station today have left me and I am sure many other Londoner's a bit edgy. I work and live near Shepherd's Bush station and there were a lot of sirens going off in the distance, I even heard a helicopter overhead. Even today, there's been a lot more police sirens than there usually is on a Friday afternoon. I think like many, I thought what happened in London two weeks ago was a 'one-off', much like NYC or Madrid, a point would be made and the attackers will move on. The fact that there was a repeat attack so shortly after the first, the fact that these are suicide bombers, the fact that they are British citizens is very worrying indeed. But just like my last post, we can't not live our lives. I don't have to take the tube on a daily basis so perhaps I havent' felt the full impact of yesterdays events like others would. Will have to wait and see what happens, but I'm thinking my Oyster card won't be getting as much use as it usually does over the upcoming weekend.

Carry On Living

After what has happened in London yesterday I am left quiet numb to be honest. I couldn't even watch more than 15 minutes of news footage in one sitting before switching to something else on tv. I think I have gone through this whole 'why would anyone do such a thing' disbelief right after 9/11 and now I've become very cynical about it all, its the only way I can deal. One thing that made me laugh was George W. Bush's speech where he made himself out to be a champion of fighting poverty and rescuing the environment, when did that happen exactly. But that is whats gonna happen, the politicians will spin, someone will take credit and try and scare us and we are left to live in fear. Thankfully Londoners are very resilient people and they get on with their lives. I know I will be.

Mr Popular ?

It’s a warm Monday night, and as I walk into Comptons I am greeted by a barrage of kiss-hellos and ‘alright babes’ until I finally manage my way to the over-crowded bar to get a cheap drink. An acquaintance of mine is observing this and pronounces ‘you know everyone don’t you’, to which I faintly reply ‘yes, I know, I know’. In fact I have kept count, and at least 5 people have made this comment to me this past weekend alone.

I am not writing about this so I can gloat about my popularity status on the bear/club/whatever scene, there is just as many people who I know, who know more and are known by more people, you know? But I was thinking about how I really thrive on human interaction, I like to entertain people and so I am always ‘on’ in a bar setting especially. It’s a far cry from the shy boy I used to be (true believe it or not) who didn’t know how to act at all when surrounded by strangers, who used to stand around in constant fear of being made fun of. And for that reason, I enjoy the attention, even if all of it is on some small stage that doesn’t mean much to people who live outside of London. Its also the reason why I’ll always be a social person, its in my nature to be so and I get a high from it. So next time you see me out, and you notice that I know a lot of people, just nod and smile and say hello, because I am sure it will stay that way for a long time to come.