Mardi Gras 07...

WOW! Mardi Gras 2007 has come and gone! 24 hours since the celebrations commenced, I'm here at home still in awe of the night! Where do you start???

Firstly, the night met and in some respects, exceeded my expectations! I had a completely awesome time! But what made the night stand out particularly were things that I had never expected.

1. I watched the parade from the balcony of a friend's friend's place on Flinders St. The friends that I went with were actually my older brother Mark's friends. And so it turned out that I knew a few people at this party. One person in particular did I know quite well. And this was the unexpected element...for it was Andy, my first ever gay experience! He and his boyfriend had come up (they live in Adelaide now) for Mardi Gras and so when I turned around and there was Andy standing next to me, I got the shock of my life! It was quite a strange feeling, strange but kind of appropriate - strange as I hadn't seen him since the Sydney Olympics and appropriate, because here, at my first ever Mardi Gras was the guy that had given my first ever gay experience. I had very mixed feelings, as I have certainly moved on since then, and Andy is not really what I would call my type. But it also had a certain nostalgic element and he had the same wicked gleam in his eye which is very appealing. I was tempted I confess...

2. About 1:30am, we'd been dancing for a over an hour and decided to go outside for a bit of a breather. After the oppressive heat and humidity in the RHI, just being outside was such a relief. I was also glad to be out because I had tentatively arranged to meet up with a few guys - Gaydar contacts - and so wanted a chance to see if I can find any of them. After a quick bottle of water, my friends decided to go to the Horden Pavillion as Boy George was the guest DJ there. I let them go as I wanted to meet these guys. But I was also unsure, as I didn't know if I had any chance of finding these guys. I had their mobile numbers of course, but I thought it would be difficult to get in contact with them. I said goodbye to my friends and as soon as their backs turned, my phone beeped, and I had a message! "I'm here at the Horden now at 1.30". It was from a guy that I have been chatting to for about 2 weeks and he had messaged me that afternoon to tell me he'd finally decided to go to the party and so had purchased a ticket and wanted to meet up with me. So I was thrilled that he was actually serious about meeting me. Before I had a chance to reply, my phone beeped again and it was a message from another guy - one I have been talking to for about 3 weeks! "Where are you? P" Now I had a choice! That threw me a bit...who did I want to see more? But wait, there's more! My phone beeped again! "Where are you?" It was The Californian, a guy that I have had three dates with now, the last being three nights earlier. He is totally my type, in every way and I'm thoroughly into him!!! I'd shag him in a heartbeat! I couldn't believe that I had a choice of three guys to meet up with, all of them really good looking, interesting guys. Choices choices! But for me, it really wasn't a difficult decision. The Californian! I message the other two back and suggested a later time. And went to find The Californian. He told me he was waiting in front of the DJ between the RHI and the Horden. I started walking toward the DJ and saw him...OH MY GOODNESS! ! ! He was standing, or rather, leaning there, nonchalantly in a leather mask, black leather sleeves, and a pair of black short shorts, more glorified Speedos really. And HE LOOKED HOT! I walked up to him, smiled at him, and in the middle of a crowd of people, kissed him! Fireworks city! This was like all my Christmases had come at once! Here I was, a 35 yr old office worker, reasonable looking but not model material, in OK shape, and I was kissing, passionately, this absolute STUD in front of all of these other hot guys! My ultimate Mardi Gras experience! It encapsulated everything that I had come out for I suppose! Granted, it was very much a physical encounter, but in many ways, it also felt like a very important step in my 'coming out' experience! It was quite simply one of the hottest moments I've ever had, and yet, it was just kissing! It just felt so much more than a snog though - a very liberating moment! And that's the other thing which I suppose was part of it, the fact that I had the confidence to do it! I'm normally a fairly shy person, and hesitate to take that first step unless I'm absolutely sure, but last night, I just marched on up and let him have it...boy did I let him have it. And he certainly didn't seem to object!

3. Well, I think I shall have to continue this blog another time...it's already much longer than I had anticipated...