Through the years...

Stole this off Muzbot...it's fantastic! You can do it too...just click here...






Monty in 1978...







And with my 1990 Jason Donovan mullet! Eeek!

Salad days...

Well, the weather has been sensational over the past few days. The weekend was spectacular, with gorgeous blue skies, light breezes and around 30 degrees Celcius. And it's at this time of year that I start getting serious cravings for salad! I have always loved salads...a love engendered as a child growing up in hot North Queensland where salad tasted much better than hot vegetables. And so, over the past week, I've been dosing up big time. Caesar salad is always a great choice, particularly with chicken. But my favourite is actually just a mix of green leaf, lots of corn, carrot, eshallots, tasty cheese (or occasionally feta), capsicum and boiled egg, with just a nice drizzle of home made dressing (my mum's recipe). I can eat a plate piled high with this kind of salad. And then some! Yummmmmmo!

Which is also quite good, going into summer, as I figure it's not so fattening. You may not think that this is such a problem for me, given my well documented battle to put on weight. Well, the battle is over I reckon, as I'm now developing a little spare tyre around my middle. It's a new thing for me, and the exercise regime that I'm following is pretty much just a weights only thing, no cardio. And so while I'm still building muscle mass, with my arms and legs and chest developing nicely, my gut has made its debut appearance! Eeek! So last week, now that the weather is warming up and the days are lengthening, I started walking home after gym. It's actually quite a pleasant time to walk home...there's still light in the sky, but the lights of the city are beginning to twinkle on the harbour. It's balmy and so I don't get too hot, even though I'm powering my way home. So hopefully, that will start making a difference to my little gut! I think I shall also have a chat to Muzbot as he seems to have been highly successful in developing a very nice flat tummy indeed!

Anyway, that's about it. This weekend, McBrad and I will celebrate 6 months together! How cool is that! Still amazes me that IT has actually happened - that which I'd been hoping for and dating what seems like hundreds of guys for - and things are settling down really well. I still find it amazing that after an ever changing diet of men for 18 months, I'm thoroughly enjoying my McBrad-only diet! I still think he's the sexiest man alive and can't keep my hands off him and just snogging him is enough to make me "shwing". He's just sooooo HOT!!! Anyway, I'm getting all hot and bothered here and it's probably not the right forum! Just believe me when I say, this is one very satisfied (smuggly so) Monty! But better still, he makes me happy, and I think I make him so as well (well, I do my best anyway). Saturday, he's working and I'm going to get up early (5:30am in fact) and go to the markets and buy up buckets of Oriental Lillies. He loves their fragrance and I'm going to put them all over his house so that when he comes home, it'll be rich with their hot heavy scent! But that's just the start of festivities. More about that to come.

Enjoy your week everyone! :-)

Catching up...

Well, it's been several days since my last post and I do apologize. I must say that the past couple of weeks have just been full on! I've not had a moment of peace - it's just been really busy! ...and it's been a good thing too, as I've not had much time to dwell on The Tourist. I'm finding I'm missing him much more than I anticipated. sigh...

Anyway, it was a very sunny, very hot weekend here in Sydney and this week is much the same. I did end up going out on Friday night...with John, the Risk Executive from work. Everyone else who had originally planned to come out bailed on me, and so John suggested a drink or two at Ivy. Two bottles later, we decided we should go to dinner and so we headed back to the office so that I could drop off my work bag (didn't want to lug it around the city). Needless to say, Monty and John, in the lift, snogging like our lives depended on it! Which is fine, except that there's video surveillance in the lifts...so now work has evidence of shenanigans betwix the two of us! Eeek!

Anyway, we had dinner and I dragged him to Palms, but we didn't end up dancing...too busy snogging in the corner. God that guy kisses well!!! We left around midnight but to our respective homes. He has a rule about “screwing the crew” and he’s understandably cautious about getting physical with me. Never fear, I’m wearing him down! He he he! But it was a lovely night out with him.

Saturday I slept, and then met up for a drink with a date in the afternoon. (yes, although I’m still missing The Tourist, I’m determined to move on) Saturday evening, a couple of friends were having a BBQ and invited me over, which was lovely, even if I was the only single there! And it was nice to actually get to bed before midnight!!!

(Just as a side point…what is it with all these couples who seem to insist on flaunting their “married” status whenever a single person is around??? I mean, I understand they’re a couple and that’s fine, I’m happy for them, so really, there’s no need to keep snogging, cuddling and canoodling to convince me they are together! Get a room, or better still, go home!)

Sunday, Jacqui had arranged for a bunch of us to go “barefoot bowling” at the Waverton Bowls club. There was a couple of her friends, some mutual friends from work (including John) and myself. The thing I love about barefoot bowling is the fact that you’re playing sport whilst drinking at the same time – how good is that! And due to the fact that it was brilliantly sunny and very warm, the drinking kind of got more attention than the bowling. We did that for a couple of hours before heading down to the Commodore Hotel for food and more beer! Muzbot turned up too which was lovely…our last chance to have a beer or two at our local as neighbours.

So, it was a fun weekend. But it was FULL. Yesterday, after my workout with Greg, I had an appointment with my very hunky masseur. God he’s hot!!! And extremely flirtatious! Dangerous waters! I mentioned that my next massage will be my birthday massage and he jokingly said that maybe he’ll do it naked for me! Yes please!!! Well, we’ll see in a couple of weeks if he comes through with his promise!

So last night after the massage was my first real night at home for more than a week! It’s crazy! And this week is just as full. Thankfully, I’ve decided not to do anything at all over the Easter weekend and so I’ll just be able to play it by ear and hopefully, do lots of relaxing.

Mates...

I had dinner (and one or two beers) with my mate Muzbot tonight. We've not caught up since his birthday in January so there was lots of stuff to discuss. And it was great! More than great, it was fan-bloody-tastic!

We actually met at the first Sydney Bloggers Meet on 18th February 2007 so it's been just over a year! But what a year it's been! And over that whole time, Muz has been there, supporting and advising me, and just being a great friend. I remember the first time we met up after the Bloggers Meet, at the Commodore Hotel, how relaxed I felt with him. He's a very sweet guy; a very honest man and someone who's friendship I value very highly!

So thanks Muz! Thanks for the past year! Thanks for the reality checks you give me! Thanks for the gallons and gallons of beer we've consumed! Thanks for the teary moments! Thanks for the laughs! Thanks for the insights you've provided - insights to yourself, and insights into my own self! You are one in a million!

Monty! x

2007...

I'm not really going to do a review of the year that was...if you've been reading my blog, you'll have a fairly good idea as to what was good and bad about 2007. But a situation yesterday kinda represented to me the past year.

Firstly, I met up with the entertaining and ever fabulous London blogger Darth Gateau who's here on holidays with his gorgeous partner TOH! I've been reading DG's blog for around a year now and met up with him (plus many more London bloggers) when I was recently in London. And so when he told me he was coming out to Sydney over Christmas/NY, I was very excited. At last I would be able to repay in some small way the hospitality and welcome that the London bloggers had shown me. In fact, DG is the 2nd London blogger to visit our fair shores this month so it's been great.

Anyway, met up with DG and TOH and of course, Muzbot yesterday afternoon at the Opera Bar - perfect day for the Opera Bar...27 degrees C, buckets of sunshine, a flawless blue sky. The Opera House was glistening in the sun, the harbour was a gorgeous blue, with the Harbour Bridge dominating the scene. Great bar to take tourists! So we had ourselves a couple of shandies but by that stage, we were getting a little hot in the sun and so decided to go to Green Park Hotel.

So we turned up there and watched as the pub progressively got more and more crowded! It was absolutely pumping! But as the evening progressed, a strange (for me anyway) thing started happening. Looked over and saw a guy that I had shagged early this year. Waved hello to him. 20 mins later, saw another prior shag. Waved hello to him too. In total, I saw 5 guys that I'd shagged in the past year! It was my Shagging Ghosts of Christmas Past! Felt quite strange to be in a bar and whichever way I looked, there was a past shag standing there. It's probably not such a strange phenomenon in Sydney, with a relatively small'ish gay community...after all they say there's only 2 degrees of separation in the Sydney gay community. But it had never happened to me before. And so, on the 30th December 2007 - the end of quite a momentous year for me - what a more appropriate thing to happen to me than to see all these guys there.

It's a completely different situation from last year. So much has changed in my circumstances (I know I keep rabbitting on about this, but it never fails to amaze me), I have become so much more confident a person, much more comfortable in my own skin and in my own sexuality. Although I came out in 2006, for me, 2007 has been more of a watershed year because it's been when what I started in 2006 really has impacted on my life.

I just can't wait for 2008 now! I'm starting a new job at work, I've decided to join a gym (gasp, yes, you heard it right, Monty is joining a gym!), and there's maybe one or two other things up my sleeve as well. EIB sent me a Christmas card this year and in it he said "2008 will be your year!", and you know, I really think that is true! Bring it on!!!

I hope everyone has a FABULOUS New Year and I hope that 2008 brings you success and happiness. Lots of hugs to you all.

Monty! xxx

The Weekend That Was...and other miscellaneous musings...

What a weekend it was! I don't think I've consumed that much alcohol in such a short space of time for quite a while (and that includes my big weekends overseas). Friday night found Monty very inebriated and just a little toey after the first of our work Xmas parties, and with a willing Rick waiting at the Flinders Hotel, there was no stopping me. Well, apart from the fact that I had to stumble and sway my way from Pitt St to Flinders St...that took a while (yes, for some reason, I was determined not to take a taxi...don't ask me why, I had decided to walk and nothing was going to stop me). But made it I did, and so we grabbed a cab back to Rick's place and I fell asleep in his arms.

I woke up surprisingly hangover-free and rather early! Rick had organized to meet his personal trainer at 9am so I was up and ready to leave at 8.45am and feeling rather perky too! Strange. Caught a taxi home, had a quick shower and toddled down to my local cafe and grabbed a Ham and Cheese Croissant and a coffee and the paper and spent the next couple of hours pleasantly engrossed.

In the arvo, I popped down to my local flower man and purchased masses of flowers - it was, after all, Evan's birthday and a very significant one at that, which meant it needed to be celebrated with one of Monty's special arrangements. As Evan is a very carbon conscious man, McDreamy suggested that Australian native flowers might go down well. And so, although I don't think I do my best work with them, I gave it a go and they seemed to go down a treat with Evan! McDreamy took pics of them, so hopefully he'll either email them to me, or post them himself.

We then motored in to Oxford St and rocked up to the Beauchamp Hotel nice and early and slammed a champers or two before the rest of the guests arrived. A highly pleasant evening was had. Apart from Sam, I had not met any of Evan's friends so I was intrigued to see the kind of people he hung out with...all very nice, what else could I expect from such a lovely guy! But it is interesting when talking with someone who's known him for 20+ years and the insights you get!!! Muzbot turned up later on, limping slightly from his war wounds, wearing his "Third Place" ribbon proudly on his chest, and unable to wipe the grin off his face!

Proceedings ground to a halt around midnight (I think), with Evan and McDreamy jumping in a cab back to Evan's. I, on the other hand, was in a party mood - despite my excesses the previous evening - and so wandered down Oxford St...firstly to the Midnight Shift - dull - and then back up to Stonewall. Started chatting to a rather friendly Bostonian who was here for the weekend but then Rick rang me. He was wondering if I was going to come over to his that night. I was a bit tired by this stage, and despite my overtures to the friendly Bostonian, I knew it was going to require a bit more work before I got anywhere with him. Not being up for the job, I grabbed a cab and headed to Rick's.

So, so far, I've spent 3 nights at his and all we have done is sleep together (quite literally), apart from some very general play. I think Rick is a lovely man, and we get on quite well, however there's just not the zing with him. I don't feel anything deeper than friendship for him, and am very happy just snuggling/sleeping with him. He's more of a snuggle-buddy than anything else. He seems pretty content with that too, so I shall have a chat with him later this week to clarify things, and going forward, hopefully things will be good.

Sam was at the party on Saturday night, and as soon as he turned up, he came over and said hello to me and to the friend of Evan's that I was talking to at the time. And that was about it for the night, apart from a passing word or two spoken in a group setting. I must say, I was a little disappointed in that, but what could I do? I still had a great time at the party. But it was lovely that this morning, waiting for me when I logged on at work, was an email from Sam. In it, he apologised for not chatting to me and suggested meeting up for christmas drinks sometime this month. So all was forgiven! I don't know if there's anything more than him being friendly but at least we'll have a chance to have a proper chat, which we haven't done since I returned.

Yesterday, it was my friend Jacqui's birthday and so last night, James, her b/f and I took her for a couple of quiet drinks at our local, the Commodore Hotel. It was a lovely evening; pleasant weather, a couple of drinks, great company. Muzbot turned up for a quickie before he headed off to take some pics of the Australian Idol fireworks which look quite splendid! He's one talented man!

So it was an extremely social, extremely alcoholic weekend, but I feel very little effects from it, which is very unlike me. NOT that I'm complaining mind you. I had a marvellous time, particularly Saturday night!

Where's the week gone...?`

I'm exhausted! This week has flown past and I've been absolutely flat out! It's been a fun week, but I still can't quite believe that it's Thursday night already! I've been going flat strap at work and I'm still struggling to finish everything I need to before COB tomorrow...but finish it I will.

It was great to meet up with Evan, McDreamy and Muzbot on Tuesday night - my three favourite friends in one place - how good can it get! Evan and McDreamy left around 9pm and then Muz and I got down to seriously deep stuff; we started talking about my parents' reaction to my coming out and even though it's been almost a year since then, it's still a topic that gets me emotional. I don't think Muz was expecting quite the reaction that I had, and to be honest, neither did I. I've been always quite good at compartmentalising my life, and so I generally just try not to think about my parents because it is still a very painful issue for me. But when I discussed it with my friend Jacqui several weeks ago, I burst into tears in the middle of Bar 333 on George St - not exactly what a 36 yr old guy would normally do. However, because I'd had this release, I thought when I was talking about it with Muz that I'd be in a better position to cope with it...but apparently not! But it was still good to talk to him about it, and I really appreciated his support. So the night was a really good one for me.

Last night, I caught up with C3 - he's been in the Simpson desert for the past couple of weeks and this was actually the first time we've met up face to face since we broke up. But it was really good actually - had some laughs and I caught him up on my past few weeks (Bruce and Sam).

And today, worked my arse off...didn't leave work until 8pm which is appalling for me! BUT only ONE DAY TO GO!!!!! And then I'm on holidays! Yay! Can't wait!

A parting of ways...

It was bound to happen eventually...I went over to Bruce's on Wednesday night for dinner and for a chat. We had our chat and fundamentally, he told me that he didn't think "we" had a future as a couple, that whilst he really likes me, enjoys my company etc, I'm not Mr Right for him. It didn't really come as a great surprise, and I'd much prefer he told me that now, then allowing things to go along as they had. He felt the same - he didn't want to hurt me by stringing me along. He said I was "much too nice" for him and that I "deserved better" than him. He sent me a lovely email yesterday...

"I want to maintain our friendship. I REALLY enjoy your company and hope that in time we can become ‘family’….just my way of describing people that I have chosen to be part of my life forever.

I am glad that I met you [Monty]. And I am not going to disappear unless you need me to.

Now, go and get laid will you...!"

I really like Bruce, I had a great time getting to know him, spending time with him, and I thoroughly enjoyed sleeping with him!!! We had a great 4 weeks together, but now it's time to move on for both of us. He's going to start dating other guys, and I'm going to take his email advice and get laid!!! LOL

And the great thing is I've made myself another friend! I truly hope that we'll be able to build on the friendship that we've started. I suppose the only thing that did get me down a bit was the fact that I seem to have a knack for finding and falling for guys that end up wanting to be friends! BUT, if there's one thing that I've learned about myself over the past twelve months, it's that I'm a pretty resilliant kinda guy! A couple of nights of good sleep, a great night out last night (dinner, a few beers, a long chat and lots of laughs) with my mate Muzbot and I'm feeling fine! And ready to shag! The boys of Sydney...Watch out!!! he he he!

Monday Bloody Monday...

The weekend has come and gone and I'm sitting wondering what happened! Why is it that the week drags ever so slooooooowly and then the weekend flies by in a wink!


Anyway, here in Sydney last week, we enjoyed somewhat of an Indian summer, with temperatures hitting 25 degrees Celcius over the weekend! And buckets of sunshine! Perfect weather, but highly unusual for the middle of winter! Today, it seems like the weather remembered it was winter for the chills hit big time!!!

Anyway, the weekend was a bit up and down for me...some really good bits, and some just average bits. The weather, as I mentioned, was awesome! Early Saturday arvo, I met up with one of my readers, one of my adoring public! ha ha ha! It was great to meet him, exchange some stories, clarify a few details and to put a face to his otherwise quite elusive identity. Then had a date with a guy that I had been chatting to on Gaydar - was OK...nothing to write home about (or even blog about) - nice guy but no sparks.

I was in a strange mood late Saturday arvo...really felt like some serious beer drinking, so purchased myself some beer, got home and received a text. It was my mate Muzbot and an invitation to the Commodore for...yes, you guessed it...a beer (or two). Perfect. Another excellent night spent with a good mate, drinking beer and chatting! Sensational!

Sunday was interesting. Once I dragged myself out of bed, I received a text from the guy that I previously met a few weeks ago at the Stonewall. He suggested a coffee in the arvo which worked well for me, needed coffee after the amount of alcohol consumed the previous night! Unfortunately (well, actually, rather fortunately) we never got to the cafe! tee hee hee Afterwards, raced home, had a quick shower and then met up with the smiling Evan and his ever so sober boyfriend McDreamy at the Commodore for a late arvo drink...beer for me, LLB for the boys! Sat outside on the terrace and progressively got colder as the sun sank beneath the horizon until I could stand it no more. But it was great to catch up with them; as always, an interesting and informative chat and a highly enjoyable time!

So a bit of a mixed bag for a weekend, but still, I can't complain. What's the point, no one will listen anyway! Hope everyone has a great week!

Pics...

Pictures are going up on blogs left right and centre at the moment...check out McDreamy's blog and Pedestrian Fair's blog - both have posted recent and 80's pics! I'm a HUGE fan of this.

I must say, now that I've posted a couple of face pics, I'm a lot less nervous about posting more. And seeing as how I've met quite a few bloggers in person now, there seems less reason to hide my face! So, be prepared readers, for more of Monty!

Anyhoo (picked that expression up from Muzbot), met up with fellow blogger Tom last night and we watched The Simpson's Movie - me for the first time, and Tom for the second time. Sensational! I love the Simpsons and this was just 90 minutes of pure Simpsons WITHOUT ads! How good does it get!!! Sensational! And it was great to catch up with Tom as well, as always.

Tonight is C3's birthday dinner. We're going up to The Summit Bar on top of Australia Square for drinks (and I'm meeting 4 of his friends which is kinda scary) and then having dinner in the restaurant there as well. I've not been to the top of Australia Square since 1980 when we came to Sydney on a family holiday. At the time, it was the highest building in Sydney. Not anymore, but I'm still looking forward to going back up! And to the dinner. I'm a bit nervous about meeting his friends. Hope they like me! Hope I like them!

The 80's flashback challenge...

The challenge has been thrown down by Muzbot so here it is...Monty in 1989! Scary photo! The hair!!! Anyway, I'll try and post a PST pic this evening so you can compare me at 18 and me double that age!

Monty's Miscellaneous Musings...

Lots of little stuff really, nothing of any dramatic importance, so don't get too excited.

I'm in a rather strange mood today...not sure why. I borrowed the Pet Shop Boys DVD Pop Art off McDreamy on Friday and seeing as how it was a bit cold and overcast this morning, watched 40 of their videos from their very first one (East End Girls) to their quite recent ones (London, Home and Dry etc). I'm not normally a guy who watches TV or DVD's during the day, I always feel like I'm wasting the day do so. However, today I made an exception for the Boys. They are an incredibly talented duo and all of their videos are such pieces of art! It's amazing how long they have been going for and the fact that they can still be relevant! The lyrics in some of the songs just get me - I love that when a song just speaks to you and so many of theirs do!

I also went on a date last night - a Californian guy (which we - Jacqui, James and myself - call C3. This distinguishes him from The Original Californian - The OC - and another Californian that I had a couple of dates with back in March - NewC). So I met C3 at the Newtown Hotel for a couple of drinks and I've not actually been to the Newtown on a Saturday night...they play sensational music...all very gay, very daggy, very awesome pop! Felt relaxed with him straight away and the conversation was very easy. Found a little pizza place and had dinner with a lovely bottle of Brown Brothers Tarango. Dessert...well, let's just say that we went back to his place and I was it! ;-) OK, OK, I know, how very slutty of me on a first date, but hey, it's been 3 whole weeks since my last shag...it was killing me! It was a lovely night and C3 is a really great guy. He wants to see me again, and I wouldn't mind seeing him either, so we'll probably go out next Saturday night. He's just texted me and told me to keep August 2 free. He then texted me to say "Hope you're not afraid of heights"...what the...? Now I'm intrigued! For the record, I'm not afraid of heights, but the mind boggles as to what he's got planned! Watch this space for the report!

It's funny, I've started dating again...much less intensely than I was over summer of course...but I'm feeling a bit ambivalent about it all. I had a date on Monday night with a cute redhead and I enjoyed it, he was a good conversationalist, works for my favourite store (David Jones') and seems like a genuine guy. But I'm like...pfft! Even with C3, although he's very eager to see me again, and I'd like to as well, I'm still not feeling the intensity that he is. I suppose over the last month or so, I've been focussed on my friends, in particular Evan, McDreamy and Muzbot (and James and Jacqui of course, see them every day at work) and on building and reinforcing our friendships. And so dating has certainly been taking a back seat - more just an add-on than a major part of my life. I suppose after the experiences of May/June, I've become a little bit more cautious about throwing myself into a romance, of opening myself up to a guy I've just met, and retreated, to a degree, to the safety of friends. At the moment, I'm finding it much more rewarding emotionally to be with my friends and I've certainly done some serious opening up to them, which has been wonderful. They've been incredibly understanding and also proved themselves invaluable sources of information and advice. I started coming out just on a year ago now, but in many ways still feel new at this. I'm very comfortable with being gay, let me hasten to add, but there's still so much stuff that I don't know and so sometimes I feel a little bit of an amateur. Dunno, I'm probably just waffling here. :-) Let's move on shall we...

At the moment, I'm just waiting for James and Jacqui to finish their lunch and hopefully motivate themselves to accompany me to the Coffee and Chocolate Festival at the Rocks. I think these are probably the only things capable of warming me up on a day like this. (Well, naturally, a HOT guy would do the trick quite satisfactorily)

Hope everyone has had a great weekend!

The end of the week...

It's now 5.05pm Friday and I've had the laziest day! I took the day off as a reward for having such a hard June (and as it turns out July too). Dragged myself out of my toasty warm bed around 10.30am this morning, really wanting a coffee. But alas, I realized that I had an official doctor's appointment with McDreamy and he had told me not to eat or drink anything except water! arghhhhhh! Monty without his morning espresso makes for a very dopey man! Anyway, eventually made the trek across the city to "the Shire" where McDreamy practises his medicine, 15 mins late for my appointment. Thankfully, I was his last patient and so he was pretty chilled out about it. I jumped up on the couch, he sucked the blood outa me (which I did not watch, otherwise it would have been all over red rover for Monty) whilst chatting to me, trying (mostly sucessfully) to distract me. That over, we headed off to Cronulla for a yummy lunch overlooking the windswept beach and churning, crashing waves (and the spunky waiter was also most pleasant eye candy). Checked out his new love nest which is well, in need of the attentions of an interior designer...oh, that's right, Evan is one! he he! Actually, I do have to say, he only moved yesterday so he's still got lots of unpacking and sorting and tidying up to do, but once it is done, it'll look great! Look forward to many a weekend hanging out there with he and Evan (yes McDreamy, that's a hint for an invitation). :-)

Tonight, I'm hibernating at home sans alcohol. I had planned on reducing my alcohol intake this week, after the battering that my liver got last week, however things didn't quite go according to plan. Monday night, 4 glasses of wine and a beer with a rather cute redhead; Tuesday 3 glasses of wine at work at the end of the day; Wednesday night, 4 beers and a couple of vodkas (rather strong ones too) with my mate Muzbot; and last night, I attended my first ever Fruits in Suits gathering at Slide where I consumed another 5 or 6 glasses of wine (my memory is a little hazy on the specific number). So, tonight, dinner with a non-alcoholic beverage, a couple of dvd's, and it's off to bed for Monty! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

It's Friday already...

It's now 1pm Friday and I've left work for the day! Yay! I've left early so that we can get a headstart on the traffic and hopefully make good time down to the beach house. I really need this weekend away, and having Evan and McDreamy along is fantastic! Should be lots and lots of fun, plus I hope lots of sleeping in!

It's been an interesting week...inspired by one of my friends, I had organized a couple of dates, one for Wednesday night and one for Thursday night! I realized on Tuesday that I already had a dinner with friends arranged for Wednesday night, so had to postpone that date (with The Doctor) until next week. Wednesday night's dinner was rather large...lots of freeflowing wine (rather good wine too!) meant that Monty was a little worse for wear Thursday. Hence, I postponed the Thursday guy until next week too. The thing I'm a little trepidacious about is I've already booked a couple of dates next week, and now with this week's boys put back until next week, I'm kinda running out of available nights! argggghhhhhhh! Monty will be a busy boy next week methinks!

This actually worked out quite well, because I ended up catching up with Muzbot for dinner last night instead, and as always, it was a great night. You learn so much about a person when you are talking one on one, and I certainly think we've moved on from the "polite conversation" phase of our friendship! lol

So, the weekend is ahead and I'm excited. Hope everyone else has a good one too!

Dinner at Chez Muzbot...

Well, it's now Sunday afternoon, a drizzly and cold day outside and me, inside with my paper and heater. It's the exact opposite of yesterday, with its blue skies and buckets of sunshine. But the overcast weather kinda suits me today. It's perfect for staying at home with the paper, catching up on some blogging, maybe a DVD.

It was another sensational Saturday night for yours truly, with my highly anticipated dinner at Chez Muzbot becoming reality. Muzbot made a variation on his recently posted Moroccan Lamb a la Muzbot - Moroccan Chicken a la Muzbot! And it well and truly lived up to the hype! I'm very impressed! I turned up around 6.30pm or so and he was still making it and I loved the fact that he was not reading a recipe but just throwing stuff into the pot...the hallmark of a natural cook. Delicious, not over spiced, subtle flavours, tender chicken and perfect cous cous all combined with a lovely wine that I am fast becoming a fan of (and which was introduced to me by Muzbot) - Logan Weemala Merlot 2004, from the Central Ranges of NSW. I've never been a fan of Merlot - I find it too smooth and a little bit bland - much preferring the big bold flavours of Shiraz. But I must say, this particular Merlot has won me over. Warm aromas of dark berries, just a touch of violet, and soft flavours of plum and chocolate. Mmmmm chocolate! No wonder it went soooo well with our chocolate dessert last week! I was also able to introduce Muz to one of my favourites, Shiraz Viognier. It's 95% Shiraz and 5% Viognier so it's still predominantly Shiraz with it's lip-smackingly delicious berry flavours but just a little less of the earthiness; the Viognier helps soften the sucker punch that Shiraz can have, and adds some lovely top notes to the bouquet. So I think it helped us both expand our wine horizons.

But, as good as the food and wine were, the company was what made the night! As always! I do love a good dinner party with 4, 6, 8 or 10 people - always makes for amusing conversations, lots of laughter and a variety of topics. But equally (and fast becoming more so), I love a dinner for 2, where you can really get to know someone. Anyone who knows Muzbot would agree that he's an easy person to be around; he's laid back and a little bit reserved, but still good company. And last night was no different. When you are one on one, you can be more open with each other; the conversation tends to become quite personal and so it's just a much better way of building a friendship. And that was what last night was for me. I feel I've got to know Muz a bit better, and I hope he's done the same in relation to me.

So from food perspective, Muzbot's cooking rates 4 1/2 stars (can't rate it 5 stars, he'll just get wayyyy too smug). From a good company perspective, he gets 5 stars. :-)

The last 3 Saturday nights have been all quite different in their composition, with the first being the fabulous night at Priscilla, whenMatt from London was here, last Saturday night's inebriated dinner party (and part McDreamy strip show) with Evan, McDreamy and Muzbot, and last night's very relaxed and thoroughly enjoyable dinner (and holiday slide show) with Muz. In their different ways, they have been equally excellent! And next Saturday night should be just as fun, down the South Coast at the beach house with Evan and McDreamy and me cooking Monty's Famous Beer-up-the-bum Chicken for dinner! How lucky can a guy be, to have such fantastic friends and such memorable weekends! After the roller-coaster which was May/June (and which is thankfully very much history), these last couple of weekends have been just the perfect panacea! Thanks guys! Look forward to many more!

A Sundry Saturday post...

It's Saturday already and I can't believe how quickly the past week has flown by! Now that the financial year is over, traditionally things slow down and this was my fondest wish for this week. Not to be! It has been another very busy week at work! So, I thought I'd better treat myself and make an appointment with my hunky masseur for today.

And so, today I rocked up at 10.30am and felt all my stress dissolve beneath the magic that is my masseur's hands! It was another lovely session, but a little sad - he is in the process of moving over to London; leaving in two week's time. So, this was our last session together. Naturally, I have booked him for October when I will be back in London, but that's still 3 months away, and not exactly an ideal solution! Thankfully, he gave me a couple of numbers of friends of his that are masseurs as well, so I'll be taken care of. Which reminds me, if any of you London bloggers would like a FABULOUS massage from a hot Aussie guy, email me and I'll send you his details. He has to start working as soon as he gets there and so I'm sure he'd love an intant client list!

I drifted home, through the heavy traffic that is in Potts Point at the moment, thanks to the thousands of visitors turning up to check out the hot US Navy guys (oh, and their aircraft carrier) here for the weekend. A quick clean up around the apartment and a knock on my door. It was Evan and McDreamy, beaming smiles and lots of laughs! McDreamy had cut out a suspicious looking lesion on Evan's chest last week and it prompted me to think about my own skin. My dad is a red head with very fair skin and he goes every 6 months or so to the doctor to get examined and usually ends up with one or two small cancers being cut out or frozen off. I've unfortunately inherited the fair skin and have not had a check up for ages. So, McDreamy kindly made a housecall on me and checked me out. Thankfully, nothing to be concerned about...there's a couple of freckles that he suggested I keep an eye on, for any changes in colour or shape, but otherwise, nothing to worry about!
Sensational! Thanks McDreamy, by the way.

Thus relieved, we all toddled off down to Blues Point Rd for a lovely pasta lunch in the sun at one of the cafes there. I love sitting in the sun when it's cold...it just feels fantastic! We also discussed our little weekend away next weekend...I'm taking them down to the beach house on the South Coast. Granted, it's not exactly beach weather, but it's just so lovely and relaxing down there, plenty of food and wine, great conversation with good friends, lazy sleep ins, long walks on the beach. It promises to be another awesome weekend!

Tonight, I've received an invitation to Chez Muzbot for dinner - and he's cooking! After seeing the yummy recipe he posted earlier this week for his Moroccan Lamb, I'm chomping at the bit to experience his culinary skills! Should be another highly enjoyable night!

Muzbot, Evan and Dr McDreamy

I was struggling to find a title to this post, but really, this week has all been about Muzbot, Evan and his Dr McDreamy.

It's been one of those insane weeks, the final of the financial year. Monday and Tuesday, I got home from work mentally and physically fatigued! But by COB Wednesday, I had broken the back of it! And so, when Muz suggested meeting for a beer, I was ready! We actually ended up having a couple of beers, dinner and another excellent chat! Unfortunately, our conversation did not touch on PST pictures, otherwise I would've been, errrm, warmly encouraging him to up the ante with his pics! But apart from that, it was another sensational night with a guy who's becoming an awesome mate!

Thursday, I was pretty chilled and in fact, most of my colleagues left by 4.30pm...I lingered until 5pm and choofed off! And then I met up with my other great mate, Evan, for dinner and a chat! Naturally, a lot of the conversation centred on McDreamy, but it's lovely to see things progressing with those two! Evan is always a delight to be with; he's a first class human being and a great friend and always has time for me and my woes! Love him to pieces!

Friday came and went with relatively little fanfare...a flurry of last minute activity and it was over for FY06/07! And then the champagne corks popped and the drinks started flowing! Our team has a lot to celebrate - we had a record week this week and our team was Number 1 in NSW! So we did party! But, around 9.30pm, the tiredness hit me...and I was ready to go. We were in a restaurant in Kings Cross and so I left my colleagues and popped in to say hello to my friend Simon, the Sailing Penguin for half an hour. And that was lovely! He was very excited as he was waiting for his son to fly in for a week. And then, I went home! How very boring! But needed!

Saturday was spent at home mostly, as I was preparing for a dinner party - the attendees...Muzbot, Evan and Dr McDreamy! What a night!!! We managed to down 6 bottles of rather smashing red wine between the four of us, McDreamy became the 'massage-o-matic', (a sensational term coined by Muz) and the conversation flowed thick and fast! I have this one memory, toward the end of the night, after most (if not all) the alcohol had been consumed, where Muzbot was lying semi-prone on the couch, Evan was lying on my bed and McDreamy was shirtless in my entry-way! It was kinda hilarious at the time, as well as being kinda surreal. For Monty, Nirvana...3 HOT hairy guys in his apartment! FABULOUS!

But they all departed and I hit my bed with a vengeance. My apartment looked like a bomb had hit, but I didn't care! I was tired! BUT, it was a seriously excellent night, filled with laughter, good food (if I do say so myself), good wine and most importantly, good friends!

There were 4 rather sore heads this morning, but we all managed to get over that and I met up with Muz for a lazy coffee/tea/toast/hot chocolate. Another pleasant hour or two was spent "chewing the fat" before his mate Judo turned up and it was good to meet him as well.

Toddled home and washed up and washed up and washed up - just as I finished the last pot, a knock on my door...I opened it, and there was Evan and McDreamy standing grinning on my doorstep. So, more "chewing of the fat" with those two before we motored over to the movies to see "As It Is In Heaven" - a Swedish movie I had never heard of. BUT one of the best movies I have seen in a long time! It is simply a wonderful movie! Very moving, very emotional and inspiring. We all loved it! And I was happy that I got to watch it with two great guys!

So, it was really a week and weekend all about Muzbot, Evan and McDreamy! And what a week and weekend it's been! I had such a sensational time last weekend with Matt, but this weekend has been just as good (albeit, without any shagging). And I just can't help but think how fortunate I've been to have had two fabulous weekends in a row! I'm really enjoying life at the moment, enjoying consolidating my friendships with Evan and Muz and establishing a new friendship with McDreamy! Thanks guys!

Monty's Miscellaneous Musings...

I have no time to blog at the moment, but it's 5.05pm and I'm still at work and I'm over it for the week. So I thought I had better put digit to QWERTY and blog.

This week has been a funny week for me - but a good one. I received some good advice from a friend on Wednesday morning..."Monty" he said, "you need to get out more, have some fun, relax and just enjoy yourself". And you know what, I do! I have been waaaaayyyyyy too intense over the last couple of weeks and so I gave myself a bit of a slap around the chops and a good talking to. And then the sun came out...literally. It's been rainy weather for the past few weeks here in Sydney and it was just strange that as I was thinking about the advice I had received, the sun actually came out. The skies cleared and the sky was blue! And I felt a lift in my spirits quite literally! And I thought to myself...'yes, I do need to just chill out. Get over yourself Monty'!

I met up with my mate Muzbot on Wednesday night for a beer (or 6) and dinner and it was FANTASTIC to catch up with him and hear his travel stories! I had a sensationally FUN night with him, ending up at his place a little inebriated and playing internet Trivia games! And of course, talking him into doing THAT PST picture! he he he! Good onya Muz! It was the PERFECT panacea for me!!!

My friend Evan came over last night for dinner - he's deeply in with his Doctor - and again, it was another great night catching up with a mate! Both Muz and Evan have become very good friends, in very different ways, with different personalities and it's great to have them around!

Tonight, I pick up my friend Matt from the airport at 9.20pm and it's on for young and old!!! Matt, you may remember, was my first ever sleepover guy. He's an Aussie who's been living in London for the past few years and I met him last year in London on Monty's Shagging Tour of Europe! He's been visiting his family in Perth for the past week and has flown over to Sydney to see me for the weekend! So I am EXCITED!!! Apart from shagging the pants off him (of which there will be plenty!), we're going to "Priscilla, The Musical" tomorrow night with Evan and His Doctor and my friends James and Jacqui. So I get to meet Evan's Doctor which will be fun, and Matt will get to meet my friends! And Sunday, we catch up with Simon, the Sailing Penguin and his other half, The Guvnr! And alas, on Monday, Matt departs. . . sigh. . .

So it's all happening this weekend. Monday I am sure I am going to be SMASHED! Not a good week to be tired, being THE BUSIEST week of the year in my profession! But hey, it will be worth it!

Have a great weekend everyone!

PST...

A very quick post about PST as I have been neglecting this particular subject for a couple of weeks - mind you, I've still been wearing my Pink Shirt every Thursday and hope that everyone else has been too.

BUT, this week, hearts will be aflutter around the world when my good friend Muzbot's latest PST picture is viewed! But I warn you, be quick and check it out NOW as he's threatening to make this a time-limited post!

I've got a bucketload of stuff to post - but this week has been CRAZY busy, so who knows when I'll get a chance to post. But I promise, there will be lots and lots and lots.

In the meantime, have a look at Muzbot's blog!!!!! Seriously! :-)