Hands Full of Glitter and Tofu : 2011 Day 339 (Monday 5 December) - Tinsel the tree baby!

The tree finally made it up tonight and we had a ball doing it! My gorgeous came over, made sense of, and arranged the lights and ordered the red tinsel just so, and Aidan, my housemate, helped decorate the tree. We had the loveliest time as Michael Buble's Christmas album, and Sarah McLachlan's Wintersong album played to lend mood and just the right touch of Christmassy cheer.

Aidan looking oh-so-pretty with the red tinsel

My tinsel stoal

Place it just so Aidan...just so

Placing the 2011 Hoops and Yoyo ornament in place

It was magical, fun, and I loved sharing it with my guy (so much better than when I used to do it alone).


And naturally I tweeted my way all the way through it, and so the shots are ordered by the tweets...

I snapped this as I rushed out the door, after quickly pulling the boxes, tree out from under the bed. It made me feel feel like I had at least made a start on getting ready for the decorating frenzy to come...

The romantic notion was that I'd have lamb and roast veges and make the meal all Christmassy to go with the activity at hand. But that romanticism has to submit to realities of time constraints and so I got takeaway Indian instead.

... and here are the responses to my tweeting...

... and then we said goodnight...

Hands Full of Glitter and Tofu : 2011 Day 338 - Freezing cold and rain in summer

Now I am not going to complain. I like this kind of weather - it is so nice not to be sweating like I am normally am at this time of year - but I am floored that I was actually shivering today as we toured the rain-sodden and lacklustre Dulwich Hill Fair. I was in shorts and t-shirt which should be fine this time of year, but instead I was freezing and couldn't wait to get home to the warmth of my boyfriend's apartment. That's right I wanted to get WARM. In early December! Damn near hilarious.

We also stopped off before this at the Craft Markets at the Carriageworks at Eveleigh, and while I didn't find the funky t-shirt I was after for my nephew Bodhi, I did spend a lovely hour or so with my beautiful man checking out a lot of local arts and crafts.

Wet and wild but I loved it all. (And yes I managed to sneak a nap in as well! Perfect weather for it, after all.)

Hands Full of Glitter and Tofu : 2011 Day 337 (Saturday 3 December) - What do we want? Marriage equality! When we do want it? NOW!

Today was a momentous day.

I marched in support of gay marriage rights, along with the man I want to marry, and good friends Warren, Steve M and John P, and about 10000 other people from Hyde Park, where we heard a series of inspiring speeches (well mostly), to Darling Harbour where we gathered outside the ALP National Conference to make it clear that we wouldn't accept being second class citizens anymore. We made it loud and clear, as we chanted throughout the march down Market Street, into the mall, around into George Street and back down Market to Darling Harbour, and to any delegates listening that gay people should be allowed to marry and that the discrimination must end! It was enormously empowering to march with my gay and lesbian brothers and sisters, to have our voice heard, and while the ALP wimped out by not guaranteeing they would convert policy into reality in the form of a new marriage bill, at least the majority of delegates at the conference voted to change the Labour Party platform to allow for gay people to marry each other.

We may not have the final victory yet, but we are getting there, and I am excited by this important step, and my part in it. Onwards to victory!

Hands Full of Glitter and Tofu : 2011 Day 336 - I met Tara Moss

One of the perks of my wonderful job is meeting authors from time to time who are interviewed by my boss, Valerie, on everything from why they write to how they write and any tips they may have for aspiring writers. It is usually fascinating stuff, and today's guest proved no exception.


Tara Moss was articulate, down to earth, warm and friendly, and apart from being astonishingly beautiful and stylish (yes as a gay man I was wowed by her style), she has an impressive grasp on what fascinates her about the world, and what motivates her to write about it. She would be fascinating to get into a long conversation with some time, although the odds of that could possibly be a tad remote. 


Still today's meeting was a delight, and she was very charming. Must now read her Pandora English series! 

Silly sci-fi fun

These are courtesy of the sic-fi section of icanhascheezburger which has all your funny (and my) funny in one place!

... and one lone cartoon that cracked me up

Hands Full of Glitter and Tofu : 2011 Day 335 - Poppin' in!

What an awesome night and an awesome show!


Dinner first at Zilver which was expensive but the Szechuan Prawns, Shredded Beef and Fried Rice was delicious. They also had the reddest Christmas tree I have ever seen and fortune cookies. Yes fortune cookies! Too much fun!

This was one of my birthday presents - tickets to see Mary Poppins, and it so didn't disappoint! The show was chock full of amazing dance routines, catchy songs, some dark passages but ultimately bright and buoyant when Mary Poppins works her magic, and I was utterly and completely delighted!


It was the highlight of my week (and that's after the uber impressive Kathy Griffin dazzled me!).


The best birthday present ever.