As we are approaching the arbitrary point on the earth’s orbit that someone or other determined would define the distinct border between an end and a beginning, I’m listening to Marilyn Manson’s latest album (it’s well above expectations) and, for…
The way the cookie crumbles?
The cookie I’d chosen for my coffee is beyond dry and the flavourless crumbles left an uncomfortable drought in my mouth that made it hard to speak. I was having coffee with a man I’d met at the gym. He…
Grandma Chic and the Illusion of Choice
The walls are painted in that pale shade of pink that is as non-committal as a lover who calls at 21.30 on a Saturday night. From the theatre black ceiling, industrial lamps and rescued lampshades from the salvation army hangs…
Wants and Needs: and the Smack Operator
(Instead of Music: Confusion) In a panic, I woke up with one thought, and one thought only: “I need to get my retirement pension in order!“ Out of all the absurd things I wake to, this was the ultimate cookie…
The ocean train station
In the middle of some ocean somewhere forgotten, there is a train station. The wet landscape surrounds the waiting hall and its seven platforms are only just so slightly raised above a water surface that hides the iron tracks beneath.…
The lost and found section at the hospital
There are condoms in bowls absolutely everywhere. It is the first sign that everything is not quite according to standard practice. My second sign is the gay poster of two men kissing and a coffee machine proclaiming a gay-positive message.…
Hitting the snooze button to keep the dream alive
I woke up to the yellow shade of a sunrise in the early, misty haze resulting from dropped temperatures. For many years, I had forgotten the magical light that encloses the North during these dark and cold times. As I…
Maybe I have rabies… or saving Se-bat-sian
His English accent breaks somewhere between Italian and German. Easily over 80 years old, his hands tremble as he writes down the name of the church he thinks I should visit. In the footsteps of a pandemic, the economic disaster…
Every Robin needs a Batman
For some time I have used the phrase “Every Batman needs a Robin” to motivate how everyone needs a wingman, a side-kick, a friend. I myself identifying as Robin to close friends, perhaps most prominently Don Quijote, as their forever…
Rarity makes special
The first time I saw her was long before we spent any time together and also that was way before we became friends. While it’s sad to initiate a presentation with visual attributes, her beauty was the first inescapable thing…