Tag Dag

Ok, so I've been tagged by Ekstasis, so I guess I better play...

(Did you spot the carefully feigned reticence to hide my puppyish eagerness just then? Puppyish eagerness, you see, is not cool. Like, I'm cool? Yeah, right! See point 4, below.)

Twenty things about me, hey? Hmmmmm. Let's see.

1. The only reason I went back to do Year Twelve in 1984 was cos I wanted to be in the school musical. The teachers had promised me that it would be Jesus Christ Superstar, and I figured I'd end up as either Christ or Judas, seeing as I'd had lead roles the two years previously (Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat with I was 15 and still a boy soprano; and Fagin in Oliver! the following year, by which stage I'd become a baritone). Then the bastard teachers decided to put on Bye Bye Birdie instead. I had to sing 'Put On A Happy Face.' Fuckers.

2. I read The Lord of the Rings 19 times between the ages of 14 and 21. Yes, I was a nerd. I played Dungeons & Dragons a lot too. (These days I play much more mature role-playing games, and no, I don't mean in bed. Get your mind out of the gutter!)

3. When I was about three years old my dad dislocated my right shoulder while trying to save my life. I'd decided to jump into the deep end of a swimming pool, not realising that it was A) really deep, and B) that people in swimming pools generally possess this useful skill called swimming... My older sister Megan re-dislocated it a few months later, which I'm sure must have been a horrible experience for her. Luckily I was young enough that I don't really remember either event.

4. Despite the fact that some people think I'm cool cos I'm a DJ and a 3RRR broadcaster and shit, a lot of the time I still feel totally shy, insecure and inadequate.

5. I spend way too much time downloading porn when I could be doing something creative.

6. At the grand old age of 38 I've only had four serious relationships in my life. Only one of them lasted longer than 2-4 months, and it ended spectacularly about a month before our second anniversary.

7. I've now been single for five years and to be honest, I'm kind of comfortable with that.

8. I get obsessed about things, and totally throw myself into them to the point where I ignore almost everything else in my life. My last major obsession was setting up the Pink Magpies, the Collingwood football club's gay and lesbian supporters' group. That was a few years ago now, so I guess I'm about due for a new one...

9. The only reason I started doing a zine back in the 90's was cos a friend of one of my best friends was talking about doing one, and I wanted to beat him to it. (Yeah I can be a competitive bastard sometimes.) My zine was called The Burning Times, and was focussed on homocore (queer punk rock).

10. I was so drunk when I saw Nirvana play at the Palace in 1992 that I don't really remember much of the night, save for staggering out of the mosh pit during 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' cos I could barely stand, after which I stood on a table so I could see.

11. One of the proudest times in my life was the weekend I got to support Propogandhi at their two Melbourne shows doing my 'in your face queer spoken word thing', plus Bikini Kill the following night, and another Propogandhi show during the following week in Geelong. Me and Jon, the lead singer, had to walked out to the van after the Geelong show surrounded by inpromptu bodyguards cos a bunch of homophobes in the audience (one of whom, I'd discovered, was the local junior heavyweight boxing champion) seriously wanted to bash the shit out of us. Our supporters and theirs were actually brawling in the street when the cops showed up - which is about the only time I've been glad to see the cops in my life! A few months later the boxer showed up to my nightclub Abyss, and I very happily had him thrown out.

12. I used to be a goth, but I got better.

13. As a teenager I studied jazz ballet and failed French and maths. I'm still crap at maths even today, but sadly my dancing isn't what it used to be.

14. A couple of my friends once described my type of man as 'neanderthal'. I protested: I just like 'em blokey and masculine. This might be one of the reasons I've been single for five years...

15. I still get perversely flattered if someone I don't know assumes that I'm straight, which I guess suggests a lingering degree of internalised homophobia. I'm pretty open about my sexuality these days though, so it rarely happens any more.

16. About six hours after having my wisdom teeth out under a local anaesthetic, because I had so little swelling, I gave my then boyfriend a blowjob, and you know what? It didn't hurt a bit!

17. I was incredibly unhappy at high school until I came out. At that point things started to get better because I had nothing to hide.

18. I have four tattoos, and I want more.

19. I like cats, and kicking through autumn leaves.

20. Seeing my young nieces Cate and Sian still brings tears to my eyes because I love them so much, and they love me.

Wow, you know what? That was pretty easy!

Okay, now I tag Sean-baby Whelan, the spunky Gemma, Lady Cracker, Bec and Bob, and Clint Bo Dean. You're it!