The Noughties: The Decade That Blogged

I remember exactly where I was at the start of the noughties; standing outside my families front door in Cheriton with my Nan watching the fireworks from all the nearby gardens going off. 2000 had arrived and it brought with it a decade that came with some real highs and lows.

2000: I was still at the Harvey Grammer School, Folkestone, working my way through my A-Levels. Our previous 5 years of being in the same class, with the same people, was at an end and finally my group of friends for the next few years of my life was formed. There was fun and amusement in my RE class with Mrs Makepeace and Sam. That was the whole class. Hilarious. Outside of school I met Stephen, discovered Canterbury and went to my first gay bars (Bar 11 and West Bar).

2001: The year it all went a bit wrong. I did dismally on my A-Levels, failed dismally at financial control, dropped out of Brighton University (something I will forever regret), and drifted apart from Stephen completely. But of course the worst moment of the year came with the death of  Melly. She was only a couple of years older than I am now when she died. She will always be missed.

The only high point was in August when I started this very blog...

2002: Started on a low point with me on a suicidal mission wandering Europe. Sounds pretty dramatic now and it's an experience I look back on with a little sadness but actually a lot of fondness too. The only way I can describe it is by saying that the experience made me a man. 2002 was, after my return, a very good year. Oh at the time it didn't seem so much of a good year. I was very poor. Even when I was working I was being paid so very little that I was still pretty damn poor. But... I had so much fun. Being unemployed and then being single when I was employed meant I had plenty of time to devote to having fun with friends. Nights out in Canterbury with Stephen. Nights out in Folkestone with Zoe, Pete, Laura, Sam etc. And nights out with new friends like Ben and Becky. Work wise... I worked for a couple of months in the fatally flawed Faulty Towers Hotel, and after it's dramatic collapse I moved on to temping at Eurotunnel where my career for the rest of the decade was formed. From the get go I realised I finally had a talent... talking to people on the phone and selling them things! Stacey Lady made her first appearance in that year.

2003: Another year, another job. Holding out until the very last I finally lost my job when the temping contract ended. Thankfully I had two temping agencies ready and waiting to offer me a new contract and off I went to Three Valleys Water.. with Stacey Lady! More new friends, more nights out with Zoe et al. And then... then Gareth arrived. I don't really feel in the mood to write about the next few months of my life except to say: first gay pride, nights out in London, and weekly trips up the coast to Ramsgate etc. etc. When November came and with it a broken heart I was a different person. Sort of. Gareth taught me, I'm a difficult person. But I'm nicer than a lot.

2004: This was a year of change. Started off with a date at a panto with a guy called Mark. He was lovely. Then it continued with ever more dates... more shags... and I think it's pretty clear to me now I was trying to fill a hole (oh do stop being so smutty, Dear Constant Reader) with one night stands and dates. My friendships suffered as I became distant and grumpy and I'm sorry to say they never recovered. And that is my own damn fault! Sorry to those who still read this for my laziness and lack of friendship. Anyway... at the start of the year I'd begun chatting a man named Jim. We failed to meet up many times and after a particularly melancholy Brighton Pride I was unsure we ever would. In August I made a promise to myself. No more one night stands. No more dates that go no where. No more whoring myself out.

And that is when I finally got round to meeting Jim. It's funny how things work out. The end of 2004 was spent falling in love with Jim via a trip to Prague. Things would never be the same again.

2005: A year of deep goodness. My relationship with Jim continued and after two years at working at TVW and 22 years of living with my Mum, I decided to make a move to London to be with him. Goodbye to Folkestone. It was great but sad too... I liked working at TVW. I liked my fun times with Zoe and Sam. But my heart was set on London and Jim and that was that. Jim tried to tell me I'd soon be bored of London but at the time it seemed like I was moving up in the world. I'd obviously spent all my weekends in London not paying attention.

There was more trips: Prague again, Warsaw, San Francisco and Lochgoilhead. And there was a new job at Euroffice, where I discovered new friends and a new way of life. EO was still young and times were still good so we were lavished with nights out to expensive places and treated well. Grandad Alan and Millie cat both passed away in 2005.


2006 was a continuation of the good times. My first trip to Thailand and another trip to Lochgoilhead were the holidays.

My blog reached it's pinnacle with mentions in the Guardian, Bay Area Reporter and London Lite. Work was good as I became important and all powerful (cough) and the drinks continued.

2007 Work began to grate as the free flowing fun dried up and serious times began. My work social life, which had served as a suitable replacement for having a real one, dried up and left me feeling empty and remembering my friends who I'd so easily forgotten back home. But it wasn't a bad year. Plus I met Vy and Arwen who would keep me sane through my last few months at Euroffice which came in... plus a new social life was being constructed at the local. Brittany was our holiday this year.

2008 The year of change! I gave up my job, following another trip to Bangkok, and spent a couple of months dossing before finally settling in to a better paid, less work job in Hammersmith. A new commute, a new job, and new problems kept things a little fresh but London was beginning to feel a bit.. last year.

2009 Another year in London. Work was unfulfilling, but drinking in the local kept me sane. Lochgoilhead was visited once more, along with Berlin. Life was made brighter by the addition of a new pet: Mr Gibbs The Bearded Dragon and Twitter became a new obsession. Mum broke up with her husband, Jim decided he'd had enough of London too, and the decade ends with a big fat "What happens next???"

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist