No! Not as in "on this planet", "in this life" etc etc! But WHY AM I HERE on livejournal?
Do people really want to know about my daily life? Is it that interesting or that different from many, many others?
So ....
I have decided to turn my livejournal into the place where I talk about the aging process.
What is it like to be an ageing gay man in the 21st Century??
Well, maybe in the months to come you might find out.
Saw "Priscilla the Musical" last night and it is brilliant, if you get a chance go see it. Great songs, great acting and fantastic staging!
There was one dream sequence when the aging transexual remebers her heyday at Les Girls, back in the 70's-80's. I laughed and remembered as I had seen the Les Girl's shows "back then".
Damn! I am 50 next year WOW!
Amazing! Not bad for a lad who was told in '81 that making it to '82 was not looking good.
But now, it is 26 years later & I am still kicking! Not kicking as high as I used to, nor wanting to!
So what are my thoughts on aging so far?
- Taking arthritis medicine every day is a bore (and easily forgotten)
- Trying to keep the "body beautiful" aint happening. You can fight it all you like but eventually you have to realise that there is a time to stop lifting weights, stop chasing muscle mass, and just try to stay as healthy as you can. In my case I gave up lifting weights six months ago. Why:
- The constant pain in my elbows (genetic - it fucked up my father AND my sister's lives) was not helped by straining with heavy weights
- My hips are fucked (5 years of Karate have come home to roost)
- My right knee keeps giving way (Skiing injury - do not do a 360 degree turn while leaving foot firmly stuck in the snow!!)
- My neck keeps locking up (Motorbike injury - do not ride into a lamppost with your head at speed. )
- So there goes gym, too much strain on a body that has lived too well *laughs*. So now I am looking at Yoga, cos I want to stay fit, and I want to look as good as I can. Hell I am gay, I am vain and I refuse to throw in the towel.
Now, before I go on with this journey, I want to make one thing very, very clear:
I am not complaining!
I am embracing getting old!
I look forward to the many experiences that "getting old" will bring.
So NO COMPLAINTS from me, and no comments from you lot telling me "count myself lucky". I am lucky, I am and have been extremely lucky:
- I survived a motorbike accident that should have snapped my neck,
- I survived being young and gay in a city where the sex never stopped (Sydney early 80's) when AIDS was "that thing that American's got".
- I am still HIV- inspite of the 100's of men I had sex with before condoms became the norm. Hey, I worked as a male hustler so 100's should most likely be 1000's!!
- I survived testicular cancer when the drugs for it were still experimental
I have some fantastic friends, I have a great boyfriend who is teaching me to see everything through a new set of eyes, I can look back on a 20 year relationship with me ex, and understand, without bitterness or regret, that nothing lasts for ever. So join me, if you will, on a journey through my life and mind as I head towards the big 50.
Karl