A brief summary

The two weeks off in brief:

Number of hangovers: Too many
Amount of refined carbohydrates eaten out of boredom: Insane
Amount of cheese eaten under similar circumstances: Really does not bear thinking about.
Number of man-hours of useful study done over break: 2 (approx.)

Nnnnggggghhhh!!!

And now the weekend in brief:

I went to Dublin. It was cool. Friday night saw me drink rather a lot with people I used to work with, and then wake up dying on Saturday. Once the pain had abated to an extent where I could go outside without withering in the sunlight, I made plans to go out and do it all again. So that night, I hooked up with friends I hadn't seen in a while and proceeded to do Gay Dublin.

As there was alcohol involved, it goes without saying that there were indescretions. Men in ATM queues were drooled over, men who had just finished shifting other men were blatantly propositioned (who unfortunately returned the compliment with an even more blatant refusal), male couples were offered the opportunity for threesomes...oh, I've forgotten half of it, and that's probably for the best. That wine bar should never have happened. I shall spare you, dear reader, except for my crowning glory.

Dig if you will, the picture. I am in The George, Dublin's most legendary gay bar. I am near the cloakroom and I spot a guy walking past who has a fairly hefty upper body (always been a sucker for that). I decide that he will be mine, and give chase. As I move from the cloakroom area to the main nightclub area, I do not see that there are two steps to be descended. Just two, but in this case it couldn't have been made worse if there had been twenty. I miss the two steps, sail through the air like a stately ballerina, and crashland on a table full of strangers, sending their drinks flying every which way. Luckily they were prepared to let it go after I offered a thousand apologies. Luckily there were no bouncers around to see it. Unluckily I recovered only in time to see my victim disappear off down a flight of stairs. Stairs that had more than two steps. I decided not to tempt fate.

Then there was the guy where eye contact and lip contact were separated by about 5 seconds. It went nowhere. Still, it was a fun night.

The pope died this weekend. I really don't feel anything about it, one way or another. He described gays as being in need of forgiveness some time back. Whatever. It was a positively charitable comment, when you take into account what was said on the subject by some of his predecessors. I don't care. It has been said that the cardinals will angle for older popes in future, so that if they turn out to be too libertarian, the autocracy won't have long to wait before they can appoint another one. The one thing I did notice is the way that certain news stations reported his declining condition with an attention to detail that was a little uncalled for, given the subject matter (Sky News, that bastion of good taste, step forward).

And I will always remember where I was when I heard of his passing on. In the Front Lounge, a Dublin gay bar. There's something about that that I like.

Now to the packing, for my flight back tomorrow.