 |
Mum and I are off to Harry Potter Studio Tour this weekend! So expect a Harry Potter Studio Tour-related blog post sometime next week with plenty of photos. Without realising when we booked the trip, we also get to see Hogwarts in the snow.
The coach trip includes: Harry Potter Studio Tour tomorrow, a stay in a hotel overnight and some time to shop in London on Sunday. |
Have a great weekend, I know we will.
Antony
 |
Some of you know that I regularly write for The Gay UK. I recently wrote an article under the theme of coming out for their Tridigital magazine (available to buy on iTunes App Store and Google Play Store) about people’s reactions when I came out gay. I enjoyed writing the article and thought you might enjoy reading it. So here it is: |
I’m out to everybody. These days I rarely need to come out and say that I’m gay, but it wasn’t always like that. Over the years I’ve come out to family, friends, work colleagues and even my GP. There’s been mixed reactions from people when I’ve told them that I’m gay, but most have been positive. In this article I’ll share some of the most memorable with you.
Family
Coming out to my mum was one of the best things I ever did. I knew she would be supportive, as one of her best friend’s is gay. She acted as a proxy, telling other members of the family and family friends that I was gay so I didn’t have to. Some years later she did tell me that she was worried that I would have a more difficult life as a gay man as ‘people can be so cruel.’The funniest reaction from a family member was when my mum told my Granddad. He told her that I ‘just haven’t met the right girl yet.’ This wasn’t homophobic, just a lack of understanding and naivety of the gay world. This naivety is wonderful and one of the many reasons I love him immensely. He used to work on the tills at what has been dubbed The Gay Sainsbury’s in Manchester. He never realised (and still hasn’t!) that all the gay couples are actually together.
When I came out to my older Brother, a sporty lads lad, he said: ‘You’re still my brother. And I still love you.’ This acceptance from him meant the world to me and it still does.
Friends
My friends and I don’t really remember me coming out. That means that it wasn’t really a big deal. It was said, accepted and then we moved on. But there’s always that one friend isn’t there? When I came out to him, he said: ‘Me too.’ We’re still friends today and our same sexuality helped to build the bonds of a lifelong friendship.Work Colleagues
I’ve had many work colleagues over the years, all in different settings and the vast majority coming out has been done by answering the questions: ‘So how was your weekend? What did you get up to?’However I did have one Born Again Christian work colleague who said: ‘I accept that this is how you feel, but it’s not part of gods plan. It says so in the bible.’ This was a face palm moment and I rarely spoke to him after that.
At one workplace a closeted lesbian work colleague saw the overwhelmingly positive reaction to me as an out gay man and this gave her the courage to talk about her life and her partner openly. Prior to me arriving she had avoided conversations about anything personal, but after seeing how our work colleagues reacted to my talk of gay pride and my relationships she became more open at work and seemed happier for it.
GP
I had gone to see my family GP, an older Asian man, about something and decided to disclose my sexuality to him. I think I was at the stage in coming out where you want to tell the world that you’re gay. He said: ‘it’s unnatural.’ And then resumed talking about what I had gone to see him about. This hurt. Said by a supposed non-judgemental professional. Whenever I hear someone say ‘unnatural’ it takes me right back to that consultation room and makes me feel really uncomfortable.My coming out reactions have been in the vast majority positive. I have been accepted for who I am. But that’s not always the case. Gay people coming out face the fear of rejection, actual rejection and in some cases abuse or violence. If someone can’t accept you for who you are and recognise that your sexuality is an important part of who you are, you have to ask yourself a serious question: do you really want this person to be a part of your life? I know what my answer would be.
Blog soon,
Antony
 Blackberries |
Last weekend a friend and I went to stay at the lovely Penrhos Cottage for some rest and relaxation. I’ve previously stayed at Penrhos Cottage, see my blog post: Mid-Wales, Part 1: The Lovely Penrhos Cottage. We spent the time catching up, enjoying nature, watching TV and reading books. It was great to have no schedule.
On the Saturday I took the opportunity to walk up into the hills and found a private garden with some miniature buildings. I hiked further up the hills and found some abandoned slate ruins. See some photos below: |
 Private Garden Miniature Buildings 1 |
 Private Garden Miniature Buildings 2 |
 Slate Ruins 1 |
 Slate Ruins 2 |
On the Sunday we stopped off at Animalarium, Borth’s Zoo on our way home. Animalarium is a small Zoo that also takes in unwanted pets. You can really get close and interact with the animals at this Zoo. You can even buy pots of food and feed some of the animals. This animal interaction makes it an ideal place to take children. Throughout the day it had a number of free talks about some of the animals and some opportunities to see animals getting fed. My friend and I had an enjoyable time, here are some photos of the animals:
 Animalarium: Lemur |
 Animalarium: Monkey 1 |
 Animalarium: Monkey 2 |
 Animalarium: Meerkats 1 |
 Animalarium: Meerkats 2 |
 Animalarium: Goat |
 Animalarium: Cat |
|
 Animalarium: Wallerby |
 Animalarium: Jaguar – Sunbathing. |
 Animalarium: Some sort of Bird |
 Animalarium: Calf |
 Animalarium: Pythons |
 Animalarium: Pythons Sign |
Animalarium is a small Zoo and as such felt like a place that needs more financial support. My friend and I talked about maybe adopting an animal or two there, it’s something I certainly intend to do when money is less tight.
Hope you enjoyed the update and photos.
Blog soon,
Antony
 Left: The Old Logo, Right: The New Logo (2011) |
Some time ago I commissioned my good friend Sye Watts to design a logo and some icons for my blog. I asked for a cartoony feel and he did a brilliant job.
Then for my Christmas present in 2011 Sye redesigned my logo (see image left for the two designed compared). It reflected a more mature blog, to match a more mature me. |
Recently I commissioned Sye to redesign some of the old cartoon icons and create some new ones to match the new more mature style of the new logo. He did a fantastic job and created some amazing illustrations. Here are the old icons, redesigned, based on the brief I gave him:
 Left: Old Goals/Adventures Illustrative Icon, Right: New Goals/Adventures Illustration. |
 Left: Old Books Illustrative Icon, Right: New Books Illustration. |
 Left: Old Photos Illustrative Icon, Right: New Photos Illustration. |
 Left: Old Celebration/Good Times Illustrative Icon, Right: New Celebration/Good Times Illustration. |
 Left: Old Home Illustrative Icon, Right: New Home Illustration. |
 Left: Old Paganism Illustrative Icon, Right: New Paganism Illustration. |
And here are the new illustrations:
 New: Blogging/iMac/Contact Illustration. |
 New: Cats Illustration. |
 New: Diabetes/Health Illustration. |
 New: Friends & Family Illustration. |
 New: Films/Movies Illustration. |
 New: Gay/Gay World Illustration. |
 New: Love & Relationships Illustration. |
 New: Financial/Money Illustration. |
 New: Technology Illustration. |
 New: Creative Writing Illustration. |
Sye Watts is a truly Talented Illustrator. Professional throughout the process. He allowed me to sign off on the work – so that all of the illustrations were exactly as I want them and exceeded my expectations in all regards.
If you need an Illustrator I would without any hesitation recommend Sye Watts. He does a wide range of work including: logo design, illustrations, posters, comics, personalised gifts, etc. Sye is friendly and helpful – so please get in touch with him if you have a project that you think will utilise his talent, skill and knowledge.
I’ve used the illustrations for the background of the blog, along with selected ones at the top of various pages.
I’m also excited to announce that I’ve used some of the illustrations to create a new page Blog By Topic. Blog By Topic is an easy way to view blog posts by topics, categories or tags.
Blog soon,
Antony
