[The Life of Shaun #186] New Hampshire...

...is now one of my favourite states!  Thank you, New Hampshire!

There's a long way to go, yes, but I am so glad to see Hillary have a good day yesterday.  Though I am exhausted now as I was up until 02:30 watching the results.  Ugh.

Well, here's to feeling like the $25 I donated on Monday did some good in its own little way!

Cheers,
Shaun

--
Shaun Coley
Clerkenwell, Islington
London, UK

http://www.friendster.com/shaunism
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[The Life of Shaun #185] Bad Shaun!

"Tonight's one of those nights I am glad I live with a friend".  It's also one of those nights where I am still recovering from two nights ago.

And it's the Master Cleanse, not the Mast Cleanse.

And it's my sisters who told me about the Master Cleanse, which is what the reference was all about.

The thirties are not the twenties, are they?  In most instances I am happy about that, but recovery is one where I wouldn't mind a little bit of youthful exuberance.

Cheers,
Shaun

--
Shaun Coley
Clerkenwell, Islington
London, UK

http://www.friendster.com/shaunism
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[The Life of Shaun #184] The New Yorkers on the town; failed redemption

Tonight's one of those nights I am glad I live with a friend. I am suffering post-visitor blues; it was so nice to have my friend Rachel here for two whole weeks. It feels empty now that she's left back for New York. Even though we didn't have the ideal visit (I was sick the whole first week), it was perfect to have the kind of friend around I who I could be sick for a week and it's OK. Very glad I am going to see her in just two months and stay with her for five of the nine nights I am in New York!

Another friend of mine, the ever-getting-sexier Darrin, was also in town from New York visiting his boyfriend, and so we all went out for drinks on Friday night. Attaching a few pics from the evening.

I also learned a valuable lesson - do not attempt to start the Master Cleanse when you have a hangover. It doesn't work. I was going to do it again, and failed on day one. Grease really is necessary after vodka. I also didn't have the ingredients for the lemonade and learned just how important it is.

So, no Master Cleanse for me. I am going to try a less harsh alternative with Mary post Istanbul that has a liver & gall bladder cleanse portion at the end, so will see how that goes. Just something to counter the effects of the holidays, but maybe not as gung-ho as my sisters' characteristically extreme ideas.

Cheers,
Shaun

--
Shaun Coley
Clerkenwell, Islington
London, UK

http://www.friendster.com/shaunism

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[The Life of Shaun #183] Lisbon, a New Year and an Old Leaf

OK, lots of little bits to cover here, so I won't dwell - you've all got places to go, people to see, gifts to return...

So, Lisbon! Schnookums and I arrived after an easy flight on Portugal's national carrier and plopped into a taxi for a €10 (€10!!!) ride to Bairro Alto, the old (and gay) area of Lisbon and found ourselves in the middle of an eminently agreeable, very nice, city. And this is the phrase that would come to describe the weekend and the city. Everything about Lisbon is nice - it's nicely compact, has nice buildings, nice and easy to be in, has nice shops, nice restaurants, nice gay bars - nothing dramatically amazing or dramatically disappointing about it. (However, the airport is shite - they make sure you are happy to leave by the time you get on the plane.) There are amazing things, but it just doesn't scream about them like other cities do; it's quite content to sit self-assuredly on its own and wait for people to realise all it has to offer.

The Portuguese survive on a strict diet of cigarettes and salt, preceded by always fantastic cheese and bread, upon which we gorged happily. The food was always good (if salty) and every time we said we wouldn't eat so much again next time, but of course we did. And the boys? Well, there wasn't the staggeringly overwhelming quantity of OM-MY-GOD as Madrid, but the ones who were hot were hawt. Assessment? Definitely add it to your list if you've not been yet. If you are a Southern European fan, you will simply adore it.

Happily, they enacted a smoking ban beginning on midnight 01 January, so later visitors will be allowed to keep their lungs.

But back to cold London. A new year, my third, has dawned here and I am looking forward to seeing what the year has in store. The year is starting off so dramatically different than last, and more changes are just poking around the corner. Against the new is a bit of old for me; most of you probably know I was a strict vegetarian for 15 years until three years ago. I didn't go off the diet for any dramatic reason, just I had lost any strong convictions I had about it and I had been a bit flummoxed from time to time on the outside of some social events.

Well, turns out I am not a very good carnivore; if you add up all the meat I've had in the last three years you'd have trouble getting a week's menu together. So, the long and short of it is, with 2008 I am back on the vegetarian diet. When it comes down to it, it really is just me. I am happy I didn't lie in the dogma, gave the "new" a shot, and have found where I am more comfortable. You are all welcome to mine for tofu green curry any time.

And two quickies - I sent my passport to the US Embassy to have more pages added! I am down to two squares, and I am off to Istanbul at the end of the month, for which you have to buy a visa on arrival (only in foreign currency, BTW - they don't accept their own Turkish lira!), so I need the space. However, I felt naked as I handed over my passport and I realised I am currently a prisoner on this European Alcatraz. Not so upset about that - as excited I am about Istanbul, I think after that, followed by two weeks in America two weeks later, I will be ready to stay put on this island for a little while.

The second tidbit is I watched "Tales of the City" again this week. Made me whispy for San Francisco. Since it's looking like my family's not going to do a big Xmas get together in 2008 I am thinking I should have another West Coast holiday season in 2008.

OK, that's it from here! Hope you all had a great start to 2008. Attached are a few pics from the weekend.

1. Making sure Schnookums is breast cancer free
2. My favourite sight in Lisbon
3. The street of our hotel
4. View of the city from the castle on the hill

If you want to see more, you can check them out at: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AZOXLJwzcNmL8w

Cheers,
Shaun

--
Shaun Coley
Clerkenwell, Islington
London, UK

http://www.friendster.com/shaunism

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[The Life of Shaun #182] Back from Lisbon

Hi all!

Just wanted to let you know I got back safely from Lisbon.  I was going to write a little about it tonight, but just noticed the time.  Will upload some pics and give the run-down soon.

Hope you all had a good New Year's Eve and a happy start to 2008!

Cheers,
Shaun

--
Shaun Coley
Clerkenwell, Islington
London, UK

http://www.friendster.com/shaunism
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[The Life of Shaun #181] Lisboa, aqui eu venho!

After just short of a week since her arrival, Schnookums and I were joined by Mary Keany this evening, returning triumphantly from New York.  The three of us are off to Lisbon tomorrow (Mary Keany at 06:15, Schnookums and I at 13:30).  Very excited!  I've never been and all I know about the city is it's full of Portuguese people and near water, so I've little idea what to expect.

It's been a great week with Schnookums here in London; I became spectacularly ill the morning she arrived (owing nothing to the five Absinthes from the night before, I am sure) and have been sick, though improving, since.  Saturday and Sunday were pretty much a wash, but she has been very kind about my inability to do much.  However, I went to the doc today and she gave me some antibiotics, so hopefully I will be in full form for the weekend adventure starting tomorrow, or at least close enough I can power through it.

So have a great weekend and a happy New Year's Eve everybody!  If I don't say hi again before, I'll talk to you in 2008!

Cheers,
Shaun

--
Shaun Coley
Clerkenwell, Islington
London, UK

http://www.friendster.com/shaunism
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[The Life of Shaun #180] Waiting for the 341

Couple pics to share.

First one is of me waiting for the 341 on my block when Schnookums arrived this Saturday and we were thwarted (yet again, after every try in 2005) trying to ride the Eye. The second pic is why we were thwarted. Third one shows it even better; that is the gorgeous view across the Thames towards Parliament from the Southbank!

Hope you're all having a great Xmas Eve! We're off to a couple straight pubs to appease Schnookums pre-Lisbon. ;-)

Cheers,
Shaun

--
Shaun Coley
Clerkenwell, Islington
London, UK

http://www.friendster.com/shaunism
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[The Life of Shaun #179] Happy Christmas 2007!

So wow, my third Xmas in the Olde World...  well, since moving here, at least, as last year I was actually at the Petronis' in Vegas having a delightful meal and cocktails on Christmas day. 

See, Natasha's and my first year here we were so excited about Christmas in London, and then Christmas came and we realised what a naïvité that was.  London is a city of migrants; 1/3 of the population is foreign-born (hi!) and huge portions of the native-born have internally migrated here.  Come Christmas time, they all go home, leaving the city to the newly-arrived hopefuls and the few sticking around to prosper off of us.  It is so dead in this country on Xmas and Boxing Day you can't even take transport between towns at all on the 25th, and very little on the 26th.  We realised there was no reason to ever spend another Christmas in London again and spent Christmas 2006 visiting sundry friends and family across the seaboards.

This year I am using London's realities to my advantage.  My very good friend Schnookums, who I've known since I was 15, arrived on Saturday to spend two whole deliciously slovenly, lazy, TV- and drinking-filled weeks with me to relax our way out of 2007 and into 2008.  We have honestly relished the idea of holing ourselves up in my flat with as much bad TV as possible and not leaving except for liquor runs for two days.  It's one of our favourite things to do together and, since I moved across one of the few bodies of water wider than the Hudson, we don't get to do it nearly enough anymore.  So we're stocked up on wine and groceries, and just looking to see what MTV marathon awaits us.

So, anyway, Schnookums, Mary Keany and I are heading to Lisbon for the New Year's Eve weekend, so wanted to get my holiday wishes out now.

Happy Xmas, everyone!

Cheers,
Shaun

--
Shaun Coley
Clerkenwell, Islington
London, UK

http://www.friendster.com/shaunism
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[The Life of Shaun #178] Monday

This is how Mondays should all be at work.

Today was comp day, where all those who have been at MS more than two minutes like I find out their bonuses, salaries for the next year and whether or not they were promoted.

So we find out, everyone says yay or boo, then at 12:30 we head to the pub to celebrate/commiserate, courtesy of the VPs and above of our areas. Even with this celebration, though, the pressure's not off; we had to rush back at 16:00 so we could catch the official firm champagne reception by 16:15! I barely got six glasses down me before I decided to head home. Talk about demanding!

But I managed to survive it all, even after the wines & cheeses from around the world party from last Friday after work. <whew> I think I need a break!

Cheers,
Shaun

--
Shaun Coley
Clerkenwell, Islington
London, UK

http://www.friendster.com/shaunism
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[The Life of Shaun #177] More alumni ball pics...

Hi all,

Just thought I'd share a few pics from the alumni ball my friend Ajay took.  Pretty cool our table was next to the dinosaur.  :-)

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Cheers,
Shaun

--
Shaun Coley
Clerkenwell, Islington
London, UK

http://www.friendster.com/shaunism
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