So… I thought it was time for a quick life update!
As everyone and his wife probably now knows, we’ve moved back to my home city of Manchester!
We’ve got a gorgeous city centre flat, ten minutes walk away from my work, and opposite from where I used to live before I moved. Very very happy with it, and we’re already looking forward to having friends come to visit.
The past few weeks have been a pretty stressful slog, and it’s great to have come through it on the other side, and to finally be winding down and settling in.
It’s been great fun spending the GDP of a small African country at IKEA and John Lewis, getting all of the new stuff for the apartment, and I think we’ve ended up with it looking awesome! We even spent £80 as a ‘treat’ on an amazing/huge clock!
If you’re interested in seeing the new apartment, I shall be doing an updated ‘video walkthrough’ next week once I’ve got the internet at home to be able to upload the video.
Max really seems to be liking it up here, which is fab, and we’re both incredibly appreciative to anyone who has helped support us during this move, especially Andrew for driving us all over the country in just 24 hours.
I need to start off my CIMA studies again soon, so I’m currently looking at getting all of that scheduled in – again, dependant on the internet at home (I still can’t believe how long it takes to get connected up in this day and age!). Once I complete this first stage (equivalent to a degree), you’ll all totally have to address me as Mr. Gari Davies (CIMA CBA). I will INSIST upon the designatory letters being used! haha!
I’m off work on Monday coming, and I also have a whole week of from Monday 20th February – can’t wait, will be an awesome chance to crash out. If anyone’s about and fancies catching up (or wants to visit already), please drop me an email!
Speaking of work, it is insane just how little has changed since I was last working out of the Manchester office properly – bar a few people changing hair colour/style, it is all exactly the same! It is totally eerie! Very bizarre when you’re talking to someone and continuing conversations from 2007 ha!
Right, enough from me – I’m about on Facebook and Twitter a fair bit at the moment, as I’m forced to cane my 3G mobile internet (constantly with me!) until I get sorted at home and can go back to my iMac, so go on, hit me up folks
We were given the keys to our new apartment up in Manchester today, and so a rather excited me decided to do as video walk-around for all you nosy folk hehe!
Property came furnished, so nothing that you see is ours. We intend on making some cosmetic changes, and hiding away a lot of the stuff that came with the apartment hehe!
Do bear with me, I am VERY excited in this YouTube, haha!
So, here’s the skinny-mocha-choca-cappucino – I am very pleased to say that Max and I are moving in together… and in doing so, will be relocating back to my hometown, Manchester!
Today, I handed in my notice with my employer, and officially kicked off arrangements for moving back home.
It’s a bit of a bold decision, as neither of us have yet secured new employment to go to in Manchester, though both of us have been casually applying for roles since around September, and so this is not something that we’re rushing in to – after a few near misses, we figure, why make things complicated for employers, simplify our situation and we’ll no doubt enjoy success with interviews and role placements etc.
As I am on a rather lengthy seven week notice period, we figured that too was probably working against me, so it’s great to now have a final date to be able to provide employers, again, simplifying the situation. After seven years, four months and fourteen days (yup, I started off there as a wee bairn on 13 Sept. 2004), my last day at Ticketmaster / Live Nation Entertainment will be Friday 27 January 2012.
Incidentally, if anyone reading this in Manchester is currently recruiting (especially in the live entertainments or accounting industries) – please contact me for a copy of my CV!!
Max and I will be renting a city centre apartment in due course, and we’re both MEGA-EXCITED about the relocation, which will hopefully happen on Saturday 28 January 2012.
We’re already in Manchester for a pre-Christmas visit between Monday 12th and Thursday 16th December, and then travelling back up to stay in the uber-classy 4* Mint Hotel over Christmas, enabling me to spend Christmas with my family for the first time in about 9/10 years!
If any pals from Manchester want to catch up during this period, or after the relocation, that would be fantastic, and if anyone is possibly able to help us out, in any way, big or small, during the move (likely Saturday 28 January), then we would love you FOREVER!!!
Leaving London will still, however, be sad for me; it was the first place where I really felt that I had a real friendship base behind me, and, with some folk, I have been through a lot with them. I don’t think I’ve ever made my love-hate relationship with London a secret, and so I’m sure to many this won’t really come as a surprise. Over time, I’ve beaten it down to next-to-nothing, however, why settle and endure tolerance when you can readily have love – which is how I feel about my hometown! Even better, there are FAR fewer Tories up north!! I will, of course, make sure that I see anyone who wants to meet up before the move, and of course, our as-of-yet-non-existant couch is always open to folk who fancy a visit up to us in Manchester! I sincerely mean it when I say that I would not want to lose touch with anyone!
I always said as I was going through College that when I was 30, I hoped to be in London, and with the beginnings of a successful career behind me. I am very proud that on June 30th 2007, at the age of 21, I made that happen, owing to my then boss (and now Financial Controller) spotting my talent at work, and that now, at 26 years old, I feel satisfied enough with my achievement to know that I’ve fulfilled my ambition, and can confidently walk away from it, back to the place I’ve always called home.
The thing that I am going to miss most of all, of course, are the West End shows! Although I will try to get down as much as I can to see shows, the fact that I’ll now undoubtedly be paying for them (in addition to hotel and train costs), means that I fear the number of occasions may, regrettably, be much diminished (though feel free to send me comps and offer me sofas to sleep on!! ). All that said, the West End no longer excites me as much as it once did, something which I recently covered in my editorial piece. I am FAR more excited about the touring circuit at the moment, as producers finally seem to have woken up to the notion that regional theatre can also be a big money earner, and thus the quality of productions has shot up immensely in my opinion. If anyone happens to work in theatre in Manchester and again wishes to get a blogger/reviewer on board, please do get in contact!!
In all of this, the most important person to thank is Max – it’s great that he wants to move in with me, and even greater that he’s prepared to uproot his life, and move 200 miles from Bristol all the way up to Manchester, pretty much just on the basis of a short 4 day trip in August, and on my assurances. I know that he’s happy to make the move, and not just doing it for me, but it really does mean a lot to me that he’s prepared to make this incredible leap of faith – leaving family, friends, his job and such, behind.
Oh, and by the way – if you think that you’re going to miss me THAT much (and let’s face it, you totally will! ), you could totally keep up with my adventures via my social media sites – feel free to Stalk Me!
This song seems an apt way to end the post – thank you very much for your interest in what is going on in my life, and I am very much looking forward to the slightly daunting adventure ahead!
It’s just after 17:00 on a very autumnal Monday afternoon. I’m currently sat in the basement of the Waterstones on Piccadilly – a really majestic building that is well worth a look in on any tour of London. I have a pot of tea in front of me, a tiffin brownie thingy, my iPad and currently the Cast of Hairspray The Musical are belting loudly in my ear. There’s no WiFi, 3G or phone signal down here, and, given how hectic life has been, this desolation is absolute bliss, and was just what I was seeking out!!! I’ve just come from work, but as it is a Monday, I finish at 16:15 as I get in early, and tonight I am off to the theatre, and need to wait for my pal from work, Paul, to finish at 18:00.
It’s been a very busy week or so – on Thursday, I was at the World Premiere for Respect La Diva; Friday I picked Max up from Paddington and then we were up first thing on Saturday to pick up day seats for Betty Blue Eyes, The Musical (saving ourselves £60 per person!!); then we had breakfast across town at The Crosse Keys near Liverpool Street, before coming back to watch the evening show of Betty, hanging around at Stage Door after the show, before a nice stroll home (I LOVE living so ‘close’ to the West End!). Sunday evening we went to the Greenwich Comedy Festival for a bit; tonight, I am off to Rock Of Ages and tomorrow is a very much delayed ‘thank you’ dinner for all the staff who worked Wimbledon this year. Weds and Thurs evenings are my own, and then Max is back for the weekend, and we plan to be busy with Open House Weekend, as I’ve always wanted to visit a windmill!!!… and that’s just THIS week…!
Not that I begrudge being busy of course (especially when either Max, the theatre, or BOTH are involved)… if I was left to my own devices, I’d be bored stupid and incredibly lonely! Just every now and then, for a few brief moments, it’s great to shut the World out and go off the radar.
I am very excited that Maxie and I have made our first Christmas plans together! We’re going to be spending Christmas in an awesome 4* hotel in Manchester City Centre, all VERY posh hehe! I’ve not spent a Christmas in Manchester for nigh on 5 years, and not one with any member of my family, for various reasons, in about 8 or 9. EXCITED!!!! I’m a huge fan of my home city, and not a day goes by without me wishing at least once at I was back! It’s all very Home Alone-y I reckon, hehe, but if I get forgotten and left at home, I’m gonna be very pissed!! I shall retain all the tickets… if I can’t go, nobody can…!
Speaking of family, Max met mine the other week… all seemed to go very well!
I’ve noticed that I’ve suddenly started maturing very quickly too! I mean, I always thought that I was far too mature for my age anyway, but now, for example, I appreciate the value of a nice quiet sit down and a cup of tea, and maybe a scone or two as well! That’s not to say that random, hyper Gari has disappeared, far from it – the more mature I reckon that I get, the more the other side of me acts up hehe!
Perhaps that’s why I’m really looking forward to seeing Joan Collins on October 2nd! I imagine she is a devious minx, and I wanna get lots of tips offa her!! heh. I’d dearly love to be even a smidgen as fabulous as she is, darhliiing!
I’ve just poured my second cup out of the pot, whilst glaring at this weird lady as she nearly came and sat next to me. Definitely getting this mature thing down to a T, heh!
Oh, instead a random chap has come and sat there instead. I’ll let him off, he has a MacBook, rather than a bag of crumpled newspapers in a Sainsbury’s bag like the witchy lady… maybe he’ll watch a movie or something so I can sneakily watch too! ^_^
I’ve decided that I also really need to try to see more of my current fab friends, such as Simon and Andrew, and try to further expand my social circle – it used to be huge, but over the last few years, the circle of friends that I was in has pretty much collapsed upon itself, and I’ve found myself out of the loop with pretty much everyone these days
Oh, how boring… the chap next to me is here to work and type. Ready for him to clear orf now!!!
Just looked up and saw that there is actually a genuine book club meeting right before my eyes! The stereotypes are totally true btw, heh!
I’ve currently got a lot of stuff whizzing around my head at the moment, not much of it that I can process at the moment. A lot of ‘what ifs’ and the like. Gets a bit frustrating and stuff from time to time, but everything seems a bit swirly at the moment, so it’s hard to find a moment to try to pin down an action plan, as I very often find that the very next day things have changed ninety degrees again!
I realised the other day that I’m already looking at stuff well after Christmas 2011, that’s how far in advance that I am working with life :-/
Anyway, this was really just a bit of a ramble post to be honest, and as you can probably tell, if you’re even still here!! Been trying out audiobooks, with One Day being my first, and I’m finding them hard work to be honest. I used to love them as a kid, but as an adult, they’re just far too impractical. Call me an old romantic, but in an age of e-readers and the like, I’d much prefer a tatty old paperback any day! Therefore, this post was kinda unplanned, and accordingly came about as I’ve decided that I can’t stomach the audiobook any more!
Girl just walked in with bright pink hair. I just shook my head and said to myself ‘silly old cow’… I’m definitely maturing and becoming cantankerous! Last week, it would have been ‘FAB!!’ *screech & hand flaps* hehe.
Right, I’m done rambling, thanks for reading! If you like my ramblings, theatre reviews or just genuine awesomeness that I post, do please feel free to subscribe, links are at the bottom of the page.
In summation, I am tired, slightly delirious, but actually, surprisingly, happy with most elements of my life a the moment, it just seems to take rare pockets of quiet for me to be able to recognise this
Been a bit of a while since I last posted an update, and this was a totally unscheduled one, if I am honest, but I have just had a moment of absolute clarity; the kind that probably only comes around a few times in a lifetime…
Just said goodbye to Max, after spending pretty much all of our time together since Wednesday afternoon, we went to see Batman Live, and then I took him up to Manchester to meet the family and to show him around my hometown and to also take him to Pride.
I have realised just how much I like our relationship. Unlike relationships that I have had in the past, which have more often than not proved rather stormy in places, four months in, Max and I are still getting along amazingly well, there’s no drama, no arguments, no silly mind-games, no illusions – we’re just simply two chaps who love each other heaps, and enjoy snuggling up and doing geeky things! To say that it is ‘effortless’ would be a bad word, as of course we both put effort in to the relationship (arguably he more than I, as I, as I am sure many people already figure, am an absolute pain in the arse to try to keep reigned in; I get FAR too hyper and excitable hehe!!), but you get the drift!
Due to distance, we tend to spend a lot of time together in large blocks of time, such as long weekends, and the like – however, if you can find yourself missing someone not 30 seconds after they have left your space, having spent a continuous 100 hours together, then I really think that says something. I am very excited and chuft, and I am looking forward to seeing how this all pans out – but I have a very good feeling about this one, way more so than any other lad I’ve had a long-term relationship with in the past!
Spending time in Manchester has really helped me to focus on my longer term goals too. Long time friends, and online contacts, may remember that this time last year, I threw a huge wobbler and was pretty much ready to move my life back to Manchester, thwarted only by my inability to transfer my job back up North!
On reflection, after a fantastic few days back on my home turf, I have realised that I DO still, very much, want to end up back in Manchester, however, I have also now totally reconciled the fact that London is a means to an end, and that I may have to stick it out for the short-to-medium term future…. and hey, that’s totally manageable/do-able!
Going back home just as Manchester was in the grips of the I LOVE MCR campaign was absolutely THE best thing I could ever have done. Partly due to this outpouring of love across the city, and also as Max and I revisited a lot of places that used to be important to me, I totally fell in love with my city all over again, and the proud Mancunian surfaced so much, I cannot even begin to explain. It was like finding my identity again!
I am also really comfortable with my online presence at the moment too; I feel that I have a really good bunch of online friends at present, and some of the bad eggs have finally been weeded out. It’s hard to explain really, but I do inadvertently put so much of my life online, largely due to force of habit (I was social networking before most of you had even turned on an Acorn Computer, and I’m still only just 26 years old hehe!), and so, given I don’t seem to be the most popular person in real life (something I am trying to work on, and thanks to pals IRL who put up with me hehe!), it’s really amazing to have a whole mixed web of people online that I can relate to, and have fun with!
Hopefully, with this new-found clarity, direction and focus, I will take this and apply it to real life. Maybe set myself some goals and aims, and ensure that I am much more proactive in working toward these – as realistically, there is nothing that I cannot accomplish! (well, except teleport, but I’m totally working on this right now!! hehe).
Thank you for reading, and sorry if this sounded like some kind of ‘I want to convert you to my church’ thing – it’s not, but I would like to convert you to The Book Of Mormon-ism! hehe! (this musical remains swell, very much looking forward to a West End transfer heh).
Although statistics for my blog are not overly important to me, as I choose not to monetize etc, what does matter to me is all the people who take time to visit my site! Whether it’s a quick look at some half-naked totty, or if you’re here to read a theatre review, or a dedicated blog subscriber, then I offer you a HUGE thank you!
This post marks that the most conservative of the stats counters that I use has now just topped the half a million mark; a remarkable achievement for what is essentially a blog that I really just keep for myself to look back on when I’m old and grey, with no real agenda or marketing pull behind it. It also is nice to hit this mark at last, given that this blog represents several years of my life, and so it’s fab to be able to feel like it’s achieved something hehe.
I’ve met some AWESOME people via my writing this blog, and I genuinely want to thank everyone who has ever taken even a second of interest in my ramblings, you’re all awesome!!!
And now to celebrate, and toast the next half million, with an iced bun!
Incidentally, my birthday weekend will likely be Sat 6th – Sun 7th August.
Oh, and here’s a stunning picture that I took recently; if you view it in full size (simply by clicking on it) you can see just how stunning it is! Look at those beautiful star-shaped stamen! WOW!!!!
So, it’s been a while since I did a blog post via video and on a more personal note, so here ya go…. indulge me!
For anyone interested in my 3DS /Mii details, you can find them here.
If you want to get in contact, don’t forget you can email me via my Contact Me (or get in touch via my social media profiles – see Stalk Me!) and I’ll get back to you ASAP!
Hope you’re all well, and sincerely, thank you for taking an interest! x
(PS – It’s a Sunday, so I look a state, and couldn’t be bothered with fecking about with the lighting and composition etc hehe!)
haha!
), you could totally keep up with my adventures via my social media sites – feel free to 
