Man Pit has its first Houseguest

Man Pit has its first houseguest this weekend, a houseguest other than Absolut that is. I had fantasised that my first houseguest would be an Eastern European Olympic Swimmer with a torso-of-death but unfortunately they are quite hard to come by in the Ghetto. I also tried online but the import tax would have broken me.

Inst   ead my very first houseguest will be far more glamorous and special, and be able to string intelligent sentences together. It is my very beautiful, very funny Cousin Trudy. Cousin Trudy is a resident of the picturesque South Coast where she is raising her two spunky boys with her partner Maximillian. Max has never heard of Beyonce’s famous line ‘if you like it put a ring on it’ so that’s why its partner, not wife. Cousin Trude is making a brief pilgrimage to the big smoke for a girlie weekend with her most girlie of cousins St. Murphy.

Cousin Trudy and Ash

Now Cousin Trudy is very well know in certain circles of Gay-land. She became quite famous early last decade after a number of very successful Guest Appearances at Oxford St’s finest. At the right level of intoxication her work on the dance floor is electric. She is still talked about for one infamous night where we found her on a podium dancing in her bra! Go Cousin Trude! Thank god we’ve both quietened down considerably since then, but I still expect whispers of excitement spreading like wildfire that Cousin Trudy is back in town.

Now all my friends know of her as Cousin Trudy because that’s what I’ve always called her. This is because my family is just a little weird and we preface all of our cousins with the title. You may recall I’ve talked of Cousin Matt, Cousin Tim, Cousin Gav and Cousin Rod at St. Murphy before. That’s not just for the blog, that’s in life as well. Everywhere we go, everything we do, that’s generally how we refer to each other. Its only now that I’ve started thinking about this that it seems somewhat odd.

All of us cousins were pretty much raised as brothers and sisters. There are 9 of us and there is only like 15 years between us all. I’m the oldest (and of course the most mature!) and Cousin Trudy is at No. 3. We are a ridiculously close family. For many, many years there was not one of the 9 birthdays that did not have all of us together to celebrate. I can not tell you how many photos there are of us all standing round a birthday cake – you can plot all major trends from the 70’s through to the 90’s by these family photos. Our family loves a photo!

Xmas '10 The Fam!

So from all playing innocent games together and sharing toys & clothes, now it’s drinking games and baby stories. We have so much fun when we are all together. Cousins Weekend’s are notorious, Xmas lunches are a mess. Damn it, I’m getting all warm and fuzzy now, but my cousins are an incredible bunch of hilarious, loyal, loving people who are loud, crass and heaps of fun. So much love. I think that’s why we stake such a claim on each other by always referring to each other as Cousin. Blood is definitely thicker than water.

Anyways, back to Cousin Trude! We have a hectic whirl of social engagements planned this weekend that involve many cocktails and much good food. Cousin Trudy is the artistic one of the family – she has just started her own photography business and is INCREDIBLY talented – so she is loaning Man Pit a piece of art so that my little home ain’t so bereft of culture. She also has a disc of her beautiful shots from Bro and Sis-In-Law’s wedding for me, so cool. So much has changed since the last time we played together in the Ghetto, lets just hope this time Cousin Trudy keeps her top on! 

Cousin Trude's artwork now at Man Pit