The Gay UK December 2015 | Page 7

EDITOR’S It’s that time of year again where I’m released from the dusty office box of tinsel to pull together a rather special festive issue. (For those of you thinking Christmas starts earlier each year, mine started to come down the chimney in mid June I’m of course not counting the January sales where you pick up bargain priced crackers and stocking fillers for the following year!) We have a full panto cast of characters for you from Princess Anastasia to Queen Michelle Visage, and not forgetting song-sheet singing ‘Showbiz’ Simon. Oh yes we did! There’s a full Christmas gift guide filled with lots of ideas for loved ones, including some fab tree jewels! A delicious food section with recipes you’ll be trying to lick straight from the page, our review of top EU Christmas Markets as well as all the usual reviews and advice you all love. Plus a rather wintery photoshoot. I’m not sure Santa himself could have squeezed more into this sack full of festive reading. You may have guessed I am pro-Christmas, but I’m not at all religious. Being told as a kid your parents are going to burn in hell for not going to church, kinda took the shine off that ideology. Christmas means something different for me. It’s the chance to catch up with friends, family and more importantly take a deep breath and relax... Cooking dinner, wrapping gifts, decorating the house top to toe and running around in oversized novelty slippers is my idea of relaxation. It all started as a kid. The month of December was just one large hyperactive excited mess starting with my birthday, which usually involved inviting the whole class home for games, a finger buffet, cake and a mouse pie - this being lollipops hidden under a brown papered plate with string tied to the sticks to look like mouse tails. Then, just twenty days later it was Christmas Eve. The opening of door 24 on my cardboard ‘picture only’ advent calendar, blue-tacked down from the previous year which I knew was a stable scene printed in over used yellows and browns, but having not seen this picture for 365 days opening it could only mean one thing... The crowning event of magic, excitement, tears, bed wetting... not much has changed today! It was a simple Christmas for us as a family back then and that’s why today I still bring forward these simple steps for an enjoyable magical Christmas. Go for a walk. See your friends and family. Call someone you’ve not spoken to in a while. If buying gifts keep within your budgets don’t burden the new year with financial worries. Play a board game. Watch a festive film. Read a book. Above all take the time to reflect on all the positives in your life. Oh and try to get some sleep on Christmas Eve - a little orange brandy can only help here! Graham x For the cover: Cameron Smith & Carl Bembridge Photographed for THEGAYUK by Monty McKinnen © 2015 Fashion Assistant: Luke Smith GET IN TOUCH We love hearing from you so here’s our contact details. EMAIL: [email protected] FACEBOOK: facebook.com/TheGayUK TWITTER: twitter.com/TheGayUK THEGAYUK | ISSUE 17 | DEC 2015 7