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
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THEGAYUK | ISSUE 17 | DEC 2015 7