When I was a teenager, I was convinced that being gay was a phase you eventually grow out of, mostly because I read in a Cleo or Cosmo magazine something about how it wasn't unusual for teenagers to experiment in their teens. I never bothered to experiment though, in fact the thought of having sex actually terrified me. So instead I just lusted for men in secret, all alone in my bedroom, hoping I could change my mindset one day. I was also hoping no one walked in on me when I was alone in said bedroom with just my own hands to entertain me...too much? Anyway, into my sheltered teenage life wandered Natalie, who in 1989 worked behind the counter of the only shop in Karratha that sold Jag Men clothing, and it would seem I have a history of befriending people who take large sums of money off me for clothing...who knew? Thankfully our friendship progressed beyond retail transactions, which is why she's still one of my besties today, and also happy to help me wade through another weeks worth of spectacular diarised teenage nonsense. So expect some hard truths about how hideously straight I was pretending to be, who else shopped in my favourite Karratha based clothing store and what they were buying, plus an all too brief celebration of 80's Australian comedy show The Big Gig. We'll also work through diary entries about Cyndy and I getting all deep and meaningful and having a huge talk about our futures, our childhoods, love (doubt I had much to say there hehe), the world, war and sooo many other things that teenagers have no idea about, but think they’re total experts on. I also get some feedback from my program director Richie, where he describes my on air talents so far by using words like “funny”, “idiot” and ‘think very carefully” so it's a safe bet that the 19 year old version of me is screwed. I also apparently watch a lot of television, well duh, and meet Kevin Bloody Wilson, so peak 80’s Australian realness will be reached. So settle in for a deep dive into how a woman with a finely tuned gaydar could spend so much time with me, and still have none of her 'he likes the peen' alarms actually go off. Apparently teenage me was so good at pretending to be heterosexual, that Natalie would actually laugh in my face and think I was joking when I finally came out to her 7 years later, true story, which we will also cover off on this podcast. It's a hefty listen oh and also I was probably the Meryl Streep of radio, is there an Oscar award for that?

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