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I started dating Matt (the Dish) early in the year. He is a wonderful guy and had I been a little further through the process of getting over my ex I can honestly say that I would have been very happy to stay with him.

He is smart and funny and sensible. He is great to talk to and fun to have around. The guy that ends up with Matt is a lucky man indeed.

Early in the year we went to the Blue Mountains to the Three Sisters where we stayed at the great Jemby-Rinjah Ecolodge in Blackheath. If you are ever up that way - do yourself a favor, its wonderful.

There is a scenic railway nearby there that runs at about 45° up a hill and this is us just about to ride up it. I love these self picture things although they seem to drive everyone I go out with nuts - apart from Matt.

We also visited the Jenolan Caves which are the largest Limestone Caves in Australia. There were a number of other attractions in the area (apart from Matt), including Trout fishing which we completely failed to indulge in.

So the year rolled on and in late February I joined the Poppe Tyson office in Sydney. The office was new and about half of the team imported from Hong Kong or New York Offices. Joining this team was probably the best professional decision I have ever made. I am still feeling the effects of the months I spent there.

I was asked to come on board to be the project manager on an engagement that was sinking into the mud. The project was "Homepath", an real estate focused initiative by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. With EDS as the system integrator, Poppe's role in all of this was to provide 'web experience' both functional and markets perspectives.

It would appear that a clash of styles and some personality issues between my predecessor and the clients project manager plus the EDS project lead had pushed the project into the red. My job was to make BOTH clients happy, get everything back on track, deliver the project and protect Poppe's profits in the deal.

Great!

So for the next three months all I did was work. At least 3 nights a fortnight I didn't sleep and I was a constant regular at McDonalds for breakfast. But in the end, with a frightening array of political agendas (that I wont go into here) against us, we did it. As a result I learnt more about this business in three months than at any other time in my career. And some of the people involved became extremely dear to me. In particular Simon and Oonie.

This is the team at a dinner just after I started and just before Oonie went back to HK where she was working in the Poppe office. She was down in AU as part of the effort to make sure the thing didn't go down the tubes.

The line up is (L-R Front) Nathan the graphic designer - full of chocolatey goodness and able to go without sleep apparently indefinitely (if I was there to nudge him awake from time to time), the irrepressible Oonie, Simon (drink in hand), Kate, (L-R Back), Rebecca, John - Darth to my Luke, Me (Tanned and no beard for the last time in six years) and Lindy the most organized woman in the world.

In the Star Wars like sage of the Poppe Clan, Simon is our Yoda. Smart and talented and cool under pressure. I would give a kidney to work with him again.

Simon was the creative director for Poppe in AU (and has gone onto greater fame in Europe).

Like all of the really together straight men I have known, he is not threatened by physical contact. As an added bonus he is also a bit of a loon. I suspect he will end up eccentric - if he isn't already.

Richie in Thailand -another relaxing holiday. I met Richie and his partner Piers at Mardi Gras in 98 and we became good friends. They live in Hong Kong and when an opportunity (and frequent flyer points) came up for me to join them in Thailand for Easter that year, I did.

Song Kran - the Thai new year/water festival were on and it was madness in Bangkok. We had a tremendous time and even managed to pry ourselves out of the night clubs long enough to get away to the beach for a couple of days.

North Melbourne - where I lived with Dolf was a find straight out of Vogue living. I still miss the stainless steel kitchen and the impluvium.

Dolf was also one of the most interesting people I have lived with and followed on in the tradition of spiritual flatmate's who would be surprised that a body conscious, muscle mary like me could have a clue about karmic law and metaphysics.

It just goes to show you, you never can tell.

Coming back to AU I was VERY certain that I didn't want to live in Sydney just yet. Fortunately the job that Deb found for me was with Show Ads Interactive in Melbourne.

Things were OK at SAI and it gave me a place to start from. I was there for about six months by which time I was pretty clear that it was time to move on. Nothing wrong with the place or the people, just not the sort of work I wanted to be doing. I wanted to get my teeth into bigger budgets and larger engagements.

The team at SAI is terrific and the Creative Director, Catherine, sure knows her stuff. This is from a day fooling around in the studio (one of many) with a digital camera we were using on a job. Matt played some games with it - I hope.

Gorgeous George I met quite insalubriously at the Peel hotel one night before Christmas. George is a genetic scientist with a fantastic chest and gravity defying hair. He is fantastic to shop with and gave me the best christmas present I have ever received - James.

Its a long story - I will tell it another time.

This is the only picture I have of him and was taken at Midsumma Carnival in early 98 and shows him dunking his boyfriend at the time in lube. Lube wrestling is one of the 'sports' at the carnival. I am yet to talk James into it.

One of my first dates with James was to Elwood beach between Christmas 98 when we met and New Years. We talked and talked and talked - about just about everything that came to mind. He was so sweet and easy to be with, I knew I was falling for him just about right away.

I was much leaner (and smaller) at the time - 90kg's instead of today's 105kg, and I had just had my nipple rings put back in. The funny thing about them is that I feel more 'normal' with them now than without.