Personal: growing up with George Michael

I woke up this morning hoping that the immense sadness and tears on my face last night were some kind of a bad-bad dream. If only…

During my teenage years and beyond George Michael and his music helped me feel connected. Among few other global LGBT personalities, he helped me feel part of the bigger community while I was growing-up in Armenia. Even at a time when he was not publicly out yet. My gaydar worked instantly since the very first time I saw him on TV.

I remember seeing his face on pics and posters and hearing his music in so many places in Yerevan, from shops to hairdressing salons, to restaurants and TV. His music was an essential part of any house party in Yerevan. I remember how pleased I was that after he was outed as a gay man, people’s attitude did not change towards him, his music and image were still as prevalent in Yerevan as before. This was THE hopeful sign for me.

And I had a crush on him, although years later when I moved to London, it was not me but an Armenian friend of mine who for a short while was his occasional lover. How pleased and intrigued we were that a friend of ours scored with this great guy we all admired…

His music, the lyrics, and the music videos… So many faves that I am unable to choose one for this post.

You will be immensely missed, George Michael. THANK YOU for being there and for being a light at the end of the tunnel for me and millions others.

RIP…

*picture via George Michael FB page

RIP: British playwright Harold Pinter

Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter, who had cancer, died on Christmas Eve aged 78. (BBC)

Actor Heath Ledger is found dead

Was watching BBC news and suddenly... shocking breaking news... Heath Ledger is found dead in US... Feel very sad right now... Heath Ledger will always remain in my memory as Ennis Del Mar from “Brokeback Mountain”.

via NY Times:

The actor Heath Ledger was found dead this afternoon in an apartment building at 421 Broome Street in SoHo, according to the New York City police. Mr. Ledger was 28.

At 3:31 p.m., a masseuse arrived at Apartment 5A in the building for an appointment with Mr. Ledger, the police said. The masseuse was let in to the home by a housekeeper, who then knocked on the door of Mr. Ledger’s bedroom. When no one answered, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened the bedroom and found Mr. Ledger unconscious. They shook him, but he did not respond. They immediately called the authorities. The police said they did not suspect foul play and said they found pills near body.

Mr. Ledger, a native of Perth, Australia, won acclaim for his role as a co-star in “Brokeback Mountain”, a 2005 film. The film, based on a short story by Annie Proulx about two cowboys who fall in love, won critical acclaim. Reviewing the film in The New York Times, the critic Stephen Holden wrote, “Mr. Ledger magically and mysteriously disappears beneath the skin of his lean, sinewy character. It is a great screen performance, as good as the best of Marlon Brando and Sean Penn.”