With a step to the left and a flick to the right...

Simon
Originally uploaded by himbly.

...you caught the mirror way out west, Simon.

I'm going to the Duran Duran concert on Monday.

I have waited my entire life to say those words.

I'm being accompanied by my dear and oldest friend Julie. She is a woman with whom, many many years ago, I made the informed and conscious decision to fall utterly and hopelessly in love with Simon LeBon. In truth, I had no real choice since the only other Duran I would have been even slightly interested in was John and Julie let me know in no uncertain terms that he was hers and hers alone and if I wanted to be a Duranie that discussed the latest Tiger Beat interview with ~her~, I was to pick from any of the remaining 4. Andy was too rocker, Roger too shy and Nick far too gay...so Simon it was and I never did regret that decision.

We also attended a very small school...there wasn't that many 'friends in Duran Duran' partners to go around. 'Specially since everyone besides us wore their older brother's old Nazareth t-shirts to give their unique statements on fashion.

That same older brother was usually still in our grade.

So...I began collecting posters. At one stage of my obsession, I'm certain I had over 200 posters and pin-ups of Duran Duran on my walls, each one lovingly torn out of teen mags or bought, with my weekly allowance of $5 a week, from the closest record store I could reach by bus.

I even asked pen pals to send me what they had and received a Swedish fold out poster which filled me with so much pride it, apparently, made me impossible to be around for at least a week.

Wow did those stars look like girls back then, hey?

I wonder why in the 80s the feminization of men was such hot stuff. I mean, I understand the 70s Ziggy Stardust androgynous chic. That was all about sex and breaking gender boundries. It was naughty and decadent. It seems to me that by the eighties it had been watered down to a non-threatening 'pre-teen girl's best friend' look. And boy, did I fall for it. I even had a Micheal Jackson poster of him looking ~almost~ as girly as he does now.

Little did I know way back then that he was targeting my age group, but not my gender. I was one X chromosome away from the danger zone.

Allegedly.

Anyway...I'm excited. I've remained a Duran Duran fan, though I've done away with the posters and I just recently saw a photo of Simon sunning the back side of himself nude. The emotions I felt upon stumbling across ~that~ little gem weren't so much positive as they were negative so I'm guessing the ~crush~ part of my patronage is over.

I'll tell ya how it went.