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I'll begin by explaining the title of this site, 'Hortilad'. Well, it refers to my passion for horticulture, which has been a major part of my life. This site is afer all a personal perspective on HIV/AIDS, and gardening has been and remains one of my major passions. Like music and wildlife other passions of mine, gardening is food for the soul.
I became HIV+ in early 1995, after a severe bout of PCP (pneumocystis carinii pneumonia) which nearly killed me. This AIDS defining illness followed on from many minor infections which started over eighteen months earlier. Now some 14 years later, I'm asymptomatic and very well, thanks to highly-active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART, which is covered in depth on the 'HIV Health' page.
Now on to more personal stuff and beginning with a few statistics. I am 58 yrs old, 5' 8" tall and around 10 stone (66 Kilos) in weight.
I have quite strong passions and convictions which are expanded on the 'My Passions' page. One passion of mine not mentioned elsewhere, is yoga. I have always loved dancing and body movement in general. The yoga requires discipline (which is good for me) and the dancing whilst being a form of self expression, is also a good way to release repressed tension and anger, together with other negative stuff in my life.
So what about my personality? Well, I am a hopeless romantic I'm afraid. I live on a very emotional level most of the time, I feel things more than most and get hurt easily. My partner says I'm also very impatient, well I must admit I am at times. Best illustrated by my decision to get a ladder out at home and start to prune a climbing rose 10 feet up, this only the day after my discharge from hospital for pneumonia! Needless to say I quickly regretted it, as I felt like shit the day after. I am also open and trusting, too trusting some would say. Being a very tactile sort of person, I enjoy cuddles, hugs and of course sex. I laugh a lot and have a good sense of humour, which has helped through some of the toughest periods. I'm a very sensitive sort of guy, I enjoy the company of people who are also sensitive, interesting and fun to be with. Honesty, loyalty and dependability come high on my list of priorities where friends and lovers are concerned. I do have a short temper though which has caused some grief in the past.
I enjoy meeting other gay and bisexual people and often went to the 'gay scene' in Manchester. The 'scene' refers to the collection of bars clubs and saunas in the gay village along Canal Street and Sackville Street in central Manchester. A great place to socialise, have a dance or a drink and let go of more mundane troubles. Meeting the love of your life on the 'scene' though is not very likely and isn't really for the faint of heart I suppose.
The 'scene' also takes in the Internet these days, so it was with some surprise that I met the love of my life just over six years ago now. The Internet is a wonderful thing and without it I would never have met Brian, my lover and partner. We both share many common interests, including similar temperaments and very tactile natures.
My life began way back in 1951. I was born in Withington, Manchester on the 18th October. Don't remember much about it other than it was an afternoon and I'd missed lunch!
I have lived in or around Manchester for much of my life and until recently lived in Stockport, about six miles south of the city of Manchester. My partner Brian and I now live in the north-west Highlands of Scotland.
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