Piggy: Not Just a Cheeky Monkey

It’s Piggy Week here on Infomaniac: a week devoted to remembering our dear friend Piggy (aka John). And yes, that includes Filthy Friday.

Let’s begin with the following snatches (ha! “snatches”) of conversation that were all gleaned from just a few of my many email exchanges with Piggy. This is just a sampling of his many terms of endearment for me:

Urrrgh, you filthy bitch!
Oh you nosey cunt.
Evil cunt.I promise I'll be nice to you for a whole week!*can't believe I just said that*
Don't be so fucking stupid.
You dirty bitch!
Useless cunt.
Firstly, thank you for the Birthday email! You could've sent a card though, you tight old cunt - bet no-ones called you that for a long time, eh?
You cheeky bitch.
Lazy cunt.
You dirty fucking bitch!
Oh you miserable cunt!
Is it true that you own a pair of barbed wire knickers?
Dumb cunt.
Sometimes, just sometimes, I wonder how you’ve managed to get through life.
Fucking mong.
You silly cunt.
Hurry up then, slack arse.
Dirty cunt.
It's fun irritating you.
You're such a thick cunt, sometimes.
What the fuck is wrong with you?
You're already thinking about drinking when you get home? Yu fucking alcoholic!
Oh you evil cunt!
Cunt.
Cunt.
Cunt.

Oh my, did I say all that?

Why yes, you did say all that, you cheeky monkey. And much, much more. Part of our relationship was built around taking the piss out of each other; rudely mocking each other and cutting each other to bits with words, posts on our blogs, and Photoshopping each other.

Much of the Piggy that his readers saw was based on this brusqueness of character; a "ginger whinger" I called him. He would give me a good slap at this point and insist that he wasn’t a ginger. Or, as Inexplicable DeVice said after meeting Piggy in person…“I was pleased to discover that, as well as being a moaning, whinging, ginger cunt (Piggy's favourite insult), Piggy was also an intelligent, funny, opinionated (in a good way, of course) and loving man.”

The point I’d like to make is that Piggy wasn’t simply a cheeky monkey; not just the court jester so many remember…

Unfortunately, he shut down and restarted his blog so often that not only are his archives gone but the current incarnation of his blog is gone as well. Therefore, I can’t link to some of the most heartfelt and passionate pieces of writing you might ever hope to read. Along with all the fun stuff (and there was a LOT of that) Piggy also expressed his feelings on everything from the state of the British monarchy (thumbs down) to his concern for the environment and oh so much more. And when he blogged about something intensely personal in his life, your heart would melt or your spirit would soar, depending on the topic.

Much of his passionate nature and enormous generosity of spirit and HUGE heart are contained in personal email exchanges between the pair of us. As these were sent privately to me, I won’t use them as examples.

Which left me struggling for the words to express Piggy’s spirit until Eroswings stepped up to bat with a beautifully written post that I’d like to include here on Infomaniac in a condensed version.

Piggy would say I’m just being a lazy cunt for not finding my own words to express these sentiments and he’s right. But Eroswings does it so much better.

Anyway (Piggy’s favourite word), I present to you a condensed version of Eroswings’ tribute to Piggy as follows:

What I remember most about Piggy was his welcoming spirit. He treated everyone with the same rudeness and fondness and mischievous spirit.

But what I remember most about Piggy was that underneath the rude, complaining, diva behavior, there lay a big heart, full of love and passion. Every now and then, he'd post something truly heartfelt and personal on his blog (and the many incarnations of his blogs). I remember being moved by his story about how music saved his life. He was depressed, and he hadn't come out yet, struggling with his identity, feeling stuck between what society had expected of him and who he truly was. I was moved by his story about how music kept him going, and how finding Tazzy gave him a new lease on life, gave him a reason to keep on living and enjoying every day.

And I remember being so proud of him for taking part in a protest for civil rights for gays and lesbians. He complained about the rain, about the lack of support from fellow gay men who rather cruised the bars and parks instead of standing up for their rights, to be treated as equal people under the law. And as much as he made fun of lesbians, he acknowledged that it was these women who stood with him in the rain, trying to make the world more just, a better place for them and everyone else. He had a passion for doing the right thing, even when on the surface he acted selfish and ungrateful. And for all the blustering, the whining, and the rudeness he projected, he could not hide his generous spirit, his passion for equality, and his love for his family and friends.

Piggy used to be fond of saying CUNT on the blogs he visited. It was like his signature style to call people cunts, especially people he was close to and called his friends. It won't be the same, not seeing him call anyone a cunt on the blogosphere anymore. It was a term of endearment from him. RuPaul has another use for the word cunt. On his show, Drag Race, RuPaul uses the term CUNT to emphasis the qualities that make a truly great, fabulous drag queen. A true star is someone with Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve, and Talent. And Piggy was one of the brightest stars in the blogosphere night sky.

I remember the last entry that Piggy wrote that really moved me. It was about his journey home, to Scotland, to see his ailing father. He was on a train, his heart heavy and his mind full of conflict. He looked out a window and saw a small bird flying in the air. Suddenly, a large bird of prey swooped down and took out that small bird. He was shocked to see it happen. But then an elderly man sitting next to him made a comment. "Such is life," and suddenly it all made sense. He was able to spend some time with his father and was there to keep him company until his father passed on.

Such is life. We live, we die. And in between living and dying, we do the best we can with the time we are given. I enjoyed having Piggy visit my blog from time to time. And I enjoyed visiting his and watching him have fun on MJ's blog.

Piggy, you will be missed. You were one of a kind, and in the brief moments you were here on earth, you touched so many lives and made a lot of us smile. You've done your part to make this world a much better place. Tazzy, I wish you so much strength, and peace, and love at this time. To Piggy's family and friends, I wish you serenity and much love. And to Piggy, thank you for making me smile, for making me laugh, and for showing me that there really are some good people still left in this world. And so long as we keep doing our best, making each other laugh, and looking out for each other, we can make the world just a bit more wonderful, a little bit brighter, and a bit more beautiful each and every day.

You can read Eroswings’ tribute to Piggy here in its entirety.

A reminder that we’ll be posting more about Piggy later this week.

In the meantime, pop over to read Inexplicable Device’s farewell tribute to Piggy which includes links to the day Tazzy and Piggy visited IVD in Norwich.

A heartfelt thanks to everyone who commented on the previous post.

As Piggy would say, “You’re all a bunch of cunts!”