I have attended three times... every other year since 2008, that is, years that the Red Sox were not in the World Series.
Since this is an off-year, the Fair will be on my mind all week. I will be thinking about all my friends who are in attendance, while I am not (having a good time - wish I was there).
I am living vicariously in Provincetown by monitoring a webcam pointed south down Commercial Street, a block from the B&B where I have stayed my last two visits. I know the webcam's location well and made a point of waving at it whenever I strolled north on Commercial Street.
Although, you cannot recognize faces via the webcam, it is possible to recognize members of our community. For example, this morning around 8 AM, my transradar sounded when I noticed a tall well-dressed woman in white hosiery and black heels walking up Commercial Street and then stopping to sit on a park bench for 10 minutes or so.
She was an obvious first-timer because Fan Fair veterans and Provincetown's female citizens know better than to wear heels on the unforgiving cobblestone sidewalks of P-Town. Instead, you wear flats and carry your heels in your bag to slip on when you arrive at your dressed-to-be-fab destination.
Remembering my past Fantasia Fair visits, I recalled something that I found interesting yet never mentioned here before. When I stayed in the B&B, there were probably a half dozen other Fan Fair attendees also staying there. Being a B&B, most of the attendees came down to eat breakfast each morning. I was the only one to go to breakfast en femme; everyone else showed up in boy mode, which I found to be a little disconcerting.
By the way, that’s me in the photo above modeling in the 2008 Fantasia Fair fashion show. Also in the photo is Liz Winter, who was the Mistress of Ceremonies.
Femulating fashion model Danila Kovalev.
Wearing Voy.
You look great in that gown.
ReplyDeleteYou raise a good point about your musing a connection to those at FF.
When I first joined Tri-Ess in the early 1990s I was only able to attend a few meetings. In the first place I was a long way away from the meeting location and to attend I would need a long lead time to get there and also need to focus on a long ride home. I had children in the house and I could not come up with an excuse to abandon the family on a Saturday night.
Nevertheless, my mind always knew when there was a meeting and my musings helped me to forge a connection to those who were at the meetings. I could picture in my mind the meeting room, the dressing rooms, the entry to the facility and the faces and personalities of those who attended.
I am sure that your musings about your friends at FF as well as a mental connection to the location and the facilities will provide you with pleasant femulating thoughts.
I find that a lot of being TG/CD is in the musings since the actual execution of the process of dressing and getting out is difficult. This past weekend I had hoped to be able to go to the TG party at Triangles in Danbury. Things did not work out but all evening long my mind's eye gave me the pleasure of visualizing the location and people.
Regards,
Pat
Thank you for the kind words, Pat.
DeleteStana,
ReplyDeleteYou ALWAYS look great, hon! Doesn't matter what you wear!
For what it's worth, the better half and I actually were in P-Town last Monday! And we found ourselves having lunch on the porch of the Crown and Anchor... (Dressed as my androgynous self, of course.) P-town for a day nicely coincided with our vacation activities - even though I didn't realize when planning it, that it was FF week! Didn't see more than a few of our sisters, and certainly didn't recognize anybody. But I realize there are daytime seminars and activities that everyone attends. Maybe someday I can attend "without my chaperone." It would be fun!
While the better half and I are still on the road (writing this from Woods Hole, MA), and will be for a while, some of our activities will eventually become fodder for my blog...
Mandy
Thank you for the compliment, Mandy.
DeleteYou wrote, that you "were in P-Town last Monday." Fan Fair is this week, so if you were in P-Town last week, it was women's week and that is why you did not see many of our sisters around.
Oops...it was actually this PAST Monday, the first day of FF! Sorry for that - my bad!!! (Perhaps too many days on the road?) Regardless, it's a gathering I would like to attend, sometime in the future.
DeleteInteresting point about the high heels, though. I wondered about that...maybe I saw just a few more sisters than I realized at the time?
Dear Stana,
ReplyDeleteYears ago, during my late 20's to early 40's, I vacationed in Provincetown about 5 times with 2 good guy friends. As you and I discovered in emails between us, you and I each stayed at the same B&B, THE CHICAGO HOUSE. Unfortunately for me, my 2 guy friends did not know about my Sheila persona, so my Provincetown visits were in guy mode. However, on at least 2 of my trips, my friends and I enjoyed the Female Impersonation shows at the Crown & Anchor (I believe) and saw the comedian/puppeteer Waylon Flowers and his most famous "wooden friend, MADAME".
As you and I communicated in a recent email, I will be attending my first KEYSTONE CONFERENCE in Harrisburg, PA in late March 2014. I have been told that it's very similar to SCC (Southern Comfort Conference in Atlanta), but about half the size. I have attended 5 SCCs (including this year's) and have LOVED them all. I'm looking forward to my first KEYSTONE. Stana, it would be lovely if you were able to attend. I, like many of your devoted readers, would love to meet you.
Love,
Sheila.