Not Singing in the Rain

It was a dark and stormy night.

Actually, it was a dark and stormy week… at least the meat of Fantasia Fair week. Tuesday through Friday, a Nor’easter blew through Provincetown — not the best weather for strolling around town, but that did not stop the girls from getting out and strutting their stuff up and down Commercial Street.

I was prepared bringing an umbrella and three types of outerwear to keep me warm and dry throughout the week. I probably could have gotten by with just two types of outerwear because I only wore my black sweater coat once. Most evenings, I wore my white fake fur jacket and most days, I wore my blue trench coat.

The trench coat got rave reviews. My B&B owner, Chris, loved the coat and I received unsolicited comments about it (“nice blue”) from strangers while walking around town.

Over-packing, I brought the following items that I never wore: two sweaters, two tunics, one blouse, one corset, one pair of leggings, one pair of shoes and way too much jewelry. I also brought too much makeup and too many boxes of stick-on nails; the set of nails I stuck on Sunday afternoon survived the whole week. I relied on my iPhone for photos, so my Canon camera, its charger, tripod, and computer cable could have stayed home.

On the other hand, I left my light-up makeup mirror at home and missed it, but managed to survive using the mirror and lighting in my bathroom.

My schedule was very full because there were a lot of things that interested me at Fantasia Fair this year and I tried to take in as much as I could. About half the things were at the Boatslip Resort, which was a half mile from my B&B. The other half was at the The Crown & Anchor, which was two blocks from my B&B.

For things at the Boatslip, I carried my heels and wore my 1-1/2-inch Payless wedges for walking and switched to my heels at the thing. For things closer to my B&B, I wore my nude or black patent Payless heels and carried my wedges just in case.

That shoe strategy worked for me most of the time. The only just-in-case times occurred after a couple of particularly busy days walking up and down Commercial Street — my feet could not even stand the short two block walk in heels back to my B&B.

If you have been following along so far, I posted words about my first day, Sunday, at Fantasia Fair and mostly photos for the rest of the week. A lot of interesting things occurred during the week and I plan to to cover them all over the next few posts. And as a preview, I leave you with a list of all the things I did during the week.  

Sunday, October 19, 2014

3:00: Registration and Check-in - Boatslip Lobby

6:00 - 9:00: Welcoming Reception - Saki Restaurant

Monday, October 20, 2014

9:30 - 11:30: Orientation Brunch - Miqqi Alicia Gilbert - Crown & Anchor Paramount Room

12:00 - 1:30: Walking Tour of Historic Provincetown: The Heart of Ptown - Robert Anderson

1:30 - 2:45: Yellowed and Fading: Searching for Transgender Identity in Vintage Photographs of Crossdressing - Ms. Bob Davis - Crown & Anchor Cabaret Room

6:30 - 8:00: Town & Gown Dinner - Crown & Anchor Paramount Room

8:00 - 10:00: Town & Gown Show: Exact Change - Crown & Anchor Paramount Room

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

9:00 - 9:45: Guided Vocal Warm-up Excercises - Heather Verdui - Boatslip Room 110

10:00 - 11:30: Style Your Wigs (Bring Your Wigs if you Got 'Em) - Luna Maria - Boatslip Room 114

11:45 - 1:15: Lunch - Post Office Cafe

3:00 - 4:30: Femulate Blog Party - Me - Boatslip Downstairs

6:30 - 10:00: The Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award Banquet 'Wizard of Oz' Theme - Jamison Green & Mariette Pathy Allen - Crown & Anchor Paramount Room

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

10:00 - 11:30: Being Gendered: From the Inside Out and the Outside In; How the Social
Construction of Gender Affects Self - Erica E. Anderson - Boatslip Room 110

11:45 - 1:15: Lunch - Bayside Betsy’s

1:30 - 2:45: Evolution of an Activist: How to Keep Busy Helping Others for Fun and
(almost no) Profit - Jamison Green - Crown & Anchor Cabaret Room

6:00: Dinner: Lobster Pot

8:00 - 10:00: Fashion Show - Crown & Anchor Paramount Room

Thursday, October 23, 2014

10:00    - 11:30: Things You Can Do When You're All Dressed Up - Jan Brown & Me - Boatslip Room 112

11:45 - 1:15: Lunch - Bayside Betsy’s

1:30 - 2:45: The Adventurous Evolution: The Life and Times of Trans* Over the Past Century or So... - Moonhawk River Stone - Crown & Anchor Cabaret Room

3:00 - 4:30: Planning Your Transition - Natasha Wilkie - Boatslip Room 110

6:00: Dinner - Ross’s Grill

7:30: "Just Gender film" - Crown & Anchor Cabaret Room

Friday, October 24, 2014

10:00 - 11:30: Authors' Roundtable - Crown & Anchor Cabaret Room

11:45 - 1:15: Lunch: Crown & Anchor

1:30 - 2:45: Waging a Culture War on Two Fronts - Marci L. Bowers - Crown & Anchor Cabaret Room

3:00 – 4:00: Shopping

8:00 - 10:00: Fantasia Fair Follies - Crown & Anchor Paramount Room

10:00 - 1:00: Late-Night Dancing In Purgatory - Club Purgatory

 

 

 

Wearing Club Monaco.

 

 

 

Actor Stanley Baxter femulating in the 1962 British film Crooks Anonymous.