...and someone's got to do it!

Wearing Rachel Zoe (source: Rachel Zoe).

Yasuka Saito

Transition of Transition

It seems to me (with emphasis on "to me") that the meaning of "transition" has changed over time.

In olden days when I still lived in a closet, transition meant that you took hormones, had surgery and did all that the law allowed to officially change your name and sex designation.

Today, the definition of "transition" is a lot looser. You don't have to take hormones and/or you don't have to have surgery and/or you don't have to legally change your name or sex designation. You don't even have to live full-time in your trans gender.

So I guess I transitioned some time ago and didn't even know it!

Regarding my transition, one thing I would do differently is not change my first name and use Stanley rather than Stana.

And so it goes.

Thought for the Day

And so it goes.

(Source: Harper's BAZAAR)

Robert Caso femulating in the 1993 film The Naked Truth.

Winding Down

Ten work days left, then I'm out of here! What a great feeling!

Only ten more commutes to work. Good riddance to all you tailgaters on Route 322!

It is so nice to be able to ignore e-mails and meetings at work regarding stuff that will have no import until after I exit.

I will finish my last writing project today, so then I will switch to maintenance mode and organize my files for the two writers who will replace me. Also, I can start going through the stuff in my office (20 years' worth) and decide what to take home and what to throw out.

Meanwhile, my old boss came by yesterday and invited me to go out to dinner to celebrate. She also invited my previous old boss to the celebration. Problem is that their schedules won't permit us to get together until after I leave, so we will do dinner in June.

I came out to both of my former bosses years ago and they always encouraged me to dress as a woman at work for Halloween. In fact, they were both fine with me dressing as a woman all the time at work if that is what I chose to do. Needless to say, I will be presenting as a woman when we do go out to dinner next month.

Thought for the Day

If I knew then what I know now, I would have been sitting to pee like forever.

Needle & Thread jacket, Zimmermann bralette, 10 Crosby Derek Lan shorts and Vita Fede sunglasses (source: Intermix).

Lee Pace femulating in the 2003 film Soldier's Girl.

Jorgensen at the Jorgensen

I am a graduate of the University of Connecticut, UConn, class of 1973 (yes, I am old!). When I attended UConn, I was an aspiring writer and considered journalism as an outlet for my writing talent. So, I took a journalism class (and soon discovered that I did not want to be a journalist).

Our professor randomly assigned stories to us budding reporters. One assignment was to report on a lecture by Christine Jorgensen that the famous transwoman was presenting at UConn's Jorgensen Auditorium (no, the auditorium was not named after her).

As a closeted crossdressing 21-year-old, I was thrilled with the assignment (Ms. Jorgensen was one of my heroines), but I had to feign disinterest so as not to give anything away! In fact, I was so closeted that I feared that if anyone found out that I attended the lecture, I would become a marked man/transwoman.

I had seen photos, but had never encountered a trans-person in person, at least, not to my knowledge. Seeing Christine up on the stage giving her talk was my first trans-encounter and it was a very positive experience. There was no doubt in my mind that Christine was really a woman and it gave me pause that maybe I was one, too.

Wearing Nine West (source: Nine West).

Adam Mišík and Petr Rychlý as Petr Janů and Petr Janda on Czech Republic's version of Your Face Sounds Familiar.

Failures in Femulation : Bad Hair Daze

Caveat emptor: I have no formal training in the arts related to femulation. However, I do have over 50 years experience practicing those arts and have become so adept at them that I pass more often than not.

Inexpensive wigs are attractive to femulators because they are inexpensive. Their attractiveness ends there because a cheap wig by any other name is still a cheap wig.

When you wear a cheap wig, there is no fooling anyone that the hair on your head is fake. And when people see that you are wearing a wig, they might examine you more closely and find other clues that give away your natal gender.

I have owned a few cheap wigs in my time and I have photos wearing those cheap wigs that convinced me to go upscale in the wig department. “Upscale” meant spending $99 rather than $49 for a wig.

It was an improvement, but not good enough. A $99 wig was still relatively inexpensive for a wig (it was just a more expensive "cheap" wig).

Also, I did not know what wig was best for me. I tried different styles, different lengths, and different colors, but always avoided blond shades and short lengths.

I avoided blonds because I thought that blond was oh so drag. All the boys who wanted to be girls wanted to be blond girls.

Also, I avoided short lengths because I thought my head was too big to be properly covered with a short wig.

A trip to a pro convinced me otherwise.

A local wig shop often hosts a meeting of my support group. A few years ago, I was the hostess, which meant that I showed up early to bring the refreshments. I had no intention of buying a wig; it was just another opportunity to be out en femme, so I was happy to be the hostess and not necessarily a wig customer.

We had an excellent turn-out and new wigs were flying out the door throughout the evening. As things were winding down, the wig shop owner, Kathy, said it was my turn. She sat me down at a mirror and went to the back room to fetch a wig she thought would be perfect for me.

A few minutes later, she returned with a short blond wig.

I thought to myself, "Oh no, she's is making a mistake."

She pulled the wig over my head, finger-combed it a bit and then let me look in the mirror.

In a very soft voice, I said, "Oh, my god!"

The wig looked absolutely fabulous on me and I did not think twice about purchasing it.

That wig ("Ryan" by Noriko on my head in the photo above) was not cheap by any means, but it was worth every penny. It pushed my femulation skills up a few notches.

I lost count how many times people complimented me about my hair and how many times those same people were shocked to find out I was wearing a wig. (I never received such reactions wearing my $99 wigs.)

So the bottom line is (1) seek out a professional wig seller for advice concerning the best wig color, style and length for you and (2) be willing to spend much more than $99 for a wig.

Thought for the Day

Femulating is hard work, but I love my job!

Wearing Saylor (source: Rent the Runway).

Will Forte femulating on television's 30 Rock.

What to Wear to the Fair?

I will be driving to southwestern Ohio next week to attend Hamvention.

I am still undecided about what to wear due to the change of venue from a large convention hall to a  half dozen separate buildings and tents at a country fairgrounds. Needless to say, I will forgo my usual Hamvention wear (dress and heels) for something more casual.

Leggings, jeans, shorts, skirt with a top?

Probably not jeans because jeans are too casual – after all, I will be staffing a booth and representing my group as its secretary, director and newsletter editor.

Maybe I should go to Dress Barn and ask them to put a casual, but not too casual outfit together for me.

Any suggestions?  

Thought for the Day

If I transitioned, would Monday mornings be more bearable because I would be facing the world as a woman?

Wearing FRAME blazer, Ganni Dalton shirt and IRO shorts (source: Intermix).

Cast members of an all-male stage production of Annie.

One of the Girls?

Two co-workers (one female and one male) from two of our other offices visited here this week.

On an earlier visit, I noticed that the male had pierced earring holes, but was not wearing earrings. He was still not wearing earrings this week, but I noticed that the holes had not closed up for lack of use.

On Wednesday, the three of us went out for lunch and invited along our location's administrative assistant, who I will identify as MJ for the purposes of this post.

Back in 2012, when I went to work dressed as a woman for Halloween, my boss suggested a trick to play on MJ. Go to MJ's office and say, "I am the new receptionist and I was told that you are supposed to train me."

I followed my boss' suggestion and MJ was completely fooled. She said that no one had informed her of my training, but she was ready to have at it.

Before it went any further, I asked, "Don't you know who I am?"

She shook her head "no," so I confessed and she was absolutely floored! She admitted that she really had no idea who I was, nor that I was a male.

Anyway, at lunch on Wednesday, we were discussing the recent death of another receptionist. One thing led to another and MJ told the "new receptionist" story to our visitors. The female co-worker was intrigued, but not convinced that my "costume" could fool MJ.

MJ retorted, "He is very good."

When we returned to the office, I showed the female co-worker a photo of me dressed that day for work.

She was speechless and duly convinced.

The male co-worker with the pierced earring holes was also speechless, but in a different way. When MJ told her "new receptionist" story, he seemed a little uncomfortable and did not participate in that part of the conversation.

I am not assuming anything, but that deafening silence combined with the vacant pierced earring holes makes me wonder if he is a civilian or just one of the girls.

Thought for the Day

If I presented 24/7 as a woman, I would be slim because my shapewear would prevent me from eating much.

Wearing Nicholas dress and Suzanna Dai earrings (source: Intermix).

Cezar Ouatu femulates on the Romanian version of television's Your Face Sounds Familiar.

Our Own Calendar

Occasionally, people ask me if there are any online calendars of transgender events. Each time someone asks, I do a little Googling and find what they need. Someone asked that question last week and Google pointed me to the 2017 Trans Conference Guide on the TransGuys.com.

In my opinion, it is by far the best one I have ever seen in all my years of Googling such things and I highly recommend bookmarking it in your browser. If you don't do that, you can always find it in my Tool Links in the right hand column of this blog.

Thought for the Day

Religious freedom means that we all have a right to our religious beliefs, but this does not give us the right to use our religion to discriminate against and impose those beliefs on others who do not share them.

Wearing Johanna Ortiz (source: Johanna Ortiz).

Lovely Lenore (source: Barry Kay)

See

See Pearl of Africa

Pearl of Africa is now released on Netflix. A documentary about love, hate and being transgender in in one of the world’s most transphobic places, Uganda, it's an intimate and authentic love story about the inspiring woman Cleopatra Kambugu and her boyfriend Nelson.

Here is the link to the film's trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUSbe8b3FV0

See Alison

Alison, WA1YKL

Alison, WA1YKL, is a long-time reader of this blog as well as a ham radio sister. This weekend, she will be attending NEAR-Fest (New England Amateur Radio Festival) in Deerfield, NH. Alison is looking forward to meeting up with any other trans sisters attending the event. She will be wearing a purple top with her call sign badge (WA1YKL), so she will be easy to spot in the crowd.  

Thought for the Day

Being a woman is so very addictive.

Wearing Alexis dress, Lele Sadoughi earrings and Edie Parker clutch (source: Intermix)

The all-male cast of Re-Designing Women.

Experience the Difference

Starla sent another batch of femulating fotos she uncovered from various online school yearbooks.

There were some excellent femulations in this batch, but the one that interested me the most was Steven White's Marilyn Monroe Halloween femulation at Episcopal School of Dallas (Texas) in 2003.

For starters, the photo shows Steven posing next to a girl in the same Marilyn Monroe costume, but I am not sure which Marilyn is Steven and which Marilyn is the girl, so good job, Steven!

Secondly, Steven's commentary on the experience is refreshing; you can read it for yourself to the right.

You may view the rest of Starla's new photos on flickr by opening one of my flickr Yearbooks sets (A through Z). There you will find the newest uploads at the end/bottom of the set. (The oldest uploads appear at the beginning/top of the set.)

The contents of the Yearbook A through Z sets are organized according to school name, for example, the photos from Sacred Heart High School would be in the Yearbooks S set.

By the way, if you participated in your school's womanless beauty pageant or attended some other school activity en femme, I would love to post your photos along with any description you would like to provide. (No one has taken me up on this offer, so far, but I am still hopeful and very patient!)

Thought for the Day

“It took me many years to accept, to fully internalize that if someone can look at me and tell I’m trans, that’s not only okay—that’s beautiful, because trans is beautiful.” — Laverne Cox (source: HuffPost)

Wearing Venus (source: Venus)

Three gurls and four guys, circa 1960