Three time's a charm

The next three months will find me presenting at three conferences.

March 16, I will present a workshop at the True Colors Conference at the Storrs campus of the University of Connecticut (my alma mater).

April 28, I will give a similar workshop at the Transgender Lives Conference at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington.

May 18, I will make a presentation at the Hamvention in Xenia, Ohio.

"Out Among the Civilians" is the title of my workshop at the March and April conferences. Since their audiences are different (True Colors is primarily a student audience, Transgender Lives is generally an adult audience), I will adjust my workshop accordingly.

"Old School Radio with New School Tools" is the title of my presentation at Hamvention. This will be a first for me. I have made many presentations at ham radio conferences in the past, but this will be the first time I will be presenting as a woman, so I am excited about doing it.

Wearing Bebe (Source: Bebe)

Dalibor Gondik femulates Dolly Parton on the Czech Republic's version of television's Your Face Sounds Familiar.

Jean Shrimpton, birds and miniskirts

Surfing the net, I came across the name Jean Shrimpton. Do you remember her? I do.

In the 1960s, Jean Shrimpton was a supermodel long before they coined the term "supermodel." She was English, part of the swinging London scene, and I was infatuated with her. In fact, I was so infatuated with her that I wanted to be just like her, which was kind of difficult for an overweight 16-year-old guy.

About that time, my cousin dressed up as Twiggy for Halloween. He was a perfect Twiggy because he and she both had freckles and stick-thin pubescent figures. (I was so jealous and wish I had crossdressed for Halloween.)

Fast forward a few Halloweens and I dressed, more or less, like Jean Shrimpton. I certainly was not stick-thin and in my opinion, nether was Jean... well, not as stick-thin as Twiggy. Also, in my opinion, Jean was prettier than Twiggy and I was prettier than my cousin, so dressing like Jean Shrimpton certainly made sense to me.

Another British bird, Jacqueline Bisset, became one of my crossdressing models. I believe that my fascination with British girls had something to do with the miniskirt.

The mini was invented in Britain by fashion designer Mary Quant and it became the defining fashion symbol of "swinging London" in the 1960s. All the British "birds" wore miniskirts, more so than American girls, and I wanted to wear miniskirts just like the girls in Britain did.

When I made my first Halloween outing en femme as Jean Shrimpton, the dress I wore was just not short enough, so I used safety pins to shorten the hem, thus, my knee-length dress became a thigh-high mini.

Anyway, my attraction to the British distaff side continues to this day with Elizabeth Hurley and Kate Beckinsale at the top of my wish (I was she) list. And I still like to wear short skirts!

Wearing Adam Lippes coat (Source: HarpersBazaar.com)

Young men femulating young women, circa 1965

Monday Mash

Stephen Sayaegh in the 2016 film The Comedian

I Resemble That Remark Dept.

Saturday night, I watched The Comedian, a film about the life of an aging insult comic played by Robert De Niro. The comic was famous for starring in a popular television situation comedy and a clip from the TV series appears in the film.

The clip shows a young boy (actor Stephen Sayaegh) dressed in a white ballet tutu and leotard. His father (De Niro) becomes upset and complains to his wife that when his 11-year-old son dresses up as a ballerina, it's no longer about trick or treating!


In My Dreams Dept.

I had back-to-back dreams that I clearly recall for a change (usually I don't).

Dream #1

I was doing the weekly grocery shopping. I unload, scan and bag the groceries at a self-service cash register. The total was $94.

The woman behind me in queue seems annoyed with me and hands me an iPhone.

“Is this yours?” she asks.

“Yes, it is — thank-you,” having no idea that I had lost my iPhone!

I rummage through my pocketbook and cannot locate my wallet. I look at the woman behind me sheepishly and tell her I have to go to my car to retrieve my wallet… assuming that it is even there.

I go to my car and find my wallet on the driver’s seat. I return to the cash register and discover my groceries are gone as is the woman who was behind me in queue.

I go to the customer service desk and they tell me, “Sorry, Ma’am.” They thought I had abandoned the order, so they returned all the items to the shelves.

I wake up.

Dream #2

I am getting ready for a formal affair of some sort.

My evening gown is a sexy revealing number that displays most of my bare back (from my shoulders to the top of my derreire).

I need someone to shave the nether regions of my back. I spend a lot of time trying to find someone to do it, but I cannot find a volunteer.

I wake up.

Wearing Venus (Source: Venus)

Rob Lowe femulates a nurse in the 1984 film Hotel New Hampshire.

Someday Funnies: Super Bowl Edition

Follow your heart and intuition

Lolita

Wish I Had Said That Dept.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.” – Steve Jobs

My feelings exactly! But easier said then done.


Trump's War on Transgenders Dept.

ICE prison for transgender immigrants never opened

Shortly after President Trump’s inauguration one year ago, America’s newest detention center for undocumented immigrants opened, just south of Dallas. The 707-bed facility had a unique feature: a protected, 36-bed pod exclusively for transgender detainees to keep those individuals safe from violence and abuse by the general population.

A year later, the unit for trans people still isn’t open.

Read the rest of the story here.


Trump-Pence Administration Refuses to Sign Statement in Support of Transgender

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, strongly condemned the Trump-Pence administration’s refusal to sign a statement in support of an Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ ruling on marriage equality and transgender rights.

Read the rest of the story here.


And the beat goes on.

Wearing Madeleine (Source: Madeleine)

William Reynolds and William Phipps are dressed to kill for a girls' night out in the 1951 film No Questions Asked.

First Time

What was your first encounter with a crossdresser out and about among the civilians?

My wife and I were in New Orleans in 1984 for a speaking engagement at a ham radio convention. While in the Crescent City, we took in the World's Fair and visited the other sites that the city had to offer.

After walking around the French Quarter for an hour or so, we parked ourselves on a park bench in Jackson Square to rest and cool down. While seated there, I noticed a couple of crossdressers walking side-by-side through the Square. They were dressed as civilians not drag queens and tried to blend in with the other civilians.

Their height, flat posteriors and the fact that they were clearly wearing wigs gave them away to me. Not to mention that I was not the only person to notice them; there were a few gawkers, smirks and giggles as they passed by.

I was impressed with their courage to go out in public and to put up with the ridicule they encountered.

Doing the same myself a decade or so later, I realized it was not courage. Rather, it was the need to be authentic and damn the torpedoes of ridicule.

Wearing Gracia (Source: HauteLook)

Christopher Hewett dresses pretty for the Choreographer's Ball in the 1967 film The Producers. (I watched the film in ultra-high-definition on a 55-inch LED TV last night and for the first time, I noticed the other pretty frocks in his closet.) 

I Love Films

Romain Duris and Anaïs Demoustier in The New Girlfriend

I am a big movie fan. As I type this, I am watching one of my favorite movies, the original King Kong.

Always liked monster flicks. The first film I ever saw in a theater was Godzilla, King of the Monsters. That film gave me nightmares for years. I like Frankenstein and the Bride of Frankenstein, too.

I like good and bad science fiction films. The good: The Martian, the original The Day the Earth Stood Still, both versions of The War of the Worlds, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Time Machine, The Man from Planet X. The bad: any 1950's or 1960's film with a flying saucer, dinosaur or a giant whatever.

I never saw a Hitchcock film I didn't like. North by Northwest is my favorite Hitch flick and it is probably my favorite film of all time. It also stars my favorite actor, Cary Grant.

I also like Tarantino films, especially Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown. Other crime films I like include Godfather, Godfather II, Casino, Goodfellas, The French Connection, The Pope of Greenwich Village, The Seven-Ups and The Departed.

Comedies are among my faves, too. Any Marx Brothers film works for me and a lot of Woody Allen films are good for me, too. (Hannah and Her Sisters, Radio Days, Annie Hall and Manhattan are probably my favorite Woodman flicks.)

Humphrey Bogart is probably my second favorite actor and I like a lot of his films. His wife, Lauren Bacall, is probably my favorite female actor. Myrna Loy is right on her heels.

My father was in the Marines during World War II and carried home two Purple Hearts and shrapnel in his upper arm. Pop watched a lot of World War II flicks and I became a war film fan, too. The Great Escape, Apocalypse Now, Stalag 17, The Caine Mutiny, The Longest Day, Saving Private Ryan, The Deer Hunter and Mister Roberts are films I will watch anytime. The Sands of Iwo Jima gets an honorable mention; my Pop liked the film because he fought on Iwo and I like it, too.

I love John Ford westerns: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, My Darling Clementine, Fort Apache, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, The Searchers, etc.

I like chick flicks, too.

I don't care much for trans films. Most of them don't ring true, but there is one that I consider much better than the rest, The New Girlfriend. I recommend it highly.

Wearing Lulus (Source: Lulus)

Romain Duris femulates in The New Girlfriend, a 2014 French film

Resources for LGBTQ Students

Emily Sorenson and her tram at the Center for School, College, and Career Resources have just started a project to help LGBTQ students succeed in school. They compiled a series of resources to help these students succeed in school.

The first is a comprehensive guide created for LGBTQ students, allies, and other community members. It offers tips for knowing if a college is LGBTQ friendly and highlights the schools going above and beyond to welcome these students. It also explains the Campus Pride Index and includes an interview with Gary Howell, a staff member at Argosy University who works with AU Tampa’s Campus Pride group.

Resources and Expert Advice for LGBTQ College Students -
https://edubirdie.com/blog/resources-for-lgbtq-students

The second guide focuses on transgender students. It includes scholarships specific to the trans community, describes how to find a transgender-friendly college and provides a directory for additional resources to help with academic and extracurricular success. You can check out the entire guide here:

Resources for Transgender College Students - https://www.accreditedschoolsonline.org/resources/transgender-student-support/

The last guide in the series focuses on scholarships and financial aid available to LGBTQ college students. It's not only a list of funding opportunities -- there are tips on, for example, how to navigate applying to financial aid before coming out to family or if family is not supportive.

College Scholarships for LGBTQ Students - https://www.affordablecollegesonline.org/college-resource-center/lgbtq-scholarships-financial-aid/

Campus tour wear

Boys will be girls and girls will be boys at the Oberlin College drag ball

Monday

Like I said, "Monday."

The other "drag"

Wearing Hunter Bell (Source: Rent the Runway)

Sven Schelker femulates in the German film The Circle.

Someday Funnies

Wearing Boston Proper (Source: Boston Proper)

Vitaliy Gogunsky femulates Irina Allegrova on Russian television's version of Your Face Sounds Familiar.