Extra Cookies (Hamvention Thursday)

Wednesday night, I had a room with a view of the Interstate and did not sleep very well because of the tractor trailer noise.

I got up around 6 AM and took my time getting ready because I had a mere 4.5-hour drive to Dayton. However, I did want to partake in the hotel's continental breakfast, so I managed to get dressed en femme and made it down to the breakfast area by 8:30 AM.

There were about 12 people breakfasting. I think I was the youngest person there. No one paid much attention to me except for the hotel staff member who was minding the store. She was very friendly and attentive. When I asked her if there was any more fruit to replace what had already been taken, she quickly replenished the fruit bowl.

After breakfast, I packed my car, checked out of the hotel and was greeted with pleasant "goodbyes" from the staff as I exited.

The 4.5-hour drive was uneventful. With my GPS directing me, I even managed to successfully snake my way through Akron without error, which has not always been the case in the past.

I arrived at the Doubletree Suites in Miamisburg at 2:15 PM.

As I wrote here on Thursday, my room was not ready, so I asked the friendly front desk attendant (named Joy) if there was a nearby pharmacy where I could buy the one thing I forgot to pack: earplugs. Joy gave me directions to a store just around the corner and I scored a pack of earplugs that as it turned out, I never needed in my Doubletree Suite.

While I was waiting for my room to be ready, Joy and I became fast friends and she gave me extra cookies to take to my room. I got into my room at 3:15 PM, relaxed, freshened up, took some photos, published a blog post and went to my board of directors dinner and meeting at 6 PM.

There was nothing eventful to report here about the dinner and meeting except that the waitress smiled at me everytime she entered the room. It was great to see my old friends and acquaintances again. We got some work done and wrapped up about 10 PM.

I went straight to my room after the meeting because I was exhausted and had to get up at 5 AM. I went to bed and slept soundly until 5.

Fashion Note: I wore my Macy's INC black leggings with zippers at the cuff, DressBarn floral cardigan and tank duet, suntan knee-highs, Newport News black patent open-toed sling-backs, Kohl's black hobo bag, and jewelry (necklace, earrings and watch) that complimented the outfit.

Home

Arrived home at 8 PM after 12 hours on the road.

I had a great time at the Hamvention and have many stories to tell, but now I am going to bed.

Talk to you later.

Another Long Day

It was another long day. I am going to bed now and I will drive home tomorrow. After I am back home, I promise to tell you all about my trip. Meanwhile, here is a photo taken this morning.

All Day Long

It was a long, busy and enjoyable day at the Hamvention. I left my hotel room at 7 AM and did not return until nearly 11 PM.

I am exhausted and going to crash, but before I do, I leave you with this photo taken this morning at the Hamvention before the doors opened.

Arrived

I arrived at my hotel south of Dayton (Miamisburg) at 2:15 PM.

My room was not ready, so I drove to a nearby pharmacy to buy one thing I forgot to pack: earplugs.

Returned to the hotel and chatted with one of the board members of my group, who was also waiting for a ready room.

I got into my room at 3:15 PM, relaxed, freshened up, took some photos (right) and now I am writing this blog post before I go to my board of directors dinner and meeting at 6 PM.

I love the outfit I am wearing. It is so pretty (IMHO) and it received a lot of attention when I walked through the hotel lobby.

First Stop

I drove 8 hours/466 miles today. Traffic was not bad except for some highway construction in Scranton where it took about 20 minutes to travel 1 mile.

I am staying in the same hotel I stayed last year on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.

I just finished dinner and am ready to crash!

Good night!

More Males in Female Finery

Thanks to Aunty Marlena, here is a link to hundreds of images from The Fool's Paradise Drag Party (1996-2010). The quality of the Drag Party femulations is all over the map, but there are many gems (see photo for example). Also, check out the Drag Party's website, where most of the images are probably duplicated, but navigating them is different.

Yearbook Femulations Updated

Thanks to Starla, our intrepid yearbook search lady, I uploaded 48 new images to the Yearbook Femulations on flickr.

Femulate Interruptions

This male will be wearing female finery through the weekend as I began my trip to the Hamvention in Dayton, Ohio.

Wednesday, I plan to drive about two-thirds of the way or 8 hours, whichever comes first and stay overnight somewhere near the Ohio-Pennsylvania-West Virginia border.

Thursday, I plan to drive the remainder of the trip.

Thursday evening, I will attend my group's board of director's dinner and meeting.

Friday and Saturday, I will be at the Hamvention throughout the day.

Friday evening, I will attend my group's annual banquet. Saturday evening, I have a few options and have not made up my mind what to do yet.

Sunday, I drive home.

I will try to keep you up-to-date with short posts throughout my trip. All the gory details will follow after I get home and regroup.

24/7 X 3

I will travel to Ohio and attend a convention (Hamvention) during the second half of this week. I will be en femme 24/7.

I have attended Hamvention most years during the past 33 years, but this will only be the third time en femme 24/7.

The first time en femme 24/7 (2010) was ground-breaking for me (and my associates).

I am associated with two groups and I came out to both groups successfully before attending the convention that year. However, at the convention, I avoided people I knew who I had not come out to because I was trying to get comfortable in the new situation.

Coming out to new people is not necessarily comfortable if the other person reacts badly. (By the way, I am a well-known writer in the ham radio world and as a result, I know a lot of people and even more people know me.)

Last year, I was more comfortable and I made a point of reintroducing myself to people I avoided in 2010. Except for one instance, my reintroductions went very well.

This year, I feel completely comfortable and plan to have a great time at Hamvention.

However, this blog may suffer while I am away. Internet access is often an issue, but even under the best wifi conditions, time is always an issue. There is so much to do during the Hamvention that there is not much time for blogging.

As I have done in the past, I will probably post a new photo and a few words each day. And after I get back home, I will decompress and tell all about my trip.

Beach Weather

I saw my first love in music last night: the Beach Boys in concert at the Mohegan Sun Arena. My family gave me the tickets as a birthday gift and my daughter accompanied me to the show, while my wife and sister played slots. It was a great concert with all the living original Beach Boys performing 42 songs in in approximately 2-1/2 hours.

After the concert, we discovered that my wife and sister had done very well playing slots while we were in the arena. My daughter insisted on playing the slots, too. It was after 11 PM with a 75-minute ride home ahead of us, so I was not too keen on delaying our departure, but we agreed to play for about 15 minutes and then head home.

Instead of killing the 15-minutes watching her play the penny slots, I decided to play the quarter slots in the next row. I slipped a $10 bill in the first machine and five minutes later, I went away with $43.

I found my daughter and she was winning, too, so I let her be and slipped another $10 bill in a different quarter slot machine. On the third play, I won $150.

The night could not get much better so I decided to quit while I was ahead.

Young Man in Vintage Yves Saint Laurent Dress

Source: Candy

Big Outings

Sarah McBride

There were two notable transgender outings this week.

"Against Me! singer Tom Gabel reveals plans to begin living as a woman in the new issue of Rolling Stone. Gabel ... will soon begin the process of transition, by taking hormones and undergoing electrolysis treatments. Gabel will eventually take the name Laura Jane Grace, and will remain married to her wife Heather." Read all about it here.

Tim McBride, American University student body president, came out as transgender. Tim now goes by the name Sarah and was interviewed on Washington, DC television station WJLA. Sarah also wrote about her outing on The Huffington Post.

The Best Gurls from Recent Womanless Pageants

Yesterday, Aunty Marlena sent me links to some recent womanless events. I separated the wheat from the chaff (or the boys from the gurls) and present the best of the batch here for your appreciation.

In the Junior Division, we have the Brookeland (TX) Independent School District 2009-2010 Womanless Wildcat Pageant (left) and the Green Sea Floyds High School (Conway, SC) 2011-2012 Mr. Green Sea Floyds Pageant (right). Although a mustachioed gurl was the winner of the Mr. Green Sea Floyds Pageant, overall that pageant had higher quality femulations than the Womanless Wildcat Pageant.

In the Senior Division, there were womanless beauty pageants at the Dillon, SC, Latta United Methodist Church and in Coffee Springs, AL. In both pageants, most of the contestants were "men in dresses" or worse, bearded men in dresses (yuck!), but each pageant featured one diamond in the rough.

The gurl above left was the cutest, by far, in the Dillon contest. With a better wig, she could femulate full-time.

The gurl above right in the Coffee Springs competition was outstanding. There was only this one photo of her, but from what I could tell, she had her own hair coiffed in an up do. Also, it looks like she had her eyebrows thinned out to go along with her perfect makeup application, beautiful evening gown and accessories. I wonder if she is a reader of this blog (if you know what I mean).       

Gurl Talk

Words Can Never Hurt Me

It is acceptable for a tranny to use the word "tranny" in reference to another tranny, but it is not acceptable for a civilian to use the word "tranny." Isn't that a little hypocritical? (Actually, I think it is very hypocrital.)

Gender theorist Kate Bornstein had this to say about the word “tranny.”

"That’s the most politically problematic self-definition. I get hit for using it. A vocal contingent of trans people insist that the word 'tranny' is a slur on the order of the 'N' word applied to black Americans. It gets used as a hate term. People will yell 'f**kin’ tranny' and throw a beer can at you from a passing car. My people get spat on, and accompanying that spit is the word 'tranny.' But I own that word. I’m trying to give it a good name."

Does it make it any better if people yell "f**kin’ transgender" and throw a beer can at you from a passing car?

It is not the word, but how it is used that is important.

And speaking of the word "transgender," the whole debate about using "transgender" vs. "transgendered" seems to be much ado about not much. I use the two words interchangeably when I speak, although I have been careful about not using "transgendered" when writing this blog because I don't want to give the Trans-Nazis and Trans-Harpies more ammo to shoot in my direction.

I think I will be less careful in the future,

So, you can call me "tranny," you can call me "transgendered," you can call me "anything you want," but just don't call me late for the shoe sale.

The Thin Man

Thin Man in Orange Dress

Thin Man in White Dress

Thin Man in Orange Dress - Full Length

Gender Debunked

Read an interesting interview of gender theorist Kate Bornstein here.

Guy Talk

No Hassle

Regarding the comments in yesterday's post stating that certain stores are very ok with trans shoppers...

FWIW, here is a list of places I have shopped in the past year for women's clothing en femme or openly en homme* without a hassle. In many cases, store personnel (both male and female) gave me personal attention and helped me find what I was looking for (and even what I wasn't looking for).

Ann Taylor
Avenue
Banana Republic
bebe
Claire's
Deb
Dressbarn
Famous Footwear
Fashion Bug
JCPenney
Jessica McLintock
Kohl's
Lane Bryant
LOFT
Macy's
Nine West
Nordstrom
Payless
Sears
Sephora
Talbots
The Limited
Torrid
Victoria Secrets

* By "openly en homme," I mean I was open about the fact that I was shopping for women's clothing for myself and tried on women's clothing in the store's dressing room.

Shopping at the Barn

Out en femme last Tuesday, I bought three pairs of leggings at Macy's. When I took my leggings home, I realized that I needed a new top or two to wear with my leggings, so I added tops to my to-buy list for the next time I go shopping.

I also noticed that I the majority of my dresses are blacks, grays, and browns, so I also added "colorful dresses" to my to-buy list.

Today, I realized that in two weeks and two days, I will be traveling to Dayton for the Hamvention and time was a'wasting to buy clothes for the trip.

So at lunch time, I grabbed my to-buy list and my Dress Barn dressbarn scratch-off discount coupon and went shopping at the Barn in boy mode.

Saleslady Laura did not bat an eye when I told her I was shopping for myself and she helped me pick out a slew of tops and dresses to try on and that I did.

After tryong on about six tops and eight dresses, two tops and four dresses made the initial cut.

I eliminated one top because I thought it was too pricey and too see-through and I eliminated one dress (navy blue with white polka dots) because it was not "colorful."

My scratch-off coupon only saved me 15%, but I did qualify for a free journal.

Here is what I bought:

Floral Cardigan and Tank Duet (top left). Gracing a tropical wash of watercolors, lacy silver-flecked blooms taper off into ruffling lace-trimmed sleeves and a fluid pointed hem. Attached lace-trimmed tank. Short tiered sleeves. Pointed hem.

I think this duet will go nicely with my black leggings that have lace on the hem.

Collared Floral Dress (top right). Circled by a bright buttoned collar, summery shades of peonies and apple blossoms bloom atop the panels that ring the neck of this shift. 41" length from shoulder to hem. Nonfunctional button on collar. Center back zip.

This dress is so cute; it just skims the top of my knees.

Abstract Cap-Sleeve Dress (bottom left).Gentle gathers crisscross at the bust of a cap-sleeve sheath covered in abstract confetti of watery hues that ripple into a fluid skirt.44" from shoulder to hem. Lined bodice, light shoulder pads. Pull over.

The photo does not do this dress justice. It is hugs my figure, covers my knees (yeah - I know - unheard of), and the color looks great on me.

Bordered Abstract Dress and Bolero Duet (bottom right). This flared frock's leafy splashes of color are complemented by a matching grosgrain ribbon belt and bright bolero. 44" length from shoulder to hem. Hidden back zip with hook-and-eye at top on dress. Fully lined dress; elbow-length sleeves on sweater.

This dress is probably my favorite purchase of the day. The skirt of the dress flares out more than the photo indicates and it looks so good without the bolero, I wear the dress without it.

Now I think I am all set for Dayton except for packing.

New Yearbook Femulations

I just uploaded 23 new high school yearbook images (care of Starla) to the Yearbooks collection on flickr.