May 15, 2000My written has improved somewhat since then.
Over the weekend ( May 13th ) the Connecticut Outreach Society ( COS ) had their annual banquet. This is the first time that I went, since I'm a new member and it was also the first time that "Diana" stayed over night. I had a really great time. The food was great, they had some great speakers, Nancy Nangeroni and Gordene MacKenzie of "Gender Talk" radio, they also had a talent show which was also really great. As you can tell I really enjoyed it. They had slightly over fifty guests and the banquet was held at the Sheraton Four Points hotel in Waterbury Ct. I got a charge out of the mundanes *as they walked by the entrance to the conference room, their eyes kind of popped out and their jaws dropped when they saw us. I was a little worried about going out, but it was Ok. I signed in at the front desk in boy mode and helped in setting up the stage for the talent show, I had to walk by the banquet room a couple of times before I recognized any of the people because, they were also in boy mode. Went up to my room and changed. I wore a black velvet dress and mid-heel pumps and went marching off the to banquet. It got over at eleven and I helped them take down the stage. Unfortunately, I still was wearing my pumps and my feet were killing me. All in all I had a good time and would do it again, maybe even go to Tiffany's First Night with other COS members, it sounds like it will be fun.
*Any one know where I got the term mundanes - it was from Babylon 5 - that's what the telepathys called the non-telepathys.
Most of the early meeting that I attended had a very good turnout I think that was because COS was one of three support groups in the whole state, now there are over a dozen support groups state wide.
I recorded on my blog the first time that I went for a makeover,
October 7thI did the whole ten yards and I think somewhere stuck in the back of a drawer is some of the cosmetics that I bought, never really got into makeup. I joke that when I put on lipstick it must be a special event.
An other first, this time I had a make-over. I actually did go and have it done and I spent over $100 on cosmetics. I had a good time with the, owner of the store. As she was doing my face we talked and had wine coolers. After she had done my face, she did my nails. The whole process took a little over an hour. I got there right at three for the appointment, there was one lady just finishing up and I was next, her last customer of the day. There were a couple of people who stopped by, but they didn’t make me nervous as I was before when I bought the wig next door last spring. I guest I’m starting to get use to going out.
As I look at the picture ( Don't all of us gals take photos of ourselves ? ) I see that my Adams apple sticks out like a sore thumb, hmmm maybe some day I have something done with it.
After attending a few meetings I started attending the board meetings,
Also in that first year I went to Fantasia Fair…
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Door to the Provincetown
Reservation Center -Fantasia Fair
Provincetown Ma. Oct. 2000
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October 22ndThose were special days, everything was new and an adventure going out, Fantasia Fair was the first time I felt rain on my stockings.
It has been just a year since I joined COS, in that years time I went to the dinners and banquet that they have hosted and have enjoyed them all. But, the Fantasia Fair can’t come any where near any of those events. It’s a seven day filled with all types of presentations and evening entertainment. I went up on Tuesday with another COS member and we stayed at a Bed and Breakfast on a side street just off of Commercial Street, the main thoroughfare through town. It’s a nice little place that is very Transgender friendly. (Photos from Provincetown)
This year at the fair they had the events a la carte. You could buy a morning, lunch or an afternoon presentation as well as the evening entertainment. We chose only to buy the evening entertainment. On Tuesday night it was a cabaret act by Jill Richards a transgender entertainer from Vancouver B.C. and the show was held at the Vixen night club located just off of Commercial Street. After the show, we meet up with a couple from COS. They had come up on Sunday and gave a presentation on Monday .
Later in the year I started attending COS Board meetings,
December 24thIn 2005 it was my last year on the GeoCites blog because Yahoo was closing it down so I switched over to Blogger. Some of my last entries were…
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you and your family and friends. May this time of year be a joyous one for all.
At last weeks board meeting it started to snow and that made my ask about canceling the monthly meeting because of snow. Half in jest I asked do we announce on the radio. Can you imagine hearing " Now for the snow closing.. The ladies from COS will not be holding their meeting tonight …". For the record they don’t cancel the meeting.
December 10thOkay…
Last night I went to a fund raiser for GenderPAC's Connecticut 10th Anniversary Reception down in Stamford. It was the first time I ever went to something like that and I was a little nervous, not knowing what to expect. I drove down there with a friend from CTAC ( Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition ). Adding to my nervousness was the fact that it had snowed all day and I didn't know how the roads conditions would be, but they were just wet.
We were the first to get there and were met by the hostess, I had met her before, ( I had done an outreach with her at Connecticut Department of Mental Health and she also did a presentation at a COS ). The other guesses filtered in one or two at a time until there was about ten or fifteen people there. There was State a Senator and a Representative, a mayor, a first selectman, a human resources director, numerous lawyers and other people there. I felt way out of my league, but after awhile I relaxed and made a number of contacts, the idea of these things is to see and be seen.
My goal in going to these events is simple, to get the anti-discrimination law ( both state and national ) changed to included gender and gender expression.
I look back and I see a shy, quite woman looking up the steps of the COS meetinghouse and wondering what have I gotten myself into. Now, five years later, I walled into the hostess's house and wondering what have I gotten myself into. I have changed a lot in these five years and I think for the better. The biggest change is in self-acceptance and that has changed my whole outlook on life, to a more positive and self-assured person.
- The State Senator became a Connecticut Supreme Court Justice
- The Representative worked for the governor as the Under Secretary for Criminal Justice Policy and Planning at State of Connecticut Office of Policy and Management and is now an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at University of New Haven
- And the mayor well he became the governor.
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| Governor Malloy signing the non-discrimination law |
December 27thEarlier in 2006 I had started my blog here and my first blog entry here was about flying on the corporate Gulfstream IV… the only way to fly.
Well one holiday is over and I can catch my breath since I have this week off and all of you COS members will be glad to know that I will be able to copy and mail the November and December newsletters. I have been so busy that I haven't had a chance to get them mailed, sorry.
For Christmas I went down to my niece's house in New Jersey to be with my family. The ride down wasn't bad, but the ride home in the rain and dark took a lot longer, especially trying to find how to get from I-287 to the Merritt Parkway. Fun, fun, fun in the dark, not having been that way in about twenty years.
Yesterday, my sister-in-law, brother and nephew stopped over to get some of the furniture that was left here from the move last weekend. My nephew stayed over night because he was going to visit some friends in the area. Since I was planning on going out to the movie with a couple of friends I invited him along, but cautioned him that I was going as Diana and he said he was OK with it. So he is the first one of my brother's kids to meet Diana and when he saw me for the first time he just said, "Cool!".
The movie we went to see was Syriana, it was OK, I'll give it a B-. One thing that was different about it was that it had no heroes, just a lot of villains. If anyone came close to being a hero it was the Prince.
Congratulations, Diana, on twenty years of blogging and all the work you've done to help our community. This is a special occasion, so maybe you'll even apply some lipstick(?). ;-)
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