Marlena Dahlstrom
05-27-2006, 01:35 AM
I've stopped writing about every outing I do because they've become fairly "normal" to me. But I had a couple nice experiences recently that I wanted to share.
Two weekends ago, I went to the drag show in San Francisco with Patsy (where we met Kew and a friend of her's). After the show I was talking to various people in the bar and ended up giving make-up advice to two different GWs. Ironic, huh. (They'd mentioned how good I and the drag queens looked, :c9: and how they didn't have a clue when it came to make-up.) I didn't really give them any specific advice as much as reassuring them that if I could learn how to do it, so could they. But the best part was when one of them said she assume I was a GW until I spoke -- flattery will get you everywhere young lady.... :cheeky:
Then last weekend Transgender San Francisco arranged a make-over day at MAC -- everyone got a full one-hour makeover with no obligation to buy anything (although I'm sure most folks probably did). They did it in upstairs room at the local Bloomie's (the closest to home I've ever been out dressed). The artists were really sweet -- although one of them was trying to persuade me to try some blue eye shadow. A baby blue, but still... :eek:
Afterwards, as I was walking down the hall, a Bloomie's employee came out of the break room to also catch the elevator. She did a brief double-take, but that could've just been seeing a customer on an "employee" floor. She was curious what was going on, so I told her about the makeover session and that it had been organized by TGSF. She said, "Oh, that's nice."
I decided to do a little shopping so I swung by the women's department (not that I could afford anything there, but I might as well look). When I got there, a somewhat fiesty saleswoman was working with a customer who obviously must be a regular -- and apparently a bit of shopaholic. So the saleswoman was giving her the thumb-ups or thumbs-down on outfits -- telling her (half-jokingly) that she wasn't going to sell her things that would never make it out of the closet. Meanwhile, she asked if I needed help and we started making small talk. I remarked that since I've got a small closet, , I make it a rule that whenever I buy something new something old has to go. (A rule I almost follow.) The saleswoman shouted into the dressing room, "Hey, you need need to hear what this lady said...." It wasn't being inducted into the Great Mysterious Discussions of Womanhood or anything, but they let me take part in their bantering as if I was just another woman, and it was....nice.
Finally, I went in for my haircut this week and also got a pedicure and manicure. I'd come out to two of the nail techs last month and since one is pretty interested in my crossdressing, I wanted to show her my latest photos from my makeover. But since I hadn't gotten around to making prints, I just brought along my laptop, since I was going after work. Which worked out well because the third tech who'd seen my "Halloween" photo -- but who was on vacation last month -- was there so I could show her my other photos (I'm sure the other techs had told her about me).
But by the time they'd finished manicure and I could breakout the laptop (while they finished up the pedicure), another customer had come in her pedicure and was at the station next to me. "What pictures?" she asked. "You'll see..." I said. The funny thing is I wasn't even nervous -- I'd figured I'll probably not run into her again. So I pulled up the pictures and turned it in the direction or her and the nail techs. "That's you!" :yikes: "Yes, I'm a crossdresser," I said.
She seemed pretty cool about it, so we ended up have a bit of chat -- it turns out her daughter was a lesbian and she'd actually hired a transsexual who'd transitioned. Although, it turns out she didn't know a thing about crossdressers (and not as much as she thought she knew about transsexuals), so I ended up doing a bit of Trans 101 education. The only downer was at the end, when she said I'd need to find a "special woman" who'd appreciate me. Gee, thanks.... :phbbt: I know it's true, but you don't have to rub my nose in it, even if unintentionally.
But it was just nice to not compartmentalize myself. To just say, "this is who I am."
Two weekends ago, I went to the drag show in San Francisco with Patsy (where we met Kew and a friend of her's). After the show I was talking to various people in the bar and ended up giving make-up advice to two different GWs. Ironic, huh. (They'd mentioned how good I and the drag queens looked, :c9: and how they didn't have a clue when it came to make-up.) I didn't really give them any specific advice as much as reassuring them that if I could learn how to do it, so could they. But the best part was when one of them said she assume I was a GW until I spoke -- flattery will get you everywhere young lady.... :cheeky:
Then last weekend Transgender San Francisco arranged a make-over day at MAC -- everyone got a full one-hour makeover with no obligation to buy anything (although I'm sure most folks probably did). They did it in upstairs room at the local Bloomie's (the closest to home I've ever been out dressed). The artists were really sweet -- although one of them was trying to persuade me to try some blue eye shadow. A baby blue, but still... :eek:
Afterwards, as I was walking down the hall, a Bloomie's employee came out of the break room to also catch the elevator. She did a brief double-take, but that could've just been seeing a customer on an "employee" floor. She was curious what was going on, so I told her about the makeover session and that it had been organized by TGSF. She said, "Oh, that's nice."
I decided to do a little shopping so I swung by the women's department (not that I could afford anything there, but I might as well look). When I got there, a somewhat fiesty saleswoman was working with a customer who obviously must be a regular -- and apparently a bit of shopaholic. So the saleswoman was giving her the thumb-ups or thumbs-down on outfits -- telling her (half-jokingly) that she wasn't going to sell her things that would never make it out of the closet. Meanwhile, she asked if I needed help and we started making small talk. I remarked that since I've got a small closet, , I make it a rule that whenever I buy something new something old has to go. (A rule I almost follow.) The saleswoman shouted into the dressing room, "Hey, you need need to hear what this lady said...." It wasn't being inducted into the Great Mysterious Discussions of Womanhood or anything, but they let me take part in their bantering as if I was just another woman, and it was....nice.
Finally, I went in for my haircut this week and also got a pedicure and manicure. I'd come out to two of the nail techs last month and since one is pretty interested in my crossdressing, I wanted to show her my latest photos from my makeover. But since I hadn't gotten around to making prints, I just brought along my laptop, since I was going after work. Which worked out well because the third tech who'd seen my "Halloween" photo -- but who was on vacation last month -- was there so I could show her my other photos (I'm sure the other techs had told her about me).
But by the time they'd finished manicure and I could breakout the laptop (while they finished up the pedicure), another customer had come in her pedicure and was at the station next to me. "What pictures?" she asked. "You'll see..." I said. The funny thing is I wasn't even nervous -- I'd figured I'll probably not run into her again. So I pulled up the pictures and turned it in the direction or her and the nail techs. "That's you!" :yikes: "Yes, I'm a crossdresser," I said.
She seemed pretty cool about it, so we ended up have a bit of chat -- it turns out her daughter was a lesbian and she'd actually hired a transsexual who'd transitioned. Although, it turns out she didn't know a thing about crossdressers (and not as much as she thought she knew about transsexuals), so I ended up doing a bit of Trans 101 education. The only downer was at the end, when she said I'd need to find a "special woman" who'd appreciate me. Gee, thanks.... :phbbt: I know it's true, but you don't have to rub my nose in it, even if unintentionally.
But it was just nice to not compartmentalize myself. To just say, "this is who I am."