The Primrose, September 2009
The life of Greer is one that is generally made up of a few pleasant hours during one night a week. Say 6 hours out of about 112 waking hours a week, or about 5% (those seeking extra credit must show their work). Of course this does not include the countless hours I spend thinking about what I will wear, when I can go shopping, whether my butt looks big in this (I wish), and whether breast forms should be replaced after 10 years of faithful service.
However, there are some weeks where my Greer cup truly runneth over (I’m speaking metaphorically here, so please don’t even go there). During the first week of August, I was out and about on 3 occasions, and each involved some new experiences and meeting new people. Total time en Greer? About 22 hours, or almost 20% (can you show that as a fraction?). Let me tell you more about those experiences, plus a couple others from later in the month. Please try to keep the groans to yourself. Remember, you chose to read this rather than do something amusing, like sticking a fork in your eye.
*****
On Sunday I attended the Pamper Party at Chicago Illusions. I know, there are some who have concerns about the goings on at Chicago Illusions, but I can tell you categorically that the Pamper Party had nothing to do with infant wearing apparel. What it was about was being pampered by the wonderful ladies of Lush Cosmetics as they demonstrated many of their products, and by our good friends at Chicago Illusions who made us all feel very welcome. I can also say that the party attendees included a current CGS VP, and at least one former CGS President (there are so many of them it is difficult to keep track), so this was obviously a high class event.
The festivities began with everyone getting liquored up so we would enjoy seeing each other with strange green stuff on our faces. Well, liquored up might be overstating it, but we did enjoy a glass of wine while we were introduced to Lush, and the ladies began preparing for our first pampering, a delightful foot soak. A side note here. I excused myself and went to the ladies room to remove my thigh highs, but my new friends Anabelle and Noelle demonstrated that young GGs are comfortable with whipping theirs off while sitting on the sofa. Perhaps it is because the legs thus exposed are so much smoother and attractive than mine. In any event, not only did I brand myself as being “older”, but I also missed seeing the young lovelies in the act of becoming bare legged. Where’s the fairness in that? 
Once our tootsies were all soaking deliciously in warm baths of various colors, the facial mask segment of our pampering began. Now I will freely admit that green is a lovely color, but I have made a note not to consider it as a foundation color for my personal makeup regime. I must also admit that I pretty much wimped out on the facial mask. I had nothing against the mask itself, but I just was not keen on spending the rest of the evening with my natural face showing through sans makeup. Besides, it made it much easier to be amused at the alien faces that appeared all around me.
Following the face masks came my favorite part of the pampering, a (much too brief) hand massage. This is always a delightfully relaxing experience, and I recommend it highly.
Our evening at Chicago Illusions ended with a complete tour of the facilities before we said good night to our hostesses. (Those still interested in extra credit should calculate the ratio of the letter “s” in the word “hostesses”.)
*****
Tuesday was my much-anticipated visit to the teen drop-in center at CAAN in Joliet. I had been asked to speak to the young people about being trans, and I was very excited as this was my first attempt at community outreach. What a wonderful experience!
At the time of my visit, the drop-in center was officially open to teens in high school. This has recently been changed to all between the ages of 15 and 20. The emphasis is on providing a safe and comfortable location for those who are LGBT or just questioning.
The center is supervised by Dave (whom you might remember from last month) and Desiree. The drop-in center has been operating for about a year, and attendance has been steadily increasing, with as many as 15 teens in at a time. Of course summer takes its toll, and there were only 4 members there during my visit. Because of the very appropriate rules of the center, I can only introduce you to Jake and Mark who were both over 18. For the other 2, I will put fake noses and glasses over their names to protect their privacy, and call them Beauty 1 and Beauty 2.
Everyone sat through the agony of my Powerpoint presentation with only minimal snoring and spitwad throwing, but then the Q&A began and the fun really started. They asked some good and probing questions, and I am proud to say that I answered all of them. Even when I had to make up answers. Once the serious topics were exhausted, the conversation took a downward spiral as the relative merits of “The L Word” and “Queer as Folk” were discussed along with several other MTV shows that I have never even heard of. My personal guilty TV pleasure, “Army Wives”, evoked a bit of interest from one of the Beauties, but everyone else was too focused on “Real World” to care.
*****
Thursday was my monthly support “group” meeting in Naperville. The quotes are because we have yet to have enough people in attendance to really call it a group, but “support couple” sounds wrong. Perhaps “support pod”? Anyway, it was a worthwhile get together since there was a new person in attendance who needed some support to help her begin to express herself outside the closet.
Afterwards we went to Le Chocolat du Bouchard in Naperville, had a wonderful cup of hot chocolate and continued our talk. This is an excellent place to relax and enjoy some of their tempting treats. It was my first visit while dressed, and the staff were very friendly and welcoming. It made for a delightful end to the evening, and I will definitely be going back.
*****
The next week was the regular monthly CGS meeting. Others will cover the details of the meeting, but I wanted to share some personal observations. As you know, the program was a presentation by Doctor Schechter on GRS. As usual, I was sitting right at the front of the room so that I could heckle the board with a minimum of yelling. When I realized that Doctor S was going to be showing photos, it was too late to get up and find a place way in the back. Great. I will probably get queasy and hurl right there on the dance floor (I don’t do blood and guts very well). As it turned out, the presentation was very interesting, and Doctor S didn’t allow the more graphic photos to linger too long on the screen. In a couple of cases, I couldn’t even figure out just what I was seeing (why does he have a photo of a 4 legged octopus?). So, crisis averted.
I should mention that our friends from Tall Girl shops were in attendance, as were several ladies from MB Bank (thank you for letting us use your parking lot!). What must they have been thinking during the presentation?
*****
This year was my first time at Sheila D’s picnic. Is it always so damp? Pres Jackie swears that she specifically ordered sunshine, but I think she should demand a refund. It was great that so many people came out in spite of the drippy weather. The thunder and driving rain gave us all something new to talk about.
For those of you that were concerned that my skirt shrank in the rain, it’s true. No, not really. I wore a longish skirt thinking that it would be
comfortable and allow the air to circulate. Surprise! After the first downpour, the air got steamy, and the long skirt was just too much. Besides, everyone kept asking if I was sick or something. So, I pulled my emergency miniskirt out of my purse (don’t leave home without one) and changed in the ‘loo. Ah, much better. Of course during the next major drenching, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped, but there was no way I was changing again.
*****
Another first in August was the first Transformations T-Party at Big Shots in Arlington Heights. It was an excellent party and an excellent new location. The staff were very friendly and we felt right at home. Kudos to Robin who was our server. Every time I ordered a drink I was sitting at a different table (social butterfly or possibly ADD), but Robin always knew what I was drinking and put it on the right tab (Christine’s actually, I sure can’t afford to pay for 30 year Laphroaig myself). We ran her ragged, but she took great care of us and never lost her smile or her enthusiasm. Thank you Robin!
The highlight of the evening was the singing of “Happy Birthday” to Lisa on the occasion of her 21st birthday (or was it 18th?). The piano player accompanied and the whole bar joined in.
The only negative that I heard expressed about Big Shots was getting to the door. There is plenty of free parking in a parking garage just ½ block down the street, but for the more reserved, walking that ½ block was a bit unnerving. Right across the street is a park area and there were lots of people out and about. Of course I had decided to wear my new red minidress from Fredericks for the occasion and I thought I looked pretty hot. I just had to remind myself to walk carefully. Tripping on a high heel is always bad, but doing so in that dress and at that time would have been unfortunate.
Anyway, in spite of the somewhat exposed runway to the door, Big Shots was fun and it is another place I intend to return to soon.
*****
Before I close and let you return to your normally scheduled life, I would like to comment on an interesting (well, interesting to me at least) question of language. And that is the use of the term “guys”, as in “I just wanted to tell you guys that . . .” Concern over the use of this term has come up several times recently, particularly from friends of our community who strive to be aware of our sensitivity to correct pronoun usage.
In my always humble (and unsolicited) opinion, there is nothing wrong with using this term when talking to any group of people (men, women, t-girls, t-men, etc.). It is a bit more casual and friendly than saying “you people” and not as regional as “y’all”. Certainly we (t-girls that is) love to be included in a group as “you ladies” or even “you girls”, but in a mixed group that doesn’t necessarily work either.
I think the key is that the term is being used as a form of address for a group, rather than as a label for individuals in that group.
So go ahead, say “you guys” as appropriate. Just don’t say “a bunch of guys in dresses” or I will be forced to hit you with my purse.
*****
Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Please send to me at greercd@hotmail.com.
The life of Greer is one that is generally made up of a few pleasant hours during one night a week. Say 6 hours out of about 112 waking hours a week, or about 5% (those seeking extra credit must show their work). Of course this does not include the countless hours I spend thinking about what I will wear, when I can go shopping, whether my butt looks big in this (I wish), and whether breast forms should be replaced after 10 years of faithful service.However, there are some weeks where my Greer cup truly runneth over (I’m speaking metaphorically here, so please don’t even go there). During the first week of August, I was out and about on 3 occasions, and each involved some new experiences and meeting new people. Total time en Greer? About 22 hours, or almost 20% (can you show that as a fraction?). Let me tell you more about those experiences, plus a couple others from later in the month. Please try to keep the groans to yourself. Remember, you chose to read this rather than do something amusing, like sticking a fork in your eye.
*****
On Sunday I attended the Pamper Party at Chicago Illusions. I know, there are some who have concerns about the goings on at Chicago Illusions, but I can tell you categorically that the Pamper Party had nothing to do with infant wearing apparel. What it was about was being pampered by the wonderful ladies of Lush Cosmetics as they demonstrated many of their products, and by our good friends at Chicago Illusions who made us all feel very welcome. I can also say that the party attendees included a current CGS VP, and at least one former CGS President (there are so many of them it is difficult to keep track), so this was obviously a high class event.
The festivities began with everyone getting liquored up so we would enjoy seeing each other with strange green stuff on our faces. Well, liquored up might be overstating it, but we did enjoy a glass of wine while we were introduced to Lush, and the ladies began preparing for our first pampering, a delightful foot soak. A side note here. I excused myself and went to the ladies room to remove my thigh highs, but my new friends Anabelle and Noelle demonstrated that young GGs are comfortable with whipping theirs off while sitting on the sofa. Perhaps it is because the legs thus exposed are so much smoother and attractive than mine. In any event, not only did I brand myself as being “older”, but I also missed seeing the young lovelies in the act of becoming bare legged. Where’s the fairness in that? 
Once our tootsies were all soaking deliciously in warm baths of various colors, the facial mask segment of our pampering began. Now I will freely admit that green is a lovely color, but I have made a note not to consider it as a foundation color for my personal makeup regime. I must also admit that I pretty much wimped out on the facial mask. I had nothing against the mask itself, but I just was not keen on spending the rest of the evening with my natural face showing through sans makeup. Besides, it made it much easier to be amused at the alien faces that appeared all around me.
Following the face masks came my favorite part of the pampering, a (much too brief) hand massage. This is always a delightfully relaxing experience, and I recommend it highly.
Our evening at Chicago Illusions ended with a complete tour of the facilities before we said good night to our hostesses. (Those still interested in extra credit should calculate the ratio of the letter “s” in the word “hostesses”.)
*****
Tuesday was my much-anticipated visit to the teen drop-in center at CAAN in Joliet. I had been asked to speak to the young people about being trans, and I was very excited as this was my first attempt at community outreach. What a wonderful experience!
At the time of my visit, the drop-in center was officially open to teens in high school. This has recently been changed to all between the ages of 15 and 20. The emphasis is on providing a safe and comfortable location for those who are LGBT or just questioning.
The center is supervised by Dave (whom you might remember from last month) and Desiree. The drop-in center has been operating for about a year, and attendance has been steadily increasing, with as many as 15 teens in at a time. Of course summer takes its toll, and there were only 4 members there during my visit. Because of the very appropriate rules of the center, I can only introduce you to Jake and Mark who were both over 18. For the other 2, I will put fake noses and glasses over their names to protect their privacy, and call them Beauty 1 and Beauty 2.
Everyone sat through the agony of my Powerpoint presentation with only minimal snoring and spitwad throwing, but then the Q&A began and the fun really started. They asked some good and probing questions, and I am proud to say that I answered all of them. Even when I had to make up answers. Once the serious topics were exhausted, the conversation took a downward spiral as the relative merits of “The L Word” and “Queer as Folk” were discussed along with several other MTV shows that I have never even heard of. My personal guilty TV pleasure, “Army Wives”, evoked a bit of interest from one of the Beauties, but everyone else was too focused on “Real World” to care.*****
Thursday was my monthly support “group” meeting in Naperville. The quotes are because we have yet to have enough people in attendance to really call it a group, but “support couple” sounds wrong. Perhaps “support pod”? Anyway, it was a worthwhile get together since there was a new person in attendance who needed some support to help her begin to express herself outside the closet.
Afterwards we went to Le Chocolat du Bouchard in Naperville, had a wonderful cup of hot chocolate and continued our talk. This is an excellent place to relax and enjoy some of their tempting treats. It was my first visit while dressed, and the staff were very friendly and welcoming. It made for a delightful end to the evening, and I will definitely be going back.
*****
The next week was the regular monthly CGS meeting. Others will cover the details of the meeting, but I wanted to share some personal observations. As you know, the program was a presentation by Doctor Schechter on GRS. As usual, I was sitting right at the front of the room so that I could heckle the board with a minimum of yelling. When I realized that Doctor S was going to be showing photos, it was too late to get up and find a place way in the back. Great. I will probably get queasy and hurl right there on the dance floor (I don’t do blood and guts very well). As it turned out, the presentation was very interesting, and Doctor S didn’t allow the more graphic photos to linger too long on the screen. In a couple of cases, I couldn’t even figure out just what I was seeing (why does he have a photo of a 4 legged octopus?). So, crisis averted.
I should mention that our friends from Tall Girl shops were in attendance, as were several ladies from MB Bank (thank you for letting us use your parking lot!). What must they have been thinking during the presentation?
*****
This year was my first time at Sheila D’s picnic. Is it always so damp? Pres Jackie swears that she specifically ordered sunshine, but I think she should demand a refund. It was great that so many people came out in spite of the drippy weather. The thunder and driving rain gave us all something new to talk about.For those of you that were concerned that my skirt shrank in the rain, it’s true. No, not really. I wore a longish skirt thinking that it would be
comfortable and allow the air to circulate. Surprise! After the first downpour, the air got steamy, and the long skirt was just too much. Besides, everyone kept asking if I was sick or something. So, I pulled my emergency miniskirt out of my purse (don’t leave home without one) and changed in the ‘loo. Ah, much better. Of course during the next major drenching, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped, but there was no way I was changing again.*****
Another first in August was the first Transformations T-Party at Big Shots in Arlington Heights. It was an excellent party and an excellent new location. The staff were very friendly and we felt right at home. Kudos to Robin who was our server. Every time I ordered a drink I was sitting at a different table (social butterfly or possibly ADD), but Robin always knew what I was drinking and put it on the right tab (Christine’s actually, I sure can’t afford to pay for 30 year Laphroaig myself). We ran her ragged, but she took great care of us and never lost her smile or her enthusiasm. Thank you Robin!
The highlight of the evening was the singing of “Happy Birthday” to Lisa on the occasion of her 21st birthday (or was it 18th?). The piano player accompanied and the whole bar joined in.The only negative that I heard expressed about Big Shots was getting to the door. There is plenty of free parking in a parking garage just ½ block down the street, but for the more reserved, walking that ½ block was a bit unnerving. Right across the street is a park area and there were lots of people out and about. Of course I had decided to wear my new red minidress from Fredericks for the occasion and I thought I looked pretty hot. I just had to remind myself to walk carefully. Tripping on a high heel is always bad, but doing so in that dress and at that time would have been unfortunate.
Anyway, in spite of the somewhat exposed runway to the door, Big Shots was fun and it is another place I intend to return to soon.
*****
Before I close and let you return to your normally scheduled life, I would like to comment on an interesting (well, interesting to me at least) question of language. And that is the use of the term “guys”, as in “I just wanted to tell you guys that . . .” Concern over the use of this term has come up several times recently, particularly from friends of our community who strive to be aware of our sensitivity to correct pronoun usage.
In my always humble (and unsolicited) opinion, there is nothing wrong with using this term when talking to any group of people (men, women, t-girls, t-men, etc.). It is a bit more casual and friendly than saying “you people” and not as regional as “y’all”. Certainly we (t-girls that is) love to be included in a group as “you ladies” or even “you girls”, but in a mixed group that doesn’t necessarily work either.
I think the key is that the term is being used as a form of address for a group, rather than as a label for individuals in that group.
So go ahead, say “you guys” as appropriate. Just don’t say “a bunch of guys in dresses” or I will be forced to hit you with my purse.
*****
Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Please send to me at greercd@hotmail.com.
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