Out in the World

welcoming 2014

Happy New Year 2014!

Here’s to a 2014 filled with love, peace, freedom, happiness and health. Also, how about fulfillment, ecstasy, enthusiasm and reaching for the stars!

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Xpressions Christmas Party

Xpressions is a group hereabouts that runs monthly casual, come-as-you-are pub nights, occasional organized restaurant dinners and an annual Christmas Gala Weekend.

I came to know about Xpressions very early in my female existence, and their pub night seemed a most welcoming venue to make one of my very first outings to. And I have to say that I learned a lot about myself and the road I was starting on from them. And, for that I am truly thankful.

I have returned once in a while to maintain my connection to the group, but I never got really super-involved with them.

Truth be told, once I passed a certain level of comfort with being a woman, it seemed to me that the issues that I wanted to talk about and think about were not the same as those that were being bandied about at their meetings. Also, the group seemed to be a bit older and more conservative than I am.

This year, Xpressions invited me to be their photographer for their Christmas Gala party. That was a bit of luck for me, because from my vantage point as a detached observer (yet welcome guest), I came to realize the richness of the community they have built.

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Janie shoveling snow

Winter Life – Digging Out

Ah, life in Canada! We had our first real snowfall here this weekend.

I know, who comes here for the weather report? Well, sometimes all the mumbo jumbo about life as a trans woman comes down to simply living your life.

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tgs in tiaras promo

TGs in Tiaras – A Gala Ball

“TGs in Tiaras” is the name given to a brand new event hereabouts.

It will be a glittering ball with everyone dressed to the nines in their finest gowns, cocktail dresses and formal attire. It is a nice idea and a great opportunity to get all made up, dolled up and dressed up.

For me, it is a doubly happy affair, as I have the honor of having been selected as the photographer for the event.

outing roasting giant marshmallow on campfire barbecue

Outing Outdoors

One of the things I love most about summer are barbecues… cooking and eating outdoors, en plein air… cold, refreshing beer, the wafting of wood-fired smoke and aromas of slowly cooking meat, the special acoustic qualities of sky and trees on music out of doors, and good friends at a relaxed pace on a long weekend.

A perfect setting for an outing…

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guests under some delusion that I am a man

Delusion – What Exactly Are You Seeing?

I had a bunch of people over for a Canada Day barbecue.

I was dressed as you see me in the photo below, which was taken just after everyone left. Now, what sort of delusion are my friends under that not one of them had any reaction whatsoever, good, bad or indifferent, despite knowing me only as a guy? 

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frock magazine article photo of Janie Black

Catch Me in Frock Magazine

The current issue of Frock Magazine is out on the virtual newsstands, and there is a six-page spread by and about me, starting at page 58, called “Beauty on the Gender Line.” (The issue is #21, June/July 2013.)

To save you the trip – and a few of their maddeningly ill-advised edits of the article – I reproduce the contents here –

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gender identity distinctions crushed and bulldozed

Fine Gender Identity Distinctions Are All in My Mind

It seemed to me an awfully big deal to finally see the possibility of expressing my feminine gender identity as a man rather than as a woman. (See Trying on the Yaoi Gender Mix for Size and A New Take on My Male Gender Identity for more.)

I have expressed concerns about the latter, feeling to some degree, inauthentic, or put on. And, I have expressed the opinion that as long as I stay on the male side of the coin, the degree of my femininity is merely a question of fashion and therefore not subject to the same kinds of reactions and objections as gender questions might be.

Well, I didn’t get very far along this yaoi road before reality – at least my reality – stepped squarely in my path.

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redhead tranny in her halloween costume

First Halloween Party

The Saturday night before Halloween is often the best party night of the holiday, as people can stay out late and let loose.

Opera House during Fetish Halloween PartyWith Halloween on Wednesday night, and people having to get up for work on Thursday, the parties do get a bit sparse after a few hours, and the incredible efforts some folks put into their costumes don’t get their full return. So, Saturday night’s the night.

I was pretty much in awe of the shindig thrown by the Subspace people (http://www.subspacelive.ca/) at a place called the Opera House. The venue was decked out professionally to look its ghoulish best, the soaring ceilings and terrific lighting system made for an amazing space, and the shows they did on stage were equally impressive.

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ladies at Home Depot

Ladies, What Ladies?

It actually took me by surprise, my reaction to this clerk referring to me and my GF as “ladies.”

We started the day going out for coffee and pedicures, followed by a stop on our way home at Home Depot. We needed to get some answers about some work that needed to be done at our home, what was involved, whether we could do it ourselves or have to hire someone, what it all would cost, etc., etc.

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