Well, this is the blog of a male to female transgender
person and she has barely been seen this year because of illness. So it’s hard
to do a trans roundup of the year 2015. Apart from Sparkle, much of my time has been
a return to male mode or a sort of andro mix. For 2016, I am determined to get
back to where I was when I started this blog and I have been following my new medical regime religiously in the hope of being able to do so.
1) SPARKLE
Sparkle is Britain’s national transgender celebration and
takes place every July in Manchester. Thousands attend and it’s become the
highlight of my year.
I guess it’s what you make it. In Sackville Gardens there
are stalls, a stage with musical and comedy acts and other entertainment,
various official events in the Gay Village such as meals and parties, and there
are more serious things such as lectures, advice from surgeons and such like.
Personally, I find it the best opportunity for catching up with friends. Two of
my friends, Bobby and KD, have already blogged about their Sparkle this year:
Train bandits
I had a major work project on and didn’t arrive till very
late on Friday night. The journey up was eventful – we were diverted and
arrived nearly an hour late because of “armed men on the line”. Now, I’ve heard
some railway excuses in my time – wrong kind of snow, swans on the line, and even
a mysterious “bridge bash” (either a collision with a bridge, a long card
tournament, or a wild party, we weren’t told) – but never this one. We
passengers had visions of a posse of bandits tying a curvaceous blonde to the
track and cackling as the “whoo-whoo” of the prairie flyer is heard from round
the bend. “Hayelp, hayelp!” she hollers, like Penelope Pitstop, till the
Anthill Mob or, better, some dashing hero with pencil moustache rescues her and
carries her off into the sunset on his steed. Such are my girlish daydreams.
Anyway, after all that excitement, I went straight to bed.
Familiar face
In the morning I had a major task to do. It was exactly a
year since I had experienced the disaster caused by my lousy skin and I had not
shaved since in order to let my face recover. So now it was time to remove my
impressive beard and look less like Robinson Crusoe and more like … well, Sue
Richmond. It was weird to see the familiar face emerge, encouraging to see that
my eczema was much improved, and joyous to see the familiar me emerge as I
applied my makeup. It wasn’t perfect as I’d forgotten one or two things, but
frankly I didn’t care and I took a photo of the returned me wearing a pretty
pair of mushroom earrings that a friend had given me.
It was weird yet joyous to see this familiar face again after a year |
Out and about again
I was unsure how I would cope with being out again after a
whole year when I had to relearn how to be a guy in public. I needn’t have
worried as within moments all the familiar landmarks made it seem like I’d
never been away.
First steps back out in the world. Love the gay police car! (KD's photo) |
(KD's photo) |
Almost immediately on getting to Canal Street I bumped into
familiar friends which is what I like best about this event. In fact, over the
weekend, I met Zazoo and her friend David, who distracts all the boys with the
stunning tattoos that Zazoo creates on him, Emma Walkey, Kay Denise (KD) and
Mrs KD, Bobby and Mrs Sox, Gina Burton, Sarah, Kate Collins and Mrs Kate, Kara
Rowe and her fiancée Louise, Tania Thomas of Nottingham Invasion, Maddy Watson,
Jemma Stevens and Jo D whom I hadn’t seen for years, Stefania, Amanda Mc and
Sarah whom I first met last year; Lisa Goodridge, Rebecca May and Priya Rai all
from the TGirl Bar; Helen Louise and Helen Turner, both beautiful ladies from
the Brick Lane Set; Joan Tabb, Debbie Roberts, Alexandra and Elen. I had made
plans to meet Andrea Fortune and Elle Drescher for the first time and sure
enough we managed to. It was a nice surprise to meet Vanessa Hardwick for the
first time, a well as Josie Hughes who runs the Adam & Eve dressing service
in London (Jody Lynn of the Boudoir was also in evidence with her Boudettes). I
got to know Anna Faith, Pippa Stockings and other girls whose names I have
probably forgotten or inadvertently overlooked. So it’s a busy social event! I
was sad to miss Jolene Young, Rachel Kim and Susan Matthews who were there.
Sadly, Wilhelmina from Hungary and Erin from Norway weren’t able to make it
this year.
KD, me and Kate (KD's photo) |
Me, Sarah and Zazoo (KD's photo) |
Events
As has become traditional, I had lunch at Villaggio’s. In
past years I used to organise lunch there but this year, being unsure of my
health, I had planned nothing in particular. But Bobby and Mrs Sox joined me
and we had a nice catch-up.
In the afternoon I went to the park to browse the stalls and
I bought a couple of wigs for party time, when that returns, and got various
freebies. It’s always the best place to bump into people.
That evening I had dinner at Velvet, organised by the Queen
of the Scene, Ms Kate Collins and her wonderful wife Suki.
Sparkle Saturday dinner at Velvet. L-R: Jo, me, Emma, Maddy, KD, Kate. |
I hadn't seen Jo for over two years and it was lovely to catch up with her. |
The chocolate selva at Velvet is to die for.
Inevitably, as always seems to happen, we ended up in the
Molly House, which is probably my favourite venue there, and, equally inevitably, Napoleons.
Sparkle Sunday
The Sunday was a day I had to make a decision: attempt to
cover my unhappy skin with makeup again, or end the experiment and go home. I
decided to risk it and Sunday was, again, a mix of bumping into people,
watching the stage acts and enjoying the venues in Canal Street. I ended the
evening with old friends Zazoo and Emma in Delicatezze (formerly Eden) for dinner and the Molly House. I was glad that I’d ventured out to
Sparkle again this year.
Two great friends with me, Zazoo and Emma, in the Molly House |
Sadly, the weekend made my eczema flare up quite badly
and it was clear that I was unlikely that I would be able to go out any more without full
recovery from it.
2) HOLIDAYS
I’ve had a few trips away this year and one or two other
outdoor activities. I have tried to be somewhat androgynous outside, which isn’t hard
as so few of my clothes are from menswear shops these days. In fact, I cannot remember my male sizes any more, which has left me making the same kind of wrong purchases as I used to make twenty years ago when I was first buying women's clothes on a large scale.
As well as walking
some of the Capital Ring here in London, I’ve visited the East Midlands on separate
trips and took a deliciously relaxing holiday in the Canary Islands. And, yes,
I did wear my bikini.
Cromford in Derbyshire with Matlock beyond from the Black Rocks |
Rutland Water in winter, in England's smallest county |
The Capital Ring: Richmond Dam and Lock on the Thames at one end of London |
The Capital Ring: the Thames Barrier on the Thames at the other end of London |
The Capital Ring: Looking towards Docklands and the City from Woolwich Arsenal |
The Capital Ring: Peaceful in Old Isleworth |
Fuerteventura: view from my hotel balcony |
Fuerteventura: Every day the chambermaid made a different animal out of towels. The monkey was my favourite! |
Fuerteventura: Botanic Garden at Oasis Park, with over 2300 species of cactus. They certainly make a point. |
Fuerteventura: Lovely beach and warm sea at Costa Calma. |
3) STILL SEEING TGIRLFRIENDS
I’ve still been seeing my London girlfriends even though I can’t
dress. We’ve met up in favourite locations: drinks at Verge in Brick Lane, lunch
at Sarastro’s in Drury Lane, exhibitions in Somerset House, summer picnic on Primrose
Hill, and I’ve enjoyed a couple of trips to the Science Museum to see and hear early
Cosmonauts with Sarah who actually works in the space industry.
Helen and Rachel at Sarastro's restaurant, two especially nice ladies. |
Painting by Alexei Leonov, the first man to do a spacewalk (in 1965). Old but still very bright, he gave an amusing talk on it at the Science Museum. |
My health seems to be improving so I look forward to returning to a proper state of feminine existence in 2016.
Thanks for reading and I hope that 2016 is a wonderful year for you.
Sue x
Happy New Year Sue - fingers crossed that your (dressed) adventures resume in 2016. Great round up of the year - and I loved the monkey too :o) x
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rhiannon. The towel goat was pretty good too! Sue x
DeleteHappy new year, Sue and I hope 2016 is kind to you. Fingers crossed the beard is long gone. L x
ReplyDeleteThanks, honey, I hope so too. Sue x
DeleteHi Sue,
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
And hopefully this will be the year Sue can be herself again, after dealing with skin issues and doctors last year (sounds good to be able to say "last year" about 2015 doesn't it?) And seconding Lynn's comment - I hope your beard is now a thing of the past. (If I could afford electrolysis, I'd get it in a heartbeat!)
Glad to see Sue get back into the scene with Sparkle. Everyone in the pix looks so nice! But it was easy to see that it was last summer, from the outfits...although over here, up until a couple days ago, those same outfits would have almost been comfortable. We've been having a bit of a heat wave... Yesterday, which was cooler - 55 degrees Fahrenheit - I saw several girls in short shorts and rubber flip-flops. They were either late for the heat wave, or ever hopeful for an early spring.
Loved the pix from your trips...it's been a long time since I visited the UK, and they brought back memories of a wonderful time. Maybe someday I'll get back...time will tell. (And it would be nice to actually know someone there...)
Now looking forward to some posts about Sue being out and about in (feminine) style!
Hugs,
Mandy
Thank you for your sweet comment, Mandy, and Happy New Year to you as well. Do let me know if you do plan to come to the UK. Incidentally, we've had the warmest December ever here, warmest by a long way. More news on the skin issues as they arise but I hope to be out and about again in 2-3 months time. Fingers crossed. Sue x
Delete