Always ask for a Public Defender -if there's any kind of plea bargain down
from the original charge it's free -and in Traffic Court at least -it really
doesn't matter how innocent you are or how much proof you have -
the Judge and the Prosecutor are a well oiled team -it's two against
one and you need to even the odds.

My Public Defender got the charges dropped to $50 and for (1)
year I can't get caught driving without a license or no insurance -
I said thank you so much and took the deal because I was smart
enough to know this is not a fair system -they would fine Jesus $40
and Ronald Reagen $45 if either of them set foot in Traffic Court
so I figured if an innocent tranny can walk out paying $50 on  a
$200 ticket (and $50 is the entire cost -it includes the Public Defender
fees the court costs, etc everything -like I said I said "thank you so much!"
to my Public Defender and took the deal - now I have to borrow $50
but it's a lot better than $200 or more - so I'm very happy

Always ask for a Public Defender!
I watched several pleas and everything is pleas to avoid an actual court
date, and from what I saw time after time the judge waived the
Public Defenders fee (an enticement to settle before a trial obviously)
so - the Prosecutor and Public Defender will talk and it's free
the Prosecutor won;t talk to you personally or as happened to me
he'll try to screw you because he can, and be rude about it in the process
so seriously The Public Defender is basically a free service
you're a complete idiot if you don't take advantage of a free lawyer

The other thing I noticed was that as lot of the sentences had minimal
monetary fines that were actually collected  ($100, $200) and much
of the monetary fines were either waived or offender was forced
to work several days - so the State of Minnesota has a pretty good
forced labor operation - if you figure $10/hr x 10 hrs =$100.00
a days labor really isn't worth that much -but if you figure that you
can replace one highly trained government worker (earning say
$45,000 per year  with additional benefits for a total of $80,000/yr)
with a steady stream of  incompetent traffic violaters, well that makes
sense.

so one reason why your local government (or at least the Edina MN
city government)doesn't need to hire as many workers is because
of the steady supply of  forced labor provided by Traffic Court

I had no idea

PS I wore my black dress and afterwards went to a clothes closet
for some free clothes and a guy was commenting behind me how she
looked really nice in a wolfish sort of way  - I  ignored them :)
After that I went to Como Park and walked around a bit to celebrate
that I was still a free girl and not serving 20 days on the Edina Chain Gang!
Then I asked my mom for $50.00 (bummer)

I'm  starting to get really nervous about appearing in Traffic Court
tomorrow - basically what happened I wound up misjudging
how close I was to a bus and tore off my rear view mirror.
No one was hurt and the bus wasn't even scratched but I
got a ticket for driving on an expired license only my license
wasn't expired, the state just hadn't gotten around to issuing it

here's the link to my poetic version of all the details of the accident:
http://transformative-honeymoons.blogspot.com/2012/03/drag-3-smash-my-dog-jumps-away-from.html

anyways I got a ticket for an expired license and I thought I could just
go down to courtroom meet with the court appointed person to look
at my case, and they'd see me documents and dismiss it - but when I did
that a few weeks ago she said that since I was involved in an accident
she couldn't even look at it -I had to go before a judge so I set up
a court date, dressed up in a pretty blue skirt and jacket and went to the
court and wound up having to present my evidence to the Prosecutor in
a closed room with no lawyer present and no judge -seriously this is the
literal truth -the judge handed his courtroom over to the prosecutor
here is the link to that experience (last Friday)

http://whosthenewgirl.blogspot.com/2012/06/i-went-to-traffic-court-today-oh-my-god.html

So in the end I signed up for a Public Defender (because this system is an
unbelievable Profiles in Nicompoops) and scheduled to go back to court
Friday at 8:30 - now as I said the Prosecutor already knows there is no
legal case against me -he's hoping I don't show up or that the Judge hates
me for being trans, or that he can provoke me to saying something stupid
by being really inconsiderate to me -

Anyways here are my facts just so that I 've gone over them before I go to
court in the morning:

My Driver's License was renewed on 11/23/10 and is currently valid
I have a DVS certified document (a legal document) to show this

however in April 2010 I received a speeding ticket in
Howard Lake, MN and was given the option of attending a
SMART class for $75.00 and it wouldn't appear in my records,
so why not -I attended the class and have the receipt to prove it.
I attended class on 5/4/10

Therefore on 9/22/10 I was notified that my driver's License was withdrawn
Howard Lake MN managed to "lose"the record of me attending
class -so they sent me a notice that my Drivers License were withdrawn
for failing to appear in court - I contacted the Howard Lake Prosecutor
and he apologized the first time for his office's error.

In November I went to renew my license and was told I couldn't because
it was revoked so I went back contacted the Prosecutor again and got
a letter form the Minnesota Dept of Public Safety stating that  the Order
from 10/22/2010 had been removed from my record as of 12/03/10
(I know the dates don't match but that just means they never contacted
me about the order they issued against me - which is not surprising)
 and it also stated my Minnesota Drivers License remains valid

So I contacted the drivers license people 5 or 6 times by phone went down
once before the accident and once after the accident but no one would
actually issue the license even though it was valid, I'd paid the fees, etc -
it was just the complete incompetence of a government agency in
full display. So I couldn't get them to issue me a license even though
my license was perfectly valid and this had gone on for over a year.

The day after the accident I called and they said of course my license is
vslid so I spent $9 on an unofficial transcript that shows my license
was valid the day after the accident at 8:59 in the morning
and then when I realized I was going to court I ordered the $11
certified legal copy that I can use in court (both of these required
30 mile drives to downtown St Paul )

now the Prosecutor has already seen this evidence and is still
going to court, making me get a Public Defender, and appear before
a Judge on an expired license charge - I admit I can't make a
government employee do the job they were paid to do and issue
me the license I paid for, but I went to extreme lengths to try and
coerce these employees to do their job and the records show my license
is valid and the Prosecutor knows this and that's what scares me

why if you know all this are you taking me to court?
I seriously think the Judge is going to throw me in jail for being trans
or at least that is what the Prosecutor is hoping, why else would
he go to court with this as evidence - to show off how incompetent
the system he is employed by is?

More pictures and a couple audio recordings from my performance at Pride
yesterday. I'm the harmonica player (in the dress!) and I put my recorder too 
close to my amp [which is a 1957 tweed Fender Princeton - a very nice amp
-the second prettiest thing on the stage :} ]  so the recording has too much harp 
in it -but the sound crew did an excellent job with the mix that came through
the monitors and the sound the audience heard - I got a number of good 
comments on our performance.


Actually I was really nervous beforehand - my church held service in Loring
Park at 9 am and my hands were literally shaking thinking about going on,
but I calmed down during the service and by the time I walked over
to the stage I was smiling and confidant (and a little nervous, but
just a little). The band was really cool with seeing me dressed up and
I was very comfortable by the time we started playing - but still it was
really monumental - I mean I was up there in a dress playing the blues 
with my band - as  important as it was to me as an idea , when it actually 
came down to performing live - it seemed very natural


My favorite line - I was walking around and my heels kept catching the
cords lying around and so finally I stand there my heels tangled up in
some cords I turn to the sound guy whose looking at this mess and I say
"this must be why guys don't wear heels on stage!" -well I thought it
was funny.


so OK -you're probably wondering what the heck do we sound like?
well here are a couple tracks from my recording:

UPDATE -here the radio interview we did -this was live at Pride right after 
we finished our set :

I also found the KFAI interview of my friend the Peacock Lady and as soon as I get
the picture with me and her I'll post that - me, her and a couple other  friends walked 
around for a couple hours -so that was the rest of my day at Pride on Sunday.


Anyways - Sunday at Pride was a blast - I had a really good time and being the first
time I've played in a dress with a band, well I'm going to remember yesterday
for a very long time.


Today was anticlimatic - but it was a good day.  I had to take a test in order to get into
the Tier 3 program -so I put on a pair of white capris, a purple blouse, and black
flats and drove over and took some tests - I got a 93% - so obviously I passed
and I'm in the program - I  really wasn't worried. Classes start Monday
and now I'll be going from 9 to 3:30 five days a week - so far dressing as a woman
and going to class has been OK and hopefully it'll keep being fun, but I'm
totally committed to going through the whole program as a trans-woman and never
letting them see me as a man, regardless of how I feel on any given day (I really
can't imagine not wanting to do this so I'm just saying if that should change I'd
still see it through) 

That is me, playing my harmonica on-stage at Pride.
Yes, I'm in a dress! We did really good, the crowd
was a little small but we were drawing people in and 
got a good reaction from the crowd we had and the
 music itself sounded really good - I have a recording 
so I'll post some more pictures (the pictures were 
taken by my friend Michelle). I t was a lot of fun and 
some friends showed up to cheer me on - which is
wonderful - as a performer, having a friend show up
is really amazing - so seeing several friends out there
really was just wonderful.
I have the recording of the show -but I'm exhausted
today so I'll post a couple songs tomorrow, along
with a few more photos,
Immediately after our performance, me and the lead
singer gave a live interview on KFAI - and I haven't
heard it yet but they coaxed us into a Harmonica/Singer
song which -well let me put it this way -do you know
any harmonica/singer groups?  Anyways we improvised
something from one of the songs in our set list - but I'm
sitting playing and thinking ""how the heck did I get myself
into this?"  -I'm sure it's in the archives of KFAI all ready,
but I'll wait until tomorrow and add that link too -even if
it is really embarrassing - it's live radio at Pride about
me and my band and if I look a little silly  -so what -
we are making up music as we go live on the air -
who does that?
There's more but I'll write about it tomorrow, and
add the audio links and some more pictures,
and talk about the peacock lady, so stay tuned....

So that is me and my table at the Dirty Queer show - I talked to about
10 to 15 people I guess -which is a lot for me - my throat is pretty sore from
that much talking.  The Art show was fun and they invited me back next year
I won't make any money  from showing-I really didn't expect to, but I'm so 
broke that I was kind of hoping I would and I could go out and party some 
night next  -Oh well, I met some new people and saw a couple friends there 
so it was worth it.  I didn't stay for the Performance part of the Dirty Queer
show, partly because I am really broke and partly because I have a cold 
and I want to be sharp tomorrow for my 11:30 am performance on the
Power to the People stage ( and the last picture is a picture of the stage
I am performing on tomorrow) 


I started the afternoon at Pride in Loring Park and walked around with a friend
which sort of became a group as we bumped into people we knew and 
again I probably talked to about 10 to 15 people, so it's no wonder my
throat is a little raw -I wore white capri's, black flats, and a really nice
reddish purple top, but as much as I wanted to wear some capri's,
I don't think I really pulled it off today -but I'll probably wear the same
outfit Monday when I go in for testing.


So  Sunday's the Big Event - I'm getting up on stage in my black dress
with the ankle high black boots with the 4" heels, I'll have the small
hip pads and a corset on underneath, I may go with false eyelashes,
I'll certainly go with bigger boobs, and I'm breaking out the studio set
of harmonicas (I keep a set of 12 unused harps -one in each key - in
case I ever get another call to go back in the studio with someone)
So I've practiced these songs a hundred times with the band, the only
difference, this time I'm in a dress. I can't believe I'm actually going to
do this - this is a major milestone


Oops! I almost forgot -top two photographs by Zoe

I went to Edina MN Traffic Court today - Oh my God - what a Circus
I show up as scheduled at 8:30am and apparently the Judge
got drunk the night before and couldn't make it to work ( well
It's a reasonable speculation if you'd seen this operation).
So I stood around in the hall outside the locked courthouse
in my blue dress skirt and jacket -looking very pretty I thought,
but anyways I stood around for about 15 minutes before they
unlocked the doors and 30 or 40 people streamed in and the
prosecutor decided to play "Let's Make a Deal!" with the studio
audience - seriously I never imagined anything like this -herding in
possibly 40 defendants and offering all of them reduced charges
without any regard to the nature of the offense, the facts of the case,
anything other than the luck of the draw that they showed up on the
day the judge decided to play hooky! and the Prosecutors desire to end run
the legal system and get a large number of convictions with out actually
bothering to do his job and look act the facts of the case -what a complete
abdication of professional responsibility and violation of all legal
ethics - Traffic Court is still court, and this was just bizzarre.


Anyways I turned down the prosecutor's offer to play "Let's Make a Deal"
with the studio audience and presented my documentation and he
made a point of calling me sir and mister and tried to scare me
with court costs and all that, but he knew I had the proper documentation
so all he could do was either do his job and drop the charges, or make
me set up another date (next Thursday, 8:30 am) and hope that I don't
show up and get a prosecution that way -what a jerk, but I signed
up for a public defender, and I'm going to get the cost of that waived
because I'm so poor - so I go back to court next Thursday with
all my documentation and worry about all the costs I have to pay if
I'm found guilty, but really there's no excuse for this type of
conduct in court - herding people into court with a prosecutor
in a closed room with no judge, with no public defender, just 
the prosecutor and the herd of defendants - in a closed room
is this a justice system in America? 


Seriously - I'm still in shock- I along with forty other innocent
Americans were told to report to the Edina courthouse to appear
before a judge and then in a classic "Bait and Switch" we were led
into a room and the doors were closed and we were left to fend
for ourselves without a Judge, without Lawyers, some people
without Interpreters -just forty innocent Americans forced to
present our cases before a prosecutor - this happened in 
America!  -I'm shocked


Anyways I had to take my mother over to see my father, so 
I'm back in boy mode -tomorrow I show my artwork at the 
Dirty Queer Show in the evening, and then hang out for 
the Queertopia and Dirty Queer Show performances so that
should be fun.

Day #16 - Graduation Day - I got a certificate for graduating the Tier 1
class and another certificate for perfect attendance.  It was fun, there was a
speech and shaking hands with the teacher and the director and cake and
etc - so very easy day  but it was fun.  The class does have 6 continuing
education credits and we covered Word, Access, Excel, and some job related
skills so I have to go and update my resume next week.

I wore the stretch black skirt, the silver and black top and black pumps,
it's a very nice outfit - but it looks professional (well, if you're a secretary,
not so much so if you're going into building maintenance, like I am,
even if I am presenting as a woman)

So the Tier 1 class was a lot of fun and I attended every single class
dressed as a woman, and it was really nice, and people were friendly
to me, and it was a very good experience in getting used to presenting
myself in public as a woman and getting used to that.

As much as I always dreamed of it and feared it and everything else,
the reality is it is very pleasant, it's nice and comforting and reassuring,
and because the classroom environment was well maintained, everyone
was throughout the entire experience really polite and curteous and
so at the end I'm looking at what would have been at one time impossible,
but really now I'm thinking that was pretty  easy.

16 days presenting myself as a woman in a class where I completed the
class (with an A of course) and what else is there to say -it was nice.

I take the tests for Tier 3 on Monday, then Tier 3 classes start July 2nd
(and of course I will be presenting as a woman).

Afterwards I went down to a downtown clothes closet and picked up
about 5 pairs of woman's pants and capri's  and about 4 woman's shirts
and surprisingly a pretty skirt and a nice light blue skirt and jacket and
a really gorgeous reddish-purple blouse - so I've got enough woman's
pants to wear for maintenance class shop days and on the job training"
days.

Then I stopped by the Intermedia building and took a look at my artwork,
(12 prints laid out on a table as I instructed) so the exhibit is all set for
Saturday's reception at 5pm -then I drove home and changed.

I guess I'm not going on a date Saturday - I never heard back from the guy,
Oh well, between the art show and the gig the next morning dragging some
guy around I barely knew would've been a pain in the tush anyways

I'm back in boy mode of course, court tomorrow morning - I'm going to
wear my blue dress suit with the purple top and greyish blue pumps.

Day #15 - I wore a dark brown knee length skirt
with a deep purple velvet top and brown sandals
with 4" heels - I did get some good comments on
the outfit, and it's kind of hard to be terribly butch when
you're walking around in a slightly tight skirt and
sandals with 4" heels. It really forces you to take small
dainty steps.  enough silliness - I got 100% on the Access
exam, so I get an A in course and a Certificate tomorrow
(the last day of Tier 1) - I arranged to take the entrance
test for Tier 3 on Monday at 8:30 and I see my psychiatrist
on Tuesday, I'll probably go to a support group Wednesday,
and etc...so it's starting to look like even though I have 
next week off I'm still going to wind up dressing up as a
woman pretty much every day any ways (I'm trapped!
-I'm kidding of course I could stop any time I wanted to
(doesn't that sound like a load of bull)-actually while rationally
things are really screwy emotionally I'm pretty comfortable with
the routine right now)

July 2nd is the start of the Tier 3 Program from 9 to 3:30,
five days a week until Sept 21st,  day #16 -tomorrow is the 
end of the Tier 1 program, other than a bit of a cold, today
was a pretty easy day,


UPDATE: I was over at a friends house giving her a practice
interview last night and I called her up today to see how she did,
and THEY OFFERED HER A JOB!!! and of course she accepted.
so, assuming the paperwork goes through and all that, which 
it will - I now personally know a trans person who is gainfully
employed in a position of responsibility and making a very good
living while living full time as a woman -so it is possible.


incredibly difficult - yes //  impossible - no  // there is a difference

Day #14 - I wore the light blue dress suit with a purple blouse and
black pumps. The skirt is about knee length, and it looks very
businesslike and very feminine - all the guys have been thinking that
I'll going into Admin to be a secretary when I complete Tier 1 - so
one guy was pretty surprised to hear I was going into the building
maintenance and energy audits program - and I probably won't
get to wear the skirts as much in the Tier 3 programs.  That's why
I'm making a point of wearing a skirt everyday this week.
The test went well and that's the last test for this class, all I have to
do now is go to the last two days of class and I will graduate -there's
a certificate and everything and I will have attended every single day,
and every day I was dressed up -actually it's gone amazingly smoothly
and it hasn't been at all stressful (knock on wood)
After class I had to drive to St Paul to the motor vehicles dept
and get certified proof that my license wasn't expired back in March
of this year (it's a computer glitch -but because I was in an accident I
have to resolve it in court on Friday - I plan on wearing this same dress
suit to court)
Then it's the same old routine -stripping down, taking off the makeup
driving over to see my dad (who we've decided I won't come out to
 and certainly not at this time) so I go over to see my dad and pick up my 
mom and I dress like a guy to do this -so I'm back in boy mode again.
I'm going to go jog a couple miles, work put at home a bit
Then lounge around and shake a little cold


PS -I may be meeting a guy for a date this weekend -just coffee and a chat
but it's been a while since my last date, so of course I'm looking forward to
it if it happens.

Starting my 4th  week -today was an easy day - I wore the jean skirt; blouse
and pumps - class went well - I finished up my assignment early and
helped out another student, the teacher did thank me in the hall for
helping out like that -which was very nice.  After class I was back in
guy mode to see my father at the managed care facility and stayed
in guy mode to give a friend of mine a mock interview to practice
for her Wednesday interview, she's so perfect for the job I can't
imagine them not hiring her, even if she is trans.
 time to go to bed.

That would be me on page 170 of this months Lavender magazine -I'm the 

woman on the right on the bottom image taken at the Trans Day of

Celebration a couple weeks ago posing with a couple friends of mine.

A couple other friends are in two of the other pictures too -so that's

fun to see myself and my friends in Lavender.

I wore a black skirt, black pumps, a silver and black fringed top with

a lightweight black jacket trimmed with the silver to church today -it looks 

really nice on me and a couple people said so-this may be the outfit I wear 

on-stage when I play with my band on Sunday at Pride - but I'll add a 

corset and hip pads and bigger boobs -so I'll sort of be in drag when I 

perform.  I'm really looking forward to next weekend.

Anyways, Church service was good, and afterwards I went downstairs for the

community meal (third Sunday) for a good meal then went with another friend

to a local Gay bar with a male friend of hers and talked and had a couple

Bloody Mary's and a beer, got home about 2pm with a little buzz, took off my 

makeup and now I'm headed over to see my Father at the managed care center

for Fathers' day, after that I'm just lounging around -it's been a busy week

and I have class in the morning.  I'm going to wear a skirt because when Tier 3

starts up in a couple weeks and I'm doing maintenance training I don't think

I'll be able to wear a skirt to class anymore -it  just won't be practical -so

I think I'll wear skirts all 4 days next week, just so I'm not regretting not

wearing skirts when I had the chance - of course I'm still going to be going

to class as a woman, I just will be wearing pants and slacks not skirts

and dresses.

I thought I was going to volunteer to perform at a carnival at my church
so I got all dressed up in my jean skirt, a nice blouse and pumps and
drove over with my dog and several slices of cheese - my dog is an
AKC Champion, trained in Agility, and performs a number of tricks
if you give her cheese -if you don't give her cheese, she just looks at you
like your an idiot.... I also brought my juggling equipment including
fire devil stick, two diabolos. regular clubs, fire clubs, lighted juggling
balls, fire juggling balls - and my dulcimer - so I was all set to perform,
but when I got there it turns out it was cancelled because of the rain
coming through the area - so I took the dog for a walk at a nearby
park, drove home and took off my skirt and makeup to get ready
for a pm gig I had with my band at a local co-op.  It kind of sucked
getting all pretty to drive that far just to walk the dog, and the park
was pretty empty so I could have been walking  around naked just
about, so that was a little frustrating but I got home in plenty of
time to take off my make-up and get ready for the gig, and when I
got there the co-op gave each of us a $10 gift certificate -so I can
use that of something taxable like nail polish or eyeliner, so that's
basically like a $10 bill

The gig itself went well and about 20 or 30 people sat and listened
and like it -we played for 50 minutes, did about 12 blues songs and
it went well -practice on Friday night then Sunday 11:30 at the
Power to the People stage at Pride I will be playing in drag
with my band  - they're all ready giving me a hard time about not
showing up in a dress for this gig, but I really wanted to wait for
Pride to be my on-stage coming out party  it's  exciting actually,
and I'm slightly nervous but it's too far away to get too worried,
but I've never performed on a real stage in front of a real audience
as part of a real band and wearing full make-up and a nice
dress and heels and everything - it's a big moment in my life actually.

But right now I'm in drab (boy mode) and I'm going to go see my Father
for a bit, then see about sitting with a guy I used to jam with at his gig
tonight in Excelsior

UPDATE: I drove out there but it was pretty crowded so there was
no place to park that was remotely close and I would have to lug
my amp and all that, and it looked like there was a cover - so it
was just too much of a hassle - I've played with this guy a number
of times in the past, and a couple were paying gigs but 95% weren't
and this one wasn't - he wasn't counting on me to show up (I said I might)
and honestly t's just not worth it, especially when I've all ready played an
hour this afternoon with my regular band - so it's one of those cases were you
can go back, but all you'll see is a parking lot where the building used to be.

Tomorrow I dress up and go to church then if the weather holds, I
may head over to Como park or use my free pass and go to the
Arboretum and maybe invite a friend for a stroll through the gardens.
UPDATE - she's too busy tomorrow afternoon, I may go alone anyways
then I'll take off the make-up go see my father, take my mother
for some shopping and get ready for class week #4 (the home
stretch for the Tier 1 class)

Day #12 third week completed - pretty routine day I got the
results back from the Excel test - 90% -so a very low A, but
any sort of B on the third test gives me an A for the course,
assuming I don't miss any days next week.

I just wore tan slacks, a kind of loose animal print blouse and
brown flats and I felt under dressed when another female student
wore a skirt and a really nice jacket and the teacher wore a skirt
and jacket too, so I'll make up for it by wearing something nice
on Monday.

Band practice tonight and some stuff for my parents so
I'm back in boy mode all ready today

Tomorrow,  I have to go fight a traffic citation
(I just have to show documentation that my license wasn't
expired -it wasn't but it's a long story) -since it is before
a judicial person I don't think I'm going to dress up -so
unless I go to the 90's at night I will be boy all day Friday.

Saturday morning Ill dress up for a carnival at the church
(Im going to do some fire juggling and maybe play my dulcimer)

UPDATE -KFAI Fresh Fruit show -hosted by Roxanne Anderson
talked about the Dirty Queer show (June 23rd) and mentioned
the Visual Artists -including me, Stacy Wilderness in a list
 -it's at the Intermedia Building the Artist Reception is 5 to 7 pm
The show also talked about the history of the "Power to the People"
stage at Pride where I will be playing (en femme) with my band
Blues Afternoon on Sunday (June 24th) at 11:30 to 12 (noon).

here's the link:
http://kfai.org/archive/2012-06-13?date=2012-06-14

UPDATE #2 -so I went in drab (boy mode) down to the
hearing officer in Edina and she says that since I got the
citation for an expired license after an accident, she couldn't
even look at the documentation that the license wasn't expired
at the time, so I have to go to court next Friday at 8:30.
Now there is now way I'm going to humiliate myself like this again,
If I have to go to court, I'm wearing a nice skirt and blouse -really,
if she couldn't handle the case, she should have told me before
making me drive all the way down there dressed as a guy, sitting
around waiting for an hour etc -what a waste.

Update #3 -I'm dressing up and going over to a friends tonight
and she's going to cook me dinner (very nice) so I'll have to go
over to the 90's some other time.

Day #11 - I wore a really nice silver and black fringed top
with a really lightweight black jacket trimmed with the silver
and black fringe, a stretchy black skirt and  black pumps -
the teachers assistant commented that it was a really cute outfit
and another lady also liked it.  I took the Excel test and I'm sure
I did really well on it.  The teacher handed out a mid-course
progress report and it said:

...is an attentive student who follows directions quickly and
accurately.  She seems invested in the class with a positive
attitude to perform to the best of her ability.  She has excellent
computer skills and volunteers on a daily basis to help peers
learn the computer.  ....(my name) seems to feel comfortable
working in a team and sharing a summary of what was discussed
in class.......will be an asset to a future employer.

Very nice - this is the first time where someone else writing about me
is calling me she, which is very cool, and the review is really going to
be helpful when I go looking for a job - I have a lot of skills but the
intangibles of hiring a transexual could scare off an employer, but
a review like this could help ease those fears. So I am really happy
about this.

After class I dropped off my art work for the Dirty Queer show
at the Intermedia building and bumped into a lady who has a
radio program and I gave her a copy of jam last weekend
at the Farmers Market, so who knows it may get on the radio

I've been in a skirt everyday this week so I may wear girls pants
tomorrow or I may wear a skirt, I haven't decided, I have
band practice at night and since I'm still seeing my father at the home
(who I haven't come out to) I'll be dressed as a guy in the afternoon
and evening, but starting in July I'll be dressed up 5 days a week
8 hours a day, so my time is coming....

Day #10 - I wore a really pretty light blue skirt and jacket, pumps a very
nice floral blouse that looked like it belonged with the skirt, so obviously
class is pretty easy these days when I lead with what I wore- but it is
fun going to class in something so business-like but very feminine.
Even the teacher commented on how nice the outfit was. Then after
the typing test (32 WPM, 100% accuracy) she commented how I could
improve my speed a little and go into admin. - I smiled because a) it's
cool she thinks I'm too girly to go into maintenance, b) I really want
to go into building maintenance and am exceptionally qualified for it and
c) I really need to get out of the office environment  having worked in
cubes most of my life - I was tipping the scales at 279# wen I gave notice
a couple years back -but yeh, I'm not going to get to dress like this when
I'm painting the ceiling or putting up the drywall or whatever
so I'm having fun now -Test tomorrow on Excel but it'll be easy
I'm thinking I'll wear my brown skirt, purple top, and brown sandals
with the 4" heels

I might be selling my drum kit to get some money coming in -money is really
nice to have.....

My friend is going to finish printing off my artwork for the Dirty Queer
show (my printer died a couple days ago) -I get to pick them up
tonight and drop them off after class. I was worried I was going to have
to cancel -if you've ever seen my work, it is so not dirty that it's
in the show only because I'm trans -it is really PG-13 at worst and
some of the other peoples work will be pretty filthy -but if you
know that going in all you can really do is blush and act shocked :)

Now that I'm in the State Food program -I'm eating really good-
fresh fruit, cheese, milk, orange juice -but I haven't gotten my
State Health card -it's only been a couple days though.

[Update - I got the forms for the Health Plan and filled it out and
it's in the mailbox - pretty soon now I'm going to have health
and dental care - yeah!]

Day #9 -I got my Microsoft Word test results back - I missed one question
so I got an A the next test is on Wednesday on Excel.  I'm helping another
student and it's a guy this time - so that makes things interesting -he's
very masculine, and it's hard not to be sitting there thinking we're both
guys ( well sort of) but he really is much more masculine than me, even
if I took the makeup and nail polish and all that off, but actually he's
eager to learn and it's a lot more interesting helping someone than sitting
there waiting for the rest of the class, so it was an OK day, another guy
smiled at me and said hi, all nice and everything, and I was a little surprised
because I didn't think I looked very good today,

My printer broke down last night so I called a friend and she's going to
print off the 36 prints for the Dirty Queer show on her photo printer
and I said I'll pay her back if I make any sales at the show - but it
really was an imposition and hopefully I can actually sell something
and pay her back That still leaves me needing a printer, but right now
it's a matter of day-to-day.

I'm going to post a recording I made of the Farmers Market gig
yesterday with one of the guys in the band that's going to play
at Pride in two weeks.  We joked about how I'm going to be in a
dress for that gig, but I wasn't in a dress yesterday - still it's
good music I just have to find some time to put a song on-line
from the recording I made.

[ UPDATE - OK here's the recording (I'm playing harp):

Otherwise I'm back in guy mode. I'm going to take a jog with the dog,
then go see my father and hopefully get my new medical card today.
I'm thinking I'll wear slacks, brown boots and a blouse tomorrow.

I used to take a lot of aviation photo as a hobby, so I was pretty excited to

see to the Mankato Air show today with the Blue Angels, John Mohr, 

Sean Tucker, Julie Clark, Otto the Helicopter, and a good wing walking 

acting (John Darcy) and the Aeroshell team and a couple other acts.  

It was a lot of fun and I got a few good photos along with several pictures 

of blue sky (where's the airplane in that picture?) b-I didn't go in drag,

mainly because it was so hot I wanted to dress casually and comfortably

(i.e. I looked like a bum) - I had a really good time but it was very expensive

($25.00) so I won't be going out tonight -instead I'll take the dog and stop 

by the temporary nursing home and see my father.  

I will be dressed up for church of course, but then I'll do a quick change

and play with one of the guys in my band at a Farmers Market

(I want to wait for Pride before I play in drag) -because I spent so much

today, I won't go out this week but it was worth it and I have the picture

to prove it. 

UPDATE- I didn't get dressed up for church, instead I went straight to a

Farmers' Market where one of the guys in the band I'm in was doing a 

solo gig for a couple hours and I sat in with him -he did say he was a little

surprised since he thought I'd show up dressed up (the band hasn't

seen me en femme yet) I said I was waiting for Pride to show up 

dressed up but I did show him a picture of me with make up on that

I had on my cell phone, and we talked casually about it a little but

it'll seem a little funny letting them see me in a dress the first time,

but the Farmer's Market gig went well and I'm going to see my father 

in a little bit, then I'll just hang out at home and go to bed early 

Class #9 is Monday and of course I get dressed up for class (I think 

I'm going to wear girls jeans, black boots with heels and a blouse)