Dragging Yourself to Work?

This post is actually not about me, but a couple of guys who worked for me over the years and their Halloween costumes.  As many of you already know here in Cyrsti's Condo, I worked for years in the commercial sit down restaurant business. During Halloween, the "bosses" allowed us to have an evening of "dress up" for the servers and bar tenders.  Over the years, I think surprisingly, I did not have very many instances of my male servers showing their "feminine" sides in drag.  Two did though and here is the story:

The first server was a very effeminate "out" cis gay guy from an era when gay men did not have as much acceptance as they do today,  He didn't care (which was cool by me) but on Halloween he came to work as a drag queen - complete with heels. First of all, the company costume rules forbid any potentially dangerous footwear.  Heels definitely fit that description but- when the store manager (a genetic) called him on it, he said "why? you wear heels in here all the time?"  I bit my lip and vacated the area and the next time I saw him, indeed he was wearing his pumps.  The "moral to the story"?  His feet were killing him after his four hour shift.  He had won the fashion battle, but lost the war!

The second story comes much later in another restaurant and really came out of no where.  I had one very androgynous server on my staff and really gave it no thought how he would dress for the Halloween shift and in fact, didn't even though he was scheduled.  I (like everyone else) was surprised when he came in to work cross dressed and I didn't even know him. My only real tip off came when before he came back to clock in for his shift, he stopped at the bar and said good by to his girl friend who had brought him to work.  His costume for the shift was simply coming as one of my genetic servers and he effortlessly succeeded.

I can't even begin to tell you how many of my regular guests that night asked me who "she" was and was it true "she wasn't?"

Those two experiences were about it over the years.  Not many "braved the restaurant" elements to cross dress or do drag at Halloween in any of the restaurants I managed.  Over all, it was just too tough to do because of safety considerations. As far as I was concerned, I never even considered coming to work as a girl at all.  In fact, one year I came dressed in my old Army uniform (yep-still could fit in to it  in the mid 1990's) and one year as "God".  I wore white sheets over my regular dress shirt and tie. Wore one of my huge "mistake wigs" - a long straight platinum blond and cut off enough to make my self a "Fu-manchu" mustache.

Think of it this way, if God says did you enjoy your meal- you dammed straight better say yes!

Cyrsti's Condo "Sunday Edition"

"Ker Plunk!!!" Welcome to a "late day version" of  our Sunday Edition here in the Condo! Running late from one heck of a weekend!

Page 1.-  The week that was- or wasn't!  The week around here was basically involved with the fast approaching Halloween holiday.  Party time for genetics, trans girls and cross dressers to strut whatever "stuff" they have. Plus, it is a time for many cross dressers to venture into the world.  Many for their first time. A very exciting and very scary evening, with or without all the "ghosts and goblins" or the vastly more popular vampires and zombies this season.  Especially "zombie drag".  Just go to your local thrift store, fight all the other cross dressing guys away from the larger size dresses-tear one up with a fright wig and you are ready to go!  I can't believe two things for me this year.  The first is, it is nearly here and the second is for the first time ever I'm on pace this year to pass along all of my Halloween epics!

Page 2.- Dancing the night away.  As I wrote, Saturday night, my lesbian partner Liz and I went to a big lesbian Rainbow Dance close to Cincinnati, Ohio.  For me it was rather bittersweet.  First of all, I was rather naive to think the outfit I had picked out for the evening was going to work out as well as it did last spring at Trans-Ohio. (It seemed someone had gained more weight than she thought.)  Not to worry though, I ended up with outfit (plan B) which worked better in the mirror.  For some reason though, I didn't feel as relaxed as I thought I should have been when we arrived.Maybe it was a premonition.  We had no more than found the bar and appetizer tables, when a genetic I referred to as "helmet hair" (looked like it) made it her special goal to spot me and said "hey dude! what's your real name?  I was taken back for a second (a huge mistake) and said "Mine is Cyrsti, what's your real name?"  Really?  Look, I do not expect to be embraced or supported by everyone, but don't seek me out to bash me!

As much as I try, I try to not let transphobic bigots get under my skin or in my noggin, but I can't tell you I wasn't looking for the bitch to seek me out again.  She didn't and actually the rest of the evening was OK.  I did dance with Liz and saw at least three other transgender sisters in the crowd of around 300.

Looking back, I don't know what other expectations I had except to enjoy the evening with Liz and do some people watching.  I just made the mistake of thinking all lesbians are any more accepting of trans women than all gay guys are.  It wasn't as if I was trying to "force" my way into their sandbox.  My partner wanted to go.  I just have a problem when a genetic (lesbian or not) gets this evil sh-t eating smirk on her face when she is leering at me.  I think I will get a t-shirt that says "Get a life-you can't have mine!" (The vast majority of the people there paid no attention to me at all.)

Page 3.- Fall colors!  Saturday I figured a sure fire way to cleanse myself of "Helmut Head" was to change the color of my head.  I have been considering going darker for this fall and winter and as a matter of fact, Liz and I were admiring another woman's hair color at the dance.  It's difficult to describe except the color resembles a dark auburn with maybe a Henna tinge of extra red.  I have so much hair, Liz needed two boxes of coloring to make it work.  She slathered it on my hair and then as I rinsed it off-her shower looked like a copy of the Psycho  (Alfred Hitchcock-1960) classic bloody shower scene. I do love the results and have added a quick picture. The color is tough to see in the picture here.  I have another which shows more of my hair and the color which I will try to remember to pass along later!


Page 4.- The Back Page  That's about going to do it kids for this week's Sunday edition!  I will keep you all in my thoughts and pass along good vibes for a great week ahead for us all!

Cyrsti's Condo "Quote of the Day"

Cyrsti's Condo "Quote of the Day"

My Failed Political Career!

Perhaps you have read this Halloween experience of mine in Cyrsti's Condo in the past, but I'm old so I think I'm allowed to repeat myself, if I can remember!

This experience was actually a year after my "French Woman" Halloween party and happened at a really neat old "painted lady" house.  A "painted lady" is actually one of the terms used around here for a wonderfully ornate Victorian wooden house.  The setting was a "natural" for a Halloween party!

I was still with my first wife and working as a DJ at a local radio station and getting increasingly bold about going out cross dressed at Halloween.  On this night, my wife stayed home and I actually went with one of the news girls at the station. (See I told you I had lots of rope!)

I finally gave up on a mystical perfect feminine character costume and just dressed as one, but this time not slutty. If I had a costume, it was simply a man cross dressed as a woman to the best of his ability.  By this time of my life, I had had the chance to accumulate a small wardrobe, a couple wigs and shoes.  I picked what I felt was a nice outfit. Wig, dress heels etc.  The whole effort was so mundane I really don't remember exactly what I wore - except people at the party began to comment who the "well dressed woman was." Well needless to say, I was really flattered and could move away from my spot by the vintage coffin with it's skeleton-as my date.

Then, as the evening progressed, I got the biggest surprise of all when a young politician and his girlfriend invited me to leave the party with them and go to a couple others.  It was one of those I wonder "what if" I had moments of my life. I didn't go and he ended up serving many terms in Washington.  (No Pat-this all happened many years before Monica Lewinski.)

Like a good cross dresser, I made sure the news woman got home and I went home to my wife and life-never knowing if I had a chance at a career in Washington afer all!

"Whirlin' and Twirlin' "

I'm really looking forward to tonight!

Liz and I are going to the Cincinnati Lesbian "Rainbow Dance" which is expected to draw in excess of three hundred people.

My outfit has been picked out for a week. Silky black "gaucho style" Black slacks, ballerina dressy black flats and a sleeveless top which is hard to describe except it is sort of a cross between an argyle and black and white tweed. I'm wearing my hair back tonight with the beaded transgender symbol beret Liz made me and I'm carrying a beaded black bag with a long silver should chain.

I'm set!

Or am I?  I got to thinking - what if Liz asks me to dance and worse yet, if someone else does!

People think I'm kidding when I say I have NO rhythm and damn little coordination!  In my past when I have drank my way into thinking I could dance, some mean person videoed me to show I couldn't!

Seriously, I am just going to tuck this little bit of paranoia way back in my noggin and play the dance card only if I have to.  Liz and I have this special way of hanging out in our own little world anyway and I sincerely doubt if I will have my dance card filled up. But if I'm asked, I know Liz will get a kick out of it, so I will dance.

It's a damn slight better than being part of the speed dating!  Can you imagine how I would do at that? I can tell you I have a "hair trigger mouth" which is set in motion by three parts of my body. My arse, my foot and my brain-in that order!

Also, we are looking forward to seeing if there are any other partners who identify lesbian/transgender as we do!

Finally, I am an incorrigible flirt, so I just can't wait for tonight!

"Out" for Halloween

Finally getting around to a couple of your comments here in Cyrsti's Condo to my first Halloween post!
Here they are, presented in a different format:

1. 
   Michellewhois

   Great story! I especially loved the statement "For the evening, I came up with a "costume" which not surprisingly, was more slut than originality. My skirt was short, heels high and hair was long. The result was a relatively uncomfortable evening in clothes I really hadn't spent enough time wearing to understand what I was "walking into" literally-my heels killed me. My imagined enjoyment of walking down the street in my panty hose, short skirt and freshly shaved legs did thrill for awhile-until the chill set in." It reminded me of way back when I first came crashing out into the world. It also reminded me of some of the other girls back then and how we strived for that sexy look instead of trying to find our happy medium in the world of women's fashion. Thank you for that brief glimpse of back in the past.
2. Michelle, you are welcome!  It was dark in that closet wasn't it!  Crashing is a good word!  Quoting an old Jerry Reed song "We had a long way to go and a short time to get there!"

3. 

   A "Horny" Halloween Costume Idea?

4. And Jen Smith: 
   My first time dressing as a woman was when I was in my early 20s. Yes for me it was also at Halloween, a party at a friend's house.
   
   If I recall, it came up as a spur of the moment thing. It was a Saturday, we knew we were going to this party but had no budget for costumes.
   
   An upstairs neighbor was in our apartment that day, and somehow it came up that I could go dressed as a woman. This neighbor had a blond wig that she offered up, and I think she also lent me some sling back heals that barely fit. I know I didn't last long at the party wearing them.
   
   That was over 25 years ago, and I remember just a few details. I vaguely remember wearing an off-white, or maybe more towards a light tan knee length dress. I think nude or white pantyhose. I don't remember anything about makeup, but I probably ended up with blush at least, probably not foundation or anything else.
   
   We got to the party, hosted at the parent's house of a fairly close buddy. As we got out of the car (I wasn't driving), another buddy of mine and his girlfriend came up to us, recognizing my future ex-wife.
   
   He asked her, while looking at me, "who is your friend you've brought along?" LOL! He didn't recognize me, nor did he realize I was a guy!
   
   Well, that was the first time out in public officially for me, and I faded back to just wearing pantyhose, stockings and panties off and on for the next 20 years before it dawned on me that I wanted to be a woman.
   
   Thanks Cyrsti for poking this memory out of my past!
5. Thanks to both of you ladies!!!
6. 
   

The "Don't I Know You" Halloween

This evening happened a couple years after the "Spook Out" trip to Columbus I posted recently here in Cyrsti's Condo.  I was still in total denial to anyone who asked about my cross dressing tendencies and still semi cautious about where I went locally-except this night.

One of the few big clubs in town in the early 80's was having it's big Halloween Dance/Party.  The whole idea of going was driving me crazier than I already was and finally I figured I would go for it and see if I could go incognito as a woman.  At the time I was still married to my first wife who would have said "whatever you think is right dear" if I had said I was going off for a sex change and would be gone for a few months.  It was never good to give me that much line to run with ever.  At the time too, her youngest sister (17) was living with us for awhile.

I can't remember now exactly where I acquired it, but I came up with a fairly form fitting sweater dress which (for once) wasn't "slut-short".  I belted it off, wore black panty hose, heels, blond wig (of course) and just happened to find a black beret to finish off my look.  With what I call a true red lipstick, I liked the outfit and felt good I thought.

To this day, I still remember the look of shock on my sister in law's face when I came out of the bathroom. Shaved legs and all.

I figured I had zero chance of anyone in my home town recognizing me at the club.  First of all, most of my friends didn't go there anyhow and I hadn't been back around for very long. Wrong! I wasn't there through one drink when this guy in a mask came up and said "I know you!"  I said no you don't and he simply said "you look just like your Mother." Really? I almost dropped my drink as he pulled up his mask. He did know my Mother and I.


So much for my wonderful plan of going "incognito".  The evening did however still turn out to be lots of fun in my "French Girl" outfit! As far as the guy went, I had grown up with him in a very small circle of friends. He was always pretty wild and he taught me how to drive when I was 14 and things like that. His aunt owned a little variety corner store in a less than fancy side of town.  When we could, we would go there and read the trashy mags and newspaper of the day. He may have noticed me giving a little too much attention to the female impersonator articles! Similar to the one on the left!  He knew! I might as well just old him my "dirty little secret." Oh well!

Working Mom!

From Salon.com :

Meghan Stabler (Credit: YouTube/Meghan Stabler)

 Meghan Stabler describes herself as “just like any other mom, be she single, partnered or married.” She says, “I’m planning meals, balancing budgets, figuring out how to encourage my child to enjoy reading, and juggling my schedule to accommodate taking my daughter to the doctor when she’s sick.” She’s a business executive and a human rights advocate. She’s also just been named Working Mother’s Working Mother of the Year, and as such, she’s not just like any other mom. She’s a trailblazer. Because she’s the first transgender woman to achieve that honor. The Human Rights Campaign, where Stabler serves on the Board of Directors, announced the news Wednesday, offering congratulations and quoting Working Mother’s editorial director Jennifer Owens, who calls her “a true champion.”


Brings up the question:  Just how deep can the feminine run in transgender women even though they are not a baby birthing womyn?