Soon, I'll be going on a cruise ...again.

 

 

This year, I'll have spent over a month of my time at sea.  My last cruise for the year is coming up soon, and I'll be on a "new" ship (for us) with RQS.   Unlike all of the other ships we've been on, the Queen Mary 2 sails for a cruise line known for its formality.  It'll be a new cruise experience for us, and I hope we'll enjoy it.

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As I write this, it is close to freezing outside.  I'm not sure if I want to bother getting dressed and taking care of errands.  The temperature will be lower than normal for the rest of the week, and I have things booked towards the weekend.  This means that I'll be looking for all my cold weather clothing, and hoping that I have enough of it available when I need it.

It'll be relatively easy for me to pack for my upcoming cruise, as I will be presenting as Mario while on the cruise.  It's simpler for me to dress as Mario, as the only thing that changes will be the number of layers I need to wear.  But I wish I could have gone on this cruise as Marian.  Even if we had sane politics in the US right now, I'd be in the Caribbean where cultural norms aren't as progressive as they are in the US.

I'm thinking of giving RQS a winter cruise for Xmas.  Although we'd sail several weeks later, I'd want it to be a surprise.  One catch: As much as I don't like the itinerary, it'd be the last chance I'd get to sail on an MSC ship before they abandon the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal for a new home port in Florida.  Hopefully, we'll see MSC return some day, as well as seeing the terminal expand to handle two ships at the same time.

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If all goes right, the year 2026 will have us taking 3 cruises.  But, as soon as we're done with our last cruise, I'll start the process of both renewing my passport and my global entry registration (Trusted Traveler ID), so that I can take my 2027 cruises without worrying if there is enough time on my passport to schedule a cruise.

Ideally, I'd be able to travel as Marian, with a passport that identifies me as Marian.  But that is not likely to happen soon.  RQS still wants Mario as a partner (even though she's comfortable with me presenting as Marian.)  And in today's political climate, it makes sense for me to stay in stealth mode when I have to deal with any employee of the Federal Government.  

Since I rant about the Orange Snowflake and his fascist regime too often, I'll stay away from politics today, save for the "in passing" references in this entry. I'm more concerned about how I'll dress when I get home from my next cruise, as we will want to take the ferry from Red Hook to either the Atlantic Avenue or Williamsburg ferry stops before summoning an Uber.  I maintain my sanity by maintaining my freedom to travel - by any means necessary.  Hopefully, I'll be able to complete the process of getting an EU passport (I won't say which country yet) before this time next year, as this will be my "Get Out of Jail Free" card if I need one.

 

A nice way to end restaurant week.

 

RQS and I had only one thing on our docket today: A Restaurant Week dinner at Le Provençal Bistro,  I've eaten here before with Vicki, and loved the food.  This would be my first time here with RQS, and I knew she'd be impressed.

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We didn't get moving until late morning, and putzed around most of the day.  However, I had a phone call to make - I had to call the co-op board president and develop a game plan for our next meeting.  We have 4 applicants looking to buy apartments in our complex, and have to find the time to interview them all.  In addition, we have other issues that need discussion, and we have to fit everything into a 4 hour block.

Once done with the co-op business, my GI tract decided to act up.  Luckily, I still had enough time to get showered, made up, and dressed, so that we could make a 6 pm dining time.  Unlike RQS who decided to wear slacks, I decided to wear a nice casual sweater dress for dinner. We were able to get out the door by 5:15, leaving us enough time to fill the car up with gas, and still make it to Mamaroneck on time.  

Arriving at the restaurant at 6, it seemed to take forever to have our order taken. Service was slow and spotty, as I expect that one of the servers was not able to make it for the last day of Restaurant Week (an always busy time before Holiday Season).  However, this was balanced by the excellent food in front of us.  RQS had the Salmon Tartare, while I had the Garlic Sausage for appetizers, then both of us had Mussels for a main course, followed by chocolate mousse tarts for dessert.  Both of us would go back here again.  But the next time we do, it will be for a special dinner.

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When we got home, I behaved like a typical woman - I couldn't wait to take off my bra.  As I've mentioned before, I'm very comfortable in my female presentation, and have no problems going out in the NYC metropolitan area as a woman.  Hopefully, I'll be again able to travel the USA in the future as a woman, and go back to "Cruising Pretty" soon.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

(See you tomorrow.)

The longer I'm out and about, the less I write about being TG

 

When I started blogging, I used to talk about how I worried about whether people would clock me as being TG.  I discussed things such as voice training, meeting people as Marian, and other things that would set me apart from cisgender women.  Over the years, I have gained much more confidence in who I am and where I can safely go.  But people like me are under attack from the Orange Snowflake.  Most of us don't flaunt what we are.  We simply want to go about our lives without being treated less than human from certain social groups such as religious fundamentalists. 

This entry is not about being TG as much as it is about life in general.  For the most part, the vast majority of people lead humdrum lives.  Even if one has become famous, such as being a movie star, a sports player, and a politician, most of our lives consist of relatively boring activities such as shopping, doing the laundry, cleaning our houses, etc.. So, what should anyone write about?  I'm not one who makes a big deal about what I'm wearing these days, save that I want to hide my less than feminine features.  Going into the ladies' room is no longer a big deal when I'm presenting as Marian - I just go into the stall, get my clothes out of the way, sit down and relieve myself.  Most people don't bat a eyelash, especially since most fat people tend to be "invisible" to others.

For a little over a week, I've been wearing red nail polish.  As a consequence, I've been presenting as a female. The only reason I removed my nail polish today was that it was starting to chip away.  I figure that I'll go get my nails done when RQS goes home, as I don't want to spend the time to redo my nails while she's here.  

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Today has become a sort of "maintenance day".  RQS decided to reorganize my kitchen cabinets, while I decided to pay some bills and to prepare to do laundry.  Since the light over the kitchen counter got damaged, we will end up going to Lowe's to pick up a replacement later on.  While we were sitting down, we booked a couple of shore excursions for our upcoming cruise.  Now, we have 3 out of 5 shore days where we have things to see when in port.

Cruising has become our preferred mode of taking a vacation, as it gives us the most bang per buck. We keep looking at cruises we can take.  I'm hoping that the snowflake is removed from office so that sanity can rule in the US again.  Then, and only then, will I consider the cruise I want to take - a transatlantic crossing on the Queen Mary 2, where I can return to the States as Marian.

Until then, I'll just have to keep living my humdrum life....

You no foola me. There ain't no Santy Claws.

 

I love the Marx Brothers.  Almost 100 years ago, the Marxes exposed America for what it is in their first 5 films for Paramount.  In The Cocoanuts, they used the Florida land boom as a backdrop on which they hung their jokes; in Animal Crackers, they skewer that pomposity of high society; in Monkey Business, they have fun with the nature of the Transatlantic Crossing, being stowaways, and America's love for celebrity; in Horse Feathers, they have a field day with colleges, football, gambling, and speakeasies; and finally, with Duck Soup, they expose high level diplomacy and war for what it is - human foolishness. 

So, why did I start off with the Marxes today?  Well, RQS and I are gluttons for punishment.  I finally had a good excuse to buy a cruise for RQS as an Xmas gift, and we'll be going on the cruise sometime in the new year.  What does that say about us?  There is a feeling of absurdity I have about what we're doing, as I wonder whether RQS can keep up my pace.  Are we living like we're dancing in the ballroom while the Titanic heads into an iceberg?

With this new cruise, it will be the 3rd time that I've traveled this planned route (New York - Cape Canaveral - Nassau, Bahamas - Cruise Line Private Island, Bahamas - New York), albeit with different cruise line private islands. As of yet, I have little interest in leaving the ship in the Bahamas.  I might want to visit the Space Center when in Cape Canaveral. But, I've been there before and only want to see the area from which rockets take off into space, and not want to see the amusement park like areas of the center.  Luckily, RQS and I will be happy if we never get off the ship.

I am not a fan of cruise line private islands.  NCL has its Great Stirrup Cay (GSC).  MSC has its Ocean Cay Marine Preserve, Royal Caribbean has its Perfect Day at CocoCay.  It seems like every cruise line is getting into the private island business - and for good reason.  All money spent on these islands is captured by the cruise line with little going back into the local community.  Since I am not a beach bum (I spent too much time in the sun while I was young), I have little reason to get off the ship at these islands.  And now that NCL has decided to exclude GSC from a ship's drink packages, I feel that NCL has again reduced the value provided for money spent for a cruise, making its private Island even less attractive for me.

So, why did I choose a winter cruise with a less than optimal itinerary?  Well, I wanted to get away again, as well as finally give my gift to RQS.  In short, I wanted to show her in a concrete way that I care for her. This cruise does just that.  Hopefully, RQS will have a good time on this cruise.

    

Autumn is here! (A short post)

 

The other night, as I was coming home on the second to last train of the night, I noticed one of the signs of autumn - frost on the windshield of my car.  Although I will still have need of my summer clothes on my upcoming cruise, most of them can now be safely put into storage containers for a few months.

Soon, New York City's fanciest stores will have their holiday displays in their storefront windows, and Macy's Thanksgiving Parade will march through Midtown Manhattan.  It will be one of the best times to visit this city - if one's flights aren't cancelled and if one can afford the nightly rates at a Midtown Hotel. As for me, someone who lives near the city, I will avoid the tourist districts like the plague, as it's the time for pickpockets to collect easy money.  For others, it will be the Christmas Shoplifting Season.  Yes, I am a New York City cynic.  But it is the right of every New Yorker to trash their home city - if only to discourage visitors from coming and allow leaving the room for locals to enjoy their city as well.

Ask any New Yorker, and you find that most have a love/hate relationship with their city.  For me, it's a place that my rights as a TG person are respected, not denied.  It is a city where most people feel free to live the lives that they choose, and not have their lives imposed on them by a dysfunctional culture.  It's a city that seems to be the center of everything - if you can't find something here, it probably doesn't exist. 

Yes, New York has it's problems.  We have the crime rate expected in a typical American city.  Yet, young people have always flocked to it because it is the home of great opportunities.  From its beginning, New York's focus has always been a place where "money talks, and shit walks."  When Christian settlers complained about Jews in their then remote outpost of the Dutch, the Dutch West India Company didn't care - they wanted the then Niew Amsterdam to have its focus on making money  Both tolerance for "the other" and a focus on making money is the foundation of New York's culture and will always be the case.

So, why is Autumn so important in New York?

The answer is simple: New York is a place of constant change.  New Yorkers are reminded of this change when the leaves fall, when the storefronts change, and when the tourists come back to enjoy the city.  From Thanksgiving to New Year, we will be flooded by tourists. And I'm glad this is as much a constant as the swallows coming back to Capistrano each year.  

Not Ready for Prime Time (Again)

 

This afternoon, I treated RQS to an afternoon performance of "Not Ready For Prime Time."  It was the second time I would be seeing this play, and it would be worth the effort I made to see it again.

But first...

Late last night, I saw that they opened up the rush tickets for this play a little early.  So I booked front row tickets for RQS and myself at rush ticket prices around midnight, and left a message for RQS that I had tickets in hand.

The next morning (today), I took my time in starting to move and missed both trains into the city that I wanted to catch.  Luckily, there was one more train that I could catch to get me to the theater on time. However, I ended up parking at the far end of the parking lot, as none of the "midday spots" (as I call spots that open up when people return from the city after the morning's commuter rush) had yet opened up near the parking pay station.  From the get-go, I knew that I'd get in my 2+ miles of walking today.

The train got into Grand Central at 1:45.  After taking the shuttle to Times Square, and then the local to 50th Street, I still had over 1/2 mile to walk before I got to the theater. I was lucky to get there by 2:15, and I found RQS waiting for me having arrived 10 minutes earlier.  (She took an Uber to get across town, avoiding a lot of the walking I had decided to do.)  Once seated, we both enjoyed the play.  At the end of the play, one of the actors prompted RQS to get out of her seat and dance - too bad I couldn't get a picture of that for her.  She felt that it was well worth the effort to get to see this play, and I felt it was well worth seeing it a second time.

When the play let out, we took a taxi back to Grand Central and caught the next train back to Croton. Exactly 7 hours after I parked the car, I was turning on the ignition so we could go home.  It was a good, but mildly expensive day out.