i had a good night last night.
(ps. is this blog going to try to change my attempt at only using lower case? if so - i scorn it)
i drove to toronto (from hamilton, where i work) and nearly immediately jumped on the streetcar to go to sushi time downtown, on queen street. i met up with my lovely and wonderful CB ladies, most of whom i had not seen for a year. sad - i know. we enjoyed vast amounts of sushi, tempura, dumplings, and good conversation. we spent about two hours at the restaurant, and headed down to king street to gabby's for a couple of drinks on the patio. we sat until 12:30 talking about our lives, university, where we were, and all in between.
these things really remind you of what is important. an old friend. a good meal. a patio umbrella. we had spent so much time together in university and from then we all spread to infest toronto (or some outwardly lying area) with our CB-ness... and we'd done wonders. i do miss university, but i moreso miss the wonderful people i was able to spend time with on a more regular basis.
note to self: see university friends more often. you *heart them.
i then made the brave trek (alone) up to queen to wait for a streetcar. through cat calling men, through drunken stumbling teenagers, through dark knight fans, i made my way to the well lit starbucks on queen to wait. one hour later, a woman named dale had started a conversation with me, and we were able to get on the streetcar together (fear level - down).
Dale was wonderful - a trans woman in her 50's i would guess, she told me her story - slowly and more a product of other stories combined, as opposed to a blunt conversation - of her shift from a male in the banking industry for 35 years, to a female photographer... and how this became sort of a manifestation of her internal transition. her casual demeanor about her transition, and how her trans lifestyle was so comfortable to talk about, was really wonderful for me. she spoke about her self portraits as her way of being able to explore her feminine side, without anyone knowing... and she responded strongly when young guys walked by, and made disgusted faces, and yelled "disgusting!". i felt as though i was learning so much from her, by not even knowing her full story.
we parted ways, and she handed me her card. i made it home with my keys in my hand, ready to attack... but i didn't need to. lakeshore. you've trained me well.
i had a good night.
(www.dalemreidphotography.com)
(ps. is this blog going to try to change my attempt at only using lower case? if so - i scorn it)
i drove to toronto (from hamilton, where i work) and nearly immediately jumped on the streetcar to go to sushi time downtown, on queen street. i met up with my lovely and wonderful CB ladies, most of whom i had not seen for a year. sad - i know. we enjoyed vast amounts of sushi, tempura, dumplings, and good conversation. we spent about two hours at the restaurant, and headed down to king street to gabby's for a couple of drinks on the patio. we sat until 12:30 talking about our lives, university, where we were, and all in between.
these things really remind you of what is important. an old friend. a good meal. a patio umbrella. we had spent so much time together in university and from then we all spread to infest toronto (or some outwardly lying area) with our CB-ness... and we'd done wonders. i do miss university, but i moreso miss the wonderful people i was able to spend time with on a more regular basis.
note to self: see university friends more often. you *heart them.
i then made the brave trek (alone) up to queen to wait for a streetcar. through cat calling men, through drunken stumbling teenagers, through dark knight fans, i made my way to the well lit starbucks on queen to wait. one hour later, a woman named dale had started a conversation with me, and we were able to get on the streetcar together (fear level - down).
Dale was wonderful - a trans woman in her 50's i would guess, she told me her story - slowly and more a product of other stories combined, as opposed to a blunt conversation - of her shift from a male in the banking industry for 35 years, to a female photographer... and how this became sort of a manifestation of her internal transition. her casual demeanor about her transition, and how her trans lifestyle was so comfortable to talk about, was really wonderful for me. she spoke about her self portraits as her way of being able to explore her feminine side, without anyone knowing... and she responded strongly when young guys walked by, and made disgusted faces, and yelled "disgusting!". i felt as though i was learning so much from her, by not even knowing her full story.
we parted ways, and she handed me her card. i made it home with my keys in my hand, ready to attack... but i didn't need to. lakeshore. you've trained me well.
i had a good night.
(www.dalemreidphotography.com)