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 OTHER ISSUES March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005
Newsletter |
JANUARY 2008
CONTENTS
[Upfront] The Month
(Just click on the bracketed title [xxxxx] above to go directly to an article.)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [Upfront] THE MONTH Diane Frank: Looking back, looking forward. Inner View: Speak or act with a pure mind and happiness will follow as your shadow, unshakable. Art: Arthur Fellig, the freelance photojournalist better known as Weegee, cruises the streets of 1940s New York in the wee hours of the morning in search of the sensational. Gloria Fenton: Alone again, naturally: Gloria's journey with Sandy continues. In the News: Some of the most stylish people break all the so-called fashion rules but the one thing they all have in common is good hair. Last Laugh: CD humor from “For Better or For Worse” creator Lynn Johnston. Elaine - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [Community] MAKING CONNECTIONS By Diane Frank In many ways, I’m glad to see the end of 2007 and look forward to 2008. But as far as 2007 for Alpha Omega, we did a few important things that are worth recapping. First, we organized a book tour for Helen Boyd, promoting her new book, She’s Not the Man I Married. This provided us with increased visibility and connections throughout the greater Cleveland area. We even had a couple come up from Columbus for the event. Next, I’m very pleased with two particular sets of speakers we had in 2007. Rachel Roberts spoke on the trans-kids support group that the LGBT Center is running. We also had a speaker from the LGBT History Project being run at the Western Reserve Historical Society, and we have found a venue for volunteer work through this. This year also marked Alpha Omega’s first official participation in Transgender Day of Remembrance. Finally, we launched a grand experiment in outreach to helping professionals. Of 79 professionals who we got the right address for, we had replies from 12. That’s pretty astounding for a direct mail campaign. We’ve now received and distributed the promised copies of My Husband Betty. We still need to list the amenable ones on our website, and think about either expanding the program or further follow up with the responders. Of my comings and goings this last month, the only thing of note is that the LBGT Center put on it’s year end “Silver Ball,” downtown in a facility run by the Ritz-Carlton. I wore all silver for the event, and had a lovely time, seeing old friends and making new ones. Turning our attention to 2008, I see the possibility of AO having an outing to the Asians and Friends Chinese New Years Party in February. In March we’ve learned of a “Transgender and Ally Symposium” being held in Columbus the 7th-9th. While this conflicts with the regular AO meeting, we should probably have someone here…most likely me (sigh). With that, best wishes for a great 2008 for all. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [Inner View] WE ARE WHAT WE THINK In a well-known phrase, the Buddha said, Hatred can never cease by hatred. Hatred can only cease by love. This is an eternal law. We can begin to transcend the cycle of aversion when we can stop seeing ourselves personally as agents of revenge. Ultimately, all beings are the owners of their own karma. If someone has caused harm, they will suffer. If we have caused harm, we will suffer. As the Buddha said in the Dhammapada:
We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world. Speak or act with an impure mind and trouble will follow you as the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart... Speak or act with a pure mind and happiness will follow you as your shadow, unshakable. Happiness and unhappiness depend on our actions. --Sharon Salzberg, spiritual teacher and author. Cofounder of Insight Meditation Society. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
-- Arthur Fellig (Weegee)
Photographs by Arthur Fellig Arthur Fellig (1899-1968) is best known as a candid news photographer whose stark black-and-white shots documented street and night life in New York City. By monitoring police and fire-department radio calls, he was able to obtain a large number of dramatic photographs. The ability to be the first photographer on the scene of a major incident, resulted in him being given the nickname, Weegee (a reference to the fortune-teller's Ouija board). In 1943 the Museum of Modern Art included several of his photos in an exhibition. He was later included in another MoMA show organized by Edward Steichen. His acclaimed first book collection of photographs, Naked City (1945), became the inspiration for a major 1948 movie The Naked City, and later the title of a pioneering realistic television police drama series.  girls at the bar, c.1946  the gay deceiver, c.1939  transvestite in a police van, c.1941  untitled - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [Memoir] SANDY SEEING ME IN HER CLOTHES - part 3 By Gloria Fenton Sandy’s Bedroom Sandy’s bedroom was not large in size. The twin bed, dresser, shoe rack, and a desk and chair took up a lot of the floor space. But even if it was a bit cramped, Sandy’s bedroom quickly became a comfortable place for me. My first visit to Sandy’s bedroom was a bit scary. When I first tried on some of Sandy’s things she was sitting on the living room couch waiting for me. Her mother, step-father, and sister were all upstairs sound asleep—I hoped. I did not need to be caught at 10:30 at night in Sandy’s bedroom, trying on her things. It would have been hard for one to explain that Sandy knew that I liked to dress and look like a woman and had offered me time in her bedroom to check out her clothes. Even though I was nervous and a bit scared, I didn’t dare not take Sandy’s offer for fear that she might never make the offer again. Besides, part of me was very eager to see and feel some of Sandy’s things on my body, even if I wasn’t sure they would fit me. I told Sandy my secret and then agonized for three weeks waiting for her response. Her allowing me to be all alone in her bedroom to try on some of her things was much more than I had expected. And so that night, for the first time, I entered a woman’s bedroom with her permission in order to wear her clothes. There I was, in the bedroom of a seventeen year old young woman, hoping something of hers would fit me. By then, it had been some time since I had seen or felt anything feminine on my body, so I was very much hoping that something of the young woman I loved would fit. As far as I know, I was the first and only young man to ever undress in Sandy’s bedroom, and open up the top drawer of Sandy’s dresser. I don’t believe any man had ever seen Sandy’s most intimate things as I saw them that night. I had never had the right to look in a woman’s dresser before, let alone knowing I had the right to take something from that dresser and put it on my body. As I put on one of Sandy’s stockings, I sensed myself sitting on the edge of Sandy’s bed and putting on the stocking the same as Sandy did. Being one that enjoyed the look and feel of stockings on my legs, Sandy’s stocking fitting me as it fit her was in incredible feeling. I hadn’t even felt Sandy’s stockings on her, yet here I was wearing one, as if it were my own. When my stockinged foot slid right into one of Sandy’s shoes from her shoe rack, I knew I was wearing that shoe as well as Sandy did. Sandy had told me about wearing a new slip her mother had gotten for her. As Sandy’s slip went down over my body, I was well-pleased with how it formed to my body as if it, too, were mine. Sandy’s bedroom seemed so very magical to me at that moment. I had tried on items of Sandy’s, and they had all fit me. There was then a good chance that virtually all of Sandy’s clothes and shoes would fit me. That had never been true for me before. For those few moments, Sandy’s bedroom was a world unto itself for me, and I wanted so much to explore the rest of that world. There was still the fear of getting caught, so I did not linger in Sandy’s things; but, I had found myself becoming very comfortable in Sandy’s bedroom. All I could do was hope, though, that Sandy would let me share that experience again. That night I had shared an intimacy with Sandy that no other guy ever had, and she had let me do it. To my great joy, two weeks later, I was once again in Sandy’s bedroom, but with a new twist added. I not only had the freedom of exploring Sandy’s bedroom, wearing anything and everything of her's that I could, but also I had the freedom to the rest of the house, as well. Sandy had created a plan to give me all that freedom, and all I had to do was do a few house chores for her. My nervousness of going into Sandy’s bedroom the second time was only momentary. By the time my guy things were shoved under Sandy’s bed, my anxieties were gone. There I was standing naked in Sandy’s bedroom with my new world to explore. I realized Sandy would have also been naked in her bedroom, and dressing in her things about an hour before me. Right then it was my turn to put Sandy’s things on my body, and for me to be dressed, as if I were her standing there. No woman had ever shared her bedroom and everything she had with me like that before. Sandy’s bedroom was as if it were my bedroom. I felt very comfortable being there. I had the right and the time, and I knew I wanted much more than just one stocking, one shoe and a slip. I had the means to dress my body the same way that Sandy dressed her body, from being naked to being fully clothed. I walked out of Sandy’s bedroom a while later, literally dressed from the skin out, just like Sandy. I was even in the same girdle and dress that I knew Sandy had on the evening before. But I didn’t just have Sandy’s bedroom to be in then. I had the whole house to be in while I was dressed like Sandy. Doing Sandy’s chores was a minor price to pay for everything Sandy had given me. The wall to wall mirror in the living room gave me my first good look of me dressed so much like Sandy. I looked good in Sandy’s clothes, shoes, jewelry and lipstick. Right then it could have been said that I knew Sandy in ways that no other man had ever known her. I had never felt so close and intimate with any other woman before. I felt so good walking around the home doing Sandy’s chores, as if I were her doing them. Being dressed like Sandy, I even took a moment to relax after doing her chores by sitting on the living room couch in what was her normal spot to sit. There was a bit of sadness as I went back into Sandy’s bedroom knowing I had to change back to my guy things. I really didn’t want to take Sandy’s things off of me, because it was like they belonged to me. As I did undress, though, I realized that just as I had dressed like Sandy in her bedroom, I was also undressing just like her, in her bedroom. Sandy’s bedroom became a very special place for me. To be continued... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [In the News] THE BODY BEAUTIFUL: FOLLOWING ORDERS By Lesley Thomas Published: October 4, 2006 Your guide to make-up and more. This week: rules and regulations I've just had a text message from my friend Sian. "Yes, you can do a ballet pump with a non-skinny jean." An e-mail from another friend the other day asked whether she was "allowed" to wear her purple top with her favourite black trousers because, she said, "Trinny and Tranny say you should never wear colour with black". At a party the other night, a fashion writer gave me the heartbreaking news that it wasn't enough to have a snazzy handbag from Marc Jacobs – I would have to upgrade my wardrobe to match. I'm a bit sick of all these rules on what to wear and what not to wear, aren't you? I'll wear what the heck I like as long as it doesn't make my bum look big(ger) and, even then, it won't stop me from wearing white jeans – despite their hall-of-mirrors effect on my rear end. Some of the most stylish people break all the so-called fashion rules but the one thing they all have in common is good hair. If your hair is wrong, it doesn't matter how well put together your wardrobe. Who ever notices Donald Trump's impeccable suits? On the rare occasion that Victoria Beckham is well-dressed, no one would notice because of that contrived bob or the Medusa hair extensions that came before. 
Conversely, if your hair is right, nothing else really matters. We can forgive Madonna's daft disco look because her hair is looking mighty fine. So you can join me in burning the rule books on clothes if you wish, but we'll have to stick to the hair commandments.The guidelines aren't as restrictive as you'd think. Superstylist Paul Edmonds, chief follicular troubleshooter on the BBC's What not to Wear, and, as it happens, Madonna's sometime hairdresser, says: "A lot of women think you have to cut your hair when you reach a certain age. It seems to start at about 35, often coinciding with children, busy careers and hectic lifestyles." The logic, it seems, being that the less hair you have, the lower its maintenance. However, according to Edmonds, longer hair is actually easier. "If you're too busy to style, you can just put it up, or wash and rough-dry it. There's no reason to go short unless you like cropped hair." The one thing you do have to watch after the age of 35 is your hair colour. "Most women seem to think that you have to go lighter with age as it's easier to hide the grey, but it doesn't suit all skin tones," says Edmonds. Reassess your hair colour every year or so. Long, pale blonde hair after 40 can make you look like Barbie's granny; note that Edmonds's most famous client is a much darker, minkier blonde than she was in her thirties. Another must: regular deep-conditioning treatments. American women take these very seriously and Manhattan salons custom-blend deep conditioners to suit hair types. "You'll really see a difference if you have regular, specialist treatments in the salon," says Edmonds, who also styles Keira Knightley and Natalie Imbruglia. "If that's too costly, an intensive conditioner or a hair mask every couple of weeks at home will make your hair shinier and healthier." A few of my friends are treating fringes as some kind of alternative to Botox – assuming that a style which covers frown lines will make them look younger. "It can have the opposite effect if it's too severe," Edmonds says. "If you do want bangs, have something soft. It gives you more flexibility and it's much more flattering." The rule about hair cuts every six weeks can be relaxed. "Trimming the ends every couple of months is a good idea, but if you're growing it, you can leave it a bit longer." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "That singer before me. Who was HE? It was very courageous of MTV to start the show with a genuine, how you say...transvestite. He was very convincing. It was only his hands... that gave it away." --Ali G (aka Borat aka Sacha Baron Cohen) referring to Madonna's just finished opening performance at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [Last Laugh] FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE By Lynn Johnston October 28, 2007 
an older one 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Group Information The Alpha Omega Society is a non-profit social support group for heterosexual crossdressers and their wives or partners. We primarily serve Cleveland and nearby Northeast Ohio communities.
Publication Information Contributions of articles are welcomed, but may be altered in the editing process, with the author’s intent retained, or may be rejected, whether solicited or not. We will exchange newsletters with any other similar group.
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