This being my first conference and only my second time out, I did not know what to expect and to say that I was a little apprehensive is the understatement of the year. It took me 5 minutes, but it seamed like an hour, to get my nerve up to open my room door and to venture outside, in daylight, alone. I walked the short distance across the courtyard to the conference center (but it seamed like a mile) to register. But once there I was greeted will open arms by some very helpful people who made me feel welcome. Being early and not having any events scheduled for the afternoon I reluctantly returned to my room awaiting a new challenge; going out in public with a group to a dinner theater.
The evenings event was a dinner theater at Agatha's. I nervously went down stairs to the front of the hotel to wait with a group of girls for our bus. I had not gotten to meet and really talk with anyone that day and was feeling a little left out (thoughts of parties that I had attended before where no one talks to you and you stand in the corner for a while and later slip out unnoticed); however, this was quickly dispelled when Jean sat down next to and began talking to me as if I was a good friend that she hadn't seen in a couple years. We had a wonderful time sharing our life with each other and you realize that we all have so much in common that it is scary. We got to the theater and I found out that this would be a audience participation production that everyone and I mean everyone had a part in and also that we would were not the only people in the theater; we comprised about half the audience so the other guest would be getting an extra show that night.
The meal was great and the actors got in a lot of ad-libs at our expense but we returned the same (not everyone stuck to their scripts). I was called upon to write a song (which is my one true talent in that I can write a song about anything to any tune spontaneously), and it was performed by myself, Jean, two GG's and two guys from the audience. We all had a great time and I hope that the others attending may have seen us in a favorable light instead of what they normally see of us on daytime talk television.
Thursday saw the conference get into full swing with vendors, seminars, lunch presentations and a lot of socializing. I could not wait to get out of the room now. I got my first manicure and the operator complemented me on who ever applied my nail extensions until I told her that they were my nails. I had let them grow for over two months and I have been keeping them in my pockets for the last few weeks.
The evening event was a trip to the Hard Rock Cafe. Over 100 of us girls got out in the middle of downtown Atlanta and paraded into the restaurant and it was a parade. We were definitely on display and I just held my head up and swung in there and I didn't care who saw me or what they thought. The wait staff had a ball with us and several of the girls and the staff got up and performed a lot of numbers together. After dinner several of us hit the bar at the hotel until we closed it down.
Friday morning arrived too early and the activities started promptly at 9 a.m. Today I got my first make-over. Now I had not been reluctant to leave the room since that first day and now I was nervous again because I had to leave without any makeup. I felt like a lot of other girls feels when not wearing any makeup - naked. But I made my way to the vendor area where Jon of Transformations from Austin, Texas gave me a lesson in makeup and a much needed makeover. I loved it. I immediately changed and got some pictures made by the local photographer.
That evening there was a talent show with 19 acts. Now this is an impromptu show with only one rehearsal, and I was amazed at the wealth of talent we had among us. Mark, a FtM was the most impressive one to me singing an original composition acappella. It was very inspiring.
After dinner it was time to hit a club and several of us hit the "Chamber" or did it hit us. The Chamber is an S&M bar with very loud music, a good bar, an interesting clientele and a "play room". I did not go into the play room because the girl standing outside it looked like she could hurt me and enjoy doing it. The Chamber was fun and very different so we all felt comfortable. I had a couple of conversations with the locals who were very interest in us.
Saturday morning got there even earlier that the day before. One thing you don't get at Southern Comfort is rest. There is something going on almost 24 hours a day, and you don't want to miss any of it. The best thing about Southern Comfort is that you get met new people and make new friends, and I found a marvelous new friend, and her name is Beverly also. We met in a seminar in which there was a third Beverly (imagine the confusion when the three Beverlys arrived). Anyway Beverly Ann and I hit it off immediately and were fast to become very good close friends. To the point that she had an extra gown with her that she loaned to me to wear to the formal that night. Now this dress had never been worn and the tags were still on it; where else would a stranger loan an expensive dress to someone she had only met the day before.
The formal was just that, gowns and sequins and glamour everywhere and I was feeling a lot better in the loan dress than the one I had brought with me. The entertainment for the evening was the Atlanta Gay Men’s Choir. They were superb, and there was one song that brought tears to every eye in the place; it was so beautiful and so sad. It was an emotionally charged evening.
Afterwards it was off to the "Otherside", a lesbian bar that offered live entertainment and also a quiet place to talk.
And then it was over. I got back to the room and cried for an hour. I was so sad that it had to end. For the last 4 days I had been the girl I always was. I never had to revert back to my male self, and I seldom had a male thought. I had been freed from the walls that I had hidden behind for so long and I had fun. I wanted it last forever but everything has to end, and I was heart broken.
As I told Beverly Ann the next day over a "bubba breakfast" (back in drabs) that I was a changed girl and that I was very different from the girl who checked in on Tuesday. For one thing, I had new wonderful friends but mostly I had some confidence that I never had before and I will be back and I would be going out some more.
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