Representing Trans* In Chicago And In The Friendly Skies

And to think I almost decided NOT to come while I was in the middle of my drama back in September and October.

I'm so glad I did decided to come to Representing Trans*.

I not only got to hang out with old friends like Tiq, Myles, Jen, Precious and Kristen, I got to meet new ones like Amos, Chase, Ariel and countless others during my weekend trip to the Windy City.

I accomplished my goals of getting reacquainted with Giordano's Pizza and a Slurpee in whatever flavor was available at the first 7-Eleven I encountered.

And I finally got to meet and have conversations with the legendary Kate Bornstein and Vivian Namaste.

Kate and I at one point talked about what is like to go for being the neophyte activists barely mentioned as leaders in the community to respected elder statespersons.

Speaking of conversations, finally got to meet the awesome Fallon Fox and Christina Kahrl.  We spent a wonderful couple of hours at a local restaurant plotting the next phase of the trans revolution that will not be televised along with getting to know each other.We had so much fun doing that  we lost track of time enough to where I missed my non-stop flight back home to Houston despite me doing the Chicago Midway 5K run to gate A19 from the TSA security checkpoint and ended up having to take another one 30 minutes later that went through Birmingham.  

And it was beginning its boarding process in 10 minutes at gate B-20.  

As in Concourse B.   Arrgh.  

On the Birmingham-Hobby leg I even had a nice conversation with a woman on that homeward bound flight.  After revealed to Rita I'd been in Chicago for a trans conference, that sparked a wide ranging conversation between us that lasted all the way back to Hobby 

Despite getting back home a little later than I'd planned, it was a wonderful weekend.   For those of you I didn't catch up with in Chicago this time, you can be assured it won't take me five years to make my next trip there.

And if you want to assure you get quality time with me, do what Ruby Corado-Walker does when I go to DC.   She just grabs me as soon as I step off the plane at DCA.

Yep, even when I'm traveling, there are times as I did with Rita, when I unexpectedly get to shift into trans ambassador mode and do some 'ejumacation' about our lives.

And it's a reminder that we are representing trans not just at conferences,, conventions and symposiums, but just by living our everyday lives to the best of our ability.