Sunday, June 29, 2008

Adventures in Dating...

On the advice of a friend, I've thrown my tiara into the dating circle. Let's see what happens shall we?

But... where to go? A gay club? Wal-mart? Maybe online first, but there are not many sites that let one search for transsexuals. I could only find three: a sex site catering to all kinds of fetishes, a sugar-daddy site with trans-options, and craigslist.

Wanna dress up as a maid and get spanked for not properly cleaning the floor? Want someone to poop on you while you masturbate? Like wearing diapers? Need a little pain with your pleasure? Hmm... this does not seem like the place for me. Oh they make a distinction between TS, TV, and CD, but what kind of person am I going to find here? Probably one looking for sex for whatever reason and I don't need that right now. Next!

Want a sugar daddy? Actually... I would not mind one. I create an account on a popular sugar-daddy-seeking sight. I say I'm trans. After two days of unsolicited abuse, my opinion of straight men amazingly sinks lower. Amazingly, cause I didn't know there was a whole new underworld land to the celler basement I was in.

Okay, how about the gay sugar daddy site? Looking around, I think this is a mistake. There are no trans here, just cross-dressers, gays-in-denial, and transvestites. No transsexuals (Here's the difference.). I'm the prettiest one there cause I'm the only one there. After a week, the only people penetrating my inbox are those same CD/TVers looking for daddies, something my account explicity says I'm not. Not the brightest bulbs here. Enough of this.

What about craigslist? Why not? To my surprise, under misc. romance, you can find all sorts of trans options!

misc romance >>>>>
w4m m4m m4w w4w t4m m4t
mw4mw mw4w mw4m w4mw m4mw w4ww m4mm mm4m ww4w ww4m mm4w m4ww w4mm t4mw mw4t

Well, okay, just 2 options... men seeking trans and couples seeking trans. (Alt.com has many!) Of course you know what you'll find if you go there... since there's only a 'T' option, there's cross-dressers and transvestites as well as transsexuals, just like the gay sugar daddy site.

I respond to an add from an older gentleman who says he's "generous." Vegas is a great town for a generous date... lunch at Paris and shopping. Quelle fun!

He replies to my charmingly delightful hello, "are you in las vegas?"

I reply, "every part of me!"

He continues, "do you live alone, have a nice safe discreet place for incall visits?"

Hmm... what is wrong with that? Let me count the ways... 1) with all red flags now waving, it screams psycho, 2) discreet? I ain't no boy in a dress! 3) my place??? If he can't afford a suite at Trump, he can't afford me.

This fish is too creepy/slimy, better throw it back into the sea... I reply, "No, I live with 10 child molesters and 20 heroin addicts in a neon box on Las Vegas Blvd. in front of the Bellagio fountains. Sorry, guess I'm not you're type... hope you find what you are searching for!"

That was fun, now for something a bit more real... here's a cute boy looking to come home to a sweet, caring tranny. Oh, I'm sweet and caring! I say hi.

I've never experienced sending emails as texts, but that's what we did for the next 1/2 hour, exchanging one-line emails. Well, I was composing beautiful little though poems, but never more than 8 words an email from him.

Hmm...

Then sends a photo... OMG, yummy beefcake.

Young, sensitive, artistic and smokin' hot bod. He says he has to go, but sends his # and wants to txt more later. I wait...

It's almost later...

We spend the next few hours exchanging more proper short-thoughts via SMS. He's every bit of loquacious as he was via email. How disappointing! Finally, he calls...

My phone pops up "Incoming Call - Kentucky" KENTUCKY? LOL! We talk... he's surprisingly more articulate (and drunk) in a higher-bandwidth channel. He's a pilot... helicopter! We chat a bit, and then he lets slip, "Did you see her shoes, girlfriend?"

OMG, I channeled a midwestern repressed gay boy moving to Vegas! You can imagine the type. Gay, has to hide it, but there's an out... get a T-Girl so that he's seen in public with a girl, but in the bed... well, who knows what in the bed, but boy-tgirl sex is closer to boy-boy sex than boy-girl sex.

Oh, why not, let's see where this goes, shall we? Besides, I wanna see what happens to this boy when he get to gay vegas and sees all the openly gay hot boys. I fear he'll drop me like a dildo, but that seems a small price of admission for the show.

Well, where it goes is this: he's coming to Vegas tomorrow! Cool!

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Role Models


So I was chatting with the same wonderful woman who gave me sanctuary from Muncie at a time in my transition when I needed it most. I had just concluded I was in fact, a transsexual with lesbian tendencies and not gay, a cross-dresser, or transvestite. Oh, I knew from London that I wanted to be a woman... but why for? What did it mean? I needed advice, markers showing the path, inspiration... I had to meet others like me.

Ms. Ma was an inspiration. She introduced me to other trannies, some I got on with, others I didn't, but more importantly, she showed me that the tunnel did indeed have an end, and the light there was not an oncoming train! She was then further in transition than I am now... full of confidence, life, and leading a very successful career in technology.

She was bemused at my desires to leaven the lot for other trannies. She did not see herself as a role model because she was living as just another normal woman. I told her that's precisely why she was a role model! How much better this place will be when we have positive role models for our kind. Don't get me wrong, having our own section in the video aisle at the porn shop is kinda cool, but there are other opportunities.

... I think there are anyway ... it's an untested theory.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Why I Use Firefox

Every geek at some point or another has to defend hirself.

Sigh... here we go.

He begs off by saying he doesn't use Foxfire and doesn't know anything about it and that Foxfire represents only 6% of computer users anyway.

LOL
. Which 6%, I wonder? ;)

Well, us for example. :-)

Sounds like Jim is in a bad mood.

Well, he just doesn't understand why anyone would use Firefox [sic]. He has little patience with Firefox [sic] users.

Okay, Jim; this is for you.

It's no secret that savvy computer users run Firefox. The reasoning is simple... in order to use Firefox, you need to be confident enough to download and use a browser that wasn't the default when you first turned on your computer. This - and it blows my mind to say this - is still beyond most people. Think of grandma as a very typical IE user... that is *anyone* who isn't familiar with the tool that is a computer enough to configure it.

Of course, Jim is not like that.

Unsurprisingly, that same 6% of people Jim's talking about are also the leaders of technology, developers, college grads, etc. There are lots of sites which provide data to back this up... higher technology sites pull higher % Firefox users, more sophisticated sites pull higher % Firefox users.
Of course, 6% isn't a fair figure, here's the most recent I found:
http://www.e-janco.com/browser.htm
If you look, Firefox is 15%. Now then, below Firefox are older versions of the same open-source code. So the real figures are much higher. Jim is just way off base there.

Also, while just 15% of the people use the latest version of Firefox, every computer science graduate I know runs Firefox.

Now here's the biggest reason why I use Firefox, but bear with me for a moment... it's not complicated, but it is a complex reason!

What makes the Web possible is the language that all the different types of computers (running different types of browsers) use to communicate with each other. That language is called the Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol, or HTTP. By the way, that's the same HTTP as in http://prettygetter.tv! When you type that into a browser, you're telling your computer to connect to my computer. Connect how? By following the HTTP rules for conversation (computers are very strict when it comes to these things!)

So HTTP allows computers to share data- but what data? How can a computer running MacOS understand data written by a computer running WinXP?

That's the job of the Hyper-Text Markup Language, or HTML. The page you are viewing is composed in HTML. Every web page is composed (ultimately) in HTML. There is a standards body which determines what HTML can do; although they didn't create HTML, they are responsible for its growth. That group, founded by the creators of early web browsers, is called the World-Wide Web Consortium, or W3C for short.

Here's the rub with IE; it's the only browser on the market which does NOT follow W3C guidelines. All the other browsers do- Linux, Mac, whatever, you name it, they all render HTML the way W3C says they should.

Microsoft does not adhere to W3C guidelines, they modified and 'augmented' HTML to make it do all kinds of things that could only be done on computers running Windows. In doing so, they made it possible to write a wider range of more sophisticated web-based application, but at the same time, they created a larger mess (because HTML wasn't designed to do this!)

First, any page you write which uses these 'non-standard' features will ONLY work on IE. That's intentional, by the way, to keep market share. I find it despicable. Unfortunately, Len's page is like this... using code that only IE browsers on Windows machines can understand... and even then, only if they have the same codecs used to make the video.

I think you can see why this is bad in terms of putting information about there for all people to access. Better to put up video in a format and technique that allows all people to view it. I simply can't imagine why one would not choose to do this (unless they didn't know how).

Second, by giving these apps more power, Microsoft has made it easier to write spyware programs and viruses embedded into web pages which can infiltrate your computer.

Firefox users don't get virus, IE users do. Why? First, the things a virus needs to do can't be done with W3C HTML. Period. (To be fair, Microsoft has tried to address this by adding a whole mess of 'internet options' and 'zones' and whatever.)

Also, Firefox code is open-source, meaning the smartest, brightest people have looked on and worked with the code in order to make it stable, safe and secure... you know, people who do it for the love of it, just because it's the thing to do? IE has a team of programmers... maybe 30... Firefox code has been viewed by thousands and any bug or exploit cannot hide from so many eyes. (That itself is a major reason why there are so many open-source software advocates - the stability of mature open-source programs can't be matched.)

Third, any developer who wants to reach all users- W3C compliant or not- must now pepper their pages with code that runs on IE, and code that runs EVERYWHERE else. THIS is the reason why so many developers hate Bill Gates... perfectly standard code that runs the same everywhere won't run on IE cause they don't conform to W3C standards, or worse, each different version of IE conforms differently! What a needless nightmare!

I have been building sites which work the same on both IE and Netscape for over a decade now, and my secret is to follow the W3C guidelines exactly. I don't use proprietary features and I keep things simple, using my creativity to build full-featured sites that are also W3C compliant. Very few people can do this AND do it elegantly. That's how messed up things are.

So, as one who believes that if you put information about there, you have a responsibility to put it out there for all people freely, I am against IE because they do not follow global standards but instead pursue their own proprietary interests. This fragments the information world, makes your computer more vulnerable to attacks, and makes it harder for people to share information freely.

That is why I don't use IE. I also like that Firefox allows me to confirm or deny every cookie some random weirdo wants to set on my machine. You wouldn't believe the traceable information they can get about you if you don't do this!

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Milestones and Millstones

Yesterday passed a major landmark... went out into the world wearing just a mini-skirt and spaghetti-strap cami, minimal makeup... and passed! Even had a guy try to pick me up!

That the fella wanted digits wasn't the big deal though, rather it was passing in such a revealing outfit. In effect, the body becomes the clothing... there's nothing to hide behind... no long skirts or capri pants to hide boy-shaped legs, no scoop necks with gathers to hide teenage-girl breasts, and no delicate sleeves to disguise boy-shaped shoulders.

She scrutinizes in the mirror... what she previously disliked about her legs has been replaced with what she desired. Where there was once insecurity over her breasts has been replaced with confidence and hope. What she previously disliked about the shoulders has suddenly turned into an asset. Standing before her in the mirror was a fit, athletic, woman's body!

And thus, Clio enters a new phase in the transition... situational body passing. In the beginning, there was just situational outfit passing, wearing a hat, coat, skirt and boots on the streets of London and passing- so long as there was no stopping, no talking, no interacting. Then the same from afar and upclose... ubiquitous outfit passing... if the outfits where carefully chosen and the timing was perfect. More progress, and today... situational body passing. I sat at a sushi bar as exposed as I ever was, and passed completely!

One step closer to ubiquitous body passing, and thus, finally living as a woman, with the inside matching the outside. It was a good day!

But it was also a harsh day. A friend told me (yelled at me, really) that I don't know what is love or a friend. I didn't appreciated getting kicked while down, but just like astronomers can detect unknown objects by observing their effect on the surrounding universe, I put her theory to the test. Was it even plausibly true?

Sadly, and with great cosmic irony, she might be right. It would explain a lot simply, but I rather think my lot might have more subtle interactions... a cause for this symptomatic similarity that has not been set right. Dunno.

Friends... how many of us have them?
Friends... ones we can depend on?
Friends... how many of us have them?
Friends... before we go any further, let's be friends!

Friends, a word we use everyday.
Most the time we use it in the wrong way.
Now you can look the word up again and again,
But the dictionary doesn't know the meaning of friend.

And if you ask me you know I couldn't be much help.
A friend's somebody you judge for yourself.
Some are okay and they treat you real cool,
And some mistake kindness for being a fool.

We like to be with some because they're funny,
Others come around when they need some money.
Some we grew up with around the way,
And you're still real close to this very day.

Homeboys through the summer, winter, spring and fall,
And then there's some you wish you never knew at all.
This list goes on, again and again,
but these are the people that we call friends.
- Whodini

I can still recall from memory those words learned when I was just eleven. But why? And why now do they come gushing to the surface?

Are these words meant to heal the wound, that gash in my fragile sanity? Or are they meant to be released forever into the cosmos and out of my system? Or both?

Still... what is a friend?

Another friend told me once that friends are supportive, not judgemental. Encouraging you to be/do what you want, even if they don't agree, and still being there for support if it all goes pear shaped. At the time, this seemed a mature, reasonable definition of friend. I assumed it was true of real friendship.

Then again, some friends aren't very supportive at all when we deviate from their expected norms. Do we call their dropping of support "character"?

What kind of character would we expect in someone who was always supportive? Do we sometimes need anti-support... to be told what is right?

It's no surprise after feeling so alien in my body for all the years to find myself feeling so alien from the human species now... but if there's hope for one, why not the other?

Saturday, June 21, 2008

:: Best Error Message Yet ::


Got this error message while building a system for a client...

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_PAAMAYIM_NEKUDOTAYIM in /home/prettyge/public_html/clients/crazyd/admin.php on line 142

After you've been programming a while, you generally know what the error means... syntax errors are just silly, sometimes you forget a closing '}' ... but I'd never seen that one before.

Quelle excitement! I don't even know what a PAAMAYIM NEDUDOTAYIM is! I wonder what it would look like?!

Checking out line 142, the error was obvious but in a non-obvious way:

$HTML::Out("<option value='$u->user_id' $option>$u->nickname</option>";

Can you find it? Hint: it's a syntax error. Oh yeah, the first character '$' shouldn't be there.

Doh!

But seriously, that was the most exciting error I've seen in ages, partly because it looks okay if you view PHP code with HTML eyes, and partly because I learned that PAAMAYIM NEDUDOTAYIM means "double colon" (::) in Hebrew.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Lunch

His first words to me were straight to the point.

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

He was cute too, almost adorable even. No, definitely adorable.

I had spoken my first words to him earlier, "Hi, I'm Clio," but I guess what I took for massive indifference was instead intense shyness!

"No, I don't," I'm embarrassed to say. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

He continues to play the strong silent type to my questions and pulls up a seat next to me at the sushi counter. Very close to me. Almost touching.

"Would you like some crab, Tyler?" Sam, the sushi chef, saves him from another awkward silence.

"Yeah," he replies, "seven pieces!"

"And what about you, Clio? Dragon roll today?"

I decline, opting instead for the Tiger Maki #2. I can't afford sashimi and a dragon maki today. #2 comes loaded with an obscene amount of fresh fish stuffed with crab. It's by far the best deal on the menu, and I've been wanting to try it ever since I watched him make one for Paul last week. Sam really spoils his regulars who tip well and I was hoping he wouldn't disappoint today. I was skint, but hungry, and this was to be my only meal of the day.

"How old are you," questions the tired-looking lady from the other side of the bar. She looks like I feel.

"Twenty-three," Tyler lies. There's no way he's twenty-three! She responds in kind saying she's ten.

"Touchdown!" Tyler exclaims to himself, caught up in the ESPN highlights shown on the big screen. He's impressed by my chopstick abilities- watching me pick single pieces of pickled cucumber from a small bowl.

I make small talk. "Are you in school here?"

He shakes his head and snuggles up to me. I look at Sam. "He knows what he likes, huh?"

"Tyler! Stop that!" Sam's embarrassed for me.

"It's okay, he's a cute!" I rub his head. "Is today take your son to work day," I tease.

Sam hands Tyler a bowl of crab sticks. "Nah, his mother had to run some errands today. Day care is $600 a month for just 6 hours a day! Plus food!"

The crab sticks provide a temporary distraction for Tyler.

"Wat u like to drink?" offers an unfamiliar waiter. Usually, my drinks are just assumed and brought out to me.

"She'll have a diet and water," Sam answers. Deep, deep down, beneath all the depression and worries, I tingle. He still sees me as a girl!

I suddenly notices it's dark inside here today, and the placemats have all changed. Instead of their normal menu, it's just the standard photos of pieces of nigiri. How pedestrian! How odd!

My creation arrives just as Tyler finishes his crab. Sam did not disappoint! I flashback to the last time I was treated so nicely by a sushi chef. His name was a Chinese man named John, and it was not subtle that the reason for the special treatment was my partner in crime, Miss Winn. She had that effect on men; she was stunningly beautiful and wildly charismatic. I laugh to myself when I realize that the reason I'm finally getting the same extra slices of fish, the larger, better cuts, and the free samples from other people's orders is because I've become that pretty, engaging girl at the bar.

Tyler returns his attention to me. He's quite articulate for a three year-old who's never been in school. Amazing how conscious young minds are... and how wide and wondrous the world looks through fresh eyes. No detail goes unnoticed, every object here at the sushi bar is new.

We play with the wasabi and he watches me make a paste from it with a little bit of low-sodium soy sauce. I draw a smiley face in the green goo and he giggles as I pour more soy sauce into the dish and a grin appears from the puddles of sauce. He helps me mix it all up into a light brown liquid but declines to try it. Smart kid! ;) He's also not interested in trying any of my maki. He knows what he doesn't like too!

My three year-old was rusty, and I find myself reverting back into the teacher role I so often fell into around my younger cousins, trying to point out the finer details of each moment. He's getting excited now, touching my arms. I wonder what he's thinking. By golly, I think this is the first time I've passed to such a young child! His excitement grows, and soon he's pulling and tugging on my arms.

"Tyler, let him eat."

My heart sinks to a new depth. Did he just say him? Or was the it gender-neutral 'em? It for sure wasn't her. Did he just figure it out, or has he known all along? Was this just a slip? He has called me 'she' all those times before; that's awful sweet if he knew and still played along!

The lady across the bar starts talking to Tyler. It's obvious from the way she engaged with him, tired and weary as she was, that she possessed some kind of innate nurturing ability I lacked. I'm suddenly aware of a whole new category of behaviors I would have to learn to ape. Joyce recently told me that's not the word a woman would use, but she didn't give me an alternative... mimic perhaps? I would have to learn to mimic a whole new set of rules until they fired at an autonomous level. It seemed the list of rules grew longer with every passing day. (No pun intended!)

I can no longer bear the thought of being this inbetweeny thing, which is in and of itself a sad commentary on the state of my affairs. A split-second after I hear the phrase, I re-remember it as, "Tyler, let her eat!" I feel my face return to my normal outside-world smiling mask. I guess I should wear my poker face more often; my emotions are often betrayed by my expression. I wonder if Sam noticed?

He flicks on a cartoon of the Jetsons. It can't be the old-school series... the use of shadows are too modern, and some characters too Japanese-influenced, even for an avant-guard 60s space cartoon. When did they make a Jetsons movie? Where was I? London, I hoped.

Tyler again starts pulling for attention, so I give him some affection. Sam, sensing an opportunity, heads to the other side of the restaurant and eats his lunch of tofu, veg, and rice in peace. Tyler and I watch the Jetsons as I finish my fish and rice.

Every time I go there, I meet someone new. Welcome to Vegas, ay?

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Searching for 10,001


It won't matter that 10,000 doors might be slammed in your face, Clio, because when door number 10,001 flies open, revealing pathways of jade and gardens of love, with flowers dancing, fountains sparkling, friends blushing, moonbeams beaming, and abundance abounding, you'll completely forget about all the other doors.

When I read new-age spirituality like this, I can't help but think of the foundations of religion, back when life was hard, and the prospects for improvement grim. The masses needed some system of belief to encourage them to continue on through the suffering, whether it be the promise of an afterlife in heaven, or the promise of a better life, it's all the same. Oh, it's more clever than that, for once you can convince the masses that their own life is somehow sacred, then you have to scare them into not doing whatever it is they please; hence the eternity of hell.

I always found it interesting that new age philosophy seems to ignore this concept of a fiery afterworld, despite it being 50 miles below us, though it is keen to latch on to another idea of science, that we are literally star-children. Of course, once you realize you're in hell, there's no need for such fear-based dogma and you only have time for more positive messages.

Still searching for that door...

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Shortcut To Inevitability


I am broken, beyond repair.
Pray come death take me where
No more hurt, no more pain,
away from wounds I cannot bear.

Tears I cry, all day, all night,
but with luck, by morn' I might
dry these eyes just once more,
at last to see the end in sight.

A coward's end, a failure's life
with nothing left but this knife-
Put an end to the sorrow
With these cuts in flesh precise.

Feel cold steel, a welcome touch,
Twisting in, can't hurt much
Compared to wounds from the others
Sharpened blades lack their punch.

All will is gone; there's nothing left,
But to smile, draw one last breath,
Darkness comes, at last release,
From this dying, rotting flesh.

They think I'm crazy, but who can know?
For thirty years the pain grows!
Caught between two extremes,
Such relief to finally go.

Away from madness, absurd things
Idiots who live like kings
Tormented visions, thy name were life,
For now I know the peace death brings.

More death poetry from yours truly. This stuff just comes out when I feel like this, much like the other stuff comes out when I feel like that.

When the AABA rhyming scheme emerged, I originally thought, "oh, that's different, I wonder if it will work?" I still do. AABB seems a bit too whimsical for such a dark poem, but then I thought maybe the juxtaposition would work. Shrug... dunno... I could rework it as AABB, but it came out AABA.

Sure wish I felt better though.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Notes From The Universe


Q: Clio, what would you call a world where each challenge bears gifts, your enemies are ancient friends in disguise, and by simply pretending your dreams have already come true mountains are moved?

A: Earth.

Too easy?
The Universe

PS -
What would you call a Being who is as ancient as they are young, as clever as they are innocent, as powerful as they are humble, and who is inevitably destined to Win the World Series of Poker Main Event? Clio S...... Duh?

Find a way, Clio, whether through asking or praying, imagining or pretending, broiling or baking, to constantly remind yourself that I am always at your side, armed to the teeth with love, able to shock and delight, and probably, haute couture from head to toe.

Monday, June 16, 2008

What Dreams Are Made Of

I've stayed in bed probably 20 of the last 24 hours. It's impossible to do such things unless, deep down, one really needs sleep, and sometimes it takes a good depression to keep one in bed long enough to catch up on the sleep we really don't think we need.

In the last two hours or so of sleep, I finally started to dream, at last aware of the signals my unconscious mind is sending me.

I'm riding the Tube and get off at the Tottenham Court Rd. station, and walk to work on a cool, wet London morning. I stop at a video store and for some reason, am looking for a game... a driving game, I think, but I don't know why. I search and search, but can't find one. There are some familiar faces present, but nothing happens. I have a hard time walking, but I head to London University College, where I appear to once again be a graduate student. In the halls of the gymnasium (I didn't know they had one) I encounter several former friends from my student days at Georgia Tech. They are brutal wicked, making fun of me and the way I look. I try to walk away, but even the slightest gait is beyond me. Instead, I struggle and struggle just to barely move my legs. All of my former friends have now joined in the ridicule. I've had enough of this, so I wake up.

I do runners' stretches in bed on the half-baked theory that I can' walk properly because my legs are cramping. The morning sun is really lighting up the living room; it must be 6:30 am. Despite having loads of sleep, I'm still too tired to face the day, so I return to bed.

I'm back in the gymnasium locker room, women's, where I see placed at the door the shoes and purse of Heather, a former friend and near wife. She runs with the crowd mocking me earlier now, so I keep myself quiet, hidden. I think she catches a glance of me in the mirror - I look a mess - but she doesn't say anything. I leave. The hallway now leads to some sort of multi-unit dwelling. I live here. I see Bear, a former student of mine. He's with his girlfriend, Harp... they sort of belong here, we were all in this town at the same time for a year or so. Harp exclaims, "Oh, that's what they were talking about, he's here!" I hate it when people call me, 'he!' Of course, I had to admit, I was looking a bit butch.

Bear gets this pained look on his face, like he always does when he has to give bad news. He knows why my 'friends' are making fun of me, having just figured out that me being here is the reason why, and now in the uncomfortable position of being associated with them. Having already been there and been made fun of in person, I already know what he's about to say. "They misunderstand you," is all he finally says.

I leave and catch a bus headed to 2-something, I can't recall. It was a neat name... I still can't walk normally.

I'm on an older style bus - a RouteMaster - the double-decker kind you see on movies with the back open and the pole you can hang out from. London has slowly taken them out of service for more modern, boring buses, and a few 'caterpillar' buses... three buses joined together by a flexible tubing of sorts. I was lucky to ride a RouteMaster when they were still running, as this bus was headed out of London on an early morning, it was clean and empty, it's bright yellow, 'Do Not Step Forward Of Line While Bus In Motion' lettering in the floor mats were still bright and yellow. The grooves of the mat were brand-new clean. I hung outside on the railing, one last time, and find myself getting off at a stop after I realize that I'm headed in the wrong direction. In fact, I can't remember why I'm on a bus at all!

I walk into a building consisting of small rooms with beds, sort of like a hospital. There are TVs showing a video of a woman- a former man- who was now some sort of author (I had seen her ad on the bus). The screen flickered with shots of her visage taken every few years apart.

I heard screams of laughter from the rooms next door, now out of site, "She's not a woman!" I swear it's the same people who were laughing at me earlier. The images continue to show, each one the same person just a little bit older. We see the transition from man to woman, each image accompanied by laughter and taunts from the other room. The images go from youth, to well beyond old-age, into decay, even. Still, as a rotting skeleton cries from the other room, "She's not a woman!"

I'm sitting on one of the beds, watching the images. A man in the bed next to me is doing something, I don't know what, sexual maybe, and he carelessly throws his coat on me. I throw it back at him in disgust. Can't he see I'm sitting right here?

Then a woman enters- the same one on the TV screen- she's like a nurse here, and I hear her giving advice to the fella on the other bed, "Read with you head down, so that you always know what your hands look like!"

I look at my hands... they are filthy... filthy dirty in a way I've never seen them before. I'm embarrassed. What lady would have hands like these! I try to rub them clean, but they stay dirty. The nurse comes over and consoles me, and starts to cleanse my hands, rubbing them gently... they start to look clean again, like my normal french-manicured hands.

Before she can finish, she needs to tend to other rooms. I walk over to a sink and finish cleaning my hands, walk out on the street and catch a Tube headed toward Tottenham Court. Rd. I remember thinking how much I wanted to be an author and write stories of people living in London. I wake up, for the first time refreshed from sleep.

Analysis
Wow. I don't know where to start, or even if I want to go through this here. A mix of history, current events, and maybe, a bit of healing. Once again, I have dreams where I can't walk properly. As I'm not being chased per se, this seems reflective of goals not being met, or perhaps delayed. No kidding. Looking at dirty hands is a warning to beware of false friends and dishonest people.

All in all, a pretty through summary of recent life with a possible warning to the future. I think the cleansing of the hands might represent finally letting go of all the guilt, shame, and ridicule of being what I am. God, I hope so! But who was the trans lady washing, and why was it that I had to finish on my own? You know, some people believe that every character in your dreams is really a projection of yourself. Brutal, ay?

Ah, to be a writer... what could be better? How about a writer who plays poker in her spare time? Or vice-versa, even!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

News U Lose

So that promising job offer, the one with the position exactly suited to my Ph.D., you know, the important usability stuff making a difference for health care providers of America? Call it woman's intuition, but I think they found out my 'secret' and have decided to hire someone a little less freaky. :( Oh, they haven't said so much, but the pattern is the same: they have done a 180 from earlier conversations, and, only after my prompting, have they disclosed that now they won't be hiring until Autumn and don't call us, we'll call you.

Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed! Today, however, I had help.

A computer keeps calling my phone, looking for Neil Patrick Harris, or Neil Diamond, or some Neil who isn't here. The recorded message plays so fast, it's taken me over a month of these calls - like today, usually at 6am - to finally get all the numbers down so I can call back and tell them to quit calling me. So I call, and I - patiently - explain that I'm not Neil and that they'll need take my number off their call list...

"Thank you sir, have a nice day."

Arrgh! Back to bed we go!

I'm scared. This is the 3rd job that's balked over - not my sexuality - but my identity. As you know, being transgendered is not a choice, and it's not about sexual preference, it's about identity... and it's such a threat to most people, I can't seem to get hired. I really don't know what I'm going to do!

It was suggested I wait tables or bartend in a gay bar. I'm almost 40... to have worked as hard as I have, for as long, to come so far, only to find myself a barmaid... well it's a good thing I don't have any self esteem left, or I might cry! I'm entertaining... what's the modern, Chantix term? ... suicidal ideations again.

Tell me, Ms. Washington, "What a difference a day makes!"

Saturday, June 14, 2008

$1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Bracelet Event (#27)

Live WSOP Updates!

Starting now, and all day, and tomorrow, and Monday, I'll be blogging from my phone, sending up-to-the-significant event reports. (You can take the girl out of the geek but you can't out-geek a girl like me!)

Tournament #2 is a $1.5K No-Limit Hold'em Bracelet Event... wish me luck!

xoxo,
Clio

Where I Am
There were lots of players! 2,700 of them! So many, I wasn't even seated in the main room, but rather in a satellite room... they even used another room beyond this to house all the players!

With the ticket bought and an hour to go, it was time to stuff myself full of a high-quality protein source... mmm... breakfast!

And They're Off!
For this tournament, we get 3,000 chips... here's what that looks like.

The First Two Hours
Not much exciting happened for the first two hours. I mixed it up a couple of times, went up, then down, then up again where I stayed, patiently waiting for a hand.

Finally, pocket Kings on the button with a guy across the table raising 800 preflop. I call.

Flop comes King, King, Ten giving me quad kings! I look weak. He bets 1,600 into me, I hem and haw, frown, and finally call. (Teehee)

Turn comes an Ace, he checks, I check quickly.

River is another Ten, he checks, I twirl my hair and make look like I'm trying to think about bluffing. Finally, after what seemed like enough time to muster the courage, I bet all-in. He thinks about it for just a few seconds then calls. Where's my Oscar? ;)


The Second Two Hours
Didn't play one hand for two hours. I did play the last hand of the level with Seven-Eight in the big blind and three other players. The flop was Five, Six, Jack and I bet 1,000 into a 1,000 pot and took it down. We were then moved (finally) into the main event room.

At the end of four hours of play, I was just a bit behind the chip average of 5,600 with 4,500.

The Next Five Minutes
We played one hand and then the table got broken up. I got moved to the 'old' tables... the first ten tables in the tournament. I'd be here until the final table.

I get Ace-Jack clubs, in the big blind, blinds are 150 and 300 with a 50 ante and I have 5,400 chips left when a little stack raises all-in 1,500 more.

There's 2,600 in the pot already, I stare him down and figure him for a steal, maybe King-Jack or something like that. He's worried I'm considering a call. I make a decision to play... after all, you can't win if you don't play, and I was a long way from the money at this point.

I call, he shows King-Queen. I have the best hand at this point, but I'm just a 60-40 favorite. No matter, I was getting two chips for every chip bet, so, it was a good bet.

Flop comes Jack, Six, Three giving me a pair of Jacks. Now I'm an 80-20 favorite. Turn comes an Eight, now I'm an 85-15 favorite. River comes a Queen and I'm out $2,000. Unlucky.

Two hands go by, and I have Ace-Nine diamonds on the button. A fella across from me raises 600, he too seems weak, so I call with a pretty good heads-up hand.

Flop comes Nine-Nine-Seven. I have trip nines with an Ace kicker! He proceeds to bet me all in; he's got lots of chips. What am I supposed to do, fold? I call, he shows Queen-Eight.

Now, in non-poker terms, that's called absofcukinglutely nothing. I'm a 95% favorite to win. The only way he can beat me is by getting a double-inside straight draw (the guy to my right folded a Queen).

Turn comes Ten, River comes Jack, he gets a runner-runner straight and I go home in 975th place. I'm physically ill.

The whole table was aghast. They all knew I should now have nearly 10,000 chips, and in a rare show of poker sympathy, they tried to console me. Whatev, stupid and lucky wins again.

Afterthoughts
I still feel ill. It's times like this when I question the wisdom of my recent endeavors. Did I play too fast? There's an argument for that. I didn't have to call a double-big-blind bet with Ace-Nine suited on the button just because I sensed weakness. I didn't have to call the short stacks' all-in bet. I had the best hand in both cases, but didn't have much money in the pot with either call, so it would have been easy to get away from them. But no... I played the people. How could I not? I didn't play a hand for 2 hours while I watched these yahoos raise pre-flop and everyone else fold. I know they're getting sloppy and just bluffing.

I hate it when I'm right and I still lose. I was making sick reads too, really on top of my game, except for that part about being really unlucky. And so yet again, for the umpteenth time a poker player mutters, "I'd rather be lucky than good."

Friday, June 13, 2008

The View From The Bottom


Warning: the following material is rated 'L' and contains material not suitable for exactly those people who disregard warnings like this one.

Here we sat, two women enjoying a late night meal at one of the many ubiquitous Las Vegas sushi venues. This particular establishment boasted an incredible view of the strip just a few miles away, no doubt, part of the draw, for the fish here was fresh but not just-caught fresh, and the portions were adequate but nothing to praise. Certainly not for the price, anyway.

The clientele was quite a bit more funky than typical; it was a favorite hangout for big-name poker players, the cast of Cirque, and a few other Vegas celebrates. Tables were close enough to hear each other's conversations and join in, if desired. To our left were two boys on a first date- whatever that meant. They were from the same small town back in Kansas but had met online while both just happened to be in Vegas. They both were named Thor... Thor Hanson Zach, and Thor Hanson Issac. Mmmm... bop?

Thor #1 had colorful sleeve tattoos up and down his arms, neck, and who knows where else. Thor #2 looked like an out-of-place wanna-be yuppie. Both were here to play poker, but beyond that was a mystery. Well, they were both quite gay, but that seemed normal here, despite the high numbers of breeders here for a quirky date.

I was here with - let's call her Amanda Huginkiss - who was very proud to be known as a regular here. The hostess was petite and obviously of two races, but it was not obvious to me which two. My ability to differentiate between South American races wasn't very good (not having met many) and what blending of races I had seen come from migrating around the world from America, through Europe, and on into Asia. Coming from the other direction was a completely new experience. Further, my judgement was thrown off being in a Japanese environment. Was she part pacific islander or part Mexican? It was impossible for me to tell. She was lesbian, however... you can't fake the affection she was giving to Amanda, nor the unease Amanda had in returning it.

So there we were, on the surface, two lesbians enjoying some raw Hawaiian Kingfish. Of course digging deeper revealed another story! Amanda was anything but a woman! I mean, she was, but her mind was more male than most men! Her body was also producing more testosterone for her age (40) than most men. Oh, she had a vagina, but that's where the similarities with a woman ended.

I of course, was anything but a woman. I mean, I am... my mind is more female than most women, but my body still bears an elongated clitoral organ- a birth defect from being born a male.

As it were, we and the Thors were on center stage, surrounded by normals, putting on a show with erudite conversation and charming humor.

It was our third date.

The third date... I knew what that meant. It was no coincidence we were where we were... I was the trophy girl, put on display for approval, being wined and dined at arguably a very chic and trendy locale.

The third date is put up or shut up time, and I'd been there many times before. Okay, not really, but I've heard lots of boys talk about it. And girls, too. Giving it up on the first date is too soon for often they don't respect you in the morning, but if you don't give it up by the third date, they lose interest.

At least, that was the conventional wisdom last time anyone cared to share any of it with me, which was in my early 30s. Granted, many of my friends have no problem with sex on a first encounter... sex is after all, just sex... so the third date was initially proposed to me as a way to not seem so prudish among consenting adults.

The fact of the matter was that even as a boy, I never had sex on a first date or even a one-night stand; I just wasn't wired that way. Well, there was that one time, in Hampstead, north London, at the birthday party in a cute home off of Finchley road. It was my 30th birthday, but it wasn't my birthday party, it was my office mate's bash and I was fresh off the boat from America. If our birthdays weren't enough reason to celebrate, there was also some European-wide talent show called Eurovision going on, and we were each encouraged to come as (and bringing food from) our favorite country.

Eager to show off my cleverness, I came as Belgium, bringing of course, Belgian beer, and "American Peanuts Coated in Fine Belgian Chocolate" I swear, that's what the package said... food labeling was incredibly precise over there, and I, like the candy, was a nutty American wearing a Belgian costume. Here, that kind of humor goes unappreciated, but there, I won second best costume!

I had yet to discover the vast amounts of alcohol Londoners could consume and still be sober. I had only previously been to a pub twice, each time, drunker than I had ever been. Stumbling home was kinda fun, and I was always amazed at how sober everyone always seemed compared to me.

What I also didn't know, was that the game being played that night amounted to a bizarre set of drinking rules which slightly favored the winning country and which also severely pommeled the country getting second place. That year, Belgium finished second.

Not being a big drinker myself, I was totally out of myself, drunker than I had ever been and far away from home, even my London home, with no idea how to get there (I had not yet learned how easy it is to get from point A to B in London). Doubly intoxicating.

Now there was this incredibly charming, large gay man there with two Ph.Ds, one in literature and one in Symphonic Music Composition. Albert and I got along great because, well, I could follow his conversations, but I didn't realize he was gay. Sheltered, thy name was I. It wasn't until his large frame completely blocked the tiny door to the restroom I was in that I realized what was going on. I had not yet had time to explore being a woman in this country and already I was being pursued like one! I was not prepared for this, and panicked. Luckily, someone else needed to use the loo, and when Albert turned around to see who was there, I fled through the just opened crack between his body and the wall and found myself running into the arms of another woman who had also been showing me affections that night. It's awful, I can't remember her name, though I know it's in in a journal written while living abroad (teehee, a broad). I think her name was Elizabeth.

I had been avoiding her all night because she was married... I was, after all, a man of conviction and morals. Strong as they were, however, Albert was stronger and I remember praying I wouldn't go to Hell as I was sitting there snogging Elizabeth. Her marriage was awful; she was Turkish and he was an asshole. His culture was that of treating women solely as child rearers with none of the affection that Western women demand from their lovers. I did feel sorry for her, for I understood the longing within her.

I had just moments earlier learned that snogging was kissing and shagging was sex. She wanted to go back to my place and shag. I knew I could give her a night she'd always remember and I wanted so much to give her some happiness. So, still in denial about my sexuality, and with I don't know how many shots of I don't know what in my system, I said yes, and we went back to my place to commit adultery. Well, she was committing adultery. I was just an accessory.

The morning came with lots of remorse from her. I anticipated that, having been there before, and talked her through it all like the girlfriend she didn't have. There was no way on Allah's brown Earth she could ever tell her husband, and she finally realized this to be true. Then she left and I never saw her again... didn't even have a way to contact her; she was a friend of a friend at the party and no one I knew knew her.

I was thinking of that night in London as this large woman was pursuing me. She reminded me of Albert; big, strong, manly, smart, and way into me from the the first moment we met. I was almost as drunk from her affections as I was from alcohol in that little Hampstead flat.

I first met Amanda during a break in the World Series Ladies Championship. She pulled my arm in the sea of people and turned me around just to tell me how beautiful she thought I was. There was an incredible depth to her eyes as she told me how brave she thought I was, and that she admired me for being there and for being myself among all those women.

I was dumbfounded. No stranger had ever said those words to me before and she said them with such conviction, desire, and honesty, I nearly collapsed!

That night, we got to know each other over drinks at the Rio. She was a massage therapist, working the WSOP and making great contacts. She was quite the woman!

Our second date was over lunch before she went to work, again, at the casino. She was totally not my type, but she was an amazing woman. I began to question my type. After all, my current 'types' had not gotten me very far! I myself was also not the same person I was when my 'types' were my types. I decided on that second date, "so what if she's two of me... so what if she's not my type... let's see where this goes!"

And so here we were... our third date. It was impossible for her to understand my apprehension. Sure, I knew how to please a woman... but as a man... which by all accounts, I no longer was. She had no clue I was a virgin when it came having sex with a woman as a woman. Sure, there were women in the past who enjoyed fantasizing with me as their female lover, but it always ended the same way. That's the reason why those relationships ended... ultimately they wanted me to be the man I was desperately trying not to be.

But Amanda did not see me as a man, nor I gathered, did she have any desire to be penetrated by one... she was a 'top' and liked being in charge. I kind of liked her being in charge. I guess that meant I was her bottom. Still, I was nervous, and the two bottles of sake we'd gone through hadn't yet given me the courage to go back to her place, so we ordered another bottle and teased the dynamic duo to our left.

A double shot of something- I don't know what- arrived with the Sake. It tasted exquisite! The conversation had turned philosophical and as we finished the third bottle, I knew it was showtime. We paid our bill and left to her place. I should not have been driving.

I definitely should not have been texting while driving, but I wanted someone to know where I was going, so I texted Bradly, "It's on with the Lesbian!" He replied something, I can't recall, and by this time, I was having a hard enough time just driving. With earbud on, I call him and he tells me that he's in Primm, on his way home early... I thought that was proper, and armed with this new knowledge that he was going to be at the house, though still an hour and a half away, I thought it most wise to cut the trip to Amanda's short by stopping at mine. Plus, I already had blueberry beer (which she loved, and Bradly and I cared not for) it seemed like providence. Especially since I couldn't find the grocery store. I should not have been driving.

I wasn't going to make it to her house anyway. I barely knew where I was and I was just a block away from home! Plus, we lived in a gated community, with a guard, with machines that photograph license plates. Even if my gut was wrong and she turned out to be a thief, (which I had insurance for) there was someone watching my back. And, even if she turned out to be a murderer, there was going to be a big strong man there to save me if only I would scream. I felt safe.

Everyone says that Vegas is a dark city, that a girl needs to be careful in, but I've lived much more exposed in much darker cities, and have been victim of many crimes. My danger radar had gotten pretty good, if just from experience alone! No, Amanda was a good person with a good heart. My fears dissolved away as we entered the house and walked back to my room.

Thinking ahead, I suggested we play some music. Loudly. I had earlier been playing the top 100 songs of the 80s, and much to my surprise, she saw this and thought it was just dandy. Not my first choice, but it was a night of not my first choices, so I went with it. God, I didn't even know about sex, gays, or lesbians when I imprinted on this music and now here I was listening to this music again, so far from where I was then.

We both freshen up, her first, then me. I come in the room and shut the door.

"You play piano?" she asks hopefully.

"I try," I said, trying to be humble.

She paused the music. "Play something."

I played for her a groovy little boogie-woogie song. It was one of the few songs I could play totally shit-faced simply because I listened to repeatedly it in 4 second segments, at half-speed for nearly a month. It was a hard song to learn, but quite impressive to play.

She was impressed. "Play another!"

I played for her a song I wrote about addiction; drugs, women, life. She listened with interest and I found myself singing the words, something I don't normally do.

Smoke a-risin', swirls around.
Suck it up, take it down.
Smoke a-risin', blue air breathin,
Keeps me alive since you leavin'.

Wonder what I'm takin' baby,
Wonder what I'm thinkin'
but it's plain to see,
I'm not the man I used to be.

Intense giggles as she hears the final line of the chorus. She pulls me to the bed and starts rubbing my arms. She was good; it was nearly orgasmic.

"You're very tense! Have you ever had a deep tissue massage before?"

"I don't think so," comes my slightly-nervous reply.

"Do you have any lotion?"

"On the counter in a pink bottle, labelled 'Pink' ... in the bathroom."

While leaving the room, she tells me to lie on my back. I roll over, seconds later she turns on the music again, at sits on my rear, straddling me, both of us facing South. The combination of thick foam mattress bedding and her weight nearly immobilized me. I tested this theory by moving my limbs to see if I could get any leverage. Her thick legs squeezed shut, trapping mine. No leverage there! I played possum.

She pulled my dress off my shoulders, leaving it lying loose around my waist. I did not anticipate feeling so helpless, yet, there I was, unable to move, unable to change the course of events about to take place. Well, that's the fun of being a bottom, so I just went with it and let her do her thing. I didn't have much choice!

I couldn't remember the last time I was topped; it had been nearly a decade. Curiously enough, it was by another woman with masculine tendencies. Gay masculine tendencies. Her friends found it amusing that for a time, the only gay man they knew trapped in a woman's body was dating the only lesbian they knew trapped inside a man. We were just beginning to play with sex back then, exploring all sorts of kinky.

It's easy to top someone, but it takes training to be a good top. Being a bottom is easy too, especially if you don't know what to do, however, it's also easy to be a good bottom with a good a top, for in most ways, you simply can't help yourself. All a bottom has to do is submit and provide feedback.

It had been a long time indeed since I was topped, but I knew where the night was headed, and it was just a matter of time.

What was in it for me? I had not had human contact for years. No-one to hold, no-one to cuddle with, no-one to lie next to, no-one to feel, no-one to love. Amanada was promising all of these things and all I had to do was wear her out being her toy for that to happen.

I didn't care what she planned to do, there are only so many things can be done to the body, right? I had learned to channel both pleasure and pain, so what was the worse could happen?

Earlier that day, I was giving a lecture, a lesson, really, on the basic appeals of sushi. I was uneasy having to give them to my sushi waitress, but she just was not getting the idea of why one would want hot slices of eel on top of cold pieces of crab, avocado, and cucumber.

It was a make-shift sushi bar off the main entrance to the WSOP. Yay, Rio, thanks for trying, but next time, hire some actual sushi chefs who know how to prepare the cuisine instead of Chinese wok-cookers! I was giving the waitress some reasoning why the chef was being a butthead. Apparently, all he knew about being a sushi chef was to be temperamental!

"You know how here in America, our food is based on taste?"

"Mmm-hmm," she said, half-listening, half-wondering where this was going. I didn't care, I was tired of cold eel and if a two minute course in food appreciation got me warm eel, well, it was worth it.

"Well, in Japan," I made up as I went along, "they have more appreciation for food than just taste. There's how the food looks, for starters. Don't you think this colorful display of fresh fish is closer to art than food?"

"Uh..."

"What about compared to a #2 at McDonald's? Which is more like art?"

"Oh, sushi, for sure!"

"Right, they actually learn the art of presentation- making the food look more attractive- and as opposed to McDonald's, serve it that way."

"Yeah, the pictures always look better than the real thing at McDonald's!"

I was getting through.

"Indeed! Well, one aspect of that is color- see how the color palette is grouped like a rainbow here?"

"Oh, I never noticed that before!"

"And see how this pile of pickled ginger looks like a rose?"

"Oh! And the green stuff looks like leaves."

"Yes... and that's just one way the food is presented to be more appealing, by turning on the eyes. But in the mouth, there are even more ways!" God, I hoped I wasn't boring her. The place was dead, what else did she have to do?

"But what is there besides taste?" she asked innocently. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, there's what's called 'mouth feel,' how the food feels in your mouth. There are gritty things, slimy things, wet things, dry things, crunchy things, soft things, hard things, chewy things... and more!"

"Yeah, I can't stand peas because of how they feel. I mean, the taste is alright, but the way they feel in my mouth, like, gag me!"

"Yes, " I continued, "well, one thing you can do is mix together these sensations in one mouthful for quite enjoyable effects! Take a Snickers bar, it's what? Chewy, soft, hard, sticky..." I was running out of words.

"I think I get it," she saved me.

"Well, another type of mouth feel is mixing temperatures in the same bite- warm and cold, ice and hot, etc. Very interesting mouth sensations when you do this."

"And that's why you want the eel warm over the cold California roll?"

"Yeah, you should try it sometime!"

"Oh, I don't like raw fish."

I thought about telling her that the eel and crab was in fact, cooked fish, and that cucumbers and avocado, though raw, weren't fish, but then thought the better of it. For now, she was just going to have to consider sushi and sashimi the same thing.

My mind was inexorably drawn to this early conversation minutes into the massage. Amanda wasn't playing fair. She was mixing pleasure and pain in an agonizingly seductive way... I was totally caught off guard!

Oh at first, it was your standard Swedish massage and it felt good, and then with no warning, she'd lay into a pressure point which would have blasted me to the ceiling, if only I could move.

First soothing pleasure, then fiery pain, then a nexus of firing neuron activity as the body dissipated the endorphins before she'd start up again. She was a good top, no doubt about it, but I was slowly getting back into a bottoming groove, giving her feedback of both pleasure and pain in what was already an extremely erotic scene, even though everything was still PG-13.

Then, like the artful sushi chef combines different mouth-feel sensations in one simultaneous bite, she started combining body-feels into one agonizingly blissful moment. First came the gentle tickling along with the soothing rubbing of muscles, then, painful pressure-point work mixed with intense tickling. I had never been tickled while in pain before... five minutes into the session and I was losing control already. She was good!

Like an experienced jujitsu fighter, she would encourage my limbs to go where she wanted them, either with a sharp elbow point or with a delicate finger flick, and then should would pin the limb there, in a place where I had no leverage to move it further. I had never been this immobilized without rope or bindings before. She was good!

Once she had me where she wanted me, then she played me like a musical instrument. Rubbing, tickling, pressing - I swear that was cold... where'd she get ice? - talking, biting, pinching, stretching, twisting... I began to lose control of my breathing.

It all comes down to breathing... if you can maintain your breath, you can endure anything life brings you. I learned this ancient trick trough yoga lessons, and hallucinagenic drug exploration, but I had not planned on putting it into practice tonight. I lost breath control and now I was utterly helpless for she was able to make me inhale sharply and exhale - deep or shallow - with skillful precision. She was damn good!

I started to have an out of body experience- there's just so much the mind can take, and the night's mix of chemicals and endorphins had pushed me to my limit. Besides, as she was in control of my body now, my mind was free to do other things. This is a high I've only known through bottoming.

I left my body, desperately seeking sanctuary from the sensations it was filled with. My mind slowly filled the room, and I seeped out the window a bit, up into the tree outside my window. I slowly climbed up the tree, as would an ant, but by the time I had reached the top, I was able to fly and I was jumping from branch to branch, enjoying the feeling of what seemed like weightlessness.

WHACK!

New waves of pain rushed through my body as I felt the sharp slap of heavy, braided leather on my back. A belt? Where did she get a belt? I was going to have to pay more attention to what people wear! The next morning I would learn she was wearing a pink, six-inch wide braided monstrosity of a belt. I don't know how I missed it before!

WHACK!

Dissapating the energy from the belt took quite a bit of work, and I evenutally found my mind had an easier time leaving my body again. Again, I slowly filled the room, then the the hallway, now the living room. I could just begin to feel the kitchen when suddenly I heard my roommate's bedroom door slam shut!

"OH MY GOD, WHAT IS HE DOING HOME!" I screamed without a voice. It had only been 40 minutes - max - and said he was an hour and a half away!

My mind, desperate to find a voice, collapsed back into my body. I was shocked to find myself breathing unconrollably, each inhalation and exhaling breath accompanied by a indiscrete moan... in my day, I was a pretty good bottom, too.

Today, however, I was completely mortified to find out Amanda, after returning from getting the lotion, left the door open! Now with purpose, my mind struggled to regain control of breath. "Shut the door" was all I could muster, replacing the exhaling moan with those three words over and over. It was a start.

"Looks like your roommate is home early," she tosses out casually, as if one often comes home to find their roommate in the throws of simulateous agony and ecstacy.

She uses her leg to shut to shut the door and my leg moves instantly when released. While her attention is distracted I summon my senses. More slamming. Shit, he really sounds pissed. Careless Whisper is on the radio... a quiet song given the circumstances... where was the heavy metal when you need it?

And just like that, a wonderous night turns sour, the bitter for the sweet. I felt awful but at the same time, numb. I prayed it was all just an hallucination.

"Buy the ticket, take ride," Hunter S. Thompson reminds me and I recall all of the trips gone bad, when you push your body just one step too far and now have withstand the roller-coaster decent into a hellish emotional place reserved for all those who have exprienced too much enlightenment too soon. A sort of decompression chamber, necessary to prevent the spiritual bends, as it were.

She turns her attention on me again, and having already learned my buttons, she quickly overrides my emotional centers, reducing me to a writhing, squirming chunk of flesh, probably not unlike the fish we were eating before it was killed, flapping around the boat, like me, desperately trying to breathe. This time, I'm having a harder time controlling my breath, but I'm managing, now very much conscious of the noises my body is producing.

Sensing the shift in control, she sticks her finger in my mouth. Now moistened, she thrusts it in my rear. I'm reduced to puddy again. It has been far, far too long since I've had that kind of stimulation and now, it's simply too much! I no longer have the strength to fight, nor the will to try.

Buy the ticket, take the ride.

Base, animal instincts take over. I go in and out of conciousness. She orgasms... then again... then again. I'm no longer aware of my surroundings... there is just her. She smells like man.

Finally she's had her fill. She holds me, I'm still shivering. She's concerned I didn't orgasm, despite the marathon tantric session. I tell her that is a pleasure I fear I'll never know again, and simply ask that she hold me.

"You really are a girl, aren't you?"

I don't reply. I finally have what I was looking for... human affection. I was being held, I felt loved. Oh, I knew it was just a one-time thing, I knew it wasn't real... but still, it felt like love. I lie there, still a bundle of emotions: joy, shame, fear, happiness, sadness, longing, love, delusion. I begin to cry, I can't help myself, and we fall asleep as the light from the first rays of dawn slowly fill the room.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Life Is Good

Yes, I love the food out here... who wouldn't love sushi on every block, fish tacos, and pure fruit+ice smoothies? Not to mention spinach+veg burritos, spicy pad thai, and yummy lamb kabobs? Too bad I've stopped eating flesh... I do miss the taste of lamb.

But, odd as it may sound, there was still some food from Muncie that I found myself craving. Oh, they have Taco Bell (fresco-style steak tacos... but again, no flesh) and Long John's (mmm... fish & chips) but what they don't have anywhere in this city is the selection of frozen veggies that spoiled me in Muncie.

Dunno why... szechuan veggies? Nope. Teriyaki veggies? No way. Peas w/no butter? Nada. Roasted potatoes? Unh-uh. It's even rare to find broccoli and carrots in a herb dressing. So my staple diet of rice+veg has been non-existent out here. Bummer.

But today, on a whim, I stopped by yet another grocery store and nearly peed my panties!

I totally forgot why I was eating frozen veggies in the first place, and that place was that I couldn't find my London staple diet in Muncie. Imagine my joy when I found exactly that- all the way here in Vegas!

Noodles, salmon, broccoli, spinach, red peppers in a light teriyaki sauce... Thai green curry, noodles, and prawns... szechuan noodles, salmon, kale, peppers... all prepared fresh with no preservatives in steam-cooked microwavable containers! Whee!!!

Even found freshly made lentils, crab cakes with mango salsa (a favorite from Baja Fresh), and yes, teriyaki veggies.

It's the simple things in life that bring such pleasure... eat well, live well.

Later that day, I was hit with a revelation... I have not been this happy since London! I'm healing, I'm becoming the woman I've always wanted to be, I'm surrounded by great people, I'm loving life, I'm having fun, I'm even going out on a date tonight! tee-hee!

... and it only goes up from here!

Already, Bradly is telling me how wonderful LA is... cute gay boys, the beach, 78 degrees, top down, wind in hair! Malibu Bradly!

I am so grateful and thankful for the changes have come... I love my life!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Googled

Clio's on her way to making her mark!

After the ladies tournament, her name in lights:
Wow! All that for finishing in the money. Granted, it's just a mention in the prize payouts, and on one site, I'm the only one listed without a city or state of residence! LOL, perhaps the poker gypsie moniker is taking hold?

I think we've dissipated all the energy from the first event... time focus on the next one! :)

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Keeping The Dream Alive

With the Ladies tournament under my skirt, so to speak, the big question is what next? We can take the money and run, or we can invest in ourselves, using the winnings to buy-in to another bracelet event.

Steve Miller's option is the safe bet, for like Matt Damon said in Rounders, "we can pay Grandma off and..." no, not that part, after that he said, "you can't lose what you don't put in the middle."

"But you can't win much either."

Or, as Clio Soleil once said, "If you won't invest in yourself, who will?"

Saturday, June 14th, we play in the $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em Tournament!

Monday, June 09, 2008

Sunday, June 08, 2008

Ladies World Championship No-Limit Holdem

It was a beautiful Sunday morning in the valley, just like the all the others. This Sunday, however was special, for today was the Ladies World Championship No-Limit Holdem event at the Rio!

I wake up before the alarm goes off, get ready, and by 11am, I'm $1,000 lighter and registered for the tournament along with 1,190 other women!

The first day is pretty gruelling: 2 solid hours of play, a 20-minute break, 2 more hours of play, a 20-minute break, 2 more hours of play, a 90-minute dinner break, 2 more hours of play, a 20 minute break, and then... you guessed it; another 2 hours of play! For the fans at home, that's a 12pm-2am work day in the high-stress environment of TV cameras and crew, photographers, journalists, all here to capture the biggest ladies-only tournament in the world!

Looking ahead at that solid six hours of play, I headed to the sushi shop around the corner to stuff myself (literally, it's all-you-can-eat) with raw salmon, cucumbers, avocado, and cooked eel. Afterwards, I enjoyed a fag with Shirley Williams (if you watched the WSOP 2007 on ESPN, you've seen her).

Oh, I forgot to mention the crowds... here's what the card room looked like minutes before the first event,

and here's the view captured from my table as I sat down minutes before the cards were dealt.

Lots of people, most of them watching! Most players found the environment a bit intimidating; pushing through the large crowds of spectators is frustrating, the noise can be disturbing, and the media attention can be distracting, but I never felt so at home in a poker room. All the poker rooms I've played at in Vegas, this one, this day... the best so far by a long shot! I felt like this is where I belonged!

The Beginning - Level One
You've heard me talk about how fast the tournament is... it's just like the WSOP main event, but you get 1/10th the chips to begin with. In case you're wondering, here's what that looks like:

I'm in the #10 seat, right next to the dealer. You can see what the rest of the table looked like here. The blinds are $25 and $50. I don't get a playable hand (or a decent hand without a preflop raise) the first 25 minutes, and then finally, in the big blind, I'm dealt Queen-Six. The flop comes with a Queen and a Six and I end up winning a $1,000 pot.

A few moments later, I have Ace-Jack in the little blind, and this lady raised me $150 to make it $250 preflop. You know me and blinds, so I call. The flop comes Ace Nine Ten, giving me top pair. She's first to act and bets $150, I raise $500 making it $650 and she calls. Hmm. Turn comes a Seven and this time, she checks, I bet $1,500, and she calls. What could she have, I wonder? The river comes a Jack giving me two pair. Nice hand, you'd think, ay? She checks and there's no way I'm betting now. I check and she shows me a pair of Eights giving her a straight. She expected me to bet! Haha!

Of course, we start with $2,000 and I just lost $3,400 to a lady who called 3/4ths her stack on an inside straight. I looked forward to putting her out, but in the meantime, here it was not 40 minutes in the tournament and already I was crippled... I only had $400! Time to steal some blinds!


Changing Gears
I changed gears so fast, I almost got whiplash! My choices were down to two: fold or raise all-in!

I go all-in with Ace-Queen from middle position with two callers and pick up 2 and 1/2 big blinds. Now I have $525.

I go all-in with pocket tens from late position and pick up the blinds. Now I have $600.

The next hand, with just three minutes to go in the level, I have King-Eight in the big blind in a pot with 3 other callers. The flop comes King-Six-Three, I push all-in, they all fold, and I pick up their blinds. Now I have $750.

Level Two
Blinds are now $50 and $100. The first hand into the second level, I have Ace-King suited from 5th position and just call. There is a raise to $250 from that same lady who called me with pocket eights, everyone folds and I raise all-in. She folds and now I have $1,150. Getting better!

A couple of rounds go by where I can't play because the cards are bad, the position is bad, or someone else is showing strength. The blinds take me down $850, and somewhere in there, I make one loose call (which then becomes raised, so I fold) making my total $750.

18 minutes into the second level, I have pocket Kings and call an all-in $600 bet from the lady in the 6th seat. Everyone else folds, she gets a Queen, Eight, Ten on the flop but her queens are no good. The turn comes another Ten, and the river Nine keeps my kings the winner! She's upset, so I get up, head over there and hug her. That hand, I picked up her stack up some blinds. Suddenly I have some breathing room with $1,600!

My table breaks up and I get moved to another one. Guess I'll have to wait to put out that lady with the Eights. Guess I have to learn how people play all over again too.

24 minutes into the second level, I have pocket Queens from 1st position, I raise to $300 and the big blind calls me, the flop comes Eight high, I push all in and she folds her Ace-King. Total now is $1975... 84 minutes into the tournament and I've clawed my way back to even!

The blinds continue to eat my stack when I call with Nine-Ten from the little blind in a pot with 3 callers. The flop comes Ten, Six, Two and I bet $500 and they all fold. $1,950... back (again) to even.

Third Level
Blinds are $100 and $200 and they keep eating my stack. 12 minutes to go in the third level, I have pocket Kings in first position, I raise to $400, everyone folds, the big blind calls me with pocket deuces. The flop is Jack-Eight-Six, I push all-in and she folds. I sit through my blinds and now am still treading water with $2,200.

I also got moved to another table!

Fourth Level
Now there is a $25 ante from each player along with a $100 and $200 blind. This means there is $550 in the pot before any betting, making it more worthwhile to try to steal the blinds (and antes). Of course, you have to pick your spots wisely, and the trouble with playing with a lot of good players, is the same spot that is good for you to steal is also good for them, so often times, when the time is right, someone else beats you to the punch. Back to the game...

5 minutes into the fourth level, I have pocket Sevens and call. The flop comes Ten, Five, Two, she bets $500 from the small blind. I stare her down, figure her for a Ten, and fold. She shows me Ace-Ten. Phew! I'm down to $1,600.

With $1,300 left, I get moved to yet another table.

As soon as I get there, I'm dealt King-Jack hearts in the big blind, get raised by the 3rd seat and call. The flop comes Jack, Nine, Five. I push all in and she calls! She's got my Jacks beat with her pocket Queens, but I get a King on the river and now have $2,600!

The very next hand I get Ace-Queen and call from the little blind. Five other people call too. The flop comes Ace, Jack, Nine and a lady in front of me bets $600. She's got massive amounts of chips... like $30,000 at least... and I try to figure out what she's got. I finally conclude she's just got an Ace, raise all-in, and she calls me with Ace-Eight. The board pairs my Queen and now I have $6,525 with 26 minutes remaining in the fourth level.

Finally... 3 and 1/2 hours into the tournament, in just two hands, starting with just $1,300, I get above the starting stack! Yay!

10 minutes later, I limp with pocket Kings and 4 other players call. Oops. The flop is King, Queen, Ten. A lady across the board bets $1,000 and I raise all-in. She calls with King-Ten, but her two pair is utterly dominated by my trips. She's drawing dead to win with only a runner-runner straight chance to split the pot. I put her out and am up to $11,000 with 12 minutes left in this level! At this point, I'm more than twice the chip average of $5,200.

(She was devastated... who wouldn't be? I rushed over and hugged her too.)

Level Five
Blinds are $150 and $300 with a $25 ante. It's almost been an hour since I played a hand! Finally, with 12 minutes remaining in the level, I get King-Queen in a six-handed pot. The flop comes with a King, I bet $1,500 (the pot) and everyone folds. The chips help make up for the blinds and antes I've lost.

Level Six
Blinds are $200 and $400 with a $50 ante. I go the entire level without playing one hand when on the last hand before dinner break I'm dealt pocket Queens. I call and it's just me and the blinds. The flop comes Jack, Seven, Seven. The little blind checks, the big blind- let's call her ATL cause she looked like she came from there- bets $800. I put her on a Jack... very, very rarely do people bet trips on the flop. My queens are good, I reckon, so I call and the little blind folds. Turn is a Six, she bets $700, I call; I want her to keep betting. River is a Three, she bets $500, I call. I don't raise, cause I figure she won't call and she might, maybe, have a Seven. She shows Jack-Five and now at dinner time, I'm up to $12,675!

Level Seven
Here the blinds are $300 and $600 with a $100 ante. Preflop, then, there is $1,900 in the pot! That's the initial starting stack!

The table really tightened up after lunch and the players were dropping much more slowly now. We were down to around 170 players at this point, or just 70 to go until the money. The effect of the tight play was to change the game into one of stealing blinds. We hardly saw a flop; every hand was raised preflop and taken down. As a result of this, the blinds went around the table faster, and the $100 antes really started to take their toll. Here's the effect of not getting playable cards during this portion of the tournament.

About 30 minutes into the seventh level, Miss ATL and I get into it again. She was still sore with me for beating her Jack-Five with my pocket queens. I tried to bluff her earlier (semi-bluff) but she put in a big raise, so she got back a few chips, but she still had no love for me.

Unfortunately for her, I had pocket Queens when she got Ace-King. She raised a lot preflop and I re-raised all in. She called, and the flop was Nine-high. The board paired and stayed low and I doubled up through her to get my highest yet chip count, $14,350, seven and 1/2 hours into the tourney!

It was at this point I had to make a decision: go for the money or go for the final table. The former mean a very conservative strategy where I basically fold my way into the money, letting the other players bust out until everyone is in the money. My calculations indicated this plan could work... but it would be close. Going for the final table was risky... very risky, considering I had now invested eight hours of time into this thing. Going home empty handed would be very hard to take.

If I went for the money, I would most likely have no chance to finish higher than the first or second payouts. As these were practically the same (in fact, one had to get into the 3-4% before the payouts increased significantly) I opted to go for the money. $2,000 for the bottom of the payout was $2,000 more than I had in my purse!

Level Eight
The blinds are now $400 and $800 with $100 antes. I didn't get much opportunity to play at all! Finally the end of the level comes, but and the effect on my chip stack was brutal. (The small stack of black to the left are for my blinds about to hit me.)


Level Nine
The blinds are $500 and $1000 with $100 antes. Ouch! Now that we were down to around 120 players and only the top 100 cashing, I was reluctant to play with anything but a premium hand.

104 players left... 5 to the money! The blinds are coming fast and my chip stack is quickly vanishing!

At this point in the tournament, 1/2 way into the ninth level, I really irritateted some players at the table. You see, the lady to my left had massive amounts of chips. I had pocket Fives in the little blind and everyone folded to me. I was faced with a very, very tough decision! If I called, she would raise me all-in with anything. If I raised all-in, she would call with anything. (This is basic tournament strategy and this girl was a good player.) She's probably got two cards higher than a Five which means at best I'm a 54% favorite to win. In other words, it's a coin flip for my tournament life with just 5 places to go until the money, but if I won, I'd definitely make the money.

Or, I could just fold my Fives and pray that 5 more people would not have the same patience and bust out. I only had enough money to see another 20 hands... it was going to be very close.

So I think about it. And I think some more. And some more. Finally, the lady to my right throws a hissy fit and calls the floor over to call time on me. Giggle. I don't care. I decided to fold long ago, but with that decision meant stalling as long as I could. I wasn't hurting the table or costing them money by this tactic, but it really pissed off a few ladies. Oh well. When they start clocking me, I just let them count... until they declare I must fold, then I fold. Two people went out during that time! ;) Just like internet poker.

I've got enough money for 10 hands left with 102 players left.


I'm about to go through the blinds when we start hand-for-hand mode. Great! This saves me from having to post my blinds because each table only starts the next hand after all tables finish the current hand. This is to counteract people doing what I had done earlier and also for some tables (like mine) that deal more hands per hour (= more money in antes and blinds) than other tables. It's just fair when the field is one person away from everyone being in the money.

The blinds go through me. I'm down to $2,500 when the annoucer booms, "Congratulations, ladies, you're all in the money!" Yay! The whole room applauds. For a second, I felt awful for the girl who just got put out before, but then I celebrate. Yay!

Next hand, I'm dealt pocket Nines on the button and the lady in first position raises to $3,500. I call all-in, knowing she's got to overs on me and that I'm only a 54% favorite to win. Now I'll gamble! :)

She turned a King and with 2 minutes remaining in the Nineth level, my tournament ended. I was escorted to the payout counter where I was given a voucher to claim the $1,949 prize for 96th place.

Look for me on the prizes and payouts list!

Afterthoughts
96th place. Maybe it doesn't sound all that impressive all by itself, but this is the World Championship event for ladies... I finished in the top 8%... yeah, I wish my coinflip (99 versus AK) went my way and I could have made it past the first day... but I didn't have the kind of luck which gave you silly stacks of checks and a final table finish. Maybe I didn't put myself in enough situations to be lucky like that, but I know for a fact I avoided a plethera of ones that would have had me hit the door with nuttin' but a bad taste in my mouth! Pocket Queens beat by Eights... Pocket Jacks beat by AQ... most players would have been sent home packin' as those hands played out, but I was able to accurately read the situation and bail as soon as I was beat.

In fact... outside those three hands, I can only remember losing one other hand, and that was just $1000 to Miss ATL on a semi-bluff when I folded to her raise. I think I only lost one showdown (the hand that crippled me)! I took one bad beat, I gave one bad beat when I two paired pocket Queens.

Plus, it was a tough starting table; there were two well-known pros there. Normally, you'd expect to see one person from each starting table to make the money... I saw at least three others from my table still in the tournament when we reached the money!

So... my first WSOP bracelet event and I finish in the money... yeah, I'm okay with that!

I met some people there who made a living playing in tournaments. They were sponsored to play, (like I was for this one) and they split the payouts with their sponsors (like I'll do with mine). That, to me, seems the opportunity. I mean, if you keep putting yourself in situations to win millions of dollars with good odds... eventually, you win!

A girl can dream, can't she?