I’m standing on a podium - actually it’s a gogo platform - at the Philadelphia Leather Contest. The music is rocking, the deaf people are here, I’ve got my water, fairerhiannon is awesome, the lighting is passable, I feel so awesome. The Broadway version of Nine Inch Nails’s Closer is going to be supertastic.

I made it to the DC Eagle without incident and chatted with the awe-inspiring (among other-things-inspiring) preppyperv as she got the contestant information packets ready for the judges. The deaf contestant, Sir Y, had said in an e-mail that he’d be there between 6-6:15, but he didn’t show up until about 10 minutes to 7. We went upstairs and I interpreted what the Den Daddy - the adorable Tim Woody - had to say to the contestants (there were five total). After that we had to hang out at the club bar on the second floor while each contestant went back upstairs to interview with the judges. Sir Y was fifth, so we had a nice long wait, and I got to help Tim Woody write the “funny question” cards. (Which Smurf would you make your bitch, and why…which president would you want to screw, and what scandal would arise, etc.)

The interviews were supposed to be over by 8:30, but they took a really long time with each contestant. I half-chatted and half-interpreted down at the club bar (where pegsioux stopped by), trying to let Sir Y decide for himself what conversation he wanted to join in on, and trying to relax and slip in my own comments from time to time. It’s not easy to interpret socializing at these things, because the contestants are supposed to be bonding and making friends (there’s a brotherhood award at most events), and it’s kind of weird to have five leathermen socializing - and there I am, a girl, in the middle of it all. It’s also not easy to balance interpreting what the hearing people are saying, and letting the deaf person get a word in edgewise. Fortunately they did want to include him, and of course the Gallaudet protests came up, etc. Finally it was our turn to go upstairs, and I was asked to get in place behind the judges’ table before Sir Y came into the room. He made a good impression, I think, and I felt like I did a pretty good job. It’s hard to interpret that kind of thing, because he is supposed to be making an impression on the judges, and they are hearing a female voice coming from behind them that is obviously a little bit later than what he’s saying due to lag time. So whenever there is a deaf contestant, I always work really hard to be perfect, because I want to make him look as good to the hearing judges as he deserves to be. To my surprise, the last question they asked him was also about the Gallaudet protests - which is not at all related to leather! I guess they just slipped it in because they hadn’t heard a deaf person’s perspective and wanted to know what he thought.

By the time we finished the second floor was open and it was almost time to begin. At one point I went back upstairs to my purse to put on some lipstick, and I heard the tallymaster (makeplayhappen) read out five numbers…and the last one was higher than the others. But I had to rush back downstairs - it was almost time for the contest to start. I had put a stool up on the stage but it ended up being an awkward height so I put it down and just stood onstage - even though I was wearing really bad shoes and my feet already hurt from being on them all day. The first part of the contest went great, we got through the bar wear/intro and formal wear/speech categories just fine. The MC, Frank Nowicki, remembered to hand the microphone to me every time Sir Y was onstage - I’ve had problems in the past with the MC’s trying to hand the mike to the deaf contestant, who usually looks at me and goes “huh?” But Frank is a really awesome MC and he did a great job.

Unfortunately, when it was time for the jockstrap/funny question portion, I had a mishap. See, I was already standing on the edge of the little stage, and I turned around so I could see Sir Y and interpret for him, and he was kind of close so I took a step back, and…I fell off the stage! Fortunately preppyperv was right behind me, and Sir Y grabbed my arm, so I didn’t get hurt although a gasp did come up from the crowd. Anyway, that was embarrassing, and it threw me off for the funny question so I ended up fumbling and having to ask for a repeat and correct myself. And I had been doing so well! But that was the end of the contest, and Sir Y got first runner-up in a very close race - in fact all five contestants were close in scoring. I wish he could have won, but first runner-up is not too bad.

I wanted to get out of there ASAP, because I was exhausted and my feet were killing me. Unfortunately, I had parked in the side lot when I shouldn’t have, and earlier in the evening I had to hand over my keys so the parking attendant (a cute butch who told preppyperv that I was pretty, snort) could move my car. I was told during a break in the contest that my keys were safe downstairs, so when it was all over I tried asking at the bouncer for my keys - no luck. I tried the bartender on the first floor - no luck. So I had to stand around for about 30-45 minutes waiting for my keys, and I was unhappy mostly because my damn feet hurt so much! But if I hadn’t had to wait so long I wouldn’t have been walking out the door just as the supremely gorgeous dawnmarie727 and totally hot worldwalkerdc had been coming in, so I got to see them and that was nice. I didn’t get to stay though - Dawn Marie said I looked sleepy and that I should get along home!

It had turned out that the parking attendant had my keys, so I asked her for them…and she charged me $10 for reasons I still don’t understand. I guess being pretty isn’t enough, and the fact that she wasn’t there when I arrived isn’t enough, and the fact that she moved my car out of her lot isn’t enough…I don’t know. But I dug up $10 and got my car and went straight home.

It is now 1:15am. I am finally back in bed. I had some…adventures. Much getting-lost and going-crazy ensued. Read the rest of this entry »

We’re back! I have about a bazillion feeds and friends to catch up on, and I have to unpack, etc. I got a bunch of stuff in the mail, including my purple corset from Meschantes (I need to re-lose the six pounds I gained on vacation before that will fit) and the original Japanese editions of Bust a Move (Groove) 1 and 2. It’s nice to have more than two TV channels, it’s nice to have my kitties back, it’s nice to have the Internet, it’s nice to be home.

I did stop off at the Green Lantern bar on the way home for the Atlantic Deaf Leather contest. I didn’t stay for the contest, but I did enjoy socializing with friends that I don’t see very often. I’ll be working on typing up my travel journal and posting my pictures online soon.

Highlights of the weekend included working with fairerhiannon (a delight as always!), meeting worldwalkerdc (all too briefly), and giving dawnmarie727 her present (her reaction was awesome).

Other happenings included buying an embroidered leathergirl t-shirt, trying on a couple of corsets and finding a 26″ fits quite well and a 24″ is not too far off if I keep losing weight, as seen here. It was great to see all the deaf people who turned out, especially some who aren’t local to DC/Baltimore (and Philadelphia/NJ) but who came out to support Michelle in her step-down as Ms. World Leather 2005. (It turns out the current International Mr. Leather is an interpreter too, from Canada - I had no idea!)

Downer moments included the five-hour drive to get there (DC to Philadelphia should be 2.5-3 hrs maximum), and my brain completely shutting off this afternoon when the final part of the contest began. I was up there for about 5-10 minutes and I begged fairerhiannon to switch with me because I was making no sense. I don’t know what was wrong but my brain just wasn’t working. It took me another 5-10 minutes before I was able to relieve fairerhiannon and after that I was a little shaky but I did okay.

It was fun overall. And International Deaf Leather is coming to Philadelphia in 2008!

Helpfully bolded to make it easier for you to skip stuff!
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Last night I actually went out! To a bar! To see friends! This is something I almost never do, actually. Most of the time A and I stay home and watch a movie, play on the computer, etc. When we do go out, it’s just to a movie by ourselves. But last night was IDL Night at the Green Lantern, so I went to see my friends. I was a bit nervous because I go out so rarely and I’m shy in situations like that, but it turned out more or less okay. I drove into the city, so I didn’t have anything to drink - just as well, too, because regular drinks would have been expensive, and the $5 all-you-can-drink was for beer. I’m not a beer or wine drinker…if I have anything, it’s going to be hard liquor.

Today we went to the mall and walked around for a while. While we were in Brookstone, somebody called my name and it turned out to be the former manager of the Rand McNally store from back when I worked there. The store is now closed, and I saw him in the mall several months ago and he was working at Harry and David’s, but now that store is also closed and he’s working as a manager at Brookstone. We got a fun little egg-shaped clock there that wobbles but doesn’t fall down. (Time-telling Weebls, sort of.) Also, at Sephora, A bought me the Black Russian perfume by Demeter; she is a perfume expert with more than 600 different perfumes mostly stored in one big drawer in our bedroom! I now have three scents that I can wear - the Demeter Black Russian; a custom by Garden Botanika with Chocolate, Kahlua, and Vanilla; and a cola scent by L’Aromarine, which actually smells more like cola with lemon. (And yes, A does have Demeter’s Play-Doh fragrance!)

This is a tough post to write, but I’m up to the challenge. I thought about locking it, or filtering it, or something, but I’m not going to. I am, however, going to hide part of it, because not everybody wants to read about my sex life.
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The past couple of days have not been too bad. We both took Friday off work and slept in; I had a couple of errands to run and A came along. First stop was a cache I’d been to before, the North Shore Travel Bug Hotel, where I dropped off a travel bug to be sent to Europe with a cacher who is going there. The next stop was the Sunset Hills Commuter Parking Lot, home of the “Commuter Cache,” which took me about an hour to find, retrieve, sign, and replace. After that we drove out to near where I work to pick up what will hopefully be my last Diet to Go pickup.

Friday night was the opening event of the DC Leatherfest, a casino night for charity. In addition to doing some fairly minimal interpreting, I also played my own $5 of blackjack and socialized - mostly with the deaf folks, who I would like to think I can call friends.

Today I found myself awake at 7:00, so I ate my breakfast and then went back to sleep. I woke from crazy dreams and lazed around a bit before hurrying out the door to go to the DC Eagle. I brought my big Firefox backpack with a change of clothes, because I couldn’t very well wear jeans and a t-shirt to the NGLTF Leadership Awards dinner.

The two workshops at the Eagle were interesting - the first was on mummification, and the second was talking about different kinds of relationships. The first went pretty well, with one of the deaf participants ending up as a model; the second was a panel discussion and very fast-paced plus two of the panelists had very thick accents. It went okay, though I did start fading toward the end. Then preppyperv let me use the microwave so I could heat my dinner, and I changed clothes in the bathroom.

I’m now in the lobby of the Omni Shoreham hotel waiting to meet up with fairerhiannon so we can interpret for NGLTF. There seem to be a lot of beautiful people here…