In Which I Write Things Down

I made it to the Blue Moon last night, having arranged to be there with Blue Moon Lady. Go me! It's a short bus ride for me, but for her it's a long drive. I appreciate it.

It was digital open decks night. Good: Hazel Zen for sure, and maybe Krystal? It took me a while to find the whiteboard on which Brit writes down the set times. Less to my taste: River, a young 'un who's about 90% limbs and 100% trans. River's hyperpop-flavored set was not what we olds wanted, and indeed, no one was dancing. I speculated that it was because the youth of today are doing the wrong drugs. BML's friend J concurs, saying that the increase in ketamine's popularity and the decline in MDMA's has led us to this pass.

Was it a date? Well, it didn't feel like a date. But! We agreed that we should keep each other notified if we're going to the Blue Moon or a north end munch. She runs the munch in West Seattle, if you'll recall. So, vict'ry?

I left at 2130 because I got paged for work. It was kind of a convenient excuse, though; remember, I get up at 0600.

Transphobia on the bus home. I don't think I was in any danger, because the bottle-throwing fool was getting off, but still, not fun. That's the second time I've had aggro at that stop. Some people's children.

But first, the leather dyke munch. Had an agreeable time talking with fellow trans folks. Yes, again. Finally asked B the organizatrix, "Where are all the people over fifty?" She said that she'd been considering throwing an event earlier in the evening for us elders. Sort of like the Hot Flash dance nights an Neighbours, she said, only freakier. Shoot, I'd go. I would have stayed later at B's fundraiser on the other side of CC's, but I had plans for today, namely...

...I took a bus route that was new to me a loooong way south to White Center for my first Burning Man camp meeting this year. In attendance were Burner R (not to be confused with any earlier R's) and leenerella. Neither of them are planning on going to the playa this year, but this wasn't just a meeting for planning for Burning Man; there are other Burner-flavored events various subsets of the crew are going to, some of which I'll be medically unable to attend due to surgery.

It's been eight years since I went, and unlike my last several trips to The Thing In The Desert, I don't have my own vehicle anymore. I've been worried about logistics because how could I not be? R put my transportation fears to rest: the gang is used to carpooling, and has a trailer for moving the vast quantities of gear and infrastructure that we haul into the desert.

As for my smaller worries – camp dues, if any, and gasoline for the inevitable generator, etc. – it's too soon to ask about those. I'll just have to do what doesn't come naturally and take care of those questions later.

But overall, it's an experienced group of people who know what they're doing and also have fun. Hell to the yes. I'm feeling even better about this crew – Astro Shack, by name – than I felt earlier.

But first, and this does come into play later: on Friday evening I got a COVID shot, etc. at CVS, no fuss no muss, a historically normal drugstore experience. There was a time when I would have taken that for granted, but not anymore. Pity CVS is kind of a hike from my place, unlike the cursed Walgreen's.

On to yesterday afternoon. I had coffee with dianala! Whom I hadn't seen since before the pandemic. She's one of my oldest friends in the Seattle area, and she's also the one who plugged me into MOO and thereby the kink community, LiveJournal and thereby Dreamwidth, etc. So you could say she's had an outsize influence on my life. She didn't work as hard at it as, say, cupcake_goth, but she administered some crucial course corrections at a few points in my life.

We're all living with the aftermath of the pandemic. Her two boys, now young men, have got the 'tism like whoa, and that's basically consumed her life since the pandemic started; the pandemic made it significantly harder. Her husband lister, who I actually think is cool, seems to be fighting depression, and she recognizes that she needs to get out & be more social. I'll do what I can, natch, but neither clubbing nor kink nor bleepy goodness are her thing. There's art, though.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that we've grown in such different directions since the turn of the century – she was the self-styled Big Dyke On Campus back in the early '90s – but I confess to being a little sad about it.

It's funny how she & I have both given into do-gooder impulses: I mainly through Lambert House, and she by starting a non-profit that does micro-grants fast, which is often of the essence. I'm impressed.

Fun fact: the user pic I used was taken in the very early aughts inside what was then dianala's house.

I went to the Mercury briefly. I enjoyed the Valentine's Day decorations as only seelenschwester would do them, plus all the femmes femmed up more than usual. (J of A&J fame confirmed my suspicion.) But the COVID shot kicked my butt and I left early. I swung by Pony on the way to the train station; I didn't feel the music, but I did start feeling a sore ankle. That was Goddess telling me to go home already, which I did.

Oh: of course one of the Merc DJs played a song that I first heard at one of dianala's parties. Kind of perfect, really.

Oh oh: the train to the north end announced itself as a 2 line train*! Hurrah! The automatic station announcements were for stations in Redmond, so the conductor had to get on the PA and give out the real ones for, you know, north Seattle. It is to laugh.



*For you out-of-towners, our light rail network isn't quite networked just yet: the two light rail lines are disconnected. The 1 line runs the length of Seattle and then some, and the 2 line stays on the east side of Lake Washington. That all changes on March 28th, though, when the world's only rail over a floating bridge opens to the public. They were testing things out yesterday. You know I'm psyched about this.