Vol. 9, No. 2
December2000/January 2001
Although the crowd was not as large as in previous years, the enjoyment was perhaps twice that of years past. Normally the party would have been held on the first Saturday in December, but due to unforeseen entertainment problems, the party was held on the 3rdSaturday. Even so, folks started to arrive early in the afternoon and kept arriving right up until time for supper. As usual, about 5 p.m. in the afternoon short skirts, business suits and shopping clothes were changed for the glamorous eveningwear that would be seen for the rest of the night. The Fashion Show took place at 6:30 with Sandra and Patti and former President Liz taking charge and putting on the display of the year. Girls were entering and strutting their stuff, wheeling and twirling and strutting back, only to be replaced by another lovely lady strutting her stuff. Following the Fashion Show and the Invocation, folks lined up for another of the Ramada Inn's mouth watering meals. This years awards were presented with Liz receiving an Atta Girl for her contributions during the past year, Fantasia Fair and the Fashion Show. April took an Atta Girl for always being the spotlight lady. During each of the Innvestments parties, April has always been on hand to assist with the lighting. This was the groups way of saying "Thank You". Marsha earned an Atta Girl for her hard work each year with the sound system. Sandra, and Patti and Pat each took an Atta Girl for their decorating and for hosting the annual Christmas Fashion Show. The prestigious Jennifer Eaton Special Service Award went to Alison for her dedication and push with Fantasia Fair. If it were not for Alison, Fantasia Fair 2000 would not have taken place. Elaine took the President's Award for all of her behind the scene activities and contributions since day one of the organization. Congratulations to them all. Marsha once again took charge of the sound system. She also recreated her Nurse saxophone act that she performed at Fantasia Fair. This was followed by the showmanship of Michael Lussier's "Legends" direct from Provincetown. Michael and his two girls put on a delightful performance that left everyone rolling on the floor, especially at her rendition of Betty Davis. Dancing took place following the show.
Your Innvestment is a publication of Innvestments, P.O. Box 2194, Orleans, MA.0 2653-2194. Innvestments is a non-sexual service organization founded to support and to provide a socially acceptable outlet for the crossdressing, transvestite, transsexual, transgendered community located primarily in Southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod and the Island. All rights reserved. Permission to reprint any article appearing in Your Innvestment is hereby granted to non-profit similar organizations provided that publication and authorship credit is given. Any commercial use of Your Innvestment material is hereby prohibited. Some material may have previously appeared in print. Publication and authorship rights of material reprinted from other sources remain with its originator. The editor/s of Your Innvestment are not under any obligation to accept information and advertisements. Information and advertisements may be published in any form deemed acceptable. Any information about services, products or sympathetic locations published in Your Innvestment is not considered an endorsement of such by the staff of Your Innvestment or the Board of Directors of Innvestments. Innvestments is also know in open publications as Cape Cod Cross Dressers.
Membership (including newsletter) is $30.00 per-year (pro-rated after January) with a $15.00 meeting fee. Meeting fees payable only for those attended. This pays meeting location fees charged to the group, and for pizza and soda or partial payment for food in the hotel dining room for all. Subscription only rates are $10.00 year
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Advertising is placed in the newsletter free of charge at discretion of the editor/s and is not considered an endorsement by Innvestments.
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FASHION TRENDS
Jewelry trends, like fashion, are often inspired by the past. It is no surprise that charm bracelets, which have a long and rich history, are enjoying a renaissance. Technically, a charm bracelet is a link bracelet adorned by tiny trinkets, each one representing a special time or moment in the owner's life. The heavy look on the wrist has never been more popular with the fashion savvy, and this year, since the trends of the season are calling for dangling hoop earrings and stacked bracelets, charm bracelets are appropriately back in style. Next, "Ladylike" dressing is now the hot trend. Runway fashions emphasized skirts, pretty blouses and tops, and bias-cut dresses. Hot colors are camel, red, and black, tweeds in winter shades, black-and-white combinations, and all shades of berry. Classic cashmeres, tweeds, satin, and silk are fabulous winter fabrics. Certain items also spotted on the runways included: the tie-neck blouse, the deep V-neck top, the skirt-suit, pleats, A-line or bias skirts. Accessories are also big for winter - raid your grandmother's closet! Chunky gold jewelry, pearls, scarves, belts, gloves, berets, handbags, and high heels are in. Look for bags and shoes in crocodile or stamped leather. Fur (faux!) was all over the runway worn tied around the neck or sewed onto last year's coat collar.
ALWAYS THOUGHT GREEN SNAKES WERE OK? READ ON........ Green Garden Grass snakes can be dangerous, Yes, grass snakes, not rattlesnakes. A couple in Sweetwater, Texas had a lot of potted plants, and during a recent cold spell, the wife was bringing a lot of them indoors to protect them from a possible freeze. It turned out that a little green garden grass snake was hidden in one of the plants and when it had warmed up, it slithered out and the wife saw it go under the sofa. She let out a very loud scream. The husband who was taking a shower ran out into the living room naked to see what the problem was. She told him there was a snake under the sofa. He got down on the floor on his hands and knees to look for it. About that time the family dog came and cold-nosed him on the leg. He thought the snake had bitten him and he fainted. His wife thought he had a heart attack, so she called an ambulance. The attendants rushed in and loaded him on the stretcher and started carrying him out. About that time the snake came out from under the sofa and the Emergency Medical Technician saw it and dropped his end of the stretcher. That's when the man broke his leg and why he is in the hospital. The wife still had the problem of the snake in the house, so she called on a neighbor man. He volunteered to capture the snake. He armed himself with a rolled-up newspaper and began poking under the couch. Soon he decided it was gone and told the woman, who sat down on the sofa in relief. But in relaxing, her hand dangled in between the cushions, where she felt the snake wriggling around. She screamed and fainted, the snake rushed back under the sofa, and the neighbor man, seeing her laying there passed out tried to use CPR to revive her. The neighbor's wife, who had just returned from shopping at the grocery store, saw her husband's mouth on the woman's mouth and slammed her husband in the back of the head with a bag of canned goods, knocking him out and cutting his scalp to a point where it needed stitches. An ambulance was again called and it was determined that the injury required hospitalization. The noise woke the woman from her dead faint and she saw her neighbor lying on the floor with his wife bending over him, so she assumed he had been bitten by the snake. She went to the kitchen, brought back a small bottle of whiskey, and began pouring it down the man's throat. By now the police had arrived. They saw the unconscious man, smelled the whiskey, and assumed that a drunken fight had occurred. They were about to arrest them all, when the two women tried to explain how it all happened over a little green snake. They called an ambulance, which took away the neighbor and his sobbing wife. Just then the little snake crawled out from under the couch. One of the policemen drew his gun and fired at it. He missed the snake and hit the leg of the end table that was on one side of the sofa. The table fell over and the lamp on it shattered and as the bulb broke, it started a fire in the drapes. The other policeman tried to beat out the flames and fell through the window into the yard on top of the family dog, who startled, jumped up and raced out into the street, where an oncoming car swerved to avoid it and smashed into the parked police car and set it on fire. Meanwhile the burning drapes had spread to the walls and the entire house was blazing. Neighbors had called the fire department and the arriving fire-truck had started raising his ladder as they were halfway down the street. The rising ladder tore out the overhead wires and put out the electricity and disconnected the telephones in a ten-square city block area. Time passed. Both men were discharged from the hospital, the house was re-built, the police acquired a new car, and all was right with their world. About a year later they were watching TV and the weatherman announced a cold snap for that night. The husband asked his wife if she thought they should bring in their plants for the night. SHE SHOT HIM.
Every year cross-dressers migrate to my hometown like hundreds of brightly plumed birds to attend Esprit, a cross-dressers' convention. Why they choose tiny Port Angeles, a Washington state mill town with little tolerance for men in lipstick, is anyone's guess. But once a year, groups of tall, well-dressed "women" stroll around, enjoying the sights and spending money. Which means it's time for any self- respecting female to dress a bit better and sport makeup when she leaves the house. Otherwise, a bunch of men will show her up. "I wish I looked like that in a pair of slacks," a girlfriend of mine mutters into her drink as we sit in the hotel lounge. A cross-dresser with a pert butt, loads of blonde curls and a Coach bag sashays out of the bar. These men dressed as women attend the Esprit convention to network, party, and take classes on everything from sexual reconstructive surgery to "how to move like a woman." I ask to sit in on some of the "girlie" classes. Since no one ever taught me how to wear makeup or walk in a womanly fashion, I wanted to find out how guys learn to be girls. "Honestly, sometimes I go to the mall and watch women and girls go by, and I say to myself ‘American women just do not know how to take care of themselves,'" says Harriet Stites, one of the convention's organizers. I instantly regret wearing chinos and a striped T-shirt. I could use some lipstick too. Harriet is a well coiffed middle-aged man in a white blouse with shoulder pads. I notice this because I touch his shoulder as we're trying to figure out how to fit me into the busy schedule for the seven-day conference. That's my first brush with cross-dresser confusion. I would never touch a middle-aged man this way, but I treat Harriet like a fellow female instantly. "You never know what a woman goes through till you walk a mile in her shoes," sighs Charlotte as he's having eyeliner applied by Dominique, a genetic gal (G.G. in cross-dresser parlance), in the makeup seminar. Charlotte has strawberry-blonde hair and bushy eyebrows. He sits with his legs gaping open, stretching a red wool skirt in directions it was never meant to go. All 10 "gals" at Dominique's daytime makeup class have brought their makeup kits. One "lady" has a purple tackle box labeled "Kat's bag of tricks," carrying everything from Clinique to Wet ‘N' Wild. Jane, trim in size 6 Guess jeans, leans into every bit of advice Dominique utters, then tries applying lipstick with a shaky hand. Remember the subversive thrill of early makeup use? Sneaking mom's blue eye shadow in fourth grade? That feeling fills the room. "You've got to be bold to buy makeup" says Stephanie, who's showing off a jar of $80 Christian Dior rejuvenation cream. Stephanie talks proudly about the time he walked right up to an Estee Lauder counter in a department store and requested a makeover. I relate more to Jane, who flashes a bottle of Clinique's Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion, then tucks it quickly back into his purse, as if he's showing me a gram of coke. Or a secret. Cosmetics always seemed a forbidden pleasure to me, attractive but girly. And girly was never how I wanted to be perceived. The smell of my favorite perfume, Thierry Mugler's Angel, wafts through the room. I'm not the one wearing it. Later on I attend a movement class, taught by Dominique again. This time I'm working it a bit more. Lipstick, platforms, and tight black bellbottoms. Proud to be a woman even though my butt will never be as good as that "gal's" I saw in the bar. Dominique tells the packed classroom, "Real women never show their armpits, inner thighs or palms." Then she has everybody practice entering a crowded room. Enter. Pause. See where you want to go, then move slowly toward that place. Back up to the chair ‘til it brushes the back of your legs. Slowly lower yourself. Cross legs at knees, arrange at angle to lengthen look. Done. I watch man-in-skirt after man-in-skirt enter the room, pause, and go through the motions. They're good listeners, entering the room regally and sitting gracefully. Everyone has gone but me, and the "ladies" clamor to see how a real girl will handle the assignment. I am Frankenstein. I really try, but I do my usual clump and plop. What's worse, I hold my hands up, limp-wrested, in an attempt to look feminine. I look like a clumsy woman trying to impersonate a gay male. Dominique shrieks, "What's with those hands?" and one of the cross-dressers declares, "See? It isn't as easy as it looks, is it?" I am humbled. The "ladies" are vindicated. These men live for this weeklong convention. They change outfits five times a day, get manicures and talk endlessly about favorite shopping places. (Ross Dress for Less is a favorite, but they call it Cross Dress for Less.) The end of the Esprit convention is emotionally tough for the closeted cross-dressers, because it represents an end to the freedom to be feminine they've enjoyed all week. The "ladies" pack up their high heels and sequined gowns, put on their guy clothes and go back to their guy lives. It's a shame when it comes to an end. I ask Harriet Stites what makes a cross-dresser's take on femininity different from a woman's. "We never, ever take it for granted," he says. As I clump to my car, I make a mental note to dig that perfume out of the depths of my medicine cabinet when I get home.
Anne Erickson is a freelance writer and TV producer in Port Angeles, Wash. She also wrote "Susan Powter: Whoa! She's got strong opinions."
"Competitive Salary" We remain competitive by paying you less than our competition. "Join our fast-paced company" We have no time to train you. "Casual work atmosphere" We don't pay enough to expect that you will dress up; a couple of the real daring guys wear earrings. "Some overtime required" Some every night and some every weekend. "Duties will vary" Anyone in the office can boss you around.
"Must have an eye for detail" We have no quality assurance. "Career Minded" Female applicants must be childless (and remain that way). "Apply in person" If you're old, fat or ugly you'll be told that the position has been filled. "Seeking candidates with a wide variety of experience" You'll need it to replace the three people who just quit. "Problem-solving skills a must" You're walking into perpetual chaos.
"Requires team leadership skills" You'll have the responsibilities of a manager, without the pay or respect. "Good communication skills" Management communicates, you listen, figure out what they want and do it.
A special room rate for Innvestments of $44.00 is being offered for those individuals who desire to stay over at the Ramada Inn. At this special price it is felt that the rooms will go rapidly so please call today and make your reservations. Call the Ramada Inn at the following numbers: 508+775-1153; or toll free at 800:676-0000 or 888+CAPE-398. Be sure to mention the Innvestments Valentine's Party.
Please make me (tab to each entry)..reservations for the Innvestments Valentine's Party on Cape Cod party for me in the following name:
Fem Name:
Address: City State ZIP
Telephone Number: Email Address
A J & M Entertainment presentation. Produced by David Kirkpatrick. Executive producers, Jim Lofty, Doug Mankoff, Jonathan King, Julia Palau, Ivan Gulas. Co-producers, Joe Burns, Robert Leveen, Andrew J. Sacks, David Ciminello. Directed by Shirley MacLaine. Screenplay, David Ciminello. Camera (Deluxe color), Jan Kiesser; editor, Bonnie Koehler; music, Chris Boardman; music supervisor, Randy Gerston; production designer, Burton Rencher; costume designer, Natasha Landau; sound (Dolby), Dean M. Hovey; casting, Julie Litter, Running time: 108 MIN. It seems especially apt that Shirley MacLaine, a high priestess of self-expression, should make her feature directing debut with a film about a child's quest for individuality. With "Bruno," MacLaine achieves a mixed success. Her name, promo skills and high-profile cast would seem to assure pic theatrical visibility, albeit likely in niche markets. Working from a script by David Ciminello, MacLaine has fashioned a fable of magical realism about a cross-dressing & year-old genius, Bruno (Alex D. Linz of "Home Alone 3"). When the kids at his Catholic school bully him, his mom, Angela (Stacey Halprin), arrives to take him home and chastise the school's flippant, cigarette-smoking Mother Superior (Kathy Bates). Pining over her estranged husband, Dino (Gary Sinise), Angela, at 350 pounds, has enough issues of her own that Bruno's penchant for dresses doesn't strike her as odd. She's also too busy pressing local gossip Dolores (Jennifer Tilly) for details on Dino's new bimbo g.f. (Joey Lauren Adams) to notice. Back in school, Bruno makes his first friend, fellow outsider Shaniqua (spunky Kiami Davael, who almost steals the picture). That the black Shaniqua fancies herself a young Annie Oakley provides fitting symmetry for Bruno; in one inspired bit, the two swap clothes in a cemetery. But when a concussion lands Bruno, still in the dress, at the hospital, his cross-dressing incites confusion and dismay. With Angela distracted and Dino too mortified to get involved, Bruno's curmudgeonly grandmother Helen (MacLaine) takes control. Does Bruno want to be a girl, Helen demands? Absolutely not, he assures her. He just likes to wear dresses, which, he reminds her, are holy vestments. In fact, he wants to be an etymologist. Pic veers in a different direction from Alain Berliner's superb, similarly themed "Ma vie en rose," a whimsical fantasy in which a boy obstinately wants to be a girl. Burton Rencher's production design, with the exception of a couple of fantasy sequences, is more rooted in reality, and feels more conventional: Instead of the neon pinks and surreal, fluorescent palette of the 1997 film, "Bruno's" look, like its tone, is more muted. MacLaine has made a specialty, in recent years, out of playing tough older women whose outward stubbornness belies a deeper vulnerability, and her Helen could be a northern cousin to `Terms of Endearment's' Aurora Greenway. The dismissive hand gestures and supercilious raised eyebrows feel overly familiar. As a director, MacLaine does a sturdy, workmanlike job, though it isn't hard to spot the mildly self- indulgent actor's hand throughout: loving, lingering close-ups often seem unnecessarily protracted. That same tendency to draw things out throws off the pacing and weighs things down, especially in an opening prologue that is slow setting up the action and Bruno's dilemma. But MacLaine also has a sharp eye for memorable moments. When Helen, for instance, finally agrees to accept her grandson on his terms, she suggests they toast the occasion with a swig of scotch. To her credit, she plays the moment less for comedy than for the sense of empathetic bonding, and subverts convention with the boy's wholly unexpected, beautifully realized reaction shot. Would that there were more such subtle and surprising moments throughout. Story ends rather predictably, and, regrettably, much of the cast is underused. Pros like Sinise and Bates are confined to playing one- or two-note characters. And Halprin, in her acting debut, brings a certain pathos to her role but hasn't the requisite range to make the flamboyant Angela a multidimensional character. Tech elements are first-rate, with lenser Jan Kiesser giving a backlit, otherworldly sheen to Catholic school sequences. Costumer Natasha Landau dreams up some truly amazing creations. Music by Chris Boardman plays up the sentiment and effectively heightens emotional moments. COPYRIGHT 2000 Cahners Publishing Company
For those who missed the January meeting they missed out on a lot. The meeting immediately adjourned to the dinning room where the dinning room staff had set up a special table and came out with several specials from the kitchen. Everyone ordered up and enjoyed a delicious meal and some excellent conversation. Topics were wide and varied and included everything from Innvestments, parties, Fantasia Fair, Russian aircraft flying up and down the East coast of the United States to places in Hawaii. The Ramada Inn has been without a General Manager for the past few months. Mr. Peter Kirk was just recently assigned. Candy met with him earlier in the afternoon and was favorably impressed. He indicated that he had worked at one time for the Holiday Inn in New York City where they hosted a large CDI event of over 700 girls. He was assured that we were not that large a group but had just as good a time at our parties. He was also on hand in the restaurant when we went in for supper. Welcome to the Cape. We also had a chance to speak to Bonnie who was also in the restaurant when we arrived about the Birthday Party. More about that next month. We were also glad that Jacqueline was not hurt. She was the waitress earlier in the day and returned to cover our supper. Just before her arrival she had been in an automobile accident. She was the passenger in the car when another car crossed the road and ran into the car she was in.
January 08, 2001 Monday 7:00 Meeting. Restaurant January 16, 2001 Monday 7:00 Girls Night Out January 18-21, 2001 Thursday-Sunday Tiffany Club: First Event February 10, 2001 Saturday 7:30 Valentine Party February 19, 2001 Monday 7:00 Girls Night Out February 23, 2001 Friday Dame Edna Performance in Boston March 05, 2001 Monday 7:00 Meeting March 19, 2001 Monday 7:00 Girls Night Out April , 2001 Date to be determined. Birthday Party April 16, 2001 Monday 7:00 Girls Night Out May 07, 2001 Monday 7:00 Meeting May 21, 2001 Monday 7:00 Girls Night Out June 4, 2001 Monday 7:00 Meeting. Restaurant July , 2001 Date to be determined. Pool party with Tiffany July 23, 2001 Monday 7:00 Girls Night Out August 11, 2001 Saturday 11-5 Picnic. Nickerson St. Park September 10, 2001 Monday 7:00 Meeting. Election. Restaurant September 17, 2001 Monday 7:00 Girls Night Out October 01, 2001 Monday 7:00 Meeting October 14-21, 2001 Sunday-Sunday Fantasia Fair. Provincetown October 27, 2001 Saturday 8:00 Halloween Party November 05, 2001 Monday 7:00 Meeting November 19, 2001 Monday 7:00 Girls Night Out December 1, 2001 Saturday 6:30 Christmas on Cape Cod