My photography and artistic activities are keeping me from getting to depressed and stressed about all this chaos.

The last diamonds meeting, the first one I’ve been to this year was very good with a large turn out and a few new people to talk to and some old faces too.

I’ll try to write more next time!

Since my last report I’ve been to Diamonds on the Georgina river boat a couple of times, to the Magic Theatre for their Halloween event and to Diamonds in the office.  Diamonds lost one of their founding members Verina to a heart attack just after returning from a holiday to the USA, which was a big shock to everyone, she wasn’t a regular attendee as she had moved to Kettering but I had met her a few times. Also, Amba lost her Mother In Law but that was expected due to old age….consequently she hasn’t been attending. So it’s been a little quiet on the boat, as well as a little cold as the boat costs so much to heat. In other news Kelly is waiting for surgery to her back and has also been ill with pneumonia and a collapsed lung.

On a more cheerful front, four of us Sue, Michelle, Dianne and I took a trip down to London to the Rivoli Ballroom for the Halloween Magic Theatre. The drive to London was a little scary due to a driver with something of a lack of focus on their driving; luckily I managed to persuade them to let me drive home. I think after my last two experiences of other peoples driving I’m going to try to avoid this situation in future by always driving myself.  The Halloween costumes and make up were fabulous; the effort and imagination people put into this were astounding. The only downer was there were so many people but the band and dancing were just as good as last time.

This Wednesday I was back out with Diamonds, this time we were back in the office as it was too cold to heat the boat. To be honest the office was much improved with better, more laid back lighting. There was a good crowd of people, including some of those I like to chat with: Amba, Kelly, Michelle, Janine. Tarquin and his friend turned up towards the end of the evening with a pack of 4 dogs. All in all it was a good night.

It continues to be a strange time for me with problems with elderly parents, my unsatisfactory position at work and my company’s strategic direction. However, I’m pleased to report I’m learning to be detached and care a little less. Also, my hobbies of photography and music are active and keeping me occupied.  

First couples of days of my trip were spent on travel to the USA, Madison Wi and back to Boston Ma and work, so no time for relaxation and fun

21-9-11

Not much going on with friends as yet, so I simply did some shopping at DSW and Nordstrom Rack  and then went on to dinner at  Legal Sea Foods Natick.

The shopping was good, I got a nice dress from Nordstrom with the intention to wear it on Friday night and also to wear it for the Magic Theatre Halloween do in London. I was in town at DSW at just the right time to shop for boots, all sizes and style still available. I managed to get a pair of leather boots in my size with enough leg room to wear jeans tucked into them and with a fairly sensible block heel  and heel height…RESULT!

22-9-11

Again, nothing much doing with my pals, struggling a little to get in touch with Sonia who does not own a cell phone and is not fantastic at replying to email, Marie has a new cell and has neglected to pass the number on to me but at least she is an avid user of Face Book and will be contactable there. Jenn and I had scheduled to meet on the following Monday for dinner. In light of this I just went for a quick dinner at Legal Sea foods in Burlington.

23-9-11

Finally, I made contact with Sonia and have Marie’s phone number…So arrangements finally get made for the evening. Marie and I arranged that she would pick me up at my hotel, we’d go and eat somewhere in town and meet Sonia later at Machine.

Marie and I ate at Jose’s Mexican in Cambridge, this was busy and just as good as my last visit…we had a 20 minute wait for a table, in the torrential rain…lucky we had brought umbrellas with us. Marie and I caught up on all her news. And then we drove into Boston to Machine on Boylston which is opposite the Fenway. We found Sonia pretty quickly and caught up on news over a drink in the upstairs bar. Machine was fun, loud LOUD music and a lively crowd although it did finish early as it was open to 18+ and not the usual 21+ crowd

Sonia came with us to get a lift back to her digs in Somerville, as that was in the general direction Marie would be going in after dropping me at Waltham to Methuen. Although Marie had not really drunk anything much, her driving and the inability of our SATNAV to find its way out of Boston, meant it was getting late. As we got closer to Waltham Marie’s driving became slower and more unsteady, when we got to the hotel Sonia and I realized that we needed to wake her up with coffee or that she needed to rest before driving again…we all went into my room, I made coffee, Marie went to the loo when she came out she lay on the bed and promptly feel asleep…despite the smell of coffee we couldn’t raise her. Sonia and I decided the best course was for me to drive her back to Somerville and see if Marie was more awake when I got back, she wasn’t so the best course just seemed to be to leave her to sleep.  In the morning she had to pick up her daughter who was staying over the weekend so she was up and gone by 09:00AM

24-9-11

Sonia and I had arranged to meet the next day, with a view to doing a photo-walk around MIT to get some shots of the Sata Center a very interesting piece of Frank Ghery architecture. In the evening we were either going to see some music or go to Randolph Country Club.

I drove into Cambridge, parked my car at Alewife T and met Sonia, we went into town on the subway and had a great afternoon wandering round MIT and Cambridge and had dinner at Cambridge Center Legal Sea Foods.  We considered the evening and decided we’d rather hear some music than go to a club. We got on the T and went off to Toad on Mass Avenue. There was a party at the bar, strangely the guy on the door said “are you the Johnson party?” I told him no and he said “Oh Ok you can go in then” very strange. There were two bands,  The Family Jewels a minimalist blues band somewhat like a cross between Steve Cropper and Taj Mahal, the second and headlining act John Cate and The Van Gogh Brothers who were debuting their new CD, which they played in full. They were rather like Tom Petty with three part harmony’s  a little like CSN, I really enjoyed them and purchased their CD for $10 which really lived up to the live performance. Sonia and I then headed back to Alewife and my car, back to Somerville and then back to my hotel.

25-9-11

I happened to be in town for The Sisters monthly meal at The Old Mill restaurant in Westminster, this was good…a nice venue and traditional American fare. It was nice to see Dee and her partner, Sally and her daughter Carolina and to  catch up with Ashley, Courtney and family

26-9-11

Monday and it was dinner with Jenn, she picked me up promptly at 7:30PM we decided to go to Margarita’s in Lexington. We talked over family, work etc…Jenn has a new teaching job in her own town of Carlisle at the school her kids went to, she seems fine very, very busy  with writing and learning for the new courses she has to teach and with helping to run her ski club. It’s always a pleasure to see her and catch up

27-9-11

I had arranged previously via FB with Connie that we’d get together for dinner when I was next in town. We had quite a crowd, six in all ( Dee, Connie, Debra, Suzanne, Barbra, me)  and ate at Joe’s American Bar and grill at Natick. Good food, great conversation and good fun.

We then went across to the Crowne Plaza, really there wasn’t much going on as they are refurbishing the bar. We took a few pictures, Dianne and Erica were there . Hopefully, the bar will be ready next time I am in town.

29-9-11

My final night in Boston and I’d arranged another photographic walk about with Sonia and then on to either Club Café or to see some music. We met up at Alewife and took the T into town, had dinner at Jose McIntyre which bills its self as a Mexican Irish restaurant! I couldn’t see it myself apart from nachos with potato chips instead of tortillas. I had fabulous fish (scrod) and chips I think that must be from the Irish menu!

It was then on for a walk around the Greenway, a park built on the site of the old interstate that divided the North End from down town. I kind of screwed up the settings on my camera for shooting in the dark so only managed to get a couple of good pictures. We then went on to the New England Holocaust Memorial, a dramatic glass structure with the number of each prisoner who died in the concentration camps

It was good to see all my friends again. To see Sonia healthy & happy although homeless, Jenn and her progress with new job, Marie moving on with her new life and Connie, Suzanne, Debra

I’ve been suffering from depression and stress, which is caused by a multitude of problematic issues in my life at the moment including parents, children, work etc. none of these on their own would be enough to tip me over the edge but dealing with these concurrently has just got a little too much. I’ve been seeing a psychiatrist to talk over the issues and how to handle them and in addition have started to take medication.  The funny thing is that a problem like that in your own life shows who your friends really are, some people really care, listen and offer help…those who you thought of as your friends are often the ones who let down the most badly. I was called a liar and let down over something I could only think had been a simple misunderstanding by a person who I had supported through their transition, divorce and loss of employment but apparently spending time with me was too much trouble for them. Oh well, I can only say I won’t bother them again, I won’t bear grudges and I’ll move on.

I’ve been off work for quite sometime now which has given me a chance to pursue some things I’ve not had the time to do before, all to with art and photography. Specifically I have been learning and using: HDR photography, PhotoShop, Fractal art I have then been combining these various techniques into collages based on mixtures of the multiple techniques.  My art work can bee seen here   

The Wednesday of the previous week we were in the offices of the cruise company as the boat was out on a private hire. This wasn’t as dire as previous occasions, as it was summer we were able to go out on the balcony and enjoy the ‘summe’ evening. The usual suspects were there, notable additions were Penny who I’d not seen for some time, Karla, the South African couple who’s name escapes me and Michelle who I’d not met previously. Michelle is an out of work actor, had an interesting chat about the  trade and the jobs on over while resting.

This Wednesday we were back on the boat and it was quiz night again, we only cam third this week but as we had a smaller team that wasn’t so surprising. Amba and I had a good chat about the trials and tribulations of caring for elderly relatives. Of course as I choose to wear a pair of tight skinny white Autograph  jeans for the first time I managed to find some red wine to spill down them, which I’m please to say it came out in the wash. I’d also managed to hunt down a nice pair of black cross wedges from Evans, I simply can’t believe how big their shoes come up, I’ve never worn an 8 before and never imagined an 8 would be too big!

It was a fine night and nice to be out with friends, I’ll be back in a couple of weeks.

It was Amba’s birthday the day before, so she had come along with a cake. There was music this week: Miles Davis and Afro Celt Sound System courtesy of Hannah and Delia.

Not too much to say this week, so that’s it from me.

We had a visit from a couple, Molly and Katherine who work with and are funded by Cambridgeshire Police to ensure hate crimes are properly reported and followed through, they were fun to talk to and an interesting insight, during the quiz of the quality of history teaching in our schools these days. They wanted to know about all the different groups of Trans people who meet around Cambridgeshire, as they want to increase their profile within the community.

Hannah then met a random girl and guy while having a smoke outside, Mandy and Andy not a couple but flatmates. Good conversation ensued, she’s a Film studies student at ARU, dabbling in writing and production he’s an Entomologist, Theatre Technician. We chatted about film, music, theatre and saw some magic…and I learned an interesting theatre fact, the support staff do a panto based on the foibles and performances of the actors for the actors at the end of the run known as a Cod Pantomime, this is something I’d never heard of before

Another fun thing was Amba’s Barry M Crackle nail polish, see picture…you put this on top off what ever colour you are wearing and it break up into a crackle pattern with the underlying colour showing through. Strangely Mandy thought my silver nail varnish was rather racy and said she’d only ever wear something conservative like blue, I guess the younger generation has different ideas

I really enjoyed this evening’s diamonds meet up, especially new faces and the quiz. I’m wondering what the next innovation will be?

I met as usual at Gem’s and travelled in to the boat with Gem and Diane. On arriving at the boat we found a good crowd already there, sitting outside on the stern of the boat enjoying a pleasant spring evening. There were new and old faces: Claire who I’d not seen since our time at the Bird and Della who I unfortunately didn’t get time to talk to and of course there were all the regulars in attendance: Di, Gem, Heather, Kelly, Hannah, Amba, Bubbles……etc. Strangely I spent a lot of time talking to people with problems caring for elderly parents, it certainly brings home that these problems are not unique to my parents, though I’m not sure it makes it much easier knowing that!

I decided to bring along my new camera, I wanted to see how it performed in really poor lighting conditions without resorting to flash. It seemed to cope OK, though I did find the flash rather fierce when I did use it.

There was a lot of talk about future events, Di running round with a notepad and asking for ideas about publicity. Strangely, someone suggested an advert on Radio for the posh frock cruise; I can imagine this half the attendance on a permanent basis! Fortunately I think this point was grasped

So until the next time

The Magic Theatre, Lewisham, London – 14th May 2011

My Flickr pictures of the event are at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucykjohnstone/sets/72157626744537448/

My friend Helena’s are at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/helenalove/sets/72157626744566776/with/5731592920/

After quite some time I had an evening on the boat, I think maybe the first time this year.

It was good to catch up with folk, for some the year had brought on big changes with employment and going full time. This I’m sure is quite a challenge and a sea change in life, moving from a ‘hobby’ to a new way of life. Of course things like laser, hormones and all help…anyway it all seems to be going quite well for Gem.  Also, it was good to catch up with Kelly who is suffering from problems with her back.

Apart from one or two closer friends they really are a rag tag collection of misfits, tucked away on the boat away from the public eye. Of course this is a case of the ‘pot calling the kettle black’ when to most people we’re all odd-balls and misfits.  It does seem strange though to be told that ‘we think taking pictures is naff’…my friends in the USA and other towns and groups in the UK are much more aligned and integrated in everyday society, they have no such hang ups

I think I’ll try and stay away for a while at least 

Thursday the first day out and about on my trip to New England, the plan was to meet my friend Debra for a quiet dinner at TCNE in Waltham. During the day at the office I was pleased that my friend Sonia had finally contacted me, so we agreed that she’d get the train into Waltham and that I’d collect her prior to meeting Debra. As it turned out Debra, had got the wrong Thursday in mind and didn’t turn up…so it was just Sonia and I which was perfect as it gave us lots of time to catch up. We had dinner in Waltham at an upscale Italian restaurant called La Campania , which was really, really good. I then drove Sonia back to her house in Cambridge. It was sad to hear that Sonia had split up with her partner and of other problems around this.

18-3-2011 – Sisters reunion

Friday is the Sisters of Boston meet at Peabody. Judging by their mail list they’ve been getting more attendees of late so I was looking forward to a good evening. As expected there was a good turn out of over 20. I met up with Dee who I hadn’t seen for a year or so and caught up with Leda a girl I’d met briefly at Natick…Sophia’s bar was a good chance to chat. It was then on to Polcari’s in Sagus. I wasn’t expecting much, since the Sisters of Boston’s out of town locations are not usually a patch on what is available in Boston. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The premises are a large unit with the space split 70:30 between restaurant and bar/stage. The restaurant afforded a quiet space to talk, the bar stage area was much more lively and crowded. A black soul tribute act were performing. I did have my doubts that a bar in a blue collar area with a black audience would be a friendly environment for TG folk, I have to say I was very wrong…the black women in particular could not have been more friendly; maybe the empathize with another minority, who knows?

19-3-2011 – Tri-state reprise

I had a busy, busy day planned for Saturday: Kittery Mn outlets for some shopping, lunch with Connie, Dinner with Marie in Methuen Ma, Club 313 in Manchester Nh. The shopping was wonderful; there are some amazing bargains to be had. I was especially proud of a Coach handbag for less than 1/3 of the marked price, its lovely! I met Connie at Kittery and we drove further north in to Maine to eat lunch on the coast at Ogunquit at Jackie’s Too there was a fabulous view of the sea but the weather was pretty miserable, after lunch I drove Connie back to Kittery to pick up her car. 

It was then back down into Ma to call on Marie in Methuen. Marie was in the middle of preparing submissions for a custody hearing in the week, and running various errands. It was a nice relaxing afternoon and I got a chance to play her fabulous Martin acoustic guitar, what a wonderful rich powerful tone and beautiful to play. Another girl Robyn, who was joining us at 313 arrived, the three of us threw together a dinner of Salad, Haddock, Rice…spent too long chatting and then realized that Marie hadn’t corrected the clocks in her house for the recent change to summer time and that we running an hour behind schedule.

Club 313 was fun. It was good to see Sally, Danielle and Loraine again. I also met up with Christen and her partner Jo Anne who I’d met a couple of years ago at Natick, they are a lovely couple interesting to talk with and nice people. I then got to sing karaoke with Marie and Robin, the first time Lucy has ever done this…we did a fair rendition of Revolution by the Beatles…it was fun and there was a tiny bit of applause but really I don’t know how good it was. There was then time for just a little dancing before the club closed. I then transported Marie and Robyn back to Methuen and then back to my hotel. 

20-3-2011 – Harvard Square

Jenn and I had arranged to meet up in the afternoon on Sunday; she came by my hotel to pick me up. We decided it would be nice to go wander around the shops in Harvard Square and then get dinner. We had a great afternoon looking in Ann Taylor, Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters and lots of other shops, we had coffee and cake in Au Bon Pain and dinner in Legal Sea foods at the Charles Hotel.

21-3-2011 – Music

On the Monday Sonia and I decided to go into Cambridge and hear some music. We met a Jose’s Mexican restaurant and then drove into town parking on Mass’ Avenue to get to Toad . Toad is a great bar it’s tiny with room for a couple of dozen customers and the band, so it really is what they call an intimate venue. We saw White Owls, blues band with a hint of country and Gilded Splinters a country band with a lot of rock attitude. We then took the T into Harvard square and visited Charlie’s Kitchen heard another band, they weren’t very good. We then walked back up Mass’ Avenue to collect the car and drop Sonia back at her house

22-3-2011 – The Crowne

My final night was with the group at the Crowne, it was kind of quiet and the bar is now a shared space with the restaurant so there are no tables just the bar stools. It’s still a lovely location to meet, Danielle behind the bar was friendly and welcoming as usual. Joan, Phyllis, Deena, Erica, Amanda and Paula all put in an appearance