Before the Go
As I write this, we are T-minus five days from departure. As we have not left yet, I want to take this opportunity to write about what I think will happen in San Francisco this year, and hopefully I can reflect on this at the end of our trip.
1. I will get lost.
This year we are going to be at many more theaters than we were last year as our beloved Castro theater closed for construction. I do want to walk down to the theater at least once just to poke around and see what’s happening down there. Last year there was an organization that would protest nearly every day to save the original seats in the theater. We talked to some of the people and found out that The Castro has passed hands several times, not all of them keeping the community in mind. From what I gathered, the main issue was that the building needed lots of money for repairs and upkeep, as all buildings do, but the only investors that were willing to spend the money were planning on turning the historic theater into a multiuse venue, for concerts, live performances, and a kind of nightlife that was not appealing to the original clientele. So, I want to see the community reaction to the theater being temporarily closed. Since The Castro was the closest and most used theater for Frameline, we are going to go to lots of new ones. I am excited for this since one of my goals this year is to explore more of San Francisco. Last year I kept pretty much to the Castro district, or to commercial downtown. I would like to see more of the city and the great diversity it has to offer, which I think will be aided by the new theaters we will be using. I also am a bit weary of this since my more type A q-festers tended to take the reins on travel and outings. I am quite a bit directionally challenged, and not experienced in using lots of public transit, but I will try to remain realistically optimistic.
2. I will feel. A LOT.
Around a year ago I decided to stop HRT. I had decided that I achieved the changes I wanted to be able to pass, and that upkeep was too high a cost. As we all know, hormones affect pretty much every-freaking-thing in your body and life. I have noticed that since my body returned to an estrogen dominated system, my emotions are different. Q-fest is already a highly emotional time due to first of all the culture shock, and also, we’re watching at least 25 films that intend to make you feel something, and BOY DO I FEEL THINGS. I have been journaling for several years now and hope to keep up the practice while in San Francisco in order to do check-ins with myself.
3. I will go out.
Since going on the trip last year, I have turned 21! This means a whole aspect of San Francisco night life is now open to me. I know from going to bars in Wisconsin that I’m not a huge “bars person” or extrovert for that matter, but I want to go to a gay bar so bad. There is one gay bar (as far as I know) in Eau Claire that I have never been to, and one gay bar in Menomonie that I have been to with my girlfriend, which has just a few too many antlers for my taste. I want to go to a bar, pay way too much for a crappy cocktail, listen to too loud music, hopefully dance, see some killer drag queens (hopefully some killer drag kings too!!!) and be with gay people. Bar culture in the gay community can be looked down on for some good reasons of alcohol abuse, less than long-term relationships, and general sleaze, but I feel like it’s a rite of passage that I’m excited to see.
That is all to say, I want to try to push myself this year. You get out what you put in, right?
