Medieval Plays

At the beginning of December I had a trip down to London to meet up with friends for pre-Christmas shopping and this also gave me an opportunity to go and see the production of two medieval plays by HIDden Theatre at the British Museum.

The plays were produced by Trinacria Productions which was setup by two of my fantastic friends and I really wanted to go along to provide my support as well as seeing the plays themselves. I was very lucky to actually end up getting involved by photographing the rehearsals and ultimately the performances of the plays which meant I obviously got to watch them as well.

It was fantastic to be involved, even in such a small way and I'm really grateful to everyone involved for that. I've uploaded the photos I took from the rehearsals and performances to my website.

On a technical note: almost all of these photos were taken on my Canon 5D mk II at ISO 3200 (some of the rehearsal ones I managed at 1600, several of the performance ones as high as 6400) without the aid of a flash! While the pictures did have a significant amount of noise it was still quite impressive how well they have come out in the end - the choice of camera/software clearly helped an awful lot with this.

It happened ...

Sorry for the delay in updating things in case anyone was desperate to know the outcome of the weekend, the week after was rather busy and also I was on a bit of a down after everything. But yes, everyone did get over so I did manage to see my Dad for the first time in over 2yrs :D Also got to see my Mum and hadn't done that for over a year as well.

The weekend went incredible well, in fact it felt like the past two years hadn't happened and we just chatted normally and easily. In some ways it was like an anti-climax, there were no big scenes or upset it was just normal service being resumed!

I'm told my Dad was fine with meeting the 'new' me and didn't seem fazed at all. One of the first things he said when he came in was "You look like your sister" which was quite nice; well for me, I suspect my sister has alot more to complain about in the comparison!

Seeing my son again was also fantastic and I don't have words to describe how wonderful it was to put him to bed and read a book with him (which is what we always use to do) and have him do the actual reading! Meant so much.

I was quite upset after they all left and it's affected me for about a week - lots of memories and feelings, not to mention a whole lot of confusion was unlocked by the visit, things I'd just held in check. Getting over that now and I really want to just keep moving forward now and see my parents, and son, as much as possible.

For everyone who made that weekend so special: thank you :)

Snow Fair!

I love snow and I've been saying it would be great to have more so that everything feels all Christmassy and magical. Well, as they say, be careful what you wish for: York, like alot of the country, is now blessed with an over-abundance of snow and as well as the mayhem it's causing for everyone else it could also wreck my plans for the coming weekend which was meant to be one of the most important in my life.

I mentioned previously that I'd been talking more openly with my Dad and that there was a distinct possibility that we may meet up soon, well, that was (is?) this weekend! Both my parents were planning on coming over and also bringing my son for a visit also! I do get to see my son regularly but he's never stayed over at my house before so this weekend was going to be important and fun for that as well!

I haven't actually seen my Dad since June 2008 (fathers day in fact) and he has never laid eyes on me since I started my transition. It's going to be a bit of a shock to see what I look like now, compared to then, I have changed quite a bit! Also the last time I saw my Mum was over a year ago, when I moved to York, and I'm told by friends that my face has altered in that time as well.

I've been quite busy of the past few days so haven't had a chance to sit down and really think about how the visit would go. It has been on my mind though and I've gone through many scenarios in my head. It's also caused me to revisit feelings and experiences from my past and has almost transported me back to the last few times I saw may parents and how I felt then. That's quite disorientating as it reminds me of how I was before my transition and the way I looked and acted - both of which I have tried hard to forget.

My Dad has said that he is ready to meet me now, so it really is just a matter of timing and opportunities for this to happen. While I may pretend, even to myself, that I can deal with this and that it's something I shouldn't be too worried about, I know that the closer it gets to happening the more nervous and anxious I'll get. It is a huge deal and something that it going to be difficult for all concerned. That said, hopefully things will get easier after that and we can all start trying to rebuild some sort of normal family life.

Now, if only the weather would ease a little on Friday, and the roads clear ...