Getting the creative juice to flow

I like to talk about Sarah's and Kirsten's music tastes quite a bit. Sarah really identifies with her idol, Sarah McLachlan. Likewise, Kirsten feels a very strong affinity to Mariah Carey. Both affinities are a reflection of my own, especially in the case of Mariah Carey, with whom I even managed to meet.

But my own music taste is a wee bit more complicated than that, and the past two weeks have been a very good reminder of that.

Anna Nalick and I met on August 9th, 2006.

Anna Nalick and I met again - September 21st, 2010.

I would meet her one week and two weeks later as well.

Anna Nalick emerged as a strong favorite of mine around 2005, as her debut single, "Breathe (2AM)," started playing everywhere - first on Sirius Satellite Radio, then terrestrial radio, and even on TV programs. When the song became a popular telephone ringtone, it was proof that she arrived. The reason why she really hooked me in was because of a very peculiar, brilliant style of lyric writing that she employed - no resorting to any fancy words or techniques, but profound when read as a whole. It didn't hurt that unlike my other favorite artists, who are at least 6 years older than me if not much older, Anna is actually 8 years younger, yet wrote in a very grown-up way.

As the photos above attest, I ended up meeting with Anna in 2006 for an autograph. And I was very disappointed when Anna disappeared without much of a warning in 2008. As it turned out there was an issue with her record label that had caused her second album to be scrapped. In any case, Anna went back in action in August 2010, and I made sure to attend three shows out of her four-show Hollywood residency in September and yesterday. It wasn't just the old hits I was enjoying - as it turned out, I liked the new numbers, to be included in her next album, even more.

One reason why I feel an affinity to Anna is because of her origins in Glendora - only a few minutes from where I am right now. Though if I look back to my own teenage years in Arcadia, I feel that there are even more parallels. Both Arcadia and Glendora are located on the old Route 66, and as far as Southern California suburbia goes, both communities are quite old (certainly much older than my current one). Both are affluent upper-middle-class communities that are quite quiet and not exactly exciting. Both were whites-only in the sad days of California's own segregation, but ironically because of that, have attracted well-to-do Asians in recent decades. (Though I have to say, Glendora hasn't turned all that much Asian, while Arcadia has become REALLY Asian especially after I left.) When I read about stories coming out of Anna's experiences in her grade school and high school years, it often feels like what happened in Arcadia back in my day - the vibe is similar enough that the inspirations that powered her songwriting were just as well present for me, and she sounds a lot like many white girls in my high school that I never got to know back in the day. With this added factor, I can feel an extra degree of affinity to her music in ways I would never feel with, say, an R&B artist from Compton or Harlem, as much as I try to appreciate R&B in general. Or a teen growing up in Halifax (Sarah Mac) or Long Island (Mariah Carey).

It doesn't hurt that I continue to keep in touch with Anna via her Facebook fanpage, where she actually spends time exchanging ideas with her fans (and hopefully draws ideas for future songs). That way I really have insights into her creative processes.

As much as I discouraged myself from developing a creative side in my teenage years, I want to think about it. There may be hidden gems of memory from my own high school years that I need to tap into - especially in terms of how those memories helped form who I am today. There were some negatives, as in my refusal to eat bagels even today after being force-fed them in my teenage years because that was all my folks could afford. There were some positives, such as learning to really cherish every moment of my summer New York visits and motivating myself to go to New York for college out of that. (It also explains one key reason why I idolized Mariah Carey - and the way Anna Nalick talks about idolizing certain favorite artists of her own and rewriting lyrics to their songs, I can totally identify.) And the way I craft Sarah's story grounds itself heavily to my own experiences growing up - even down to Sarah's fashion sense and the cars she drives. I need to put all these pieces together into a coherent story, and more importantly, see what kinds of creative spark Sarah may get. (I see Sarah as more of a gamer/aviation geek, but still.) Who knows, Sarah herself may have a few angst-ridden teenage poems lying around somewhere... Of course, minor adjustments will need to be made to account for Sarah's origins in the San Francisco Bay Area, but I don't see issues with that. Kirsten's upbringing as a mixed-race lesbian in Alabama will be much tougher for me, however. Though I may consider doing the "Kirsten rewrite" versions of Mariah Carey's key hits.

On a lighter note, I notice that one element of Anna Nalick's comeback is her appearance makeover, and as much as I had loved her natural dark brown hair, I love her even more as a redhead. Yes, my penchant for redheads, which was an acquired taste thanks to me making Sarah a redhead (primarily so that she would be bullied more often and severely), is at work here. However, honestly I want to keep Anna as my own Music Muse (incidentally one of her newest compositions), and not really share the gift of her music with my characters (though they may occasionally enjoy "Breathe (2AM)") - I do want Sarah and Kirsten to have their own sets of favorite artists and a fairly good reason for why they love each, and they already share more than a few favorites with me already (Melissa Etheridge would be a good example). What I do know is that the way Sarah enjoys Sarah Mac, and the way Kirsten enjoys Mariah, will largely mirror the way I enjoy Anna (though most likely minus the in-person interactions).

It'll be fun getting Sarah's creative juices flowing and giving her a complex, realistic taste in pop music.

For Sarah's reference...

Just came across this - a history of United Airlines logos, from the four predecessor airlines who united in 1931 (hence the name United) to today.

I spotted this pictorial history at a Facebook group that is asking to save the United tulip, as current proposals will have the United name slapped onto the Continental globe logo and livery when the two airlines merge.

I am partial to the tulip because of all the flying I've done on United planes over the years. But even more importantly, the tulip is yet another lesbian double-entendre for me, since it sounds like "two lips."

With so many lesbian connotations I attach to Sarah's employer for one reason or another, I actually wonder how I actually had first envisioned Sarah to be hopelessly boycrazy. Of course, that never worked out anyway, which is why I turned Sarah into a lesbian, and her traits started to make far more sense (not to mention I could give Kirsten, my alter ego and a hardcore lesbian, a much more significant role as Sarah's girlfriend and wife).

One group member also comments that the United name is meant to be written using sans-serif fonts; that is definitely evident in the above logos. The only serif font was the Century used in the 1993 logo, which proved to be very dreadful, especially combined with the Battleship Gray livery introduced at the same time; the Century was retired in favor of retro blocky font only four years later, but the Battleship Gray livery continued to be used until 2004, and some United planes still sport the badly faded Battleship Gray paint job. This is yet another argument the group uses against the Continental branding, as its font is serif as well.

Lilith Fair (and Happy 33rd Birthday, Sarah!)

It's already July 13th - Sarah's 33rd birthday!

The reasoning behind picking July 13th as Sarah's birthday was to mark July 13th, 2004, when I saw Sarah McLachlan, one of my music idols, for the first time in person. Although Sarah was not named after Sarah Mac in my mind (I simply picked an arbitrary name that transwomen tend to like), the storyline calls for just that; Sarah is driven by Sarah Mac's music as much as Kirsten is driven by Mariah Carey's. (I need to come up with what specifically gets Sarah attached to Sarah Mac.)

So it was very appropriate to celebrate Sarah's birthday by seeing Sarah Mac all over again. This time, it was part of the Los Angeles (actually it was Irvine in Orange County) stop of Lilith Fair, a festival of women musicians that had run from 1997 to 1999 and has now been revived. Sarah Mac or not, attending a very womanly event like this is also a good way to mark the occasion.

During the daylight hours, two smaller stages hosted up-and-coming singers, while a third intimate lounge, set up by ABC, hosted three acts.

Here is Marié Digby, singing her cover of the infamous Rihanna hit "Umbrella." Lovely atmosphere around the lounge, and Marié is interacting with the crowd pretty well too.

The rest of the festival had a very womanly feel of course, as well. Samples of sanitary pads and other feminine hygiene products being handed out, a feminist author having an autographing session, and of course a crowd that was 90% or so female (and a good portion of them lesbian). Lilith Fair is the ultimate way to just enjoy being a woman and value the sisterhood of other women.

Of course, here is the one and only Sarah Mac. So glad to see her again after six years.

The time when I enjoyed Sarah Mac especially a lot was the late 1990s, as I listened to her live Mirrorball album extensively, often on the road. Of course, it was also the time when my own Sarah was supposed to start her flight attendant stint. At the end of 1999, I had a disastrous trip to Amsterdam, where Sarah's airline was the saving grace thanks to the Melissa Etheridge inflight audio entertainment; truth be told, however, during the flights I was rocking away to Sarah Mac just as much through my own CD player, and Sarah Mac ended up being the pre-landing music at the end of both ocean crossings (and several more afterwards). In any case, glad to be reminded of my own Sarah from Sarah Mac.

On a more personal note, Sarah Mac becomes the fourth artist whom I get to enjoy in person multiple times. For a long time, Mariah Carey was the only artist with that distinction for me - though I also ended up returning to Sir Elton John and Melissa Etheridge in recent years, and had it not been for Bono's back injury, U2 would've been on that short list as well last month.

The encore finale. Sarah Mac brought out the performers from throughout the event, so that they could jointly sing the 10,000 Maniacs number "Because the Night."

Some of the performers visible are Brandi Carlile (in all black and singing her heart out), an out and proud lesbian; the legendary Emmylou Harris (in white cardigan and black slacks); Jes Hudak (in red shirt); and Molly Jenson (in floral romper). This main stage had also hosted country star Miranda Lambert and mariachi star Jenni Rivera; Rivera's mariachi music was certainly an unusual and very welcome twist to Lilith which normally sees only WASP music.

Again, one great event, just to feel good about being a woman and being surrounded by other women. And happy birthday, Sarah!

Another one from Europe archives

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, December 9th, 1999.

After being sickened by one week of nonstop harassment from Amsterdam's ethnic thugs, I am leaving, and no sight could be a bigger relief than this United Airlines 777 waiting to take me back to sanity. The aircraft will fly to Washington Dulles Airport as Flight 947, and from there, I will continue on to San Francisco in a 767 that will take over the 947 flight number.

At least I can count on one of the inflight audio channels run a Melissa Etheridge marathon, once I'm on board. That's vastly preferable to flying on one of the KLM planes in the background, and prolonging my Amsterdam agony by several more hours.

Because of the Melissa Etheridge programming, plus the fact that United extended employee benefits to same-sex partners of employees earlier in the year, flying United for the millennial holiday season (I had also flown to Las Vegas earlier) was an exercise in feeling some serious doses of Lesbian Power. I have always referred to United Airlines as "the Dyke-Friendly United" ever since.

Of course, that was one of the reasons behind shaping Sarah as a flight attendant, and having her work at United. The second portion of Flight 947 indeed appeared to have a transwoman flight attendant. Though I have had no chance, so far, to "tell" Sarah that I associate her employer with lesbian pride - I know she'd reply to me with even more chants of "hopeless dyke," while appreciating me for associating her employer with something I love and cherish.

When I had started this trip a week prior, I had left San Francisco on Flight 930, arriving in London. That flight will be immortalized as Sarah's first international work assignment. (And Sarah herself will end up experiencing Amsterdam later on, and making choice comments on the thugs who made my own visit such a misery.)

From European archives

This was the last photo from my two-week European tour of late 2009. Seen at the Louvre in Paris, France, this Hermaphrodite is on loan from Villa Borghese in Rome, Italy, and is a 16th Century copy of a 1st Century Roman original.

Hermaphrodite is noteworthy in Greco-Roman mythology. Described as the son of Hermes and Aphrodite, he has always been described as someone with both male and female attributes. However, the Wikipedia article seems to describe Hermaphrodite as a feminine being who happens to have male genitals, making him an historical form of shemale porn. And that's certainly what I saw at the Louvre - a lovely nymph with soft, feminine curves and proportions, but with a very well-endowed manhood that's greater than those on the teabagger warrior statues nearby.

I felt quite insulted looking at this statue, seeing as proof that the Romans were not merely into teabagging (which I hate greatly), but also into shemale porn as well. But at the same time, I was thinking of Sarah, whom I describe as having similar attributes - a lovely, attractive woman who (until recently) was known for a large male anatomy as well. In fact, as Kirsten poses Sarah through successive photo sessions to document Sarah's bodily changes, this will be very evident as well. (I especially look forward to two particular photo sessions - Sarah's final pre-op session, where with estrogen treatment temporarily halted, Sarah feels Sanford's wild sex drive take her over, and acts more like Sanford with boobs and long hair than Sarah, then Sarah's first post-op session, where the fresh surgery scars and Sarah's newfound fully female anatomy will be the showcase, giving a very positive connotation to a normally derogative term "fire crotch.")

It will be only a few more weeks before I fly to New Orleans with Sarah's coworkers. But more importantly, it looks like I will be repeating, and continuing, my 2008 Seoul meditation regimen as well, the only question being exactly when; I had found that period, and Seoul itself, to be very conducive to my creativity, so to resume what I had interrupted will be a huge plus to me - and to the novel. Could be a very interesting summer/autumn, if I am not banned by the far-right South Korean government for my "subversive leftist" views.

Some updates...

Yep, that's me hanging out with Calpernia Addams.
Could become the cover for Perfect Girl as well!
(In that case, Calpernia as Sarah and me as Kirsten)

I've been very exhausted lately - I've been functioning like a socialite as of late, attending a zillion functions and going through a ton of time and money. All for a good cause, however.

First of all, one of the people I ended up meeting in San Francisco (edit: name and link removed) hit it off with me quite a bit - to a point where she's gone ahead and listed me as her girlfriend on Facebook! Well, I wasn't exactly looking forward to dating, but I could indeed use a dating life right now. And on top of this, since this "love flame" of mine is a transwoman herself, I now have a first-person look at a relationship between two trans lesbians, which I could translate into Sarah's first relationship, that with Martha.

And just two days after spotting Calpernia Addams (and her spotting me) at San Francisco's Pride Parade (but going nowhere beyond that), I met with her again, this time at Lucky Strikes Bowling Alley in Hollywood. Calpernia co-hosted a fashion show to benefit the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; being a cat lover myself, I was very happy to attend this event, and have some chances to discuss various things with Calpernia while at it. Calpernia really entertains the idea of me asking her to play Sarah, if Perfect Girl ends up in a movie deal. She does consider herself too old, however, and she would rather play Sarah's mother or older sister, she says, but if she must be Sarah herself, it'd be no problem losing her fear of heights and becoming a lesbian, she told me.

In the meantime, the website project that I had previously mentioned is taking too much toll on me. I will withdraw from that project, so that I can do my day job and also resume writing Sarah's story. After all, I want to have a working draft by mid-August, so that I can take it to the UCLA Extension residency class and have my trusted mentor Gayle Brandeis work with me to refine it.

In and around Washington DC

It's always nice to travel around and see new things. And the capital city of a nation is always a good place to be - especially if the nation involved is, for now, still the greatest superpower in the world.

Here are some sights I saw in and around the Washington, DC area over the past few days, that would be of interest to Sarah.

The National Gallery of Art, located toward the northeast end of the Mall, is the premier depository of fine art in the US. It normally handles American and European art, but I could find a small section containing hundreds of Chinese porcelain objects.

And what would a Chinese porcelain section be, without a likeness of Kwan Yin, the transgender Goddess of Mercy?

Here is something more typical of National Gallery of Art - a famous French sculpture.

Although there is nothing transgender about Auguste Rodin's famous Le Penseur, I had to throw it in, because in an early draft of a scene I wrote very early on, Sarah was supposed to nag Kirsten about her lesbianism while touring the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art together. The two would come across a smaller likeness of this sculpture, and Sarah would talk about how embarrassed the guy would feel, sitting naked and showing off his goods to someone who couldn't care less. Of course, back then, Sarah was supposed to be boycrazy, but since then, I've turned her into a hardcore lesbian herself too.

For all the muscle mass, Le Penseur isn't too well-endowed. Honestly, I think Sarah's pre-op body is better endowed, though at this time she should be under the knife, turning her oversized clit into a smaller clit AND a vagina.

Across the Mall, the Freer Gallery of Art is where most Asian collections are stored. Freer is part of the Smithsonian system, and is located next to the Smithsonian Castle. I do have to say, however, that Washington, DC is not the best place to see lots of Asian art - that's better done in other American cities, in Europe, and obviously in Asia.

Here is a likeness of Shiva, sprouting multiple sets of arms. Shiva's wife, Shakti, is often considered to be a different aspect of the same Shiva, and the two are often fused into one body (though I couldn't find such an example today). Kwan Yin takes both her transgender history and her multiple arms from Shiva.

Here is a Nepalese rendition of a male Avalokitesvara. And yes, he's got six arms.

Here is a 12th Century Kwan Yin, hailing from the Kingdom of Dali, which occupied what is now today's Yunnan Province, China. She certainly looks female, but she does have an exposed male torso.

This statue certainly reminded me of the one I had seen over at South Korea's greatest Buddhist temple, Bulguksa. Bulguksa's Kwan Yin looked a lot like this, except that she actually had a very nice six-pack on her very masculine torso.

Another Chinese Kwan Yin. Dating from about 703 (Tang dynasty, near Xi'an), this Kwan Yin is sprouting eleven faces. Unfortunately, most of the faces have been mutilated. Also notable is one exposed, rather flat boob.

Another Kwan Yin. This one is from Northern Song Dynasty, dated 1095, and depicts Kwan Yin of the Water Moon, who takes a special significance in Chan Buddhism (which is better known by its Japanese name, Zen).

The inscription says that those who look up to this likeness of Kwan Yin will be spared from the pain of having his/her father pass away early.

I toured a few more museums while I waited for a local friend (Karen Bradley of Democracy Cell Project) to return to her place, a mile east of the Capitol. I somehow ended up at the National Air & Space Museum, at the extreme southeast corner of the Mall, and the most popular Smithsonian museum. This was my third visit.

There is a section devoted to commercial aviation, and I am looking at an exhibit showcasing progress made by women in the industry. From the 1970s on, women started working as pilots. And as shown here, pregnant women could still fly as flight attendants. The uniform was issued by United Airlines in the early 1990s, and was the first official maternity flight attendant uniform.

Sarah certainly has no use for a maternity uniform, but it's glad to know that the flight attendant profession now has the room to accommodate the likes of her.

Time for a look at the life of a 1950s air stewardess. The mirror and the checklist show all the things that a 1950s air stewardess had to go through, in order to carry out her work.

In addition, an air stewardess had to be between 5'2" and 5'6" tall and under 125 pounds. She also had to be single, attractive to the point of being just below Hollywood standards, under early 30s, and of course female. A two-year college degree and/or a nursing credential was also required. I don't think Sarah could meet any of these requirements.

These requirements were dismantled starting in the 1960s, thanks to the civil rights laws of the era. In the 1970s, larger, more fuel-efficient aircraft appeared, not only increasing demand for flight attendants (and the clout of the flight attendant unions) but also allowing the masses - not just businessmen - to take to the skies. Flight attendants were seen as less of pretty faces/sex toys for the businessmen, and more of safety professionals to cater to the needs of the new air travelers.

Here is the first Boeing 247 built. It was one of many models that were launched by the airline that Sarah now calls home. (And just a few days ago, I flew on the last of that long lineage - the Boeing 777.) Early on, it competed in the England-to-Australia air race, before returning to United duty.

Notable is the United route map of the era, which ran east from Chicago to New York, and west to Denver and San Francisco, and from there up and down the West Coast. The current United network still uses Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, and San Francisco as key hubs, though the main East Coast hub is now Washington-Dulles, and New York is only a minor footnote.

This section is also populated by a number of other aircraft. One is the nose of an American DC-7 with the registration number of N334AA. That registration was re-used on a Boeing 767 in 1987, but that 767 was the first plane to be hijacked on September 11, 2001. Another noteworthy exhibit - and a new sight to me - is the nose of N601US, Northwest's first 747, which flew from 1970 to 1999. The cockpit is open to the public, but due to the height of the 747, entry is from the upper level rather than the ground level.

The gift shop has these flight attendant pictorial books for sale. The middle one is discounted to $8.

I picked up both books. The photos certainly hark back to an era when the profession of air stewardess was considered very desirable and prestigious. Unfortunately, the reality was that flight attendants of the era were little more than sex objects, especially noted in the micro-miniskirt uniforms of the late 1960s. I did see a photo of United flight attendants wearing early 1970s colorful minidress uniforms; mercifully, those minidresses were of respectable length.

It is a nice era when a tall transgender woman in her 30s, in a lesbian marriage, is more than able to get and keep her flight attendant position, and even climb up the seniority ladder, using nothing more than her expertise and friendly personality. All the best to Sarah!

I didn't buy this one, but I took a photo anyway. It is a United Airlines Boeing 737-300 in the airline's current "Rhapsody in Blue" paint job. The 737s are being phased out due to fuel costs, however. And if I needed a scale-model United airliner, I'd pick the 777 instead, preferably in the 1990s "Battleship Gray" paint job and sporting the "Worldwide Service" slogan on the nose. After all, that's how I often showed up in some of the world's greatest cities - including Washington, DC this time.

I soon caught up with Karen afterwards. She told me that her transgender cousin, Aaron Raz Link (whose memoir, What Becomes You, gives a very fresh angle into the trans experience), is now based in Southern California. Maybe I need to meet him, say hi, and talk about various trans issues.

In addition, I had a blast in Arlington, visiting its Unitarian church and meeting up with my trans lesbian contact there. I ended up visiting Freddie's, northern Virginia's greatest LGBT hangout, with a group of lesbians. I'll be returning to Freddie's one more time, for its weekly karaoke night, before my time in the area is up.

More transgender deities

Ardhanarishvara

A bit more Wikipedia detective work taught me more about transgender deities.

As it turns out, Avalokitesvara, who is the original Indian male incarnation of Kwan Yin, was himself the Buddhists' reinterpretation of similar Hindu gods. A common theory holds that Shiva was the god that Avalokitesvara was modeled after, though it may also be Vishnu or some other god.

And in Hinduism, Shiva has a female consort named Shakti. The Hindus also recognized that while Shiva was male and Shakti was female, they simply were two different aspects of the same being. To that effect, they visualized the two sharing one body, and called it Ardhanari. Ardhanari is depicted as a half-male, half-female figure (usually the female half is on the left). Incidentally, some Japanese drag costumes carry the same theme even today, where the wearer gives only the left half of his body the femme treatment.

Wikipedia on Ardhanari

It's interesting to know that Kwan Yin's predecessor, like Kwan Yin herself, did not neatly fit into a gender box. More importantly, this also demonstrates the Hindu realization that divine concepts are too fluid to fit into a gender box anyway. Contrast this with Western religions, where gender roles have been more clearly defined (in favor of females in the earliest religions, and in favor of males in the Judeo-Christo-Muslim belief system).

When it comes to Perfect Girl, I need to touch on these spiritual items a bit, though Kwan Yin will be the one who takes more of a prominent role. And while Sarah's airline gave up on India after two attempts, Sarah will surely be visiting other locales where Hinduism is somewhat of a factor - possibly Thailand and/or Singapore.

As for Vishnu, he is the one best known for sprouting multiple arms. More than eight arms, and the blur of arms was simply described as a thousand. Of course, Kwan Yin also sprouts up to a thousand arms. I don't think Sarah has that ability, however. :)

Personally, however, in terms of the image, I prefer that of Kwan Yin - a classy goddess that inspires comfort among those who see her. She may not be overtly sexy like Aphrodite/Venus or the Hindu goddesses, but I prefer sexiness to be subtle anyway. That's how I need to present myself as well - and by extension, Sarah too (despite her well-documented exhibitionism).

Thinking of Sarah lifts me up...

Life for me in the past month has been a living hell. The greatest insult, as far as I can tell, is the brazenness of the death cultists (especially those in the immigrant communities) especially after getting Proposition 8 passed, and the failure of the white liberal activists to even realize there is a problem. Sure, today saw "Midwest conservative" Iowa legalize gay marriages, but that's more proof that California is fucked up precisely because of Third World cultures. The last place I need to be in right now is the state of California (especially the theocratic southern third).

However, a series of Sarah-related things today made me feel a bit better. I had intended writing Perfect Girl to be a therapeutic experience, and that's what appears to be happening now.

During one of my work breaks, I logged on to Facebook, where I had recently joined a few dozen travel-related fanpages. One of them, of course, was for Sarah's employer, United Airlines, hoping that I could get some extra information from insiders (frequent fliers, employees, etc.). Not much for my use at the page, but I could browse through a few hundred photos, mostly of United aircraft flying into/out of major world airports but also some of the crewmembers, including a photo of a flight attendant training graduating class. That immediately made me think of Sarah, and made me wonder how her training would've unfolded back in 1999.

Here is a graduating class...

In the evening, I retired to the seclusion of my new car, Gwaneum One, which is a Hyundai Genesis that comes with an awesome Lexicon 17-speaker stereo. I hooked up my iPod to the stereo, then started browsing. I decided to play George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue - United Airlines' theme music. As the composition unfolded, I closed my eyes; first, the Facebook photos went through my head, but before long, I was picturing myself flying somewhere on one of those planes myself. Before long, I was picturing myself sitting in my favorite seat - 8F in a 777, which would be the front row of the business class and part of a cozy 10-seat mini-cabin - and being attended to by none other than Sarah.

Even after I started playing other tracks, the Sarah theme stayed with me. It appeared that just about any song that I had listened to, during one of my previous overseas trips, was fair game. After all, until my long-term journey in South Korea and Hong Kong at the end of 2008, almost all of my flying had been done on Sarah's airline. It all culminated with Mariah Carey's remake of "Without You," which is a strong reminder of my experiences in 1994 - flying to Seoul, listening to plenty of Mariah during my one-month stay there, then flying to New York and meeting with Mariah herself later that year. Of course, all the relevant flying that year was done on United Airlines.

I even thought of my Sarah interview done in Seoul in November last year, where I was able to spill this whole story from 1994 to Sarah herself - finally letting her know why I made her a flight attendant, and why I had to send her to United, of all airlines.

Now I am having a better idea as to how to proceed with the Hollywood double interview. Originally, I was thinking of it as primarily a chance to meet with Kirsten, with Sarah coming in as second fiddle. But now, I need to make more of this. I'll have to get very detailed and picky with Sarah regarding her work experiences. I won't be afraid to spill the beans to her on what I love, and hate, about her airline. I'll even be sharing my experiences of playing that online airline simulation - and outright telling Sarah about what her bosses can do to make her work experience better (and the customer satisfaction ratings higher). We will end up having a very nice chat, with a technical/aviation slant.

A flight attendant playing with a 777 engine.
Sarah will probably do the same thing.

(On a less nerdy note, I might mention actress Calpernia Addams to Sarah, especially my brief meeting with her last July. I'll certainly let Sarah know that if Perfect Girl were ever to become a movie, Calpernia might be the best pick for playing Sarah; after all, they are both green-eyed redheaded transwomen who stand close to six feet tall, and Calpernia's middle name is Sarah too. Sarah might object though, because (1) Calpernia is scared of flying, (2) Calpernia is several years too old to be Sarah, and (3) Calpernia is boycrazy.)

In the meantime, I need to arrange some time off from work, and take to the skies myself. I do have elite status this year, so I want to make the most of it (though I don't think I'll be flying enough to retain elite status for next year). It'll be preferable to fly United, as I can expect a 25% mileage bonus - and I can also look for a real-life Sarah lookalike on board. I do need to get far away - most of Europe and East/Southeast Asia should be fair game. (Short of resuming my retreat, I don't feel like returning to Seoul at this time, primarily due to South Korea's theocratic Republican government.) I do have to say that if I stay within North America, Sarah's biggest competition won't be other airlines, but Gwaneum One, as I could use a road trip too. (I'll probably put off the grand road trip - the one all the way across North America - until next year.)

I need to be aboard one of these planes. Seriously.
Sarah should ensure my safety and comfort.

In the meantime, I'll see if driving to Las Vegas in Gwaneum One tomorrow will help. I don't have any reservations, but I do want to go if only to catch a show (I don't feel like gambling). And as long as it's not California (or some other theocracy like Arizona or Texas), it's good enough for me right now.

Leaving Hong Kong

I'm logging on from Hong Kong's airport departure area, having checked in and cleared immigration. I'm at the gate, which has yet to see my Seoul-bound Asiana flight come in.

Some photos as I made my way (reminders of Sarah, of course):

I'm awaiting the Airport Express at Kowloon Station. This sign shows that these airlines have check-in counters that are nearer to the front of the train. Interesting Chinese names for various airlines, most of which, despite being proper names, are translated into Chinese equivalents.

Yes, Sarah's airline is listed here. United's Chinese name here translates into "Union Airline Company." The "American" label is often added to the front, in following with Chinese-style airline conventions, and to differentiate United from a similarly-named domestic airline in China.

I'm in the departure area. Mostly the traffic here is Cathay Pacific, which calls Hong Kong home. A good number of Dragonair flights are also around; Dragonair is Cathay's subsidiary in charge of Cathay's flights into mainland China. However, in this photo, I am seeing two EVA Air widebodies, operated by Taiwan's Evergreen Group; Taiwanese airlines operate lots of flights to Hong Kong, and Taipei is only just over an hour away. While EVA Air couldn't name itself Evergreen Airlines due to a US-based cargo airline of the same name already in existence, its Chinese name is indeed Evergreen.

And of course, in the far distance, I can see Sarah's airline. That 747 in the older paint scheme will operate as United 862 to San Francisco later today. And according to my dinner scene here in Hong Kong, Sarah should be working that flight today. Glad to feel her presence right here, though in reality, I never saw a single redhead around in Hong Kong. Granted, there are lots of Westerners in Hong Kong, far more than in Seoul, and they come in lots of different hair colors. But nevertheless, I never saw a single redhead. Sarah will surely stand out here due to her height and her hair color, even though mainland Chinese women, particularly those from the north, are also known to occasionally get even taller than Sarah.

Interestingly, here in Hong Kong, United shares check-in counters with Korean Air, the one airline that I'll never fly on. And there is a Korean Air 747 right next to my gate. (And my Asiana plane, also a 747, is coming in right now.)

Once I return to Seoul, I won't be doing much until I return to the US, as I am utterly fed up with the government there. At least I'll have plenty of time to do some writing - including finishing up the dinner scene.

A shout-out to Grandpa Warren

Yesterday, I took a quick bullet train trip to Daejeon, to visit a decent science museum there. The museum had an outdoors exhibit area showcasing some older military equipment, and while I normally don't show much interest in war machinery, this exhibit certainly caught my attention.

This is the North American F-86F Sabre. It was one of the first jet fighters to see service, and served the US Air Force during the Korean War. During the war, Sabre pilots shot down 792 MiG-15's while losing only 78 of their own. This example, however, is not a USAF example, but flew for the South Korean Air Force between 1955 and the late 1960s before being replaced by the F-5; South Korea had to make do with P-51 Mustangs and other prop planes during the war itself (and had been dragged into the war with no real air force at all).

For Sarah, the F-86 is important, because her maternal grandfather, Warren, was a USAF pilot during the Korean War, busy shooting down those Soviet MiG's. Warren is the one who inspires Sarah to take an interest in aviation, after countless stories of his service in the Korean War and all sorts of weird facts about the F-86, the MiG-15, and the Gloster Meteor, the British Royal Air Force's own jet fighter in the Korean War.

I loved being reminded of Grandpa Warren and his service here in Korea - as well as Sarah herself and her own service over the Korean (and other nations') skies, though in a very different capacity.

As I returned to Daejeon's train station to start my return to Seoul, I was able to get the updates from the US presidential race, with Barack Obama confirmed as the winner. Both Sarah and I should be rejoicing, as W has been horrible to both the LGBT community and the economy (especially Sarah's employer), and Obama will certainly make improvements. However, the enthusiasm has been severely dampened, as the South Korean governmental interference in US politics, in the form of California's gay marriage ban, is apparently successful, though the last time I checked, some votes still needed to be counted, it's still quite close, and the final word is not out yet.

Parting shot

As I prepare to return to Los Angeles temporarily, I am posting one final item that Sarah would love to spot here in Seoul.

Yes, that's all five seasons of Ally McBeal, starring Calista Flockhart as the skinny neurotic miniskirt suit-clad lesbian lawyer.

In the US and Canada (Region 1), the copyright issues over the myriads of songs used in the show meant that only six episodes of Season 1 were ever released in the DVD format. However, in the rest of the world, the copyright issues are settled, and all five seasons are available in their entirety. These are Region 3 DVDs in NTSC format, good for use in South Korea and Taiwan.

I personally have the Region 2, PAL version of all Ally episodes, imported from the UK. I am able to play them at home in the US, thanks to my code-free DVD player that can also convert PAL to NTSC.

I dunno if Sarah identifies with the show strongly enough to actually bother with code-free DVD players and imported DVD box sets. I have to figure out what the draw of Ally is for Sarah. It can't be the same as for me; in my case, I was drawn to Ally's fashion sense (especially the trademark miniskirt suits), her wild imaginations and hallucinations, and her lesbianism, and I used "Ally McLesbian" as my nickname for years, especially when I was almost as skinny as Calista. I certainly can't put Sarah in miniskirt suits, despite Sarah's own penchant for high hemlines, as Kirsten is supposed to be the suit-obsessed type; Sarah will probably have to either wear minis in a more casual setup, or resort to babydoll dresses and tunics.

Recap

It's been almost a month since my arrival in Seoul, and Sarah refuses to let go of my consciousness. She comes back stronger than ever, in many of the things and people I see here. Here are some photos, previously uploaded to my main blog but not at this blog, that have some significance for Sarah.

Sarah's idol, Canada-based Sarah McLachlan, is one of the more beloved foreign popular music artists here in Seoul. Here is a good selection of Sarah McLachlan CDs, locally pressed and printed, for sale.

I went to another record store later on, and found even more Sarah McLachlan CDs there, as shown above, including Closer, her new Greatest Hits collection. Locally produced CDs are very nice in that they come with full lyrics (even for Greatest Hits), full translations, and brief synopsis of the artist and each track.

A Sony-BMG flier inside the CD also said that a week from today, I can expect a Mariah Carey compilation focused on ballads, with the same features. That's something sure to remind Sarah of her wife Kirsten, who is not only mixed-race like Mariah herself, but also a huge Mariah fan. In addition, Mariah Carey is probably the most popular foreign artist in South Korea.

Another idol (and fashion icon) for Sarah (and for me) is actress Jennifer Aniston. Aniston rose to fame by playing the ditsy, sexy Rachel Green in Friends, and this cafe, seen near a very conservative Confucian university (and certainly named after the show), will be a very pleasant reminder of that for Sarah.

Another favorite actress for Sarah (and me) is Calista Flockhart, of Ally McBeal and Brothers and Sisters fame. I couldn't find any direct reminders of Flockhart, but this car may come close.

The most conventional way to spell Calista ("most beautiful" in Greek) is "Kallista," and that's the name of this particular car. The Kallista was built in 1993 by South Korea's Ssangyong, a company better known for its odd SUVs than for classy sports cars. In the early 1990s, Ssangyong owned the British specialty sports car maker Panther, and the Kallista was a Panther model assembled by Ssangyong.

As only 78 Kallistas were ever built, Sarah will not find one on the streets; she will have to head out of town and visit a huge amusement park, named Everland, an hour away; that's where I found a car museum - and this car.

Seen near Olympic Park in the southeast of Seoul on a hot weekend day: this VW New Beetle. Sarah drives this exact model and color back in San Francisco.

Young, affluent South Korean women love their New Beetles as much as Sarah loves hers.

And here's one more mention of Calista Flockhart: when the New Beetle first came out, seeing one, for some reason, would make me think of Flockhart standing in front of the car, in a matching-colored Ally McBeal miniskirt suit that is her trademark. I think this is due to the round features of Flockhart's face (much like the New Beetle itself), as well as photos of New Beetle prototypes a few years earlier which indeed were presented by skinny models in matching-colored miniskirt suits. People accused me of having a fetish!

This boutique, named First Avenue on Myeong-dong, has many lightweight, slightly sheer floral minidresses, like the one on the right (paired with a cardigan in this case). These dresses work well as dresses AND as tops, as evidenced by the fashionistas passing by. Sarah will love this look, though Kirsten will be more likely to wear it. Sarah herself prefers tunic tops as dresses - or dresses that are styled like tunic tops, like the example on the left.

Myeong-dong, in downtown Seoul, is overrun with lots of fashionistas - including many foreign ones - so Sarah will not feel out of her element there. Though she may not understand why there are so many incomprehensible political demonstrations (as none are in English, and all deal with domestic politics - except for Falun Gong from China) and so many Christian doomsday missionaries on the streets.

Sarah will probably spend some time in the royal palaces. This gift shop at the most important palace, Gyeongbokgung, offers visitors a chance to dress like a king, a queen, an officer, a concubine, or whatever.

It is a little-known but interesting fact that the fourth king of Joseon dynasty, Sejong, best remembered for his scientific achievements including the invention of the Korean script, was also known for having a lesbian daughter-in-law. If Sarah ever found out about that (through Wikipedia, most likely), she would come here, and ask to be dressed like that daughter-in-law. Historians, take note: Sejong's daughter-in-law was not only a lesbian, but she was six feet tall, red-haired, green-eyed, and transgender!

Shamanism is another area in traditional Korean culture where transgenders had a key role. This is Guksadang, the main shaman shrine, located northwest of downtown Seoul. It really smells like garbage here, due to all the rotting food outside placed for the mountain spirits to eat; indeed, birds were feeding there.

Most people who look for Guksadang are foreigners, as most Koreans are rather embarrassed to share their shaman culture. In fact, I visited Guksadang after reading an Internet article, written by a flight attendant at Delta Air Lines, which resumed its Seoul service last year. Who knows, next time I fly United Airlines, I might find an article on Seoul (and Guksadang) in the inflight magazine Hemispheres, written by none other than Sarah!

These miniature masks were seen at Insadong, the antiques district, which will feature prominently in Perfect Girl. In addition, when I play The Sims 2, where I live with my wife but Sarah also lives with us as a roommate, our house can be decorated with lots of goods, including a Korean mask; I was surely reminded of that at this display. In addition, it's possible to buy a traditional Korean dress and designate it as my "formal" outfit; I've done that for myself.

Sarah loves flight simulators and airplanes. While Sarah will never get to play with a public flight simulator during her visits to Seoul (or anywhere else), if she ever got to do so, she may have found something like this - and loved it. This is a flight simulator, powered by Sony PlayStation 3 using a generic single-engine propeller plane, that allows me to explore Seoul, circa 2030, after the current city beautification projects are all completed. It was provided by the city government as part of its beautification showcase, at Seoul Design Olympiad taking place at the Olympic Stadium until October 30th.

As I flew around the future Seoul, I constantly thought of Sarah and her love of flying. And since this generic plane actually could fly at jetliner speeds, I was even wishing that I could actually fly a jetliner instead - specifically, one of Sarah's company planes that visit Incheon Airport every day.

As I continue to take photos of interest to Sarah and her story, I will upload them here too. And brainstorming continues as well.

Busan

I have returned from a two-night trip to Busan, 260 miles away from Seoul in the far southeast of the Korean peninsula, the No. 2 city in South Korea, and the nation's premier port. It has a very international flavor due to its proximity to Japan (and to a lesser degree, the Russian Far East).

Sarah will probably never visit Busan, as it's not on the United route map (though United does offer codeshare service to Busan from Seoul on Asiana, and competitor Northwest does fly to Busan), and it's not a must-see city. But a few Sarah-related items popped up anyway.

Busan holds PIFF (Pusan International Film Festival), now in its 13th year. Here's a Japanese entry, named Happy Flight. Although the poster is in Japanese and I couldn't quite understand it, it appears to be about flight crews at Japan's All Nippon Airways (ANA), something Sarah will love to watch. ANA has partnerships with both United and Asiana, by the way.

The trendy district of Seomyeon, in the center of Busan, feels much like the collegiate districts of Seoul as featured in my last post. Here in Seomyeon, just about every building has a cosmetic surgeon, something that will shock Sarah. In South Korea, it is safe to assume that just about every woman has had cosmetic surgery, because a job applicant normally must attach her personal photo on her resume/job application, and because being unattractive will mean denied job and marriage opportunities (and even more).

Additionally, it is common expectation that a job applicant put down her national ID number, age, sex, birthday, marital status, and number of children on her resume. In this rigid Confucian society with well-defined social roles, one's age, gender, and marital status are important qualifications for a job. (For example, a typical part time help wanted ad at a retail store will ask for a single female between ages of 22 and 28.)

Sarah will be relieved to know that she hails from a country where a transgender woman like herself, complete with quite masculine facial features, can still get a job - not just any job, but a glamorous flight attendant position at one of the leading international airlines.

I also visited a Buddhist temple - Beomeosa, in the far north of Busan, and one of the finer Buddhist temples in the nation. Here's Gwaneumjeon, or Hall of Kwan Yin, dedicated to the transgender Goddess of Mercy. That's the golden statue of Kwan Yin inside. On the interior walls are thousands of little lighted Kwan Yins. I couldn't get closer, out of respect for the dozen or so people praying inside.

As I left my hotel this morning to start my return trip to Seoul, I got a glimpse of a very tall foreign tourist, sporting reddish brown hair, and dressed in a lime green sweater minidress. Although Sarah's hair is auburn red, and not as skinny as this tourist, she still reminded me of Sarah. This woman's minidress was of a crochet design, with a pattern of a few dozen holes; she was keeping her modesty with matching-colored underwear. This may be something that I might put Sarah in...

If and when United starts to send its own planes to Busan, I will make sure Sarah serves the route.

Collegiate Seoul: from Sarah's perspective

It's 10:30AM on Monday, September 29. Yesterday afternoon was spent exploring Sinchon, a very collegiate part of Seoul with four major universities. This is one part of Seoul that Sarah will most likely end up visiting, probably with Korean-speaking coworkers. My main blog has the rest of the photos, and here are some photos, re-uploaded here, as seen from Sarah's perspective.

Two most popular ways to unwind, after cramming for exams, are the PC room (on top) and the karaoke bar (on bottom).

The PC room is an affordable way to get on the Internet and get in touch with those back home, though Sarah will probably take care of that from her hotel room. It's also possible to play online RPGs, a national obsession here.

Meanwhile, the karaoke bar is a social place, where a group of friends can try to see who sings best; the machine will score one's singing based on how accurate the singer's rhythm is (tone deaf is perfectly acceptable - which will be a huge relief to Sarah, who simply doesn't have a natural female range). While K-Pop won't be Sarah's territory, there will be plenty of English-language music to make up for it; I expect her to sing various numbers by her idol Sarah McLachlan and lesbian icon Melissa Etheridge, though she might attempt a Mariah Carey number as a tribute to her wife Kirsten.

There are small boutiques like this, scattered around quiet residential streets away from the bars and restaurants. These boutiques probably won't carry items in Sarah's size; she is US size 12 extra-tall, a rather unusual size here. But she'll love window-shopping anyway. This boutique is displaying a black Ally McBeal-esque miniskirt suit, which will be another reminder of Kirsten, who loves that look.

Sarah will really feel at home looking at this sign. It marks the entrance to Lesbos, the first lesbian bar in South Korea. This neighborhood has several well-known lesbian bars. English is not well-spoken at these bars, so most likely Sarah will have to visit them with a few coworkers.

I could note a few key differences between US gay bars and their counterparts here. In the US, men's bars frown on women, and women's bars usually welcome men. Here, it's the other way; men are strictly forbidden at Lesbos and other lesbian bars, while men's bars often welcome women. Sarah may have trouble entering Lesbos, as the concept of a transgender lesbian is absolutely unknown in South Korea, and she will probably be dismissed as another boycrazy ladyboy.

Another women-only bar, appropriately named Lady First. I couldn't figure out if this is a lesbian bar or not, however.

A book fair was taking place, just for the weekend. Here are two notable American bookworms featured. On the left is Margaret Cho, whose sight will be a relief to Sarah, as Cho is not only a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, like Sarah herself, but also a well-known member and ally of the LGBT community (though mentioning that is a taboo in South Korea). On the right is Laura Bush; it's a good thing Sarah doesn't know Korean, because the caption underneath is written in very glowing terms - something a South Korean bureaucrat is obliged to do for a US Republican, in a show of Confucian respect and deference.

A streetside vendor selling tunics and legwear, Sarah's favorite items (and also very popular among Seoul fashionistas). I don't think Sarah likes stirrups, whether they are the tights with toe and ankle cutouts as seen on the right, currently the must-have item here in Seoul, or the pants that were so popular in the early 1980s. But Sarah surely loves leggings, as seen on the left.

Again, given Sarah's six-foot frame, proper fit will be difficult. Ankle-length leggings will probably become capris when Sarah puts them on, because her legs are so long. And the tunics will be probably too short, and leave her derriere and crotch uncovered. I don't think Sarah's idea of a good day is walking around like that and getting unwanted attention from men (or even worse, making her pre-op status known to the world).

This is an upscale boutique near Ewha Women's University, a conservative Christian institution that used to expel its students for getting married - until very recently. Plaid is the key here; Sarah will love the patterns.

Note the white chess queen on the lower left. Just as Kwan Yin is a well-known transwoman figure here in East Asia, the chess queen fills that role in Europe. The original Indian chess had a male advisor next to the king, who had the same moves and powers as the king. The versions of chess played here in Korea, as well as in China, continue to have male advisors - though each side gets two advisors in both games, and the advisor's moves are different from the king's in Chinese chess. However, in Europe, the advisor changed genders, became a queen, and expanded her powers tremendously. Sarah will surely appreciate that.

Some more Sarah-related stuff from Seoul

My sightseeing in Seoul today took me to the city's highest observatory, as well as to the Itaewon tourist district which is frequented by foreigners - and LGBTs. I was able to find some things that definitely are of interest to Sarah, and to a lesser extent, her wife and my alter ego, Kirsten.

Normally, Seoul is shrouded in heavy smog, but after a day of heavy rain, today was crystal clear, helped along by a breeze. I am at N-Seoul Tower, a tall television transmission tower located in the dead middle of the city, on top of a hill named Namsan. I am well over a thousand feet above the city.

I took many shots of Seoul, and this is the most relevant for Sarah. Under the triangular hill to the far left, it is possible to spot Gimpo Airport, which was Seoul's gateway to the world until the opening of Incheon Airport in 2001. Although Gimpo is now a sleepy domestic airport, all my arrivals and departures there have been on Sarah's airline, United, as they all took place before Incheon opened.

Originally, I expected Sarah to make her first trip to Seoul in 2003, arriving at Incheon on a 777. Now, I would rather bring her here for the first time in 2000, when United still operated out of Gimpo. I could almost picture a Battleship Gray 747, with its distinctive "Worldwide Service" slogan, flying across the Seoul sky and touching down at Gimpo, with Sarah on board.

A look northeast. The red building is the Shilla, a hotel that opened in 1979 and played host to many foreign dignitaries. It also has a great duty-free shop.

My novel draft is housing Sarah at the Shilla during her first Seoul visit, and I wish to keep things that way. From the Shilla, it's easy to spot this tower, as well as other picturesque mountains surrounding the city, while the downtown looks pretty sorry, and the palaces can't even be seen. Sarah will clearly note that.

A look south. The large grassy area in the middle is Yongsan Family Park, dominated by the big gray building, National Museum of Korea. In 1976, the park was the headquarters of the US Eighth Army, which defends US interests and allied nations around Asia. Kirsten was born on that base on July 31st of that year, to an American GI and his Korean wife. Less than a month later, she and her family returned home to Anniston, Alabama. Kirsten would return to Seoul only once afterwards - in 1988, during the Summer Olympics.

After the tower visit, I proceeded to Itaewon, which is next to that base, catering to American servicemen - and now that the US Army is gone, to foreign shoppers and tourists of all nationalities.

Itaewon is frequented by foreigners due to its shops selling clothing and souvenirs - and for its wild nightlife. The heavy Westerner presence also makes Itaewon more LGBT-friendly than other parts of Seoul. Case in point: this transgender nightclub, one of at least four along a 200-meter stretch of a side alley.

Also note an Indian halal restaurant above. This alley is very close to Seoul's main mosque - and the center of its Muslim population. And that makes it all the more surprising to see all these transgender nightclubs here.

Here's another transgender nightclub, named Gucci, sharing the same building with a Christian church.

These transgender nightclubs are the hangouts for transwomen who are really boy-crazy "ladyboys" - considering themselves to be more of hyper-feminine gay men than women. Trans lesbians are unheard of in Seoul; neither Sarah nor I will have much fun in these places (if Sarah is even allowed to hang out in nightclubs at all). Neither Sarah nor I will find much improvement in the lesbian bars, located in other parts of the city, either; the lesbians there will consider us to be just two more ladyboys.

Here in South Korea, transgender people have been given many new rights in 2006. They can legally change their name and gender, and also get a new National ID number to go along with that (as the seventh digit of the number gives away one's gender), subject to stringent conditions. To qualify, one must be post-operative, have never been married, have no children, and in case of male-to-females, have completed the required military service (or been given valid exemption); this fits the Confucian mentality of South Korea, and does not allow for American-style "real life tests." In return, a transperson with a legal gender change is treated as s/he had been born in the new gender in the first place, and can legally marry the opposite sex of his/her legal gender, and adopt children, with no restrictions beyond what's normally applicable to everyone else.

Despite this, life does remain bleak for most transgenders here. Staying employed as a pre-op, in order to afford the hormones and the surgery, is very difficult, due to rampant discrimination (and the inability to obtain proper identification). Most transwomen will find these nightclubs to be the only possible places to work at. While nonbinding recommendations have been made by the nation's human rights commission to protect LGBTs from discrimination, they are opposed by the industrial lobby groups. Of course, the new Lee Myung-bak government is not only opposed to LGBT rights, but is so homophobic that it is funding California's proposed gay marriage ban through its US political front, the Unification Church. Only one political party, the far-left Democratic Labor Party (with only 5 seats in the 299-seat National Assembly), cares about LGBTs.

While I am relieved to be in Seoul, 6,000 miles away from the madness of the California gay marriage ban fight (and the presidential race between Barack Obama and John McCain), visiting Itaewon's transgender nightclubs was a reminder that in some ways, life is still better in the US - a country where Sarah can serve customers as the face of one of the nation's leading airlines, and where even I am able to obtain most necessary proper IDs pre-op.