18 months of firsts.

Hello all

I trust all is well with everyone?

You know what’s strange, ever since I started changing gender I have found myself doing things that I probably never would have done before, or actively pursuing things that I wanted to do for a long time.

I’m now going to share some of these experiences.

Blink 182

Strictly speaking this one counts, even though I had this planned for long before I started officially being Kate, infact, I have the tickets for a full 18 months before I went to this, but in July 2012, just 9 days after I had come out to every as transgendered, I went to watch probably my favourite band of all time live in Nottingham.

It was a great event and it was a great chance to see the friends I had made whilst I lived in Nottingham. Obviously it was the first time many had seen me since I started changing, but they were all cool about it.

Manchester United

 Many people know that I am a Man United fan and have been since around the second month of liking football (the first club I actually supported was Sheffield Wednesday…..I have no idea why), and whilst I had been occasionally to Old Trafford, I got the chance during the summer of 2012 to get a season ticket at Manchester United.

After a bit of a debate, I took up the offer, meaning that I would comfortably beat my previous best of two games in a season. For the experience it was great, I went to nine games and saw some of the world’s best players during my time. Some of the players I saw (other than United players obviously) included Juan Mata and Gareth Bale, some truly world class players……I also saw Andy Carroll.

Despite the positives, this fucked me financially. It was £74 a month for the season ticket and £50 per home match in the cups. Basically you were forced to have a ticket for every game at home in the cups, regardless of whether you wanted to go or not. The problem with this was that United played at home in every single round of every single cup, with the exception of one game in the Carling Cup (Chelsea away). In one month the season ticket cost me nearly £300 because of cup draws.

There were also occasions when people had promised that they would buy the season ticket off me for a game if they couldn’t go…..but these people were nowhere to be seen when the time came. I probably wouldn’t have got it had I known that I would only go to 9 of the 26 games that United had and I wouldn’t sell the ticket for at least ten of the rest.

Jack Dee

I have always been a fan of the deadpan comedian. Ever since I first heard of him (towards the end of the last millennium), I have actively followed his stand up career but then he sort of retired from that about 10 years ago. It had always been an ambition of mine to see him live but my opportunity had passed.

One night I was watching the Graham Norton show and he was on it. He spoke about numerous things, but also about his upcoming tour. I got really excited and he was even coming to Lincolnshire….Skegness to be precise. I bought the tickets, booked a hotel and went to watch him. It was hilarious.

Barcelona

I had never been abroad on holiday before this year. I had been to France with school but it's not the same,

so I was excited when I organised a holiday to Barcelona. It was a fantastic trip and although it was only a weekend, I feel in love with the city. It is truly majestic, it really is. If you haven't been, go.

The main reason I had never been abroad on holiday was that I am I terrified of heights, and therefore the thought of being on a plane sends shivers down my spine, and it's funny in a way because I was really nervous on the plane, sweating heavily and it wasn't helped when the plane tilted and I could see the M6 from about 1 mile up.......I shook and I could tell the person next to me was getting a bit worried.

Thankfully I made it through both journeys (I was fine on the way home) and would love to go again some day.

Moving to Blackburn

I had long had ambitions to move out of the East Midlands and whilst the plan two years ago was to go to either Canada or America, I suppose Blackburn isn't an absolutely awful place. I was actually quite surprised at how nice Blackburn is....not in terms of looks because it does look like a massive council estate, but as a place to live I can't complain at all.

Despite the town centre being shite, there's nothing I don't really like. The people are friendly enough and there is a bit of do in various areas. My one small issue is that I still haven't really made any friends here.

Blackburn Hawks vs Solway Sharks

I have been a fan of ice hockey for many years but never really visioned that I would actually go to a game, mainly because I didn't think the English leagues would be any good, however, when I found out Blackburn had a team I thought it was a good idea to go with it.

The game I went to was the Hawks vs the Solway Sharks and it was very different to any kind of sporting event I had been to. It felt in many ways more like a party that an ice hockey match. Even though Solway went on to win 2-1, the home crowd never got frustrated with their team and it was such a relief from football, where that is certainly not the case.

In all honesty, I have seriously contemplated taking this up as my main attended sport and stopping attending football. I have found in recent years that I sort of hate going to football, and it is something that I can actually see doing in the future. Maybe not right now, but certainly in the future.