September 8, 2009 AM

North on D West on 4th, South on L, East on 5th, South on G, East on 7th, North on E, West on 5th, North on D

The overcast weather, the end of Labor Day, and smaller numbers of enthusiastic tourists made my commute a bit more somber this morning. I was greeted at 4th and G by an officer Burton. He was friendly enough, but I decided to play in straight. I gave him the low down on The Berth and dropped the seemingly integral key word for Berth participants in their encounters with the law, "permits". He left me with, "We like to see people expressing themselves in downtown Anchorage".

I continued down past the west downtown breakfast scene, garnering smiling eyes and some waves. The ladies in the window of the old Anchorage Times building who on Friday gathered to point, today only waved over their shoulders from their chairs. How quickly does the abnormal become absorbed into the quotidian?

The folks dressed in Anchorage business casual are usually the ones who give me only the briefest nod from their periphery. They play it cool, as though an 8'8" woman in a matching suit and tie is par for the course of their day. The few people I see actually dressed in a suit and tie and briefcase, smile broadly. It's as though they already realize that their outfit is a costume just like a juggler's sequined vest or a drag queen's. And it's not as though I'm aiming for a large tally at the end of the week of people who like me. I just think it's interesting who responds to my "costume", and how much they moderate that response.

For reading on the performance of masculinity check out "Female Masculinity" by Judith Halberstam.