Fitz and the Tantrums are an American indie pop and neo soul band from Los Angeles, California, that formed in 2008. This is one of the bands I first became aware of watching “Live from Daryl’s House”, Daryl Hall’s tremendous web show. This genre of music may be my favorite, as it echoes 70’s R&B and alt rock. This song was their first real hit. “Handclap” is probably their most well known.
… More than just a dream
More than just a dream
… 40 days and 40 nights
I waited for a girl like you to come and save my life
All the days I waited for you
You know the ones who said I’d never find someone like you
… ‘Cause you were out of my league
All the things I believed
You were just the right kind
Yeah, you were more than just a dream
You were out of my league
Got my heartbeat racing
If I die, don’t wake me
‘Cause you are more than just a dream
The Cleveland Museum of Art’s (CMA) Parade the Circle, the beloved tradition celebrating art, culture, and community, returned on Saturday, June 13, 2026. The 34th annual parade took place in University Circle and features vibrant and imaginative costumes, towering puppets, floats, and intricately crafted masks. This year’s event coincided with the CMA’s 110th anniversary as an institution and the United States Semiquincentennial.
This year’s theme, “Momentum,” was inspired by the special exhibition American Printed Silks, 1927–1947, the lived experience of acclaimed lead artist Héctor Castellanos Lara, and the legacy and evolution of our creative community.
This was a very full day as I also was volunteering for The North Coast Men’s Chorus, their annual Pride concert. Both events were within walking distance of each other, a 45+ minute drive for me. This resulted in leaving home at 8:30AM, returning around 9:00PM. I do not like being out this long when most of the day is spent in heat. By the end of the day, I truly looked like dog meat, more stubble that I like (even though it wasn’t visible to anyone looking at me, but I knew), my head pounding from wearing a wig, sweating, etc. My makeup took a beating, which you can see here, after a slight refresh.
All I can say is the parade was amazing. To be me, to be doing this, to be doing it with the woman’s counsel, wow! I am going to let the pictures tell the story, but I will spin two short tales.
The first was one float you see in the pictures below at left, the ice cream truck. Their music was awesome! They segued from Ode to Joy to Led Zepplin’s Immigrant Song, among other great tunes.
After the parade, I sat at the bar a local brewery, writing posts and hydrating, both figuratively and literally. I had five hours to kill between gigs. After about an hour, a start a conversation with a woman from the parade. Ends up her husband runs a website called Cool Cleveland, we chat, had an immediate connection through our mutual love of music. I end up at their table, interacting just as I would have if I came with them. He and I will connect further, for sure!
Here are highlights of our group in the parade.
The images directly above and at left were taken by and posted on Facebook by Hector, mentioned above, the lead artist for the entire parade, from the conception of the theme to execution of so many elements.
I felt honored that he took as many pictures I was in, particularly one of just me, smiling!
The concert was life affirming, but I could not wait to leave. I was a wet noodle and that proved itself out as I slept a solid seven consecutive hours that night. I NEVER sleep that long without getting up to pee, or awaken a numb hand or leg, etc… I was able to see so many friends as well as making a few more people at least smile, even though given the reason they were there, most were extremely happy anyway.
What a full and glorious day!
Believe me, Kandi was way more than just a dream. And now, she is a reality. Make HER happen!
All the things I believed
You were just the right kind
Yeah, you were more than just a dream
You were out of my league
Originally posted May 24, 2026.
“Nobody talks about the deconstruction phase. But, it’s a part of who we are and shouldn’t be ignored. When I first started dressing and was deep in the closet, the end of the night was dominated by guilt and shame. Why do I enjoy this? A normal guy shouldn’t enjoy this? At that point in my life, getting undressed was more about disgust than anything else. Nowadays, there’s a different end of the night emotion. There’s a twinge of sadness that’s sometimes more than just a twinge. This inevitably leads to the question of “If you don’t want it to end, then why not just do it full-time?” For many of us, that’s a question we’d like to avoid.
I fully expect this post will get me comments and DMs suggesting that my egg is about to crack. It’s not. I’ve done the work, I’ve done the soul searching, and I’m solidly in the part-time camp. For me, one side could not exist without the other. But, that doesn’t mean I can’t have sadness when Julie goes away. An imperfect analogy is when your kids move away – you’re sad to see them go, but it’ll be nice to have some peace and quiet.
About the pics. The first is at a rooftop bar right after buying that dress – yeah I wore another one out the store. You’re not getting a full picture of the dress here because you’re gonna be seeing her quite a bit in the near future. The second picture was about half an hour after I got home last night. And, no lie, it was literally the moment I decided it was time to deconstruct. Also, I didn’t have dirty feet. That’s ink on my hose that came from the shoes I wore at Keystone.”
Additional thoughts originally posted May 27, 2026 (the accompanying video is on her Facebook page).
“The question of why, seems eternal. Often people will propose theories (as Ed Wood did in Glen or Glenda), but none of them ever seem to fit. For a long time, I just put the question out of my mind – it doesn’t really matter why. But, about 6 months ago, I was talking to my new friend Fernanda at the Detroit Invasion. I brought up the Why question, with the intention of sharing my years of thought on the subject. But, she immediately cut me off and instinctively said “No one asks why a person is gay”, which totally changed my perspective on the subject.
I think crossdressers get the question of why more often than others in the queer community because our label is derived from a verb, which suggests that we are just doing an action rather than living an identity. The definition of the word crossdresser can be interpreted in two ways. The first is simply one who engages in the action of crossdressing – an action that can be performed by anyone. The second interpretation is that of our community, which I think we can all agree is more than just engaging in an action – it is very much our identity.
Once you get to the mindset of “This is who I am” and not just “something I do”, I think it gets easier to accept. One can quit doing something, but one cannot quit being who they are. I think this is also really important for our self-esteem. Often we as crossdressers feel less valid in the queer community because of this action vs identity misnomer. Might be why many are migrating to the labels of genderfluid or bigender – both referring to who someone is rather than what they do.
I should say a bit more about Fernanda (@fefa_faya). She’s not a crossdresser. She’s actually an award winning documentary filmmaker. She and her co-director @desmondpicotte were at the Invasion because they’re working on a film about our community. If you want to see a preview of the film, go to my linktree (link in my bio) and click on “Ladies of the Midwest”. You can also follow the movie on Instagram @ladiesofthemidwestfilm”
Click here for all of Julie’s social media platforms and to comment to her directly!
There are also quite a bit of other information and links there beside her Facebook page!
Reach out through this link to let her know her voice matters!
