Cyrsti's Condo "Sunday Edition"

Ker Plunk! Another cold Sunday edition is hitting your front porch. Around here in Cincinnati, we are at a balmy (yet sunny) thirteen degrees. Lets get a hot cup o joe (coffee) or cocoa (with marsh mellows) and get started.

Page One - The Week that Was or Wasn't: Saturday (yesterday) was one of those days when life's transgender changes seem to pile up. In chronological order, yesterday morning, I went and did the final work to get my Ohio drivers' license with the magical "F" under gender. I wrote yesterday about 50 years between Major license changes. What I meant Fiona was I got my original license when I was 16 and now I am 66. I got to thinking, does a half a decade sound better? Pretty intimidating to me-either way! Then, I didn't have much time to reflect upon the moment, as we Liz and I had to head up to Kettering, Ohio for my oldest Grandson's Bar Miftzfah. Being a grandparent, I had to do my duty and step up and in for what seemed like a million pictures with the family. I could only think that years later, future generations would look at the picture and see very (very likely) the immediate family's first transgender member. Although-my first wife (and mother of my daughter) has a trans man nephew. Indeed it is a small world.

Page Two- Yesterdays' Coffee - Opinion: As I rejoiced in the success of changing over my State of Ohio ID (driver's license), a trans girl friend of mine reminded me how difficult it is to do it. From Racquel: 
" Kick ass. Appeasing the Ohio BMV is no small feat. It took me over an hour on the phone just to get them to figure out which form to send me. Then you gotta get a shrink to certify you as trans enough. I can't help being proud from a "rite of passage" standpoint. But needing to beg for the permission of so many gatekeepers — having to satisfy doctors, therapists, the BMV, the State Dept, probate court, vital statistics, and the Social Security administration — is total BS."

Thanks Racquel! You see, she is much younger than me and I forget many don't have the benefit of a free therapist like I had being a trans vet. So, indeed my therapist had to approve my transness to enable me to start HRT. 

"BS" to be sure and my problem these days too is "treating" transgender youth (to prove their 'transness' has become a business of sorts. 

Page Three - The Back Page - Back to the Future?: Last night I literally had to stand up and do a "special reading"my Grandson chose for me in front of approximately 125 people. So, for the rest of the evening, it was tough to hide- if I wanted to. Plus, I saw more than a couple peeps I knew through my daughter from my male past. The top moment I suppose, was a rest room visit of all places. Liz and I were going to pee before the trip home and all of the sudden, it was "old home day." Seemingly, two or three women showed up from nowhere to have a bathroom chat-mostly about how much weight I have lost and how long my hair was from the last time they had seen me. At that moment, I knew the world had come full circle - at least for now.

Page Four- The Back Beat: As always, thanks soooooo much for stopping by the Condo. Hopefully, you are in a spot out of the snow and/or cold!

Legal Under the Law

Seemingly after what seemed like a half a decade since my first driver's license- I went out today and changed mine from male to female. And, of course while I was at it I changed my legal name too.

Well, actually it was fifty years ago!

How did it go? I was a puddle of goo :) but with Liz's help and a very helpful BMV clerk-we "got-er-done!"

Beauty and the Art

Recently a friend of mine has launched her "on line" beauty business and it got me thinking. (Scary) And her business is not the purpose of this post.

It's another cliche but a woman's true beauty does come from the inside out. But, after it's filtered through media and society etc- beauty becomes one hell of an external deal.

SIT on WHAT???

I'm sure if I had the money to buy products from my friend (or one of the upscale make up stores) life would be easier for this transgender woman-and yes-like many of you, I feel like some days I am trying to make a purse out of a sow's ear.

Then again why not? All I am really looking for is a break even beauty point. And, I am off point.

Women of all ages compete for attention of some sort. I remember distinctly years ago when my granddaughter invited a girl who just didn't fit the mold of the other kids. She was somehow prettier etc. Years later as I attended one of my first "transvestite" mixers (of all places) I saw the same thing with a group of three or four CD's who I called the "A" listers. They were the ones who made a big deal of looking you up and down when you tried to speak.

I am going to have to release my list again of reading women-reading you as it is changing quickly in many spots.

Another key beauty point is being able to try to apply it to make it look like you aren't trying and you are able to erase in your mind what ideals your old guy is screaming look good.

I'm lucky. No matter how I'm perceived on the outside, my friends see me from the inside out. It's like last night when Liz and I went to another of our "creative" Meetup get togethers. I approached (and was approached by) several cis-women I had never met. I am not naive enough to think some of that was trans curiosity. But these days I am more apt to seek out new acquaintances.

I know too, that beauty is a combination of hobby/fun and necessity for most all cis women. So I hope my friend does really well with her sales!!!!