Cleanin' The Condo!

Well, not really. I don't have that much time.
Recently I have managed to get a few things accomplished though.
I went back through the dusty old archives here in "Cyrsti's Condo" to actually come up with the first published post. It was called "You Make a Better Looking Woman" from May 29th 2010. You can read it here.
There has been "a whole lot of makeup over the damn" since then!
I did get my appeal filed with the VA yesterday (Veteran's Administration) concerning their lack of wanting to pay for an outside physician to monitor my hormones and overall health. Of course I feel that stance is blantantly unfair-financially and morally.
Once again this year I missed "Stana" of Femulate during her visit in my area for what ever excuse of being crazy busy- or just crazy.
Also, I did see the disgusting story of the Japanese transsexual who sold the "extras" from her surgery at auction and even oversaw the cooking of them for the highest bidding diner. EEEEEEWH!!!!
She will be the star of the new reality show "Hormones Gone Wild"!
Finally a quote of the day:
"You can never take two things for granted when you wake up in the morning. Number one is that you will wake up at all. Number two? That your computer will come on and function properly!

Gay Bar Survival Guide

"Brianna Austin" recently came up with this "Gay Bar Survival Guide."
This whole idea has wonderful advice for you less experienced cross dressers just starting to test the feminine waters.
Gay bars and clubs seemingly are naturals for this process but again all may not be as it seems in some places.
I have told the story several times here about the intense transgender discrimination I experienced one night in a male gay bar. It was an experience which gave me the willpower to establish myself in straight venues. Follow the link above for more!

New "HorrorScope"

 I love this one!

Libra (September 23- October 22)
Be willing to break out of your boundaries and go o a new adventure, as you'll be craving a new flavor that you’ve never imagined before, and it might require some work to be satiated. The good news is that destiny is on your side and if you are willing to go out of bounds, something delicious will be waiting just past the finish line.

As always, the "HorroScope" (my term) comes from theFrisky!

Anniversary

I'm a contradiction in more ways than just my gender.
I know the anniversary date for the blog is coming soon but I'm notoriously bad in remembering dates. (Yes I will look it up!)
Since I have a history degree you (and I) would think I would be better.
Of course I have my own excuse why I don't.
I'm a forward thinking person who has a hard enough time staying the the present-let alone the past. On the other hand I'm a great believer in tradition and history guiding us forward.
See I told you I had contradictions!
Maybe gender is only the beginning!

"Jender Jump"

Just when I say I'm against new terms, here's one I've used recently with friends in conversations: "Jender Jump".
Relax , excuse the spelling and all. Also,  I know that some of you question my transgender card for living out what is left of my male life. That's OK, it's your life and that's cool. But:
The use of the term came as we were discussing how we made the journey to where we are today.
"Back in the day" more than once I spent time in both of my genders in one night. I would start as one and visit the remaining friends from my male life, go home and visually change my appearance to match my female self and visit my new female friends. The "Jender Jump" I called it.
She said "wasn't that difficult?". Of course it was and I hated it until it dawned on me "jender jumping" for me was the ultimate determination of how I was to chose how I wanted to live my life.
Regardless of all the endless banter about trans this and trans that the only person I needed to answer to was me. I was lucky to be have the opportunity to do so.
Turns out the "Jender Jump" had some real meaning after all! It's fairly obvious where the "Jump" ended up.

Gender Confirmation Surgery and Memorial Day

I recently received a really nice comment from Josie (Thanks!) In it she mentioned a newer term a doctor has been using for SRS- Gender Confirmation Surgery. I know we don't need more labels but this one seems to hit the nail on the head!
As we are into the week before Memorial Day in my part of the world, the suddenly unpredictable weather this winter and spring has become predicable.  It's going to be near 90 degrees Fahrenheit for the 3 day weekend. It's been warm this week and I've had a chance for the first time in my life to really feel the air and breeze on my arms and back.  Of course I've been able to remove and keep the hair off my body which has been surprisingly easy. My own hair is still not up to my length standards yet so I'm still wearing the longer hair pieces which still feel so good! The whole deal gives me wonderful  glimpses into what the future will hold!
Interestingly enough, I've found that timing is everything with this Memorial Day. For those of you from other parts of the world, if you don't know Memorial Day in the USA commemorates our military veterans fallen and alive.
As my own personal celebration, it will be time to send my appeal to the Veterans Administration (VA).  As expected they turned down paying for my private doctors consultation which I had to have. It's the only way they would fill my hormone prescriptions.
To put it simply, my VA caregivers said I qualified but they had no one qualified to prescribe. The way I see it-that's their problem not mine.
It's not a lot of money but then again, I don't have a lot of money and the principal is important here!
I will pass along more later this week!

Real World Beauty

Every now and then I run across a site which I have to put everything down and look at as far as taking care of my appearance.
Being the busy trans woman that I am becoming today, this site grabbed my attention for the multiple features it had currently going on skin care, makeup and yes- even plus size clothing.
It's called the Thread.
The current featured video made me feel vindicated in a way when the "expert" zeroed in on the problems plus sized women have with finding the right size of pants. Then of course, once you find them do they flatter you?
Adapting my male hips and rear is getting easier with the hormone induced addition of "padding" to the area (away with the damn foam pads!) but I have always have had a problem with my proportions. By proportions I mean the areas roughly between my waist, crotch and leg length. Early in my fashion explorations I found women's pants had a  dizzying array of styles and sizes.
Also, earlier in my life, my circle of friends were mainly cross dressers who felt wearing any kind of pants at all was heresy! I was always attracted to the "pant" side of fashion, even to the point of loving the "man tailored"clothes.
An example is recently I was communicating with a friend who I have known for years who said that night she was hanging out with her girl friends with her hair in a pony tail and ball hat, old jean shorts, tank top and one of her old men's oversize dress shirts over the outfit. Of course she has the benefit of years of hormone therapy to pull it off. I was envious!
Some of us would not see that as any kind of a fashion statement. I see them as missing a basic idea of a woman understanding her style and making it work.
Making it work comes from following sites such as the Thread and "borrowing" ideas from experts.
Another feature on the site compared "trashy" to sexy- a problem loads of us face as we go down a cross dressing or transgender road.
Then there was a story on make up shelf life.  How many of us face budget constraints and have that eyeshadow hidden for years? (Let me raise my hand again.)
Finally, for the sake of simplicity in this post, I'm not even going to go into the skin care tips.
Every once in a while I'm dazzled by a person who thinks somehow all of this is easy or natural. Indeed the art form with any woman, transgendered, transsexual or genetic is making the whole style piece look as if it was natural.
Most certainly, operations and hormones make the whole appearance and style agendas easier. I am really shocked though when I see any woman trans or not whose style is not having one.
At that very point I see sites such as the Thread or Fabulous after 40 not being a luxury. They are a necessity!

Gay or Transgender?

John Shore is a straight Christian writer, blogger and author of
several books, including "10 Ways (We) Christians Fail to be
Christian."
In a recent post, John Shore came up with some very interesting numbers from recent national polls.
The numbers represented the American public's perception of gay and transgender men and women.
Here's a part:
"Do Americans prefer transgender people to gay people?

So the pretty darn surprising news out this week, courtesy of the
Public Religion Research Institute, is:

    * 89% percent of Americans (including strong majorities of all
religious and partisan groups) think transgender people deserve the
same rights and protections as other Americans.
    * 75% of Americans agree that Congress should pass laws to protect
transgender people from job discrimination.
    * Approximately two-thirds of Americans not only know what the
term “transgender “means, they’re well informed about transgender
people and issues.
    * Three out of four Americans think Congress should pass
employment nondiscrimination laws that protect transgender people.

These are Actual Findings from a recent RPPI survey, about which you
can read more here
<http://publicreligion.org/newsroom/2011/11/news-release-strong-majorities-favor-rights-and-legal-protections-for-transgender-people/> "


Follow the links for more!

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 For more by John Shore, visit his website at johnshore.com
<http://johnshore.com/>

Eye Eye Mam!

On occasion I believe I have forgotten more of what has gotten me to this point of my life than I remember.  Some of the more basic strategies I learned to judge and edge my way into the world have all made their way into the back of my memory or that much ignored book of mine. (Which sits like an elephant on a computer memory stick in the corner of my room.
As I have mentioned before, I write a column for "TG Life Reporter" where
I try to dredge up some of my earlier learning experiences out in the world as a girl.
In an upcoming column, I write about reading other people's reaction to me- particularly feminine reaction.
The whole process proved to be a real strong insight into female non verbal communication.
After a while, I developed a rating system based on women's stares.

1.- She stares right through me. A win! She is in her own world and not mine.  All is good.
2.- The little look and smile. She is letting you know "she is in on our little secret" #2 is an middle point which is normally harmless.
3.-The OMG negative look. Not good. She about breaks her neck looking at you and makes sure she lets her companions and the world in on her discovery. Vacate the area from this idiot.
Note-#2 and #3 should always send you back to the drawing board. What signs are you sending out to trigger those reactions and how can you improve the situation?
4.-The OMG positive look. She has heard or even knows a transgendered person and intrigued or pleasantly surprised to meet one. Take this for what it is and don't let your ego get in the way. Don't get your feelings hurt that she didn't think you were a genetic female.
5.- The YOU BITCH look. This is my favorite. She is sure you are a genetic woman and one she doesn't like. Either it's your clothes, hair or makeup-you have set her off. Just flash her your best "you are just jealous" and move on!
6.- The Nothing Look. The best compliment of all. Studies have shown humans determine gender in others within the first few seconds of seeing you. She sees female and you feel good!

Of course these are just the basics and one little trick to see what others are thinking of you is to not forget those "cheap sunglasses"!