Matt's Cute Pink Robe

Many of us know how wonderfully nice and feminine it is to have a soft snugly robe to cuddle in on a cool evening. It turns out movie stars Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leo felt the same way in their "Dallas Buyer's Club" movie. The "Pink Robe" story turned out to be rather complex as both men wore the robe in the movie and it actually belongs to McConauhey's wife.( He later admitted to wearing it at home.)

By the way, the movie hasn't really opened yet but Leto is getting great reviews for his portrayal of the flamboyant "Rayon" character. According to McConaughey:

Jared Leto (left) and McConauhey

“Leto came in after three or four years of not working. An actor could go I really need to make this count. He didn’t. It’s a very subtle and human performance. Rayon is in good hands. He cut out all the extra lagniappe, the etcetera. He kept Rayon real.”

I wonder if McConauhey's wife got her robe back?

Mostly Likely to Be....

I will let you decide what Big Ang (left)  from the reality series Mob Wives looks and sounds like.  I don't want a hit taken out on me.

Here's more to go with your pasta.

A "Penny" for Your Thoughts

Disclaimer time kids...I never have considered myself an expert or a "theologian" of any sort.

My ideas are mine alone from experiences I have been through in an area of the country where I live and areas where I have worked down along the Ohio River - from Portsmouth, Ohio through Ashland, Kentucky and over into West Virginia.

I'm picking up this thought from the "Autumn Sandeen" post where she said she grew up in a Penecostal Church family.

My knowledge of the "Pennie's" comes from knowing a few and the fact there is a fairly sizable "Penny" church down the street from me. I worked with a disc jockey once who was disowned by his Penecostal family.

 In a similar vein, I have traveled to the coal mining "hollers" of central and eastern Kentucky for funerals of friends held in "primitive" Baptist churches. One of them even recently added an addition with indoor plumbing! In one I thought I was going to have my first experience with a preacher "speaking in tongues". As he was close to going into a trance of sort over the coffin, I considered the idea he would somehow "discover" I was transgender and call in the devil.

Afterwards, I jokingly asked where the snakes were kept. I was seriously told that church was not their flavor of religion but there was one a couple "hollers" over. We could go if I wanted...hell no!

Let me add many of these people I met were in fact good solid folk but just had no wiggle room in their social beliefs. In fact I don't toss these folks into my "immoral right" category of those who may "preach" an agenda for the sake of monetary gain. Most have led a difficult life and their religion gets them through.

Sadly though, I more or less lost a  long term friend of mine who refused to even consider me being transgender and she is from the "hollers" and is back there now.  She couldn't accept me but would be on attack mode if anyone else would slander me. It's sort of like, here have a another piece of fried chicken and more mashed "taters"...now, what's this sh-t about you dressing as a girl?

You know though, I would rather face peeps like that than the ones who smile and then shove the knife into your back. Let's see, I will take another piece of chicken!

It's "Autumn" In Cyrsti's Condo

Actually here in O_H-I-O we have officially entered "Indian Summer" and the weather as always is staking out it's claim to the end of summer with high humidity and temps near 90.

This post though, I'm referring to a different "Autumn"- Autumn Sandeen.  She is the retired transgender veteran who is working so hard for the rights of all transgender veteran.

You all probably know by now, I'm one of those vets and rely on the Veteran's Administration for my HRT needs.

So,  almost anything post I can find from Autumn Sandeen I try to pass long and here's an excerpt from the latest:

Autumn Sandeen

"When I joined the U.S. Navy back in 1980, I knew I was transgender. I didn’t know the word transgender, but I knew deep down that’s what I was. Prior to joining the Navy, in 1979, my pentecostal parents considered transgender identities and transgender expressions to be sinful, and made going to “conversion therapy” a condition of living at home. Due to my own internalized transphobia, I thought I was sinful too, so I underwent the therapy, which had the goal of having me become “ex-transgender.” A goal of both gay and transgender conversion therapy is to embrace societal gender role norms, so in my case embracing masculine norms was the goal. It should come as no surprise then that when I enlisted in the Navy in 1980, it was in part an attempt to be the man I wasn’t. Chelsea Manning, who enlisted under the name Bradley Manning—and who in August received a 35-year prison sentence for releasing classified government documents to WikiLeaks—recently gave that same explanation as to why she enlisted."

This article comes the RH Reality Check site and you can go here for more.

As a side note, Autumn mentioned she grew up in a "Pentecostal" family.  The "Penny-Cost-alls" I know would definitely consider being transgender, gay or lesbian very sinful and I shudder to think what sort of "conversion" therapy they would consider! My next post will deal with the "Pennies" and more.

Homecoming Queen

No sillies, not your drag queen neighbor coming home with heels in hand after a hard night on the stage.

This is a story about a young transgender woman, Cassidy Lynn who is in high school and is competing for home coming queen in her school. From the looks of her, she will give the other genetic girls a run for their money.  Perhaps you will recognize her from older Cyrsti's Condo big screen presentations.  I am fascinated in this one how much she looks like a younger version of her Mom:

Vivien

Passing along a classic YouTube video from Lynne on the Cyrsti's Condo big screen:

Photography 101

As you know, I have a real problem with my pictures.  Don't like them, don't like taking them and only suffer through to show you all to an extent I'm not just sitting behind a computer in my Mom's basement just making all this up.  Most of this you couldn't make up anyhow and trust me, my Mom has been gone for awhile.

Today though,  the art form of photography magic has reached new heights and is available to peeps even like me.  If you know what you are doing or can afford to go to someone to help you, it's possible to compile fascinating, sexy and/or attractive pictures of yourself. I'm sure it's happened that more than one cross dresser has had a picture of that "sister" of his sitting on his desk in his office. I have a friend who didn't go exactly there but did have a picture of one of his very attractive cross dressing friends in his locker where he worked out. No one had a clue his friend was over six ft six in the picture...or a cross dresser.

I'm in the middle of the technology of images school of thought. Many photos I see are great! Two wonderful examples of skilled ladies who present fantastically in pictures are Stana at Femulate and Janie Black. Both are very skilled at presenting their natural femininity.   On the other hand there are tons of tasteless guys who seem to think tossing on a wig and lingerie and taking pictures is fine and worse yet  those who encourage them. Most of them remind me of the CD stereotype of a 40 something 250 pound squeezed into a mini skirt, tottering on four inch heels in your local mall.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with going out of your way to look better than you should in pictures. After all genetic women do it all the time. So to aid those of us who suffer from "photophobia", here is a instructional video on the Cyrsti's Condo big screen from Stepping Out.com.:

Cyrsti's Condo Passing Through Transitions

Transgender MtF...  before and after on the Cyrsti's Condo big screen:

The High Maintenance Gender

The deeper my transition goes and the more experience I gain navigating the world as a transgender woman, a quote a woman told me years ago rings true: "We (women) are the high maintenance gender".

How true.  Every once in a while I  flashback to my cross dressing "princess" days. My wife told me "Guess what Princess, being a woman is so much more than heels, hose and a pretty dress." How much more? This question popped up in my email box this morning which pretty much said it all. . It read: " Cyrsti, What Do You Wear When No One Else Sees You?"

Hmmmn, when I tree falls alone in the woods and no one is there, does it still make a noise?

Actually, the question came from Ginger Burr and The Total Image Consultant site I subscribe to and did take the maintenance question to a different level, read on:

"If you're someone who works out of your home, or a busy mom whose days are filled with errands and car pools, finding your personal style and a wardrobe that makes your heart sing is just as important as for those in "corporate life." It really doesn't take any more time to dress in something you love that looks great on you than it does to throw on yoga pants and a t-shirt."

Really? I am pretty sure quite a few of the females I saw today and everyday missed the idea totally. On the other hand I understand the concept and always have worked on refining my inner style.

Certainly being a woman is high maintenance and many females miss the mark. Being a transgender woman often is higher maintenance and when we miss the mark, the world knows and there could be hell to pay.

By the way, I don't think the person who didn't see me cared what I was wearing when they didn't hear the tree in the woods!