You Are Glowing!

Haven't written about one of my pet gender "theories" for a while here in Cyrsti's Condo.

For decades I have felt "appearance" wasn't the only defining prerequisite in presenting yourself as a woman in public. Of equal importance to presenting was simply being yourself.  If indeed you have an inner girl and you let her out of your physical closet amazing things can happen.

I say "if" because I feel having or not having an inner girl is the dividing line between being a cross dresser or a transgender or transsexual person. My strict easy definition says a cross dresser wants to look like a woman, the trans girls want to be one. Before you take me to task though, I know there are shades of gray (which hopefully is not one of my colors.)

Years ago I also started to feel my inner transgender self went very deep and I was subconsciously presenting a feminine aura other people were sensing.  I was completely in shock at the number of times I was presenting at work as a macho male and someone would unknowingly called me mam.

As I began to "sync up" my interior and exterior selves over the years, it's been easy to understand why women again have a huge lead over men in this social skill. As I navigate the world as a trans woman, I have had to become more adept at judging other people's aura- for personal security and any number of other reasons. I don't attach a color to people but I do believe my experiences as a transgender woman gives me a real potential to be more adept than either of the binary genders in understanding aura.

Early example of aura.

As it goes now, more than a few folks believe they are extra sensitive to auras and can read them and I'm not referring to psychics. One of my interactions not so long ago reinforced my ideas.

I was at one of my favorite places (of course I was) and one of the other patrons came in off the patio with her boyfriend for a refill and began to read the "aura's" around the bar.  I don't know what significance are attached to colors but she immediately said there were tons of "browns and greens" around the bar-until she got to me and stopped.

She really stopped and said my colors were quite different and she was having a difficult time sorting them out and we had to really talk sometime.  I just laughed and said she wasn't the first who had said something similar like that to me but I never gave her any further information about me.  It all happened so quick and she never mis gendered me, so I just stored the experience away in my "this gender thing is more than skin deep department".

I have not seen her since and who knows what colors she was reading but the experience was definitely something else to think about from my view on the "gender fence". Maybe someday, I will get my "colors done" and not at a cosmetics counter!

Trans "Bridezilla?"

Can't say I have ever seen a transgender or cross dressed "Bridezilla". There is a reality show which showcases the most hysterical bitchy, control freak brides they can find. The only interesting show to me that I missed was when one of the brides ran off one of her bridesmaids and "made" her brother "step" into the position.

Personally, I have met only one transsexual that I know of who went on to be married to a man or anyone who has been in a bridal party as a woman.

I do know though, many transgender women and cross dressers have a true fascination of being a bride. Some consider the process (along with pregnancy) as the pinnacles of the feminine experience. For all of you who do, I am passing along this video on the Cyrsti's Condo big screen:

Gender Slurs and the Trans Woman

When someone who doesn't know any better on line calls me a "gurl", I just have to set them straight.  I have always thought a "gurl" was a gender slur not unlike the "T" word or tranny.  Or, at the least it ties me in with someone like a fetish cross dresser or even "she male". For the most part though, most are very understanding when I tell them my reasons for disliking the term.

In my regular life I'm fortunate.  My close little circle of friends just call me Cyrsti, she or dummy and life is good.  In the chance though that someone does call you or I a "Tranny", I'm passing along one person's idea of how to handle it on the Cyrsti's Condo big screen:

Make Up Lessons are no Act!

Courtney Act that is. Check this Cyrsti's Condo look at Australia's drag diva:

Cleaning the Condo

High Tech!

Awww-right, birthday has come and gone. Hangover not so gone yet but it's time to take care of some house cleaning in the Cyrsti's Condo mail box.

It's a great time as we are in the middle of some fairly miserable fall monsoon rain activity here in Ohio. I know many of you have it a lot worse such as in the Dakota "Black Hills" which are now the "White Hills" under a foot of snow.

BITCH!

OK kids, comments on the Kinks and Lola video, Shelle : I'll pass too I'm kinky but not the Kinks - and to Pat who commented on the Kinks makeup in the video - didn't a bunch of the Brit invaders wear some makeup back then? (pre David Bowie) We will have to ask Paula but then again we know she already was rocking the mascara!

Regardless of all of all my cynical comments, I liked the Lola tune because of the lusty unapologetic way the Kinks sang it!

On "You Bitch!" : from Marian,
Only someone who was transgender would want to hear that confirmation of a feminine identity!
That is true except I have one genetic girl friend who values that as a compliment too and is sad she wasn't there for my "anointing.".  We all have to remember some girls just have that "swagger"!  She feels I have now earned my place in her corner of the girls sandbox.

Finally, just a great story from a person it's probably good I don't live close to:

"If I ever had my own blog it would likely be called "A friendly and fun loving CD" since I am friendly and like to have a good time regardless of my attire. After the time I sang (screeched) Seger's "Turn the Page" I went back to my bar stool and asked those around me if they knew why I picked that song. Several of the regular guys were clueless but there was a girl couple on the other side of the corner of the bar. One was very pretty and quite petite and feminine.

The other was somewhat butch with a bandanna, jeans, boots and t-shirt. The butch one instantly pinged on the line "...is it a woman or a man". She then pulled out her phone and showed me a photo of a guy with a shaved head, trimmed beard and mustache and facial stubble and said "That was me". I nearly fell off my bar stool (for the record that would not have been the first time I fell off a bar stool). It turns out that the two girls had known each other in high school back when she was a he. After not seeing each other in over 10 years they met recently applying for a job at the same company...a small world reunion. They had dated in HS and were now dating again. It was all rather romantic if you want my opinion.

We had a great discussion and even involved some of the others as we let folks know that there is a spectrum or range that covers folks like her and other folks like me. A rather memorable evening at the bar. I have been back to that bar several times while dressed but never ran into my two friends of the evening."

I'm relatively sure Pat and I could find some trouble to get into but girl don't upstage me by falling off your bar stool! If you insist on singing ...  we could call in the "Buffalo" Princess Bobbie who can sing if she doesn't choke on her damn cigarette first- like her "Bills" team did against the Browns...really? 

Well, If you would like to line up for your Cyrsti's Condo Sunday Morning Cheap Shot, maybe we can make it a regular feature?  Fun stories are cool too!

Preferably true ones in case the long lost Connie is visits the Condo!

And a quick add from Sally:

OMG. I always had such a crush on Dharma, but I didn't realise until watching this that Greg Aaron from Criminal Minds. Consider my mind blown. :)  Sally, after Alec Mapa (right) got done with Greg, he probably had a new idea of what a Criminal Mind was like!

Dharma and Greg and Friend Classic Drag

Alec Mapa as "Trina" on the Cyrsti's Condo big screen:

Cyrsti's Condo Fashion Nook

From one of my "fave sites" Fabulous after 40, here is more advice on how not too look "Fab-Boo!-less" while adapting the latest fashion to your style.

"How to Look Cool (not Kooky) in Camouflage."

 I know some of you are either recoiling in terror thinking of some of your old military garb or pulling your deer hunting gear from the closet but read on!

"Despite the print’s humble, utilitarian beginnings, camo has become a focal point in collections by Valentino, Proenza Schouler and other designers this season. This kick-started camo’s “of-the-moment” status as well as “love-it-or-hate-it” controversy. Regardless of how you feel about the print, no one can deny its wear-ability at any age! Camouflage can be surprisingly chic if you know how to style it right."

For more go here.

You Bitch?

It's football season in my part of the world and similar to many of you we have our share of very passionate fans who follow their teams to the heights of glory or into the toilet...including me.

As I did this transgender transition thing, at first I thought in order to do it right, I would have to become the stereo typical "foo foo drinking" woman down the bar with the girls. But as I looked a little closer, there were a growing number of women who were drinking their fair share of good old beer and I rejoiced!

Fast forward a year or so and I developed friendships with a couple of genetic women who not only would and could drink with me, they shared my passion for sports.

Using the word "cute" seems out of place here but this story fits the cute category, none the less. My mind is old and worn out and I think this may have happened last season when we were watching a game. One of the women is from Pennsylvania and is a huge out spoken fan of the "Steelers" and of course I live close to Cincinnati in an area with tons of Bengals and Browns fans.

That night a guy sat down next to her in an open seat as she prepared to raise hell about how the "Squeelers" were playing and it turns out he was from western Pennsylvania too. As luck would have it that night, the "Stinkers" continued to tank the game and I was having the time of my life and not being quiet about it!

Finally, he got frustrated enough to turn to me and said "You Bitch"!  I just smiled and said, "You don't know how long I have waited to hear that!"

Shopping Karma

Nearly the first thing I do in the morning is sort through my email boxes. I check to see if any of my three collectible shops on Etsy and Ebay have sales and then look to see if there is a possible transgender story or two to pass along to you visitors here in Cyrsti's Condo.

I do quite a bit of networking the shops on Twitter and Pinterest and this morning I received a "follow" request on Pinterest from Blondellamy' Dean, A Curvy Girl's Boutique.  The request sparked my interest in that the follow request was for my TruNorth Pickers Shoppe,  which has nothing to do with fashion, makeup etc.Then I checked them out and found they offer sizes from 10 to 36 and a full line of fashion, accessories and makeup.  Hmmn, I thought do they know more about me than I sell all sorts of collectibles? At any rate I went to the site and subscribed to their weekly newsletter to add to my on line collection.  In many ways I am sort of like the person who liked to mull through weekly newspapers on a regular basis from around the country. (When they were relevant.) You can check out their store by following the link above.

Then, I jump over to Crysti's Condo to do this post and stopped by Femulate first. As Momma Karma would have it, Stana's topic today is called "It is a great time to be a tall woman." If you don't know Stana sets the "tall woman" standard at 6' and to put it into perspective, she is over 6' and I am slightly under.

As I sipped my morning "cup o joe" (coffee), my morning noggin thought Wow! both of these topics work well together because indeed most of us share size issues, transgender or cross dressers alike. To again put the topic into perspective, follow the Femulate link above to view how Stana has turned her height into a plus when she owned it and remember I have had to own the fact I'm stuck with many of the "football body" ready features I was born with.

My point is when I hear from those of you who immediately say "I can't present well as a woman because of my size" I think maybe you should do some research - and while I'm preaching at you, skip that Dbl Bacon Cheeseburger you have for lunch and consider a salad to get that weight down a tad.  Also, you are already defoliating your skin every morning when you shave, just follow up with wrinkle creams and moisturizers and you will look better as a girl and a guy. Plus, if you are worried about detection, consider replacing a different cream bottle you may have hanging around with the anti wrinkle formula.

Well the "Joe" is gone and my dog is bugging me for her walk. See ya all and be well kids!

**I have added the "Blondellamy" link to our fashion boutique room in Cyrsti's Condo.