Cyrsti's Condo "Cover Girl" of the Day

Our feature cover for Wednesday in Nanis Alejandre

Seasonal Maintenance

Years ago,  one of my women customers at a venue I ran provided me a quote I never forgot. One day she said to another girl at the bar,  "Women are the high maintenance gender."   As I'm pulling out my wardrobe from last spring and summer, I'm learning yet again what high maintenance really means and yes it's time for that four letter word I never had to pay attention to- diet. 

As far as size goes, the best quote I can come up with comes from the transgender character in the movie Better than Chocolate.  In one scene she (the trans woman) tells a friend, she is not big-she is enormous.  I know the definition of enormous is tough because women are getting bigger and in fact I have one friend who is every bit as big as me.  None of that matters though, since I feel this way.  What does matter is what I plan on doing about it.

First of all, I had to take a serious look at where I'm gaining the weight.  The good news is the gain is not excessive and is where I wanted it- around my hips. The bad news is I'm still carrying too much weight in my belly area.  My problem is too, I have never been a fan of body shapers, preferring the feel of the fabrics on my skin. (Except panty hose in the summer.)

Another bit of good news is my lower back is feeling better along with her cousin Art (arthritis), so lots of outside yard work will be a positive for my belly.

So you see kids, I have all sorts of maintenance issues coming up and what I have told you so far doesn't cover them all. I have a very fair HRT effected skin which burns very easily, so I have to be very careful with what lotions I wear.  I found that out the hard and painful way last summer. Plus I have to watch what I wear to make sure I don't develop unsightly tan lines but I DON'T think I will be out in the back yard mowing the grass in a bikini any time soon!

Well, it's lunch time and I'm staring at a salad that even the dog doesn't want.   Who needs that stinkin ol burger and fries?

New Spring Look in Cyrsti's Condo

It was way past time for an update around here and a brighter look for Spring.

Of course, there is just a bit more to it. Or quite a bit. Three factors went into the change: personality, evolution and even "Hey! That Sux!" .

Change is not as easy for me as most would think. I'm constantly amazed by my willingness to resist change in certain areas of my life, while in others, change is my life.  First of all, my techno savvy friends had to assure me that a simple new "template"  from Blogger wouldn't destroy Cyrsti's Condo. Just like my old pair of favorite jeans, I was hanging to the old blog template for dear life!

On the other hand, Spring has meant a lot to me this year.  Following the winter we suffered through around here, the annual rebirth of nature feels a little more special this year. Couple that with the fact my body has finally had the chance to settle into the same HRT dosage for well over a year now. Brain and body are having the opportunity to sync up.

Primarily though, I hope you all liked the changes.

Cyrsti's Condo "Cover Girl" of the Day

Our Tuesday feature cover is the UK's Allison St.John:

Cyrsti's Condo "Power Scope"

When your horrorscope starts with the "bitch" word, you just know it'a going to be an interesting one!

Libra:  (September 23-October 22): Trust is a bitch. Only in a perfect world would those you bestow that honor to react fairly to everyone they care for. However, disappointment is not for now or later, so don’t turn a blind eye to anyone who can’t hold up their end of bargain. Otherwise, karma is watching and will be out to make your wrong its right.

Don't mess with "Momma Karma!".

Locate your "power" here.

Cyrsti's Condo "Quote of the Day."

This pretty much says it all.

Cyrsti's Condo "Female Impersonation Classics."

Some of us "of a certain age" may remember "sneaking a peek" at these female impersonators in magazines. One thing is for sure, drag artists have never been short on great legs!

The first (right) is Lee Shaw.

The second is Vicki (below)

In the Company of Women

Sunday afternoon, we had a big, yellow, bright UFO in the sky-the sun and we took advantage of it.

After a short drive along the Ohio River, we stopped at one of the riverside parks near downtown Cincy and then headed for serious business-shopping.  Along the way back there is a shop called Spirit Wind and I understand the best description for it is an eclectic metaphysical shop.  I am aware many of you (like me in Cyrsti's Condo) didn't know what the hell that means.

Here's as close to an explanation that I can pass along.  The shop specializes in earth based spirituality items of which is an interest of mine.  Today, I'm actually brave enough to show you the rings I bought and my crummy looking nails which again were abused this week.

The fun part of shopping there was the acceptance from a group of very organic workers.  I was asked all sorts of questions on what stones I'm attracted to as well as what animals occupy the top of my totem.  The best one of all was when my girlfriend told one of the workers, "she (me) is new to most of this." The worker said "Does she (me) feel the power?"

Well, I do feel the power from very unique ways, particularly gender  and  I am interested in exploring them more.  Of course,  Two-Spirit transgender society members were very special to many of the ancient people.  So perhaps I might feel more power than anyone (including me) knows. But!!  It's important to me to explain my concept of "power" . I do not define it in my old male sense but more from a feminine nurturing "insightful" place.

In the meantime, it's fulfilling to me to express my insights through the different elements into my style , starting with jewelry.The rings above are not expensive in any way but do reflect different expressions of my personality and soul.

In so many ways, all of this feels so right and I'm excited about exploring the facets of a feminine earth based spirituality.  Plus, nearly all the individuals I have met have been women. I'm sure they will wonder as much as I do about how my highly unique dual gender life energy will fit it.

Fly the Colors!

If you have ever wondered about the history of the transgender pride flag. It was created in August 1999 by Monica Helms and has five horizontal stripes. Two stripes are blue ones, two stripes are pink ones and a white center stripe.


As with any other flags, there is a meaning to every colored stripe. To read all about them- go here.

As we get closer to all the TGLBQ Pride events in your part of the world, I feel it is a crucial time to separate true pride in our trans status from the usual, drag queens and fetish cross dressers. Every color in the rainbow should be there and I'm sure we will hear the usual Stonewall drag queen history lessons but in reality, it's time to move on and show the rest of the world we belong - not decked out in 4 inch heels and garish dresses.  Transgender is a lifestyle for us, not a weekend.   I may have to come up with a T-shirt!