Cyrsti's Condo "Sunday Edition"

"Ker Plunk" this Sunday Easter Edition of Cyrsti's Condo just hit your door! (I hope-or look in the bushes!)
Section 1.- Easter.  For some of you, Easter does have a deep religious meaning which of course I respect as I was raised with it.  For others, not so much - or at all.  To me, the right to worship as you please, takes all precedence. On the non religious side of Easter, it was one of a few special occasions as a youth, I especially yearned to be a girl.  Of course, I wanted to be the one in the frilly pastel dresses, white tights and new shoes for Easter Sunday.  Ironically, several genetic women I know tell me how much they hated it and got in trouble continually for getting their new clothes dirty.  My partner Liz's Mom, in particular was never happy with daughter dearest wrestling in church with a boy who went on to be an infielder for the Cincinnati Reds. But you go with the cards that life dealt you the best you can.  I'm sure you all felt somewhat the same around prom time or even Christmas when you were stuck in a suit and the women in beautiful, colorful gowns.

Section 2.- The Week in Review.  For me, the week here in the Condo was a short one indeed because of computer problems. Looking back, we received quite a few quality comments about our "Trans Girl's Guide to Eating Out" post here on the blog and in my email (cyrstih@yahoo.com).  Several zeroed in on my own personal experience of older women being meaner to me than younger ones. In fact though, if you are in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong person-age does not matter.  Ignorance and bigotry comes in all age brackets.

We all touched on the difficulty of finding a friend of any sorts in the transgender community.  By "friend" I mean someone you can discuss highly unique experiences of say HRT, trans friendly spots and more.  For lack of a better example, the same sort of girlfriend a genetic woman would have. Briefly, severe problems still exist with stealth, closet and trans trolls which make it extremely difficult to find a friend.

Section 3.- Coming Soon!  This week, my first article in Frock Magazine was published.  I'm writing on the subject I know most about-transitioning later in life- and may do more.  In fact, coming up soon, May 30th-June 1st, is the sixth annual TransOhio Symposium in Columbus.  For the second year in a row, I will be doing a workshop on the subject and rolling out my book Stiletto's on Thin Ice-a Transwoman in a Man's World.  In the month of May, I plan on rolling out samples to you here in the Condo.  I can tell you this, it will be E-Published and very inexpensive.

Section 4.- The Back Page  That's it for this week kids!  I just can't get involved with the newest babble about who is transgender enough to speak on the matter, so y'all have a good week and thanks sooooo much for stopping by!!!!

Lonely Girls

It is seriously tragic how many of us in the transgender community suffer terrific loneliness. I can understand the world as a whole not understanding us but it has always been surprising to me how few  transgender people I have been able to meet. In my limited world, on Facebook alone, I know I have at least 75 peeps who claim to be transgender within an hours drive from me who haven't uttered one word about meeting for coffee or whatever. So, I wasn't surprised that just in the two or three days I have had my computer back up and running, I have had two comments on the subject of being alone already.

One was a comment Frock Magazine received on my article in their last publication:

Hi,  
My name is Nancy Wilhelm. I am transitioning at the age of 61. Your article "It's Never Too Late to Change" by Cyrsti Hart really hit me. I can really relate to what she had to say. While I face some of the same things she does I also have other issues. I am retired and on SSDI with no reserve. So, most (99%) of the things we need to do to really transition I can't afford. Also, the city I live in, as far as the transgender community, is really weird. I have met one (1) other TGirl total. The girls here are not interested in getting to know you unless you are young and looking for sex. I'm neither, so I have a total of five friends, 3 that I might see once every other month. In other words I'm a lonely girl here. Loved your magazine. I'm going to bookmark it. Hope you can keep it free. Nice to find something I can enjoy. Looking forward to the next issue.

Hugs, Nancy

The other was from a much younger person just exploring her gender identity, along with a supportive girlfriend but with no other idea of how to go any farther.  Fortunately for her, she lives within an easy driving distance of Columbus, Ohio which is an incredibly diverse city. I recommended that at the least , maybe her girlfriend and her should make the trip to Columbus Pride in June to at the least see how the "other half's" live. I did feel bad I couldn't come up with any better ideas of how to find a trans friend or even a trans group.  Maybe I'm being the bitch again but I agree with Nancy's take on what the majority of the "participant's" are into and it's not me either.

Truthfully, I gave up years ago finding transgender friends on line. I got burnt early when the trans "nazi's" got a hold of me and went my own way.   So, I do have my circle of wonderful friends and yes two of them are transgender and they are local.

It is exceedingly difficult to find a friend but far from impossible.  The "T" is beginning to not be as silent in the G&L Centers and there are some resources, plus there are good folks mixed in with the trans trolls.  It's just a shame we all have to go through yet another super difficult process.

Be sure to follow the link above to Frock Magazine and my "two cents worth" on page 30!

Cross Dressing Battle

This video has been around for awhile and thanks to Lynne for bringing it back to my attention!  Kenny vs Spenny on the Cyrsti's Condo big screen:

Cyrsti" Condo "Cover Girl" of the Day

Our feature cover today is yet another beautiful androgynous model David Ferran.  At what point in time do the genetic female models feel threatened?

Cyrsti's Condo "Gender Blender"

Androgynous male and female models together:  Kirill Sadovy (left) Alexandrina Til (female-right)

Turmoil!

If you would have told me a couple years ago I would go into panic mode if I lost my computer, I would have said several highly derogatory comments.  Now however I'm literally surrounded by electronic gadgets which hook me up to who knows where and panic me when they don't work.

Now that my "precious puter" seems to be well for awhile, I can catch up with all of you, work on the final stages of my book based on how it looks on my Kindle and continue to learn all the wonderful (and not so wonderful) features of my new Android phone.  To quote Star Trek, "Beam me up Scotty-there is no intelligent life down here!"

Sadly, I'm still catching up and even finding your great comments in the midst of my virtual office mess here in Cyrsti's Condo, like this one from Linda Marie Daniels-which goes back to last Sunday:

Regarding the 50 something women in the restaurant who were so rude: unfortunately, after a certain age, most people don't change their opinions about the world. Although there are older people who are willing to examine long held beliefs, most "dinosaurs" are going to keep their ideas about transgender people. The good news is that younger generations seem to be more able to look at people as people, regardless of whether they don't conform to strict definitions of gender identity. The bad news is, at least for "dinosaurs" like me, that change in attitude as the ideas of a new generation become the mainstream, will be a little late for me. Great post as always. Happy Sunday to you!

Thanks Linda Marie!  You all know I am one of the "dinosaurs" too. As a matter of fact I mentioned it this morning when I was working on a new article for Frock Magazine. I was on my soap box again ranting about how our generation (and me) was notoriously in the closet/ stealth as transgender women and cross dressers.  All of us know we can make a case why that was but the past is just the past and we have left ourselves with what we paid forward-nothing. Now, whatever we can put into the transgender piggy bank is better than nothing!

I do have a spousal checklist in one of my book chapters which may be of interest to this discussion too. It compresses three sample kinds of spouses from accepting to call the divorce lawyer I will have to remember to pass it along to all of you.  The key term is remember! Sorry kids, have to wrap this up now. The dinosaur needs a nap!

Cyrsti's Condo "Cover Girl" of the Day

For Friday we are going to run a dual feature cover from the past. Vintage female impersonators Kim Christy and Kim August.

Kim August

Kim Christy

Cyrsti's Condo "Cover Girl" of the Day

We are back with our Condo feature covers. Today check out beautiful drag artist Jem Stone

Summer Fun!

Forget the inch of snow we had the other day and the frigid temps which sent me scrambling for my sweaters, I figured it was time to begin my maintenance on summer's number one fashion accessory- skin.

At this time in my life, I have certain "specialized" needs.  As far as fashions go, unfortunately, the flirty short summer skirts and sundresses are not age appropriate for me but the longer ones certainly are.  While I still have the remnants of my upper body biceps, my muscle definition has gone way down and my HRT induced skin tone has gone way up. So sleeveless tops this summer are back for a second season for me.

I do a pretty good job of taking care of my upper body skin and if I don't it tells me. As far as winter and my legs and feet go though, not so much.  I have work to do to shed dry skin, soften and moisturize.  Also, I don't think I have mentioned my dislike of wearing any sort of hot panty hose in the summer. I'm going bare legged under my long skirts and normally do a self summer pedi for sandals.

What I am looking forward to this summer though, is adding a long sun dress or two to my wardrobe for the first time.  I think with the right bra and panty set, I will be able to enjoy my new found femininity this summer to the max and stay cooler. (#1  goal!)

So, we will see what climate change does to us around here in Ohio and my plans. I am notoriously short term though so maybe I will have to come up with plans "B or C" too. First, I have to think about them and I actually have started.  I am subscribed to a local woman's Mary Kay site which recently promoted tons of summer cosmetics.  On the other hand, I also use "home made" products too.  My most recent example was when Liz directed me to her cooking Olive Oil to help my dry facial damaged winter skin. She read the hint from Glamour Magazine and it actually worked better than any of the big name expensive products I was using.  Just check around.

Another hint is my grocery store (Kroger's) has a ton of on line coupons. Several are for cosmetic products
and if you hit a day when they are already on sale, you can do well.

The MaryKay link is above and I'm sure there were and are other places you can go for fun!