Cyrsti's Condo "Power Scope"

This week, the stars again have given me a very interesting look at the week ahead:


Libra (September 23-October 22): There are going to be eyes all over watching you, making you feel as if you have to rethink all your steps. Plus, snide remarks will be peppering this week, making you feel as if you are running through a jungle without a map. While your resources will be in short supply, your resolution won’t be and no matter how exhausted you are, pick up the pace and out run your enemies. 

Best Day To Get Lucky: Sunday, May 4

If I have to run very far, it's time to call the paramedics but you don't have to run far to see your very own "scope" - compliments of theFrisky - here.

Cyrsti's Condo - New Feature

I was getting bored with what we have going on here in "the Condo" and decided to roll out a new feature called "What If?"  It's actually my take on transgender and/or cross dresser pictures I see here and there around the web, and wondered what if they were thinking this?

"Dammit! I thought this selfie was a good idea!~Now I'm stuck till the wife comes home!"

Cyrsti's Condo "Cover Girl" of the Day

Our Tuesday cover is a treat!  The beautiful MtF transgender woman Amelia Maltepe:

I'm Out of Labels!

I am sure you all are familiar by now with Facebook's 50+ gender identification profile tags which were released several months ago.  Some liked it, some hated it but life went on. Didn't bother me greatly one way of another though I didn't care for FB's use of only two genders.  I just changed mine from female to MTF transgender woman and went on living in my own little "label" universe. During my life, I have nourished my labels like flowers here in Cyrsti's Condo, some die and go away and are replaced by new ones.

Most of the time though,  my labels are tucked away into my "who cares anyway" circular file folder. (Waste basket.) But I usually was smugly certain, my "love children" were fairly unique until I saw Alexandra Pollack's  (left) profile on Twitter: She said,  "I am a hippie, transgender, lesbian. and a Veteran of war. "

Wow! As I sat and read each label, I felt each word was like matching a winning number on a lottery ticket. ( I have never have had one.)  Each word fit me completely plus I have never seen them all together in another profile.

Maybe we transgender women and men aren't like snowflakes. There could be another one of us out there!

Cyrsti's Condo "Thought of the Day"

So Sad  but So true.                

Chelsea Manning's Legacy?

Every now and then something comes along to get me really stirred up about Chelsea Manning who is serving time for treason.  Along the way, I have had my doubts if I had been too harsh with my feelings.  When I read stories such as this one, I wasn't harsh enough.

 After spending hundreds of thousands of dollars training Landon Wilson to intercept communications, the U.S. military was capitalising on its investment in the young sailor, already regarded as a rising star in a critical, highly technical field. But shortly after 2 a.m. on Dec. 7, when a superior tapped him on the back and summoned him outside, one of the secrets that mattered most to Wilson began to unravel. "This Navy record says female, but this paper says male," the grim-faced sergeant major noted, displaying two sets of personnel records. "So, what are you?" After an awkward pause, Wilson, who joined the Navy as a woman but who has long felt like a man, provided the answer that set in motion the end of his military career: "I am male."

Of course U.S. transgender military personnel have one real right-the right to be fired if they are honest about being trans. The article itself comes from a site called World Americas and you can follow the link to read it but my point is, didn't Manning make everything even more difficult for trans military members currently serving? It's tough enough on all of us to be tossed into into the trash can by ignorant bigots but what a shame when one who says they are trans did what Manning did? Look, I'm not saying all transgender people are angels or don't do anything wrong but some are easier to overlook than others in the damage department. I was probably was of the more "nonmilitary" type persons you would have found, serving in the most ill conceived/ unpopular war in our country's history. (Vietnam) I served my time though and learned first hand how military personnel do need every honest break they can get when  in danger of harm.  Don't care if Manning is transgender or not. Do care what he did had and has the potential to put others in harms way-especially current transgender military personnel- who can be injured or instantaneously lose their jobs and careers if they are simply honest such as Landon Wilson was.

By the way, America's closest allies, including Canada, Britain and Australia, allow transgender service- so seamlessly. The Pentagon though seems content in marching on, secure in it's ignorance that trans members are security risks like Manning- an idea which is as backwards and untrue as restricting the ability of same sex couples to adopt. (Ohio) A topic for later here in Cyrsti's Condo

Frock Magazine Goes Mobile!

From Frock editor Katie Glover:

We have created a FREE App version of Frock Magazine specially for iPads and iPhones, Android tablets and smartphones and Kindles. You can download it to your phone or tablet from the App Store or from Google Play. Just search for Frock Magazine. We have also created a free issue of Frock Magazine which you can also download from within the app itself (see cover below). Go get yours now!

All the Colors of a Weekend Rainbow!

I believe this weekend, I got a little warm up to what I should experience at all the TGLBQ Pride events coming up around me in the next couple of months. Following a week which went quickly but was a "grinder" (for both my partner Liz and I)  we decided to check out a "mixer" of sorts for CrossPort   which is a Cincinnati, Ohio based transgender support group.  Although I am an atrociously poor "mixer" because I have been innately very shy through most of my life, I really wanted to step out of my comfort zone and hopefully meet other transgender women or men.
Did I? No I didn't, and here is my excuse.  First of all, I think there may have been a total of six or seven trans women who filtered through the gay venue we were at between eight and ten and then suddenly left.  Of the group I was only able to make solid eye contact with two or three-who abruptly turned away.  That's it and poof! the group vanished to who knows where and by the time Liz and I began to notice they were gone, we were having such a good time, we didn't notice. So yes I was a social failure yet again and if you read Cyrsti's Condo and you were at Shooter's Bar downtown, I wasn't being a bitch and not trying to say hi!

On the bright side, I did get a chance to wear my hand beaded transgender hair barrette (Liz made it) last night with the "Yin and Yang" center logo-as you see here on the back of my noggin.  If you want one made for you, let me know and I will pass on all the information on costs and timing you need to know! I plan on letting my trans pride flags fly at Pride!

So, other than the trans sisters I did see and I few others in the bar who we thought were transgender, the other colors of the rainbow were represented too.  Shooter's itself was unique to me because it was the first gay venue I had ever been in which went from country line dancing music to a drag show.  Liz and I have a little country in us, so the music was OK but then again maybe not for the other trans girls? Like I said, we became so immersed in the art form of removing jello shots from tiny plastic cups with our tongues, we didn't notice much else except- my favorite game, "spot the genetic woman."  After careful consideration, as the evening progressed (or regressed) we figured there was one other transgender lesbian couple in the bar. ( A trans/genetic couple like we are.)

Liz managed to trash me on the jello show dexterity contest and kept her "boy toy" jello shot person busy as the queens arrived to get ready for the drag show. When show time neared, the place began to thin out as several gay male "bears"  took off. and a few lesbians filtered in.

At the least last night,diversity was very diverse at Shooters.  As were the jello shots!

Cyrsti's Condo "Cover Girl" of the Day

What better way is there to start the week off than with our transgender feature cover, Apoena Ponthes!