Girl Interrupted

More great news yesterday! My estrogen was found not to be the basis of my liver problems this summer...and I am allowed to resume my dosage ASAP. 

Estrogen is like a snowflake, for the most part  the hormone effects each trans person different. 

Yes there is the breast development-which is tied in with your feminine family genetics and normally never up to the expectations of the person on HRT. (Many cis women aren't satisfied with their breasts, so we are in good company.)

Yes there is the emotional aspect-which I think is the biggest part. You do get "weepy"and experience "hot flashes" -which are different animals unto themselves. As close as I can come explaining one is during my first one, I thought I was internally combusting!

The part of Estrogen effects (so far) I have never been able to explain to anyone (man or woman) is how my world softened internally. Somehow I was more perceptive to the world around me. Cis men don't experience it and cis women are born with it-so they don't understand. That's OK!

Finally, I look forward to a couple exterior changes. My hair will thicken again and my skin will soften-bringing out curves.

Poor Liz (my partner) she gets to live through another MtF gender puberty of sorts. She wasn't around for my first. She was with me as I started HRT the first time and a form of transgender menopause when I stopped. 

And now, here we go again!!! YAY!!!

It's in The Stars?

Connie commented on my upcoming legal MtF name change

:Nice Job! Although the resident Wiccan around here (my partner Liz) won't admit it - she may have missed this one!!


"It appears that your name change date falls just about midway between the Winter Solstice and a full moon. I don't know what implications that may have, but Happy Winter Solstice, Recognition, and Full Moon Days to you! There are so many celebrations for people this time of year, depending on their beliefs. No matter what each of us celebrate, though, may we all learn to appreciate and believe in each other as the individual human beings we are. Also, I'd like to add a Happy Chaka Khan, cuz I like the way it sounds. :-)"

I love "Chaka" too!  Especially her hair color!!!! 

Chaka Khan

Cyrsti's Condo "Sunday Morning Edition"

Ker Plunk! Welcome to another Cyrsti's Condo Sunday Edition. Get yourself a hot "Cup o Joe" and lets get started! It's cold here in Cincinnati, Ohio. Which indeed it should be during the Christmas season. Lets get started!

Page One :The Week that Was - or Wasn't:  Much to the chagrin of the anti-transgender movement strides continue to be made in the world from the LGBTQ community: 

Such as this week when Canada’s first transgender judge was been appointed to provincial court in Manitoba.

Kael McKenzie, a Crown attorney from Winnipeg, was designated a judge on Dec. 17 and will begin his new job immediately.With his appointment to provincial court, Mr. McKenzie becomes the third openly trans judge now practicing in North America. The first, Victoria Kolakowski, of Alameda County, Calif., was appointed in 2010.Many are calling Mr. McKenzie’s appointment “a Canadian milestone.” (Thanks Bobbie)

For me, as I have written-this Wednesday is legal name change day!

Page Two: Yesterday's Coffee - Editorial Opinion: One of the blogs I follow is TransGriot which is moderated/written by Monica Roberts. Monica is a transgender woman of color who is never short on opinion - most of which even I agree with. Monica is also from Houston, Texas where the trans- rightist- conservative bigots banded together to shoot down HERO 


Monica wrote: 

"The problem I have with it along with many of our allies is that the taping (of another 'I am Caitlin' show) had no Houston trans representation, and especially Houston trans people of color leaders to discuss on camera an issue that we have been all in about and are the experts at discussing in HERO. In Dee Dee Watters and my cases, we have been fighting to pass our human rights ordinance since January 2014."

Follow the link above for Monica's thoughts on many transgender issues-especially from the point of color!

Page Three: Entertainment: This Holiday Season we have the premier of the "Danish Girl." and the announcement of  Amazon's new kids show co produced by transgender woman Shadi Petosky . The show is called " Danger and Eggs." 

Shadi 

As Variety and Entertainment Weekly reported, Petosky learned Friday that Danger & Eggs, the animated children's show she co-created with animator Mike Owens, has been green lit for 25 episodes by Amazon, along with two other shows aimed at kids. 

Page Four: The Back Page: Doesn't seem possible but this will be the last Sunday Edition before Christmas. I know that so many of you will be traveling to see families and many of you who have families who don't want you in their lives anymore. Either way, take care of yourselves and be safe! You are always loved here and thanks for stopping by Cyrsti's Condo! Merry Christmas and Blessed Yule!!!!

Stay Out of Red Neck Bars if you Ain't a Cow Girl or a Sheep

Over the recent years here in Cyrsti's Condo, many have asked me how I finally began to make a transition into a quality feminine lifestyle. First and foremost, I have been able to balance a lack of movie queen looks with a group of cis women dedicated friends. Normally one balanced the other until I gained confidence to "step out" on my own. Look at it this way, instead of hiding in the back of the line, I became an active partner.

Secondly, I began to be more selective on where I went and quit taking chances so to speak. Here's an example: Today Liz and I along with a few acquaintances toured a working artist gallery in an old factory building in downtown Cincinnati. I am not the biggest art expert in the world but I do admire and respect more than a few of the artists work which I met today. And, DUH!!! I was welcomed and Oh-Gee there weren't any of those pesky gender specific restrooms.

So my advice to the novice cross dresser or transgender woman heading out into the public eye for the first time is - go to someplace percent wise that you can relax and enjoy the world. If you can and I know it is tough. I tripped through malls in heels and short skirts and most definitely found my way into some wrong drinking establishments. I was no angel.

In fact, one of my goals for next year is to finally e-pub my second book which details most of my dumber moments in the world. My first literary effort "Stilettos on Thin Ice" was much more of a personal look of how I survived growing up transgender.

Spoiler alert: I may have lived through my visits to a few red neck bars and I had a real tough time passing as a "cow girl" or a sheep. Depending on who who talked to!!!

Dancing Skeletons and Swerving All Over the Road

We chat around here quite a bit on occasion on when someone protests too loudly about a transgender person and their rights-a LGBTQ skeleton of sorts may be dancing loudly in their closet.

Sadly, an overwhelmingly large amount of us over compensate over our lives for the gender dysphoria we suffer. Certainly, I am not covering new ground. You may have recalled Connie and I discussing a few of the reasons we played sports and/or joined the scouts or-or-or---blah, blah blah.

Last night, Liz and I went to another of our meetup group's get together. During the course of the evening, I was amazed to the point of even being shocked that two people out of a group of approx 12 have trans questioning offspring/relation. Both of course are into the struggles we all went through as we were sorting out who we were.

Amidst all of this comes the news that an ignorant, snake worshiping religious right group is fighting Cincinnati's ban on LGBT conversion therapy. I wonder if those are the ones who go home and pull out the gay porn. Plus, the proponents of the "conversion therapy" are quick to point out they should have the right to choose.

Of course I offered any and all support I could come up with - plus this group provides a natural huge welcoming set of arms. I am so happy to be a role model of any sorts. 

Particularly at this point of time (with the political "bantering/bashing" going on) I wonder how it all affects the younger transgender girls and guys like were talked about last night.

I really believe Trump could give a "rat's arse" since he gets more press going after the Muslims. But for any number of reasons (including basic transgender rights) Cruz and Rubio in particular are very dangerous.

I used to be basically a third party person but this election is shaping up to be a no brainer.. Then again, there is a long way to go. 

Hopefully the right skeletons will dance their way out of the right closets!

Cyrsti's Condo Remember?

From CNN:  Before there was Caitlyn Jenner, Laverne Cox or Jazz Jennings, there was Tracey “Africa” Norman.

In the mid-1970s, Norman was the face of Clairol’s Born Beautiful hair color (No. 512, Dark Auburn). She had an exclusive contract with Avon. She did several photo shoots with Essence. She was a house model in Balenciaga’s Paris showroom.

She had also been born male, although almost no one knew her secret, a story she told in the latest New York magazine.

An African-American model already facing discrimination based on her skin color, she knew that any hint that she was also transgender would have ended her career and could have led to her death.

When word did eventually get out, the work dried up.

“I was a model, so males and females were attracted to me, and when they find out that I’m not what they perceive me to be, it freaks them out,” she told the magazine. “That’s what I’ve experienced in my life, what I was getting from straight women and straight men.”

Read more of her story here.

Be Careful What You Say

Jackie Ryan was in high school when she first got involved in politics.

During a school board discussion in her small town of Sturbridge, Massachusetts, Jackie heard one of her representatives call transgender students—like her—a threat to their peers.

“I immediately sent him an email," she says, "and told him that what he was saying was completely untrue.”

When the representative ignored Jackie’s email, she decided to run for a seat on the school board.

“I think I originally got into it because I wanted to show him why my voice needed to be heard, but very quickly I realized that my campaign was about more than him—or me. It was about the Tantasqua school district.”

Jackie won her campaign, beating out a five-year incumbent for her seat.

Thanks Bobbie!!!

A "Red Ryder" for Christmas?

I am still being gentle with Liz about when the lap top will be "entrusted" to me to "rock and roll" on the web. Until then, I am moving fast in short bursts with posts! 

Recently, I posted about hearing an excellent live performance of Bob Seger's "Turn the Page" and received a couple wonderful comments back, believe me - I will get to them-thanks.

In this post I am turning to one of the all time Christmas Classics from 1983 "A Christmas Story."

In the show, "Ralphie" on the left in the glasses was peeing down his frozen leg (literally- the movie was shot on location in Cleveland) wanting a Red Ryder BB Gun. 

Didn't every boy???

Well no, I didn't and vividly remember trying to feel like I should in the 1950's. Something was wrong.

If you haven't seen the movie, it is a hilarious look at a family circa 1940's.


One of the best things to come out of the movie for me was the very simple imagery I can use from it to pass along to the transgender "uninitiated." I simply ask if they remember "A Christmas Story"   when every red blooded American boy wanted a BB gun.

I guess I should have accepted then, I was not going to live up to the standards of being that boy, and you know some of those girls clothes looked to be lots of fun! 

Oh well! Making up for lost time now.

Stand Up Straight Dammit!

One post we haven't readdressed here in Cyrsti's Condo is the power (and passing privilege) you can bring to your public presentation by simply standing up straight. 

I know in the early days of my cross dressing experience, I was increasing my height by wearing heels-then hunching over to hide it.

By the time I realized hunching over was hurting my confidence and presenting as a trans woman-wearing heels was pretty much out of the question. 30 plus years pounding concrete restaurant floors has pretty much taken any "resilience" out of the bottom half of my body. Plus the cis-women I am around just don't wear heels much. So I am OK being a couple inches short of six feet tall in boots or flats.

I am also very much OK with the increasing number of tall girls I see wearing heels and I don't have to worry about being the tallest in the room.

What I do have to worry about though is the thick upper man's torso I have. If I don't concentrate on standing up totally straight, I am exponentially cutting my chances of being busted as being born male. 

Now, if I use Friday night as an example at the restaurant we went to, no one gave me a second look. Just the owner and possibly our server knew I was transgender. Plus, I truly believe in some situations, certain owners consider it a compliment if "one of us"  chooses to make their operation a bit more diverse.

So, as we head into the holidays kids and no matter what you are wearing- remember what your "Mama" said "Stand up Straight Dammit!"!!!!