More Fun?

I forgot a couple of picnics we are hoping to go to in August. One of which is this Saturday.

Now, it gets down to what I have to wear. Since Friday night is karaoke night, I could wear one of my maxi dresses, because most of the attendee's have never even seen me in a dress before at all.

Then, I thought on Saturday, I could come back with my long black embroidered skirt and black and cream edged tank top, which you can see on the right.  My only problem is. I don't know how far I will have to walk in my flats. They are comfortable for awhile, but then get a bit iffy.

Also. I think the picnic is a little too causal for one of my "maxi's".

I guess, having all this social time is a good problem to have.

I'll Take the Rocket

One of the blogs I follow is "Emily's virtual rocket". The blog is a little different in that it revolves around transgender news issues. Why don't I let Emily explain herself:

Emily ShoretteAugust 1, 2018 at 8:30 PM

"Cyrsti:

I am writing to you to let you know about Emily’s Virtual Rocket. It is a news blog to keep people informed regarding transgender issues. In addition, gay, lesbian, and/or bisexual issues are also covered. Here goes:

Emilysvirtualrocket.blogspot.com

Thank you very much!

Sincerely,

Emily Shorette"

Thanks Emily!  And, all of you can follow her blog on my list of blogs to the right hand side of the page.

August Fun?

It doesn't seem possible, but July has come and gone. It's time again for the first Friday of the month when Liz and I normally meet an eclectic blend of transgender women and the occasional cross dresser for a night of karaoke "merriment."

Probably, the most positive part of the evening is it's an excellent chance for first time girls to come out in public and just begin their feminine journey's without a whole lot of potential hassles.

Of course, the biggest potential problems come from the petty in-fighting within the group. Sometimes it gets so bad, even I am embarrassed.

On the bright side, the month of August will be very busy for me. I have five medical appointments, including my first voice visit. I also have three support group meetings and one with my hair dresser, at which time, we make a decision on whether to keep my hair the color it is or let it keep progressing  (or regressing) back to it's original color. My secret hope is to some day get back to some sort of a blond shade but we will see...literally.

Also during the month, we are taking another mini vacation up to Columbus to revisit some of our fave spots there.

Mix in several other mini trips with Liz and August is turning out to be a busy month!

Trauma

I read a post today from one of my Facebook contacts I know in person. Plus, she also spent time in my hometown where she went to college.

It seems, she went back to re-live the "good old days" on the college campus, instead all she got was a sense of deep trauma. She couldn't figure it out because she was discussing the days before she transitioned into the transgender woman she is today.

Of course I got to thinking of why the town brings me so much trauma too. In my case it has to do with several factors. The most major of course, had to do with all the loss of life which happened around me.  From parents, to spouse, to close friends, I lost them all there. Then there were the two businesses I lost in the city I'm from. And, finally, there are the two properties I still own there I am trying to get rid of.

In fact, I don't have to go there to suffer the trauma, I feel it right now. I have my own little trick to get rid of the stress by using a phantom eraser in my mind. With my meditation it works fairly well...most of the time.

The trauma which I suffer which still baffles me is when I go for a night out. Literally, it has been over five years ago since I have received a very negative comment. Outside of the occasional mis-gendering, I just don't have many problems. So why the trauma? I consider it a form of PTSD which most likely will be with me forever.

Might as well learn to live with it. Such is a transgender life.

Finding a New Voice

As I am only approximately a week away from my voice therapy session at the Veterans Administration, I am keenly aware of any posts I find on my email feed on the subject.

I found one this morning on "The Washington Post" which put a bit of a different spin on the subject. 

I have decided to pass along a few excerpts:

 “We’re not just changing their voice pitch,” said Adrienne Hancock, an associate professor at George Washington and a pioneer in the field, according to many of her professional peers. “We’re changing how they express themselves.

”It is vital to transgender women to find the feminine voice that matches their gender identity, gives them confidence and helps prevent harassment.

Dena, the woman undergoing the training session — she asked that her last name not be used — explained the danger of being a transgender woman with a man's voice in the company of strangers.

“Passing is a safety thing for transgender people, and the voice is part of that,” she said. “It’s not just for me to be comfortable, but to protect me.”

The problem for transgender women is that finding a feminine voice is no easy task. As The Washington Post reported, testosterone, which transgender men take to build up their muscles and grow facial hair, also increases the size of their vocal folds, making their voices deeper. Estrogen, however, which most transgender women take, can’t shrink the vocal cords.

Go here for more.

Thanks

Thanks for the responses concerning my test post. One thing I neglected to mention, the G-pad was nearly free with my phone upgrade. I feel pretty spiffy with my new girly sparkly phone case :).

And, no Connie, it's not a G-spot phone. Jeni, I wish I could understand half of what you were telling me. I am very technological challenged!

 If the device turns on and works, I am happy. Plus, the cute guy who did all the work,  managed to transfer everything from my old phone and didn't mis-gender me once.

Testing a New Toy

I am trying out a new G pad 8.0 to see if I can post directly to the blog.

It has the possibility of making life more productive when i wait for upcoming doctors appointments.

Another Night Out

Last night turned out to be a fairly uneventful evening. The group was a little different with two confirmed cross dressers, a gay couple and Liz and I. It seemed, I was the token "bitchy"transgender woman.

The gossip last night revolved mostly around people I didn't even know, so I wished they were there to defend themselves. One, I think, was a dating interest of one of the cross dressers who prides himself on the number of cis girls who supposedly want to date him. (As you noticed, I do use the "he" pronoun with him.) If you knew him, you would agree.

Overall, yesterday was a very busy day. I started by joining Liz for her karate class, then spent an hour and a half of my life I will never get back waiting to get a new cell phone to replace the ancient one I had. From there we made another stop before going shopping for a dress to wear during dinner. Fortunately, I found another very sharp green patterned maxi dress which offset my still reddish hair. Plus, while I was there, I found a couple of "softies" night shirts.

Finally, we went on attack mode and took on the grocery store.

Throughout the day, no one mis-gendered me and it was great to just be myself.

You Can Call Me...

Following a post essentially about labels and the trans girl....Connie sent in this comment:

FABULOUSCONNIEDEEJuly 26, 2018 at 2:42 PM

"Since my early days of suffering from gender dysphoria, I have never heard a word that could describe who I am. What I apparently WAS, though, before the term "transgender" had ever been coined, was a transvestite. Still, I could not accept that term as one that defined who I was. I feel the same way about how the term "transgender" does not describe well enough who I am now. If others need the term to have something with which to define me, so be it; I do not use it for myself. Now that just "trans" seems to be the more popular word, I prefer to say that, for me, it is short for "transcend", as I feel I have done more than simply crossed a gender line.

I like the other joke: The difference between a trans woman and a cross dresser is that a cross dresser can't wait to get home to put her bra on, and a trans woman can't wait to get home so she can take her bra off. If only it were so simple, however. There is also a difference between a cross dresser and cross dressing, even if that is what a cross dresser does. When one determines that she will, henceforth, live the rest of her life as a woman, I don't think she cross dresses at all. I was never a cross dresser, but I cross dressed for many years as a means of survival until I could transcend. Transcending coincided with transition, but the first is the spiritual part, while the latter is more physical in nature.

Whatever "trans" word one wants to use, we all have the same seed that prompts us to want to express our feminine side. In that sense, "transgender" could be as good an umbrella term as any. We're not all the same, in gender or otherwise. I have long since given up wondering if I should be the one holding the umbrella or just be one out on the fringe with one foot in and one out. There was a time, for a short while, when I was happy to have the protection of that umbrella, and it was instrumental in getting me out of the closet. It wasn't long, though, before I realized that just expressing my feminine side on Thursday nights was exactly seven days and six nights short of what I needed.

Another thing I have had to endure in my life is whether I am a real musician or not. I am a drummer, even considered to be a percussionist by some, but have been told that drummers are not real musicians (How do you know the drummer is knocking at the door? Pizza is being delivered). I sing, as well, which can be just a problematic. My point is that, with many things in life, there will always be some people who will try to diminish others in order to bolster their own egos. But let's not let that get us into presidential politics now...... :-)"

Yes! No politics Lol! Thanks :)