Saturday Six - Episode 156

Patrick’s Weekender

1. Do you believe that there is some form of intelligent life on a planet other than Earth?
Yes, with all the solar systems out there, there has to be at least one other planet with intelligent life.

2. If there was, and we were to encounter it, which do you think would do more harm to the other: the Earthlings or the Extra Terrestrials?
The Earthlings

3. If a close friend or family member told you that they had been kidnapped by aliens, how likely are you to believe them if they can offer no physical evidence?
I know of a good psychologist that I can recommend.

4. Take the quiz: How likely is it that you would be abducted by Extra Terrestrials?

You have a 11% chance of being abducted You don’t really believe in extra-terrestrials, but you should! The chances that another intelligent life form exists is far greater than the chance that it doesn’t. Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

5. If you could fly in a spaceship to get a close look at any of the planets besides Earth, which would you choose and why?
Mars, because it is most Earth like and may support human life.

6. If you had the chance to live on a fully-developed colony on Mars, would you do so?
Yes, at the drop of a hat. I think we build colony first on the moon and then on Mars.

Friday 5 for April 6

A Method to this Madness

1. What’s your routine when you sit down to read a newspaper?
I start off with the front page and work my way to the last page of the last section, but I skip over the sports section. That has no interest to me.

2. When you fire up your web-browser on a typical day, what’s your browsing routine?
I check my emails, visit friends’ blogs and then go to Google News for the headlines.

3. It’s time to tidy up your living space! In what order do you normally tackle things?
I start with the kitchen and work my way back to my bedroom.

4. Holy cow! It’s time to start thinking about Christmas shopping! How do approach this annual, sometimes-daunting task?
Wow! It’s December 20th already? I usually start my shopping just before Christmas; it makes it easier with nothing left on the shelves, you just buy what’s on the shelves and get a return slip.

5. What’s your method for paying bills?
The old fashion way by snail mail.

BINGO!!!

I went to a fund raiser Bingo last night for the Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective and I won! I won the last game and the prize was $115. I always have fun when I go Bingo (even if I don't win), usually I go with a group of friends to dinner before Bingo and it makes it a fun night out, its even better when I win.

Transgender Health and Law Conference

I was busy most of the nights after work this past week volunteering to help set-up for the Transgender Health and Law Conference. This will be the conclusion of nine months of work that began with the first steering committee meeting back in August and it has been a good learning experience for me. Here is the email that I sent out the other day to the area support groups.

Next Saturday April 14th there is a transgender health and law conference at Uconn Health Center in Farmington which is the first transgender conference of its kind here in Connecticut. I am impressed with all the different agencies that have come together to give this conference; the Connecticut Department of Public Health, Planned Parenthood, Connecticut Women Education and Legal Fund, Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health
Collective, the University of Connecticut and also the Connecticut
TransAdvocacy Coalition.

There are over fifteen workshops being offered, some of the presenters are; from True Colors, a Sex Therapist from the University of Hartford, the Senior Counsel for GLAAD and many more. Connecticut Outreach Society is also going to have an informational table there at the conference.

The registration fee is $25 and $15 for volunteers (I need someone to help me at the table registering the presenters), but the fee can be waived in cases of hardship. The conference is worth it; besides the workshops they are providing a continental breakfast, lunch and a reception after the conference.

For more information and to register on-line go to their web-site:
http://conference. transadvocacy. com/

Happy Easter

Manic Monday

Manic Monday

Which of the seven dwarfs best personifies you?
Happy

If you could change the custom of shaking hands, what would you replace it with?
Tipping your hat or curtsy.

If you had to describe your disposition with meteorological terms, what would a typical forecast be like?
Cloudy and drizzly in the morning, sunny and bright in the afternoon.

Bigotry and Hatred is Still Alive

Back in February a 72 year old man on the bus in Detroit was murdered because he was gay. The HRC reports….

…the death of 72-year old Detroit resident Andrew Anthos who was attacked last week outside of his apartment and subsequently died of his injuries.
…the attack occurred last week on Feb. 13, when Anthos was riding on a city bus and was asked by a fellow passenger if he was gay. The man then followed Anthos off the bus which stopped in front of Anthos’ building where the assailant then beat him with a metal pipe.

The police closed the investigation saying he wasn’t murder because the blow to his head didn’t cause his death. This from March 30th Lansing State Journal…

Anthos' Cousin Won't Give Up Search for Answers

Athena Fedenis said she was stunned to learn Detroit police have closed their probe into last month's death of Andrew Anthos after the department was unable to find witnesses to a beating. It also stopped the investigation after the Wayne County medical examiner's office ruled Anthos fell because he had an arthritic neck, not because he was struck by an assailant during a hate-fueled attack.
According to Fedenis and other family members, Anthos said he was riding a city bus home from the library on Feb. 13 when a young man asked him if he was gay and called him a "faggot."

"If you want to say he wasn't murdered, OK. But you can't say he wasn't attacked, that it wasn't a hate crime," Fedenis said.

"Could (Anthos) have been wrong about the pipe? Probably. It could have been the guy's fist," Fedenis said. "But what was the size of a softball behind his left ear? It was a cut, a gash. ... If he was never struck, this wouldn't have happened."

A Midland-based conservative group, in a statement, called on Detroit police to investigate who may have been involved in the filing of what the American Family Association of Michigan called "the filing of a false police report."

Can you imagine the audacity of the AFA!

It is time to stop the hate! It is time to stop the bigotry!

Last night's COS Banquet.

Last night was the Connecticut Outreach Societies annual banquet, after months of planning it finally came off without a hitch. For the last couple of weeks I have been biting my nails worrying if we would get enough reservation to meet the minimum number of diners for it. Two weeks ago we were ten diners short and that meant that we would lose money on the banquet because we priced the dinner to break even at fifty.
But we had fifty-six reservations and five walk-ins. Whew!
It think everyone had a good time from the feedback that I got and they liked the guest speaker that we had. She teaches psychology and sociology courses on Human Sexuality at a local college, she also had a radio talk show. She gave an excellence talk on gender and transgenderism. Before her talk, I had to give out awards to our a few of our members so I had to get up in front of everyone and handout the awards. Compared to three years when I did that for the first time I have really improved my public speaking.
Here is a picture that a friend took while I was giving out the awards. You can see what I meant about in the meme below about being addicted to food. Gaining weight is so easy, loosing weight is so hard.
I had a problem with my camera last night, the flash wouldn’t go off. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong so I didn’t get to take as many photos of the banquet as I wanted. It wasn’t until this morning when I figured out what was wrong, I had the autofocus set for macro and that disables the flash and it also explains why some of my photographs were out of focus. I was using my camera at work to photograph some small defects on a printed circuit board and I forgot to set the autofocus back to its normal setting. Ugh…

By the Way Sunday

~Cityscapes~

By the way...
Miami or Honolulu?
Honolulu, it is more exotic and has that South Pacific allure.

Nashville or Dallas?
Nashville. Dallas has too much hate and bigotry.

Chicago or Denver?
Denver, the gateway to the Rockies

New York City or Los Angeles?
New York City, it’s only fifty miles from home.

Washington D.C. or Boston?
Boston, it has class and it is only hours away from the prime vacations spots on Cape Cod, in New Hampshire or Maine.

Last but not least....Paris or London?
London, I don’t speak French.

Saturday Six - Episode 155

Patrick’s Weekender

1. PC or Mac? (You must choose one or the other.)
I would like to use a Mac, but we live in a PC World

2. How much do you like one over the other, and what's the main reason?
PC is so filled with bugs that it looks like Swiss cheese. How often do you hear Apple put out a security patch, compared to MS one a day.

3. What would be easier to do without for a week: your cell phone, your television, or your computer?
My television

4. Take the quiz: Are You a Computer Geek?




5. What things do you feel more addicted to than your computer?
I refuse to answer because it might get me arrested! Just kidding, food is addicting to me.

6. If your computer has to go in for service and you're without it for a week, and you have the chance to log on at a different computer, which are you most likely to do first: check news headlines, check email, or update your blog?
1. Check email
2. Update my blog
3. Check news headlines

Ralf Nader -An Unreasonable Man

I went to see the movie An Unreasonable Man at Real Art Ways which was to be followed by a talk by Ralf Nader last night but the movie was sold out. So Ralf Nader gave an additional talk to the overflow crowd while the movie was showing.
I basically agree with what he had to say about government being taking over by big business. What he said kind of mirrors some of the Mid-Range Social Theories that we discussed in one of my classes. J. K. Galbraith and his theory of Countervailing Powers where government works best when – government, business and labor are all balanced and working together. We are right now in a period of business dominating government and labor with government being subservient business and labor being non-existent because of the effects of the Globalization (See I really did learn something in class.). One thing I didn’t know was because of World Trade Organization that anything that blocks “free” trade the offended country can bring legal action against the country in a secret court. Right now New York is being sued by Brazil because the state of New York passed a law blocking the importation of Teak. The case is being heard in secret and New York cannot not defend themselves because the case is being heard only by the WTO officials. I agree with Ralf Nader that this is not right, that instead of bringing our standard of living down the laws should be to bring their standard of living up.
He was asked if he thought that his Presidential campaign gave Bush the Presidency by drawing votes away from Gore, he gave several examples of why he felt that it didn’t, but I think that it did. I think that he has a right to run for office, but I also have I right not to vote for him. Even though I like what he says, I do not think that he had the preverbal “Chance of a snowball in hell.” If he thinks he didn’t give the election to Bush, then why were Republicans donation to his campaign?

Friday 5 for March 30

Advice, Please!

1. What specific advice would you give to someone moving into your neighborhood?
I don’t think there is any specific advice that I would offer, we are just your typical suburbs.

2. What specific advice would you give to someone beginning a job at your workplace (or attending school where you study, or, if you’re neither a student nor employed, doing whatever it is you do with your days)?
Don’t! They are closing the factory where I work this year and there is no future in manufacturing. Get a job as a plumber or an electrician, they cannot export your job to another state or country.

3. What specific advice would you give to someone who wants to begin an online journal or blog?
Don’t be too serious all the time, lighten up.

4. What specific advice would you give to someone who wants to take up a hobby you’re really into?
Get yourself a medium price camera and some good software, then go out and take lots of photographs. The best way learn is to learn the technical aspects first, take photographs that emphasis texture, then take photographs that emphasis light and dark, then color, etc.

5. What specific advice would you give to someone who wants to marry your closest, unmarried friend?
Wow, that’s great! Not too many people would marry a transsexual, go for it.

Still Plugging Away on My Term Paper

I took today off from work to finish my term paper for class tomorrow and I came to the conclusion that writing term papers is bad for my health. As I sit here working on the paper, I am surrounded by empty soda cans and empty bags of potato chips.

Lobbying Week May 14th - 18th

For Immediate Release: March 25, 2007
From: The National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC)
Contact: Media Director, Vanessa Edwards Foster; Houston, Texas
Contact Email: ntacmedia@aol.com
Contact Phone: 832-483-9901
NTAC Chair, Ethan St. Pierre
Contact Email: transfriendly@comcast.com
Contact Phone: 978-373-8898
Website: http://www.ntac.org

Transgender Week on Capitol Hill Complete: NTAC to Lobby May 16-17

Transgender activists will again converge on Capitol Hill in May for another attempt at passing federal transgender-inclusive legislation. The National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC) has announced its Washington DC dates for direct advocacy with Congress on what’s turning out to be Transgender Lobby Week.

The transgender community is hopeful this year for legislation with explicit protections for the trans community. With conservatives out of power in both houses of Congress, this appears to be the best chance at any type of equal rights enactment for anyone in the GLBT Community.

Building upon the inclusive Hate Crimes legislation that passed the House of Representatives in the last Congress, there may well be the first inclusive legislation on employment non-discrimination as well this session.

This year’s visit by NTAC will be May 16 - 17, with a plenary training session on Tuesday, May 15, 2007. However, NTAC will not be the only group lobbying that week.

“Mara Keisling’s group will be conducting a transgender lobby day on the Hill on Monday and Tuesday,” said recently-elected NTAC Chair Ethan St. Pierre. Meanwhile, “the non-trans members of the community will be lobbying with Riki Wilchins’ group at the end of the same week,” St. Pierre added. “Along with NTAC in the middle of the week,” St. Pierre noted, “the transgender and other-gendered community will be lobbying Congress … the entire week.”

“Members of the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition are looking forward to lobbying for trans-inclusive legislation in the areas of Hate Crimes and Employment non-discrimination,” added NTAC Board Member Marisa Richmond.

Richmond, who chairs NTAC’s Lobbying Committee admitted that both the Hate Crimes and Employment Non-Discrimination legislation “have been major concerns of transgender persons, and NTAC, for a number of years,” adding that “we are optimistic that we will see passage of both [pieces of legislation] in 2007.”

NTAC participants from New England to California will make the trip to the nation’s capital, likely including victims of anti-transgender hate crimes and those with personal experience of employment and other types of transgender discrimination. Since the late ‘90s, NTAC members have been making grassroots forays to the nation’s capital to gain these long sought-after protections.

Now it appears the many years of efforts may be providing a glimmer of opportunity.

NTAC will assist attendees by arranging meetings with their senators, representatives and staff members. Those making the trip will need to make arrangements for travel and lodging, however NTAC will have a hotel in mind and attempt to block out a number of rooms for participants on a first-come, first-served basis.

NTAC has actively advocated at the grassroots level for the rights of transgender Americans at federal, state, and local levels. As always, participants will have the opportunity to meet with many like-minded trans and trans-supportive activists from organizations across the country, working toward fully inclusive federal civil rights laws.

Registration and hotel information for the effort will be linked to the NTAC website (http://www.ntac.org) when details become available. In the meantime, those with questions about joining this grassroots lobbying effort can write to richmondmj@aol.com, or call 615-293-6199 after 6PM CDT.

- 30 -

Founded in 1999, NTAC - the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition - is a civil rights organization working to establish and maintain the right of all transgendered, intersexed, and gender-variant people to live and work without fear of violence or discrimination.

I Have Been Tagged...

I have been tagged by Peterson Toscano on his blog, A Musing, for five quotes. I listed them in what I think are there order of importance.

"Small is the number of people who see with their eyes and think with their minds."
Albert Einstein

"What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal."
Albert Pine

"You rarely have time for everything you want in this life, so you need to make choices. And hopefully your choices come from a deep sense of who you are."
Fred Rogers

"The point is that there are always obstacles, whether they seem insurmountable or merely bothersome. The question is not how difficult the path, but whether in your heart, you wish to undertake the journey."
Zandru's Forge

"The only person you are destine to become, is the person you decide to be."
Pam Finger

And of course there is also the quote that I open my Blog with...

I just remembered a quote from the CTAC Board meeting on Thursday, I don't remember who said it or where it came from but I had to chuckle when I heard it. But when you think about it, it is so very true and should always be kept in mind when making decisions.... "We should always remember the people we forgot."

Working on My Term Paper

I am going to be busy researching and writing my term paper that is due Wednesday. So I don’t know how much time I will have with my Blog.

Oh, so much fun! Now I remember why I was never found of school, all that last minute cramming ;-)

Sunday Seven - Episode 81

Patrick’s Weekender

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
Name the last seven specific items that you purchased at the grocery store.

1. From the Salad Bar – a salad
2. Also from the Salad Bar – a fruit salad
3. A lobster (To celebrate getting a B on my mid-term)
4. Tea
5. A jar of spaghetti sauce
6. Cold cuts
7. Butter

The True Colors Conference

The annual True Colors Conference is coming up this Friday and Saturday in New Britain, CT at Central Connecticut State University. On the True Colors’ web-site they say they…

Had more than 2,700 participants

Represented people from 16 states, including attendees from 70 cities and towns in Connecticut

Was an authorized field trip for 76 schools - including two middle school groups for the first time!

Had the assistance of 175 volunteers

Presented a total of 143 workshops and five entertainment venues

Offered our first ever, and very successful, best practices track which attracted professionals from all over the country

The list of their accomplishments is pretty amazing, but that is only a small part of the story. The look on the kids faces over shadows all those impressive accomplishments. For the first time in some of these kids’ lives they are free to be themselves, they don’t have to worry what other kids in school think or say or do. No one will hassles them because they are gay, they will be in a safe space and among friends and allies.

I know because about five years ago that is how I felt, I felt a strong sense of community, I felt safe and my internal walls collapsed at least for a while. I could be me. That is why I will be volunteering again this year, so that more kids can have a safe space for them to let down their walls and be able to laugh and be able to smile.

By the Way Sunday

~Blessings~

By the way...
Count your blessings up to 10, and name them one by one.

1. My brother
2. My family
3. My health
4. My friends
5. My country
6. My freedom to be me
7. My intelligence
8. My job
9. My freedom from want
10. Last, but not least: My ability to see the beauty around me

Saturday Six - Episode 153

Patrick Weekender

1. What was your favorite animated cartoon series when you were little?
Donald Duck

2. What was your favorite "live action" children's series when you were little?
The Howdy Doody Show:
"Say kids, What time is it?"
"It's Howdy Doody time!"

3. Who is your favorite Muppet character?
Kermit

4. Take the quiz: What is your Sesame Street personality?

You Are Bert

Extremely serious and a little eccentric, people find you loveable - even if you don't love them! You are usually feeling: Logical - you rarely let your emotions rule you You are famous for: Being smart, a total neat freak, and maybe just a little evil How you life your life: With passion, even if your odd passions (like bottle caps and pigeons) are baffling to others

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

5. Have you ever appeared on a locally-produced children's show, or would you have ever wanted to?
Yes, boy does this take me back in time to the late fifties: The Ranger Andy Show. Produced on a local CBS affiliate, I wish they would bring back shows for kids locally produced and not syndicated. I remember the thrill of going to the show and being on TV, even now I still remember awl of walking through the studio and sitting on stage.

6. Cartoons like "The Flintstones," though animated, were really intended for adults. What's your favorite adult (non-porn) cartoon?
It would be easier if I list the type of cartoons that I don’t like; South Park and shows that use crud humor.

I guess you can tell easily what generation I am from.

Friday 5 for March 16

Manners

1. What’s something that’s generally considered bad manners that you don’t think is a big deal?
Putting your elbows on the table.

2. What’s something you think should be considered good manners that you don’t think most people pay any attention to?
Saying “Thank You” and “Please”

3. In what way are you especially well-mannered?
I try to be courteous to everyone.

4. In what way are you especially ill-mannered?
I put my elbows up on the table.

5. If you owned a beautiful, enormous house high upon a hill, what would you name your manor?
“The Mansion” I know, that is not very original.

All My Children

On the TV Soap All My Children they have added a transgendered character, Zoe (Played by an actor), who is going through transition on the show. Last Friday they showed a scene from a support group that they did for the show and they used actual transgendered people, not actors for the segment. Two of the people that were part of the support group I have met; Betty Crowl and Jennifer Boylan. Betty’s wife is Helen Boyd the author of “My Husband Betty” and “She is not the Man I Married”. Jennifer Boylan is the author of “She is not There: a Life in Two Genders” and she has been on the Oprah Show twice and her book was one of Oprah’s picks. The TV film clip is a fairly good presentation of what goes on in a support group, it was unscripted and I think the clip is worth watching.

Zoe’s comment at the end of the clip was how I felt after my first support group meeting, that I was not alone. What Betty said about her wife “Getting it.” is true.

---

Updated 9/14/24 with a new link to the video.

GOOD NEWS!

HB1044 A Bill Concerning Anti-Discrimination has made it out of the Judicial Committee and the final vote was count 29-4!

And more good news I got my grades for my mid-term exam, 81. I miss read one of the essay questions and lost points for that, but the professor did write “Interesting answer, to bad that wasn’t the question.” :-( I thing I did OK, considering that this is the first exam I have taken in thirty-three years and that my major back then was Electrical Engineering not Sociology as all the other students in the class.

Once Again My Worrying was for Nothing.

Everything went well at my nephew’s son first birthday party; I was a little nervous at first but that was expected. Everyone was nice and I talked to his in-laws and some of my nephew’s friends. I made Cream Cheese Tortilla Rollups appetizers and a number of guests told me that they were very good and asked what was in them.
A number of guests said that they admired my courage and I must be happy to finally be able to be myself. When they say that it always gets to me because it is not courage, it is the lesser of two evils. I have said before being trans really sucks, but hiding in the closet sucks a lot more. I stayed home, never did anything, never went out and I was always worrying (not that I don’t worry now ;-) ) that someone would find out my terrible secret. So now I have a life, but the price I pay is always having to be out.
So anyhow, another milestone has been passed.

By the Way Sunday

~Birthstones~

By the way...
What is your birthstone?
There are two birthstones for October, Opal and Tourmaline.

Do you like the color, does your birthstone mean anything to you?
I like the rose color of Tourmaline but I don’t really care for Opal

Do you have any jewelry or special items that contain your birthstone?
No, however I think I might be interested in Tourmaline if it is not too expenses.

If you know anything else about your birthstone's physical attributes or where it’s found, fill us in.
When I was looking up what were my birthstones, I found out that Opal should be kept in water to keep its sparkle.

A Look Back

I wrote this for the Connecticut Outreach Society's Newsletter.

A Look Back

By Diana

It seems like a long time ago that I came out and went to my first COS meeting but it was only seven years ago. I have come a long ways since then, I remember gathering up my courage to walk up the steps of the meeting. It was a big step for me and everyone else who has made it up those steps. Little did I know where it was going to lead.

I remember K, D and T sitting and talking to me, calming my nerves and making me feel welcome, making me feel a part of COS and part of an extended family. I had emailed K back and forth asking her questions about COS and the meeting, what should I wear, how many members show up for a meeting, what is the age of the members and she patiently answered all of them. Finally I gathered my courage and came to a meeting only to have it the wrong night; I had to gather up my courage again to go again.

I remember the first time they had an offsite meeting at the French Butterfly Boutique and I sat out in the car crying because I was afraid to go inside, but the next time they had a meeting there I did go inside. I had over come my fear. I remember the first time I went out to eat at Goldroc, in K’s directions she said to go into the restaurant, turn left, go all the way to the end and they would be on the right. Well I marched in looking just at the floor to avoiding eye contact and followed her directions. When I looked up, no one was in sight so I quickly sat down in the booth and stared at the table wonder what to do. Then the waiter came over and I didn’t know what to do, but he said, “I think the group that you want are over there”. I looked where he was pointing and there they all were grinning because I had marched right passed them.

There have been a lot of other firsts, friends have always been there to help and go with me shopping as I built up courage. T, D and G they have gone with me shopping and to malls. Do I still have fears, yes but I am working to overcome them. I still dread the first time I have to go to a Home Depot or a car dealer; however I know I can overcome the fear.

###

I wrote this article for the newsletter because I see new members who look at us old timers and they never realize that we were just like they are now. That we all had our "First Time Out" and it is something we should always remember and cherish.

Friday 5 for March 9

Condiments

Here are this week’s 5! From "Friday 5"

What do you like on a hot dog?

Cheese, relish, mustard and ketchup.

What do you like on a hamburger?

Cheese, tomato, lettuce, onion and mayonnaise

What do you like on a baked potato?
Butter, sour cream bacon bits and chives

What do you like on a slice of toast?

Cream cheese, cinnamon and sugar

What do you like in a cup of coffee or tea?

Coffee – milk and sugar
Tea – lemon juice and sugar

A Good Week

You know when I am quite here on my Blog; I am either studying or busy. This week I was busy, I had two Outreaches (Speaking engagements) at University of Connecticut (Uconn) School of Medicine for second and third year medical students. The panel consisted of eight LGBT people and included a mother of an FtM (Female to Male) transsexual; there were 38 students on Tuesday and 42 students on Thursday plus some doctors and facility. This year they asked a number of good questions, a lot more than last year’s class and I think they also had more doctors in the audience. One of the doctors put me on the spot about the hormones I am taking; he wanted to know why I was taking the risk of blood clots, stroke, high blood pressure and breast cancer. He did like my answer and pressed further for an answer, the doctors teaching the class stepped in to help me out. Other than that the panel discussion went well. Afterward they broke the panel up and we went with smaller groups of students to classrooms to have a more one on more type of discussion.

After the Outreach yesterday I went to meet a friend, at a local diner, who helped my with one of my classes. She helped me organize my thoughts on a term paper that I have to write on the book Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich for my Macro Theories class.

Also, on Wednesday, I came out to my broker, why did I tell my broker? Because I will have to have my name changed once I transitioned and I wanted to make sure he was OK with me being a transsexual, which he was OK and he told me he has several non-traditional clients. So that worked out alright and another was hurdle passed.

Of course this Sunday I am going to my nephew’s son 1st birthday party and met his in-laws and friends for the first time.

Manic Monday

16 days until spring and counting!

What is your favorite part of spring? Your least favorite?
All the flowers in bloom and the smell of the Lilac outside my bedroom window. The least favorite thing about spring is mud, the yard gets all mushy and you can walk around on it.

It’s Severe Weather Preparedness Week this week. What’s the most severe weather event you’ve experienced?
Hurricanes, I’ve been through a couple of them; ’55, ’57, Gloria in ’85 and a few other minor one since then. Also snowstorms can get pretty severe, I remember the storm of ’78 we got over two feet of snow and was without power for several days.

Daylight Savings Time begins next Sunday, three weeks earlier than in previous years. How do you feel about DST? Love it, hate it or couldn’t care less? I couldn’t care less; it takes me a long time for my body to get use to it, usually until September. What I don’t like is that they moved it up three weeks, all my electronics that automatically change; I will have to do it manually twice. Once this weekend and once three weeks from now when I will have to move it back again

Discrimination – It’s Real!

A Case of Gender Blues
A city manager planning a sex-change operation may lose his job, reviving a debate about basic rights.

By Lynn Waddell and Arian Campo-Flores
Newsweek
March 12, 2007 issue - After a lifetime of agonizing over his gender identity, Steven Stanton decided to become a woman about two years ago. "It wasn't something I wanted to do," says Stanton, 48, the city manager of Largo, Fla. …

…At a tumultuous meeting last Tuesday, city commissioners voted 5-2 to begin the process of firing Stanton, who has received mostly solid reviews in 14 years as city manager. "I do not feel he has the integrity, nor the trust, nor the respect, nor the confidence to continue," said Commissioner Mary Gray Black. Now on paid administrative leave, Stanton has until Tuesday to decide whether to appeal. Civil rights and transgender groups have rushed to his defense. "It's been a long time since I've seen that degree of just flagrant discrimination," says Karen Doering, senior counsel for the National Center for Lesbian Rights and now Stanton's lawyer.

…In 2003, while city leaders were debating a human-rights ordinance that would protect transsexuals, the then Commissioner Pat Burke criticized Stanton for not lobbying hard enough for the measure (it didn't end up passing, but the town did adopt an internal policy barring discrimination on the basis of gender identity). Stanton, who was possibly wary of accusations of favoritism, responded by confiding his secret to Burke. When he showed her photos of himself in drag, she laughed affectionately and offered him fashion tips. "It was a light dress, and it didn't work," she says.

What can you do about this? The National Center for Transgender Equality is sponsoring Lobbying Day in Washington DC on May 14th and 15th. Go and take part in it or if not contact your Senators and Representative and ask them to support the transgender-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).

Save the Date! May 14-15

This is it. This year we have a very real chance to pass a transgender-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). NCTE is calling on transgender people and allies to come to Washington, DC, on May 14 -15, 2007, for what is shaping up to be the largest lobby day in trans history. Will you be there? Will your friends?

For decades advocates have fought hard to write federal anti-discrimination and hate crime legislation that includes transgender people. Now is our shot. Please try to be here. Your voice is vital.

Protections for transgender people—for all LGBT people—are within reach and could become the law of the land this year. But it won’t happen without your voice. So save your pennies. Bank your gas money. Schedule your vacation days. Book your flight. This is the mother of all Transgender Lobby Days.

Save the date:

WHAT: NCTE LOBBY DAY
WHEN: May 14 - 15, 2007
WHERE: Washington, DC

Real ID Act

Why I do not like the Real ID Act is because it takes away control of Driver Licenses from the states and it also makes it almost impossible for the homeless, elderly and disabled to get ID’s
Right now in the state of Connecticut I can get the gender on my driver license changed to female with a letter from my psychologist stating that I am a transsexual, but if this goes through I would no long be able to do that. They would actually have to change the gender marker back to male. Why is this important? Because under the medical standards of care for someone with Gender Identity Dysphoria (Transsexualism) you must live for at least one year in your new gender before you can have surgery. Can you imagine how hard that will be when you are looking for employment, it will make getting a job so much harder, if not impossible.
For the homeless, elderly and disabled the requirement of have your birth certificate would place almost in surmountable barriers for them. Most locations require that you come in person to get a copy of your birth certificate and for the homeless, elderly and disabled it might make it impossible to get a copy.

Wired News

By Ryan Singel| Also by this reporter
14:00 PM Mar, 01, 2007

Homeland Security officials released long-delayed guidelines that turn state-issued identification cards into de facto internal passports Thursday, estimating the changes will cost states and individuals $23 billion over 10 years.

The move prompted a new round of protest from civil libertarians and security experts, who called on Congress to repeal the 2005 law known as the Real ID Act that mandates the changes.

Critics, such as American Civil Liberties Union attorney Tim Sparapani, charge that the bill increases government access to data on Americans and amplifies the risk of identity theft, without providing significant security benefits.

"Real ID creates the largest single database about U.S. people that has ever been created," Sparapani said. "This is the people who brought you long lines at the DMV marrying the people at DHS who brought us Katrina. It's a marriage we need to break up."

Homeland Security officials point to the 9/11 hijackers' ability to get driver's licenses in Virginia using false information as justification for the sweeping changes.

"Raising the security standards on driver's licenses establishes another layer of protection to prevent terrorists from obtaining and using fake documents to plan or carry out an attack," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a press release.

The 162 pages of proposed rules require:

Applicants must present a valid passport, certified birth certificate, green card or other valid visa documents to get a license and states must check all other states' databases to ensure the person doesn't have a license from another state.
States must use a card stock that glows under ultraviolet light, and check digits, hologramlike images and secret markers.
Identity documents must expire before eight years and must include legal name, date of birth, gender, digital photo, home address and a signature. States can propose ways to let judges, police officers and victims of domestic violence keep their addresses off the cards. There are no religious exemptions for veils or scarves for photos.
States must keep copies of all documents, such as birth certificates, Social Security cards and utility bills, for seven to 10 years.
However, many difficult questions, such as how state databases will be linked or how homeless people can get identity documents, were left unanswered by the proposed rules. Citizens of states that don't abide by the guidelines will not be able to enter federal courthouses or use their identity cards to board a commercial flight.

Sophia Cope, a staff attorney at the centrist Center for Democracy and Technology, says the rules only mention privacy once.

"The Real ID Act does not include language that lets DHS prescribe privacy requirements, so there are no privacy regulations related to exchange of personal information between the states, none about skimming of the data on the magnetic stripe, and no limits on use of information by the feds," Cope said.

The Real ID Act, slipped into an emergency federal funding bill without hearings, originally required states to begin issuing the ID documents by May 2008. The proposed rules allow states to ask for an extension until Jan. 1, 2010.

Cope wants Congress to step in and rewrite the rules. The ACLU and Jim Harper, a libertarian policy analyst at the Cato Institute who specializes in identity and homeland security issues, agree.

"With five-plus years behind us, now is the time to be looking at what works and what doesn't work," Harper said. "Students of identification know that a national ID does not help with security."

Maine has already declared it will not follow the rules, and other states are close to joining that rebellion. In Congress, a bipartisan coalition is forming around bills that would repeal portions of the Real ID Act, but it is unclear if today's rules will slow or accelerate these efforts.

This is just a bad law that never should have been passed.

By the Way Sunday

~A Few Favorites~

By the way...

What is your favorite...

Morning drink?
Tea

Lunchtime treat?
Chocolate Chip Cookies

Afternoon snack?
A granola bar

Comfort food supper?
Pizza

Saturday Six - Episode 151

Patrick’s Weekender

1. How often do you clip coupons from the newspaper or mail inserts?
The only coupon that I clip from the paper is for the car wash.

2. You buy something that contains a mail-in rebate: how likely are you to take the time to fill out and mail the application (with appropriate receipts) to actually get the rebate mailed to you?

Most of the time I do send them in, but somehow it seems that I never get any of the refunds. I usually forget about them and when I remember I cannot find any information to where you contact them to find out your rebates.

3. How many credit cards do you have right now that have a zero balance?
All of mine have a zero balance

4. Take the quiz: Are you good with money?

You Are Great With Money

You know the value of a dollar - and you save and spend wisely. By living below your means, you've set yourself up for a rich future. And while it may hurt to sacrifice now, you'll probably have plenty of money later on. You're on your way to riches - just keep it up.

Are You Good With Money?

5. What is the most expensive thing you purchased in the last week?
A $3.99 battery for my watch.
But since the first of the year I bought a laptop, wireless modem and an iPod

6. On a scale of one to ten, with ten meaning that it was something you needed badly and urgently, how much did you really need this particular item?
The battery a 10
The laptop 5, I got it for school
The iPod 2, I wanted it.

Another Coming Out

Next Sunday (March 11^th) I am going to my nephew’s son 1^st birthday party, it will be the first time for his in-law and friends. He briefly saw me as Diana last fall, but this is going to be twenty or thirty people, many I haven’t met before.
Oh, it is so much fun being trans…. Life is one big coming out. :-(

I’m Back!

I had my Mid-Term Exam on Wednesday and now I just have to sweat it out until I get my grade for the exam. This I the first test I have taken in over thirty years and to say I was a little nervous is to put it mildly, I crammed over the weekend and took Wednesday off from work to study. I just hope that I get at least an 80 because I will need that to get into Grad School
Last night I went up to the main campus in Storrs to listen to a concert by Namoli Brennett at the Rainbow Center. I had heard her up in Provincetown last October and I enjoyed her music, so I went up there with a friend. It was just what I needed a night to relax with good folk music.
Now back to Blogging….. One news item and one meme

Gender Bender

This week's Hartford Advocate has an article the Anti-Discrimination Bill that I testified for.

Transgender Activists Work To Change State's Discrimination Laws


Hartford Advocate
By Adam Bulger

March 1 2007

Brenda Louise, a transwoman, said her gender transition cost her job as a machinery repair mechanic in a woodworking company.

“As soon as I had my sexual reassignment surgery, they terminated me,” Louise said. “An employer really puts up a smokescreen, and uses anything they possibly can.”

Louise sued her old boss. The case was settled out of court.

“Basically the laws didn’t have the teeth behind them. The pressure was taken off of them,” Louise said of her old employers.

What Louise and others were arguing for in the legislature last week is for a modest change in the the state’s anti-discrimination laws so that transgendered people would be protected. If bill SB-1044, An Act Concerning Discrimination, is enacted, supporters say the bill would dramatically improve the lives of the state’s transgendered.

“The bill adds to the nondiscrimination clauses in Connecticut the words ‘gender identity or expression.’ What that does is it prohibits discrimination on housing, employment and credit,” said Jerimarie Liesegang, the director of transgender rights group Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition said.

The hearing was the beginning of the bill’s second life; it passed the Judiciary Committee last year near the end of the legislative session, and then was lost in the shuffle.

“It basically ran out of time, like a lot of bills do,” Liesegang said. But there is optimistism about the bill’s chances this session. After Liesegang testified, state Senator John Kissel said he would support the bill.

Other states, including New Jersey, California and Maine, have adopted similar laws. Connecticut has two legal precedents for the bill. In 2003, the state’s hate crime legislation was changed to include protection for transgendered people. Additionally, in 2000, the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities ruled in its declaration on behalf of John/Jane Doe that transgendered people are protected under the state’s discrimination laws. However that measure has far less legal power than a legislative bill.

Employment among the transgendered community is a problem, the severity of which is difficult to assess.

“I would venture to say that 60 percent of the transpeople in Connecticut are unemployed — there are no specific hard-core statistics because we’re a highly oppressed, marginalized community,” Liesegang said.

Executive director of Connecticut Outreach Society, male-to-female transgendered person Diana said discrimination against the transgendered is commonplace.

“In support groups, I’ve seen people lose their jobs and lose housing,” Diana said.

When a transgendered person loses their job, they’re given a lot of different reasons by their boss, Diana said.

“They say it’ll ruin business or drive off a customer — there’s always an excuse,” Diana said.●

Yes, that’s me in the article, I was interviewed by the reporter for the article and I was interviewed yesterday for an article in the New Haven Advocate coming out next week.

FOUR FOR FRIDAY

Q1 - Your Paycheck: If you could receive your entire paycheck in the form of a gift card, which retail store or restaurant's gift card would you choose?
I would have to say some type of department store like Target that carries food and clothing.

Q2 - 911 Tapes : We have all heard them on the radio or television: 911 recordings between emergency dispatch and citizens in harm's way. Do you think 911 recordings should be made available to the public?

No, they should now be made public. Let them have their dignity in death.

Q3 – What Would it Take: How much money would it take for you to eat nothing but McDonald's, Burger King, or Wendy's for 30 consecutive days?

Oh… about $100,000. I might eat a fast food restaurant if I am in a hurry or traveling and I never get anything “super sized.” To do that for thirty days; yuck.

Q4 - Scandal: Yesterday, federal officials in the U.S. broke up one of the largest Wall Street insider trading rings since the 1980s. Thirteen people, including executives and brokers at Morgan Stanley, UBS Securities, Bear Stearns, and Bank of America Securities, have been indicted for schemes that netted high worth individuals millions of dollars. Earlier in the week, an allegedly illicit steroid distribution network, which authorities are saying is responsible for Internet sales of performance-enhancing drugs nationwide, was broken up by the Albany County (NY) District Attorney’s office. Customers reportedly included Los Angeles Angels baseball player Gary Matthews Jr., numerous high school and collage athletes, a former Mr. Universe bodybuilding champion, and former heavyweight-boxing champion Evander Holyfield. Which concerns you more: Insider trading on Wall Street or the illegal use of performance enhancing drugs by amateur and professional athletes alike?

Insider trading, it can affect millions of people. Look at Enron and how that affected everyone in the world. Here in Connecticut some state agencies lost hundreds of millions of dollars that the taxpayers got stuck with making up the lost. And now millions of Americans have their IRA’s and 401k’s in the stock market, now’s the time for strict enforcement of the SEC rules.

Tomorrow at Work

When I go back tomorrow and my co-workers asked me what I did on my day off. I will say “Oh, nothing much.” When in reality it was the most empowering day in my life. I felt that I could maybe make a difference in the world, that my voice was heard.

Just What the Doctor Ordered.

Last night after sitting all day in the hearing room I went to a free comedy show. The show was to provide an alternative to a night club act at a local bar which was to feature a blackface comedian drag show but because of pressure from the black and GLBT community the show was canceled. Even though the drag show was canceled the free solidarity comedy show was still performed.

The opening act was Peterson Toscano he did one act from his play "The Re-Education of George W. Bush" the act showed what it would be like if you had to be a black woman for a week, what some of the discrimination is like. It is hard for a white male to imagine what it would be like but Peterson pulled it off beautifully.

The main act was Karen Williams, she had me rolling in laughter from the moment she walked on stage until she finished her act. I can do her justice by telling you some of her routine because her performance was her show and one part built upon the other to build show that is greater than the sum of it parts. She used humor to teach social justice, even though you were laughing in your seats, there was a deeper truth that was very serious.

After her show she took questions from the audience and one of the comments that she made struck me. She said she knew just how many Blacks were in the audience, she said that is one thing black notice; how many other Blacks are in the room. What stuck me was I knew how many trans were in the room (4) and I usually note that also when I walk into a room. Maybe it is a characteristic of a minority group. Hmm…

If you can see either of these shows, go. They are well worth it.

###

On anther note, I am going to be quiet until after Wednesday because Mid-term exams are this week. Just posting what I can sneak in from work.

It Has Been a Long Day

I was at the Legislative Office Building all day waiting to testify, I was there from 9:30 and I left at 3:30 and I finally got to testify around two in the afternoon. Listening to all the people who are not transgender speak in favor of the bill and after my testimony I felt empowered, like maybe I am what I am doing might make a difference. Here is my testimony:

An Act Concerning Discrimination: SB1044

Honorable chairmen, senators and representatives, my name is Diana and I would like to urge you to vote in favor of this bill.

I have lived for most of my life in fear that I would be found out. I lived in fear of losing my job, because at work I am not out and I fear of being harassed or fired if anyone found out. I will not live in fear any more and that is why I am here today because I feel so strongly that this bill must be passed. I am a Transsexual and that is why I am willing to testify here today and to take the risk of going public.

As a transsexual and a director of a support group I have seen the effect of discrimination. I know of transsexuals that have gotten fired at work when they revealed their intentions to transition and change their gender. I know crossdressers who are afraid that if they are found out at work that they crossdress that they would be fired or harassed. I know individuals who are transsexuals and they have been refused renewal of their lease, they then they found it very difficult for find a new apartment. I have a friend who is a Female to Male Transsexual and he says that when he was a lesbian he was protected from discrimination, but now that he is a transsexual he is no longer protected. This is not right!

We do not want any quotas or any special rights. All we want is to be able to live our lives, to earn a living, to raise our family. We just want to be treated as equals.

I am not naïve enough to think that this bill will do away with discrimination, but it will make an employer, a businessperson or a landlord think twice before they fire or refuse service or refuse to rent to a transgendered person. It will show that the state of Connecticut does not condone that type of behavior.

Please pass this bill, thank you.

Manic Monday

Life

What is the quality that you like least about yourself?
I eat too much.

My life would be simpler if...
If I was not trans……… being trans (well to put it bluntly) sucks

Do you generally take the high road or the low road?
I generally take the highroad, but every once in a while I have been known to take a shortcut.

What is your guiltiest pleasure?
Eating. My doctors tell me my cholesterol is too high, I’m over weight and I don’t get enough exercise, it all boils do to I like good food.

Indiana University-South Bend Club Dedicated To Napping

I heard this on the radio on the way to work: Indiana University-South Bend has just started a new club, a napping club. They have about 30 – 35 members and they provide a dark room and air mattresses and you have to provide a pillow and blanket. They also have a moderator to wake you up for your next class.

Now that is my type of club!

One Picture Says a Thousand Words

I found this on the website at The Home Page of George Edward Loper, I don’t know where it originally came from but the picture says it all….

By the Way Sunday

By the way...


If you could invent a holiday of your very own, what would it be?
National Chocolate Lover's Holiday

What day and month would you assign your holiday to?
February 1st so that you can lie back on a couch eating your chocolate and watch it snow outside.

How would you celebrate it?
Everyone would get a box of chocolate from the Chocolate Fairies that you had to eat that day.

Patrick’s Weekender

Saturday Six - Episode 149

Take the quiz: What game show host are you?

Which Game Show Host Are You?

Alex Trebek
Take this quiz!








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2. What game show do you think you would be best as playing?
Probably Jeopardy, I always liked the show even though I don’t usually watch them and if I do it is usually as a last resort.

3. What game show do you think you would be worst at playing?
Wheel of Fortune, I hate that game show.

4. Have you ever applied or auditioned as a contestant for any game show? If so, which one?
Nope and don’t care to.

5. If you had to apply or audition for a game show, which one would you most likely choose?
Something that is real easy, liker guess your name. Because I panic under pressure.

6. If you found out you had to host a game show, which one would do you know well enough that you could actually host?
Jeopardy

FOUR FOR FRIDAY

Q1 - Public Speaking: What is the largest group of people you have ever spoken in front of, and what was the focus of your talk/speech?
It was to a group of about 200 students and faculty. I was part of a panel discussing GLBT issues.

Q2 - Freedom of Speech: Earlier this week, former Miami Heat basketball player Tim Hardaway said on a sports radio talk show that he would not want a gay player on his team. "You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known," Hardaway said. "I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States." National Basketball Association commissioner David Stern, upon learning of the remarks, banished Hardaway from this weekend's NBA's All-Star activities in Las Vegas. Despite what you think about Hardaway's comments, do you think the NBA took the right, appropriate or just action in barring him from the League's All-Star functions?
I believe everyone has the right to say what they want, as long as it is not hateful. From the above quote, I would not say it meets my definition of hateful. Bigoted, yes.
Did the NBA have to right to spend him, yes. He is a spokesman for the NBA and therefore what he says reflects badly on the NBA.
We can legislate how people behave towards one and other but we cannot legislate what they think

Q3 - Food Poisoning: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to eat from certain jars of Peter Pan peanut butter or Great Value peanut butter due to risk of contamination with Salmonella Tennessee (a bacterium that causes food borne illness). The affected jars of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter have a product code located on the lid of the jar that begins with the number "2111." Have you ever had food poisoning? If so, what made you sick, and can you still eat that particular food? If a restaurant was involved, can you still eat food from the establishment that contributed to your food poisoning?
Nope, but my father did at one time. It was so bad he needed to be hospitalized. The state public health officials came to our house to interview him when he got home to trace where the contamination came from. It was from bad roast beef he got a local deli.


Q4 - Purchases: What was the last thing you purchased, and what do you think you will purchase next?
The last purchase was a digital voice recorder that I got so that I can record interviews that I have to do for a class. My next major purchase is a 500G external hard drive and that will be followed by a MP3 player.
The digital voice recorder can also hole 1 hour of music and when I saw how easy it was to record my CD, I got hooked. So I want to record my whole CD collection to MP3.

Week Number Fifty-Five:

Curious as a Cat

What spiritual concept, from any religion, is the hardest for you to understand? Is it something you have studied, or something you have only observed from the ‘outside’
I have a hard time understanding those religions that take a literal interpretation of the Bible or those who take one section out of context. Example is those who are against homosexuals and they cite passages where the Bible says man shall not lie with another man. But they have no problems with not following other passages like not eating seafood without scales (lobsters, shrimp and clams) or not wearing clothes made up of two fabrics (cotton/polyester) or they would never think of selling their daughter into slavery or the one I like is marrying you brother’s wife if he should die.

What kind of doctor would you want to be?
I am not really cut out to be a doctor, I panic way too easily.

If you could run any existing charity, which one would you pick? Why? How would you change it, or would you keep it just as it is?
I do not know if I would want to run any agency but if I had to pick one it would be True Colors as they say on their web-site is a….

“Sexual Minority Youth and Family Services is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization that combats homophobia, gender bias, and racism. We provide support, education, and advocacy to those responsible for the health, education, and well-being of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Youth and Families.”

I know the woman who runs it and I know I wouldn’t want her job, you have to put so much energy and love into it; that it would wear me out.

Manic Monday

Mr. Sandman

Do you have a regular bedtime routine that helps you get to sleep?
Nope, I just crawl into bed around 10:30 – 11:00

On average, how many hours of sleep do you get each night?
Five hours of sleep

How many hours do you actually require and/or like to have?
Seven or eight hour of sleep would be very nice. On weekends I wake up around four, than toss and turn for a while but I can then go back to sleep and wake up around seven. On work days I fall back to sleep just in time for the alarm top go off.

How do you deal with insomnia?
Advil PM.

What Would You Do?

I was just reading a blog written by a spouse whose husband is slowly slipping towards transitioning. They are both deeply in love and do not want their marriage to end, but all the signs are there that he will transition. Whether he will go on hormones and have surgery remains to be seen. She on the other hand I think would stay with him only if he didn’t go on hormones. It is sad to see because from what I see in their eyes I know they love each other, but I can also see the agony.
What would you do if your spouse or partner came to you and told you that they had been living a lie, that they felt that they were really a woman or man inside?
Would you stay by you spouse or partner, for better or worst? Would you run as fast as you can? Would you still love each other? Would you remain as friends?
This couple that I know, I don’t think she would mind what people thought, but she has said that she is not a lesbian and wouldn’t stay married if he had the surgery. She would stay married if he just lived as a female but with out hormones. They are now being mistaking for a lesbian couple and have a hard time showing affection in public like they use to be able to do. They ride the train a lot and they use to sleep on each other’s shoulder but now if they do it they get stares. Or if they hold hands walking down the street, the kids chant “Lesbos” she says that she doesn’t mind because she knows he still has all his male parts intact and that is what counts for her.
I have seen spouses throw out there spouse and feel betrayed. I have seen spouses stay married and I have seen them divorce but stay close friends. I have seen lesbians couples stay together and get married; I have seen lesbian couples break apart.
There are never any winners, you just have to make the best the hand that you were dealt.

What’s for Dinner?

I made a crock pot of chili today and it was torture to be in the house. All day I had to smell the chili and I kept on sneaking a taste!

Out of the Shadows

By the Way Sunday

~Be My Valentine~

By the way...
When you think of Valentine's Day, what comes to mind? Special memories, traditions?
Elementary school, with little boxes taped in front of the desks filled with Valentines.

Do you have any special plans this year?
Nope.

If you had a choice, what Valentine goodie would you love to receive?
A hug.

Do you have a special friend or relative that you'd love to treat this Valentine's Day? Why? (choose someone other than your true love or your mate for this treat)
No, I am not that close to anyone. I takes a very special person to love a transsexual.

Saturday Six - Episode 148

Patrick’s Weekender

1. A friend arrives from out of town and wants to go to dinner at a nice locally-owned restaurant: where would you take her?
I would take her to Tuscany’s in Middletown, it is not your “Typical” Italian restaurant but as the name implies it is more from the central mountain region of Italy.

2. Your friend then says he wants to learn something about the history of your city: where would you take him first?
To the town’s central historic district and visit some of the old colonial homes there.

3. Does your current hometown have any specific kind of weather threats (i.e., tornado alley, etc.) or natural disaster threats (i.e., earthquake faults, volcanic activity) that concerns you?
The occasional hurricane.

4. Take the quiz: What city shares your personality?

You scored as Boston. You are Boston, Massachusetts! You are creative and outspoken, and probably possess a bit of a distaste for authority. You appreciate diversity in your life. Boston 60% Paris 55% Rio de Janeiro 50% Killarney 50% Provo 20% Which city shares your personality? created with QuizFarm.com

5. Have you ever visited this city or lived there before?
Oh yes, many times and it is a nice liberal New England city.

6. Based on what you know about that city, either firsthand or from others, do you think it would be a good fit for you? Do you think it would be a better fit than the city in which you now live?
Yes, I would fit in there, but I wouldn’t like to live there, I am more of suburban type person. I also live close enough to a small city where there are enough activities for me.

Last Night

It went well last night. I am so very lucky that to have family and friends that are so supportive. I know many individuals who family and friends have disowned them, so I feel doubly bless to have such a good family and friends.

Much to my amazement; one of the couples told me that someone at work just transitioned and the other couple told me that somebody at where he works just started transitioning (which I knew about) but the husband of one of the wife’s friend transitioned three years ago. So what that means is that two people who were in their wedding party have been related to someone who has transitioned; the husband of one of the bridesmaids and me.

Tonight is Another Milestone

Tonight I am coming out to my old high school friends. I have been lucky so far with my family and now I am tackling my friends. I have known them since high school some for over forty years; we usually get together one or two times a year. I am planning for the worst and hoping for the best so if they are not accepting I don’t think it will be too hard on me. It will be more of a sadness, a breaking of a link from the past that I would like to keep.
I know there will be more coming out as I transition; banks, brokers, the guy who plows the driveway, the…. and on and on.
So wish me luck.

FOUR FOR FRIDAY

Q1 - Legislative Perks: In Indiana, home to the Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts, 45 state lawmakers took advantage of the Colts' offer to buy two tickets at $600.00 each to attend the Super Bowl game in Miami, FL. Do you think state law makers or members of Congress should be given preferential treatment when it comes to purchasing highly sought after tickets to sporting events?

No!
How is that for a simple but direct answer. Here in Connecticut we just convicted the governor for bribery and have passed some strict laws limiting the monetary gifts or perks lawmakers can receive; now we just have to see if they are enforced.

Q2 - Fast Food: Putting aside for a moment how bad you know it is for you, what is your favorite fast food meal?

Wooper Jr with cheese.

Q3 - Rules of the Street: For some, the lure of an iPod may be less about music and more about blotting out the world around them. But in some major New York cities, at least, the pause button could soon be pressed on this most modern of luxuries because someone has decided it's dangerous. New York State Senator Carl Kruger plans to introduce legislation that would ban the use of handheld devices such as BlackBerries, iPods, cell phones, and portable video games while crossing streets in major New York cities. Under the proposed law, pedestrians and bicyclists caught using any kind of electronic device while crossing a street would be hit with a $100.00 fine. Do you agree with Kruger's proposal? Should handheld devices be banned in certain public settings?

I think it is a good idea but unenforceable. People are just lost in their little own world and clueless to what is happening around them. If they want to walk out in front of a trailer truck and get flatten, well they won’t do that again. I hate to sound crass but I have seen joggers with earphones on just run across the street without looking.

Q4 - Movie Ratings: The American Medical Association Alliance will soon release the results of a national survey that it says shows that the majority of adults support an "R" rating for Hollywood movies that feature people smoking cigarettes. What do you think? Should movies featuring cigarette smoking actors or actresses be given an "R" rating?

How about a “S” or a “RS” so we know what is in the movie and we can make up our own minds.

Manic Monday

Flow It, Show It- Hair, Hair, Hair!

Do you enjoy having your hair cut/styled?

Now I do, but when I went to a barber I use to hate it. No matter what I told them, I always ended up with my hair being a ¼ inch long. Now I go to a stylist and tell her I want it 2 inches, it is 2 inches not a ¼ inch.

How often do you have your hair cut?

I should go every six to eight weeks, but is more like 10 or 12 weeks.

Are you particular about what shampoo/conditioner/other hair products you use? What are your favorites?

I’m not fussy I usually by Prell

Do you think a man should accept his baldness or do the comb over/ toupee/Hair Club for men route?

Right now I accept it when I’m Don

What steps would you take if you started to lose your hair?

It is too late to worry about it, it’s gone already. As Diana I have to wear a wig and I can tell you it is no fun. On summer days it is hot and sweaty and I have to wash it every couple of days. So you should have at least two wigs in order to rotate them. On windy days you are always worrying about them blowing off. A good wig cost around $400 and lasts only around six months.

Harry Benjamin's Syndrome

WOW! Once again Europe leads the way. I heard some rumors of this at First Event but this is the first time I looked I up on the internet.

Harry Benjamin's Syndrome is an intersex condition developed in the early stages of pregnancy affecting the process of sexual differentiation between male and female. This happens when the brain develops as a certain sex but the rest of the body takes on the physical characteristics of the opposite sex. The difference between this and most other intersex conditions is that there is no apparent evidence until much later after the baby is born or even as late as adolescence.

Harry Benjamin's Syndrome was known in the past with many different names, being Transsexualism (ICD-10) the most common used in relation with it.

"Transsexualism (HBS) is now regarded by the world's leading experts in the field as another of the many biological variations that occur in human sexual formation -an intersex condition- where the sex indicated by the phenotype and genotype is opposite the morphological sex of the brain. People with the condition of transsexualism (HBS) are therefore born with both male and female characteristics and, like many others with atypical sexual development, seek rehabilitation of their phenotype and endocrinology to accord with their dominant sexual identity; an identity which is determined by the structure of the brain. Transsexualism (HBS) is about being a particular sex, not doing it. It is also about recognizing gender norms, not challenging them." -Karen Gurney & Eithne Mills. 2005. Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law, Vol 12, No #1 & #2

By The Way Sunday

~Touched~

In day to day life there are so many little moments that touch us.
By the way...
Do you have a recent touching moment to share?

It is not recent but it is one that sticks in my memory.
I do a lot outreach (speaking engagements) at local colleges and universities to classes that most of the students are psychology majors. I was standing in line at a restaurant waiting for our table and this young woman comes up to me and tells me; “You probably don’t remember me, but you spoke in our Human Sexuality class and now I have a transsexual client. Because of what I learned in class that day I knew how to relate to her.”
Every time I think of what she said, it gives me a warm glow to know that in some small way you have help to make someone else’s life a little easier.

Smith College – Jennifer F. Boylan

I went up with a friend to Smith College last night to hear Jennifer F. Boylan keynote speech at the Gender Conference; she is the author of “She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders” and was on the “Oprah” show twice and “Larry King”. She read from her new book that I think is coming out this summer. I enjoyed the excerpt from it that she read and at times it reminded me of my boyhood. I had a stash of clothes that I had hidden and use to put on when I did my homework also and it reminded me of one incident that happen one night.

I was dressed and sitting at my desk when I heard my father coming down the stairs to the den where I studied. I jumped up shedding my clothes and putting on my male clothes in my haste I stubbed my toe, breaking it. There I was sitting quietly at my desk when my father walked in, the scene of the dutifully student studying away while I was in pain trying to keep tears from flowing down my face.

But one of the points I think she was trying to make is that we all have a unique backgrounds that we should be proud of our past and not try to hide from it. That does not mean that we carry a flag around saying that we are trans but rather we should not deny it to ourselves. She talked about the differences that gives us a different prospective on life and how we cannot block it out because our background has shaped our personality, something that I talked about in my blog; “Are We Women”

The weather made the drive back miserable, the normal one hour drive from Northampton took over three hours and I didn’t get back until midnight. At times traffic was only going 15 mph because I was stuck behind snowplows from Northampton down to Springfield.