Stardust Star Power

The previews for the movie version of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust are showing up on TV now, and I’m nervous & excited about seeing the movie. I love the book – it’s the perfect kind of fractured fairy tale, with a star falling out of the sky only to say “Oh shit,” when she hits the ground. But I’m not really thrilled with all the Big Names appearing in it, but – apparently that sort of thing is what helps a film like this get made at all.

Fingers crossed.

Princess Amygdala

How do we know with transness that there isn’t just something in the brain that’s mistaken? I don’t mean that in a bad way. I say that from the position of someone whose body was gender variant due to a hormone imbalance. When I see people’s before/after photos, I see FTMs who are physically quite feminine (i.e., normatively physically gendered), with no excess body hair, few large jaws or big hands, who get regular periods, etc. Likewise with MTFs: pre transition can be quite masculine, with very male skeletal structures, musculatures, a lot of body hair. I see such externally “gender normative” bodies I’m even jealous, though of course there are trans people whose bodies are gender variant, in various ways, too, who have ovaries or testicles that don’t function right, or make too much of the “wrong” hormone, etc.

It’d certainly be simpler if trans people all had physical evidence of their gender variance but obviously that’s not the case. All people who have physically gender variant bodies due to hormone imbalance are not trans, either, of course. But when I read that a lot of FTMs have PCOS like me, that makes perfect sense. Or when MTFs have gynecomastia or no body hair. Continue reading “Princess Amygdala”

Gone Betty Gone

Well now I’ve got one big fat reason NOT to be cheerful: Betty has left town to do a job upstate & will be gone all week. We see each other for the weekend & then she’s gone for a whole other week.

Feh. 

I miss her so quickly it almost surprises me, but I feel bad too for little Aurora, who is Betty’s shadow and nap companion. Hopefully I’ll keep myself from being too depressed & will instead just get a lot done.

Reasons to be Cheerful, Pt. 6

There’s a nutty little song by the late Ian Dury (& his Blockheads) called “Reasons to be Cheerful” that’s basically a list of the smaller things that, when you think of them, might encourage you to get out of bed in the morning.

I thought it might be appropriate for me to make my own list, since as of today, we’ve been married for six years, and I’m in a good mood, & feeling grateful for a bunch of things in my life.

  1. Aurora, sweet as pie, trying to con me out of a piece of cheese when I go to get the milk for my tea
  2. Songs like “Reasons to be Cheerful” but also “Birds Fly” by Icicle Works, or “Right Here, Right Now” by Jesus Jones, or “Hot Love” by T. Rex = worth endless listens that always make me happy
  3. The Bangladeshi guy who runs the grocery on our corner who’s probably been hipper about Betty’s transness than just about anyone
  4. Watching my friend Doug watch Rufus in concert
  5. Getting emails from people I can help
  6. My dad’s dumb jokes
  7. Keith Olbermann
  8. Dumb cat videos on YouTube
  9. Betty, of course, in all her various forms, but especially when she’s just wearing socks
  10. The Elephant Sanctuary (who prove something good can & does exist in the world)
  11. ice cream
  12. the French (who are, in general, vastly under-appreciated in America at least)
  13. my earth shoes
  14. tea. earl gray. hot.
  15. & on the same note: Clive Staples Lewis, Neil Gaiman, Jane Langton, & Rod Serling, for telling the tales that have shaped my life. (There are a few others, but you get the picture.)

So now, go make a list of just a few things that make you happy while you’re listening to these songs that always lighten my mood. Continue reading “Reasons to be Cheerful, Pt. 6”

(Ex) Surgeon General’s Warning: Bush Presidency Bad for Health

Not a big surprise, but the former Surgeon General under Bush, Dr. Richard Carmona, has testified that he was asked or told to withhold information on abstinence-only sex ed, emergency contraception, and stem cell research.

They have, of course, found this sap Holsinger to nominate, who I’m going to assume is more their kind of yes man. Not only that, but he’s declared publicly that homosexual sex is unnatural & unhealthy.

Nearly Black Cats

They love posing like this, asleep, eyes closed, blotting out the flash. As it gets hotter & hotter, they sleep together less & less, for good reason. They don’t think there’s any reason to worry about the supposed “bad luck” of Friday the 13th, but of course they’re not black cats, either.

& Happy birthday to my sister Kathy, too!

Turn Up that AC

Just a tip: put your air conditioner on 80 degrees to save money on your electric bill. You don’t have to be cool, just not hot.

Check out a bunch of other smart, green tips on how to use air conditioning best (& most cost-effectively), and otherwise check out ways to save energy in the summer (& prevent those local brownouts).

& Unplug your chargers! That’s a new one I just learned. When you’re not actually charging your iPod / cellphone / PDA, you’re using energy just by leaving the charger plugged in.

Urgent from NCTE

Today Senators Kennedy (D-MA) and Smith (R-OR) introduced the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act as an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 1585), which is being debated in the Senate this week and next. This amendment could be voted on as early as today. In short, today transgender people are one giant step closer to gaining federal hate crimes protections!

The language of today’s amendment is identical language to that of S. 1105, which the Senators introduced in April.

But to ensure that the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act becomes law, you must contact your Senators now and urge them to support this life-saving legislation.

As you read this, the Radical Right is mobilizing their base to oppose the federal hate crimes bill. They’re using scare tactics and flat-out lies in hopes of killing Kennedy’s amendment. Make sure that your Senators hear your voice and the true importance of this bill.

The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act would:

  1. Extend existing federal protections to include “gender identity, sexual orientation, gender and disability”
  2. Allow the Justice Department to assist in hate crime investigations at the local level when local law enforcement is unable or unwilling to fully address these crimes
  3. Mandate that the FBI begin tracking hate crimes based on actual or perceived gender identity
  4. Remove limitations that narrowly define hate crimes to violence committed while a person is accessing a federally protected activity, such as voting.

Find your Senators’ contact information.

The time to act is now! Call your Senators today and urge your friends and family to do the same!

(A sample letter you can copy & paste is below the break.)

Continue reading “Urgent from NCTE”