Oh, hey there, IP address from my parent’s house
Haven’t seen YOU in a while. I thought that you’d tried to forget all of this? Like it never happened? Were you surprised to find that, nope, still going strong, just not talking to you about it?
Hmm.
Maybe it WASN’T the parental units. Maybe it was one of my siblings living at home. It WAS redirected from a facebook link, and it WAS 12:30 this morning, after Mom and Dad’s bedtime.
Hmm. I might need to make a few tentative phone calls to some siblings…
Quick question
I had my first laser treatment on my face on Thursday. It wasn’t bad„ I’ll try to post a follow up/review later. More importantly: the after care guidelines say I should avoid shaving until the lased hairs fall out. It’s been almost four days now, and none of the hairs have fallen out. I WANT THIS SHIT OFF MY FACE. It’s a primary source of dysphoria for me.
Those of you out there who’ve had laser, is it okay to shave my face now? Will I damage anything? Will the dead hairs get trapped under the skin?
trenchantashell: Totally unsolicited suggestion regarding things to say during voice training: how about short stories and poetry and the like? You could choose things that are affirmative for you. And so that you didn't need to memorise them to practice, you could record yourself reciting them aloud on a tape or cd, with pauses for your real-time/practising self to repeat each line, and play it in the car. I don't know, it might not be viable for you. But good luck anyway! I hope you get results you like.
Hey, those are some great suggestions! Thanks for sending them in and for the well wishes. :)
It’s a strange thing,
talking to yourself while you’re commuting to work. Normally I’m just singing or listening to NPR. But talking aloud to yourself while you’re alone in your car, driving…it’s unusual to hear my voice supplying both sides of a conversation. Normally, it’s all in my head, so I don’t have to audibly hear it.
Then again, it’s the only time I feel comfortable working on my voice. I’m alone, I can record myself saying ridiculous things, and nobody else can witness it. It’s a slow process, finding my voice, and I’m running out of things to say! Hopefully, once I get more comfortable, I can move beyond practicing alone on my commute to something like reading books aloud with Dulcinea, and from there, slowly work it into more daily interactions. THAT might be a bit awkward, but then again, this whole transition thing is awkward by definition.
sighh. At least my singing background helps…
:) Congrats hon! I’d be happy to make more.
Thanks to aripinthefabricofreality for making me a very nice custom Achievement Unlocked notification. :D
Achievement Unlocked
First laser appointment scheduled! This Thursday at 2:30. Crossing my fingers, hoping this works for me…
Oh, right, THAT’s why I avoid regular TV
because, when I do watch regular tv, I’m bombarded with blatant cissexism, racism, homophobia, sexism, and capiitalistic consumptive commercials.
No thanks. I think I’ll stick to Star Trek, Sherlock, Dr. Who, Merlin, and documentaries on Netflix and Modern Family on Hulu.
Also: I will get up and walk out of the room the next time I see 30 Rock on television. Fucking disgusting. Ruined my evening.
“YOU HAVE BEEN EXILED FROM TQ NATION”
Well, something I posted on my TQ Nation profile pissed off the moderators. Must have been that blog I posted, criticizing the social network. I haven’t had much time to post much else.
Way to take criticism, mods.
No fucks given, to tell the truth. Good riddance.
TQ Nation, First Impressions
A friend pointed me to TQNation.com last night. (Thanks, Deirdre!) At first, I was pretty excited about a social networking site for trans* people. I had to “apply for citizenship” before I was ever granted my own profile, which shows the moderators are at least doing a cursory check on applicants—a quick check to make sure trouble-makers like radfems and chasers don’t get in. Promising.
But then, once I’m granted “citizenship,” and start filling out my profile, I’m gobsmacked. The profile has a gender section. With only “male” and “female” as choices, no other provisions.
Yeah, everything came screaming to a halt for a moment as I contemplated the series of events that brought me here. The people who built this site know that ‘gender queer’ generally falls outside the binary, right? But wait, it gets better!
I overlooked the glaring problems on the profile page, set it up anyway, and moved on to noodling around the site. I was bombarded with ads on the right side of the page—but they’re all trans*-related ads! Wait, make that trans-related ads. No, wait, make that trans-masculine-related ads.Hmm, maybe this trans contest will be more encouraging… Wait, no, it’s a contest to win a binder. Of course. Hmm. Maybe there’ll be something about trans health resources for trans women, ah! Here! The Trans Health Initiative! Shit, they only offer trans masculine health services.
Cursory looks also indicate that the site’s probably not very friendly to trans* poc, either, though I can’t speak much further than that.
I posted a blog about all of my unfortunate findings on my profile there, and attracted a bit of attention. Most of it was, “YOU’RE TOO NEGATIVE THIS SITE IS GREAT” comments from trans* masculine people. I had a conversation with a guy who “warned” me about certain trans women on the site. The phrase “real lady” was used, followed by a lament that there were so few trans women on the site.
Wasn’t expecting that from people on the site, either. All in all, I’m not impressed by TQ Nation.
—oop, the creator of the site just emailed me back, saying that their hands are tied regarding the binary male/female gender option on the profile. The platform they used to build the site doesn’t allow it. Not surprised, but still not happy.
I was hoping it would be a good place to find resources for my transition, maybe meet people in meat space, find a support group, but not if I have to wade through all this bullshit. Think I’ll stick to my wonderful tumblr network instead.
