Decidedly Obscure Human Complaints.

My parents are gym-going rock stars this week. They both joined me at 8am three mornings in a row. Last Tuesday morning, the manager was there. The manager who, for months now, I've been trying to get up the nerve to speak with. Just enough to express to him that with the changes I'll be experiencing from hormone therapy it's going to become increasingly difficult to use the women's locker room. Yet, I'm not prepared to walk into the men's locker room. I primarily want to relay to him that he has gender non-conforming customers who have a very difficult time navigating the gym, and if there's possibly an extra bathroom somewhere. Or a unisex stall, at least. I'm trying to get up the nerve. In the meantime, I have been walking in to the men's locker room with my dad in the morning. But I've only traveled far enough to get to the sinks and the bathroom stalls. The first time we entered together, I was terrified. My heart was literally racing and ...

I attended a " Bi-Sexuality 101 " panel discussion last night. Apparently January is Bi-Sexuality Awareness Month.  And Utah is the first state in the nation to have a Bi-Sexuality Awareness Month. Neat. A significant portion of the panel addressed a list of Bi-Sexuality Myths, like the myth that all bi-sexuals are promiscuous; or that if a bi-sexual individual is with a man (s)he will inevitably leave him for a woman at some point. And so on. Various panel members shared their experiences with discrimination, feelings of being invisible to their communities, being misunderstood by people within and outside of the LGBQT community, and with feeling disconnected from a sense of community or unwelcome altogether. I was most interested, of course, in the whole gender component. I pondered about how gender relates to sexual orientation and how both relate to my perspectives on the world as a whole. As I've rambled on about in previous posts, since I believe that there ...

Earlier today I couldn't stand my long hair tickling my neck and conveniently spotted a classic barber pole nearby. I'd never been to a barber shop before, as they have always struck me as really male-dominated venues. According to " The Art of Manliness ", the barber shop is "... a great activity to do with your father or son. Men need traditions that can help bond them together. Visiting the barbershop with your father or son is a great tradition to begin in your family. Many men have been going to the same barber all their life and have introduced their sons to the same chair and the same barber. What a great way to bond with the men in your life!" Uh. I remember going to our neighborhood barber shop with my brother and dad back when I was just a little "girl". But as I got older, the barber shop felt less and less welcoming. The thing is, when did barber shops become so "man-only"? Barbers of former times cut hair and shave...

Well, it hasn't been 1 year yet - technically. It will be 1 year on December 11th. Close enough! Onwards. 1 Year on Testosterone Cypionate, 100mg every 2 weeks (Click on images for larger so-detailed-it-hurts versions)

Last Saturday  Athens Boys Choir - a trans spoken word artist named Harvey Katz - performed in Salt Lake City at an independent cafe located in a low-income area of the city. I grew up in that area and hadn't been there for quite some after I moved out. I was very pleasantly surprised by how vegan-friendly and cozy this Mestizo Cafe is. I'm a fan. It also helped that the place was packed with gender variance and transtastic'ness galore. Harvey Katz was excellent. He did his spoken word thang, then his singing song let's dance thang. During the spoken word portion I was caught off guard slightly by the audience finger snapping during certain parts or bursting out with "Mmmms!". It was distracting, but apparently a thing that happens at spoken word events. I know, because I did a quick Google search on it after the event. And I found that I'm not alone. After one person asked on a forum why people snap during poetry sessions, members responded: ...

And so begins the process of manscaping. What all started out as fun and games has now become a rampant mess of body hair whose length and thickness seem to know no bounds. My leg hair, for example, grows so long that it literally starts to curl at the tips, even down by my ankles. Some hairs are longer than others. I could go on with more details, but I'll spare you. Long story short, today I cracked and went out to purchase my first ever manscaping tool kit. I had no idea what I was looking for, exactly, but landed myself in an aisle packed full of various "Body & Back Groomer" products, which were somewhat larger and distinct from facial hair grooming kits. After comparing options and prices, I ultimately decided on the Remington Extendable Body & Back Groomer - extendable for those "hard to reach" places like the butt or upper back. Lovely. I haven't tried it out yet. I'm sure that I'll probably make an embarrassing patchy mess of ...

Gadz, this old 15-year-old fuzzy bastard is the best for recovering from Pride wreckage. This is Evilbunny's second appearance in my blog. When I first mentioned him , I relayed that " Evilbunny ... has been my best little feline friend and a highly addictive inner cuddle spoon since I was 12 years old. ", which, keep in mind, is when I named him. And, " That little guy has been the sweetest friend who's been there for me throughout my entire teenage and adult life - through thick and thin, chalk full of lots of unconditional lovins. He could care less if I'm gay or straight or trans or cisgender or employed or unemployed... " He's seen me through two puberties thus far! Today, in particular, as I've piloted my body around in slow motion and sluggishly attempted to clean my apartment, he has lured me in to oodles of stomach churning cuddles: Gross. On a riveting note, when I got around to showering earlier today I noticed that I am, indeed, growi...