For once I think I've beaten Angharad to highlight a Guardian article of interest here :)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/08/five-tra...

Robi

The artist, Tyler Hoare, plans to install them this weekend.

Not counting the time they were taken down as eyesores, he says they only last about 5 years maximum before the forces of nature destroy them. Some of his other creations have lasted as little as a day, because they were down at the waterline.

This may be the last time he can do it, though, as not only he is getting older, ( he's in his 70s), but there are only 3 posts left of the 20 or so that were there to mount his masterpieces on when he started.

For more, and pictures, go to:

Well, just got two big pieces of news. First, the federal government has passed a law extending anti-discrimination protection to trans people, meaning we no longer have to worry about things like losing a job or being denied housing because of who we are.

The second big announcement is one that effects me personally. The Alberta government has announced that they will once again cover SRS. This means that once I get my 2nd opinion in December, I will go on the list, and once they clear the backlog, I will be whole.

I actually cried with happiness when I heard this.

Spotted on Google+, shared by a prominent Googler (Kristoffer Sorensen):

The Danish Folketing has voted overwhelmingly in favour of a full ecclesiastical marriage service in the national Evangelical-Lutheran church for homosexual couples, to be instituted as a full, official marriage equal to that of heterosexual couples. After a lengthy and sometimes heated debate, which ran some three hours over its expected time, 85 members voted in favour of the law, 24 against and with two abstentions.

Source: Politiken.dk

Apparently, the reason the Folketing can rule in this way is that the Protestant Church in Denmark is a State Church.

There are some trans people who somehow never doubt who they are, and can easily withstand any pressure to be anybody else.

But not me, I get moments of doubt.

When I was young, this doubt came partially out of fear - the fear that I had to be insane to have this feeling of femininity coming out of a body that was anything but female. So trying to disbelieve the feelings came a form of protection against that fear.

There's an interesting comment piece in today's Indy. It mainly deals with gender roles in the workplace (so arguing from the WISE / MICE point of view¹), but could be applied more widely:

Instead of fighting for gender equality, let’s forget gender altogether

SF great Ray Bradbury has died. His was among the first SF stories I ever read.
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-ray-bradbury-20...
hugs
Grover

In the past, it seemed as if I could knock out 5000 words a day without any problem. In fact, 5000 words was my minimum goal a day when I was working on my novels and those words seem to come with no problem. Now it seems that 2000 words is about as much as I can take and 3000 words is a chore. I don't know if maybe it is what I am writing that is causing such a lack of production or if I have been over extending myself.

I wonder, how many words do most writers get to each day? Is it every day? Every other day? Once a week?

Well tomorrow, my three-week stress fest commences as the biggest exam I will ever sit starts with English. Therefore, I won’t be on Big Closet (or the internet at all) until the 21st of June when I will be free for the rest of the summer. I cannot wait! The relief will be incredible! Anyway the first story I will be posting when I return will be Harry Potter and the Curse of the Emerald Witch — Part VI, the final and concluding chapter of the fan fiction novel along with the regular posting of a new Crossdressing Charlie episode! So, um, yep! That’s it!

My Plans

Well, maybe a few folks in these parts are wondering whether I'll ever finish the final story in my Ragnarok Rising trilogy and the answer is: YES! Hunger Pangs, my entry in the DRU universe is completed, but I decided to post it as a serial as a sort of test run for possible future serials and I'm rather pleased with the results. In particular I really enjoyed the more speculative comments. It's interest for me to see where people think the story might be headed.

This link is to the blog of an acquaintance of mine, Mark Evanier, who writes the Groo comic book and the Garfield television show among many other things. Mark is a whiz at words and here he does a marvelous job of expressing part of what I mean when I say, give everyone the benefit of the doubt.

http://www.newsfromme.com/2012/06/03/the-olaf-story/

Hugs to all,
Erin

Well, I had a better day at work last night, and now I'm off for a couple, so I'm going to try and get a few things accomplished. But its not all rosy, as you can guess by the title of this entry, and that's because there are things in my head that kinda scare me, and I have a number of almost-mental-illness like conditions that are less than fun.

They include having some OCD-like traits -I'm not a neat freak, or a germ freak, but I have a number of "magic" little routines that seem to serve no purpose other than keep me calm. ...

I had a great day today, i went and visited one of my best friends, shes totally cool with me and treats me like nothing is different from me then her, though asks some awkward questions to learn which although awkward makes me very happy that she enjoys learning, about my transition.