I transitioned when I was in college, nine years ago. At that time, as is traditional in the culture of my country, I still lived with my parents in a big, extended family. My father did not like my transition, to the point that when we argued he would lose his temper and kick or punch me. My mother defended me and asked me not to runaway, so I didn't, despite my depression and anger. I had to tone done the way I dressed, wear a jacket or sneak out and not let him see me.

But today, I'm fighting feeling like a failure, a fake, and generally f*ed up.

Sigh.

Not a lot of enthusiasm for this here at BC, so the consensus among our admins is also no. At least, not for BC. We have two other sites we are attempting to bring up within the next six months that reader tags might be just the thing.

However, this discussion gave us some parameters for this:

1. It would be opt-in for authors whether they allowed any of their stories to use user tags. Default, no user tags. And a switch where authors could turn off user tags for one or all of their stories.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15262680

Some Afghan girls live as boys for periods of time, disguised by their families. Some say living as a boy gives them strength and confidence, and a taste of the other side. Some find it confusing.

What do you all think of allowing readers to write tags to stories? This would be an opt-in for authors to allow or not and readers would have to spend buttons to be able to write tags, maybe. I'm just thinking out loud sort of but I found a neat module someone has already written. We'd also need a couple of three "tagerators" to keep the new tags coherent and appropriate. Perhaps authors could moderate tags on their own stories?

Hugs,
Erin

Beautiful Girl

Have a friend is a grace,
keep a friend, is a virtue
be your friend is an honor

From Birchbox Blog:

Stop Hair Before It Grows

There are times when I question this strange thing I am, because in all honesty, it doesnt seem to make a lot of sense to me. I mean, intersex people, that kinda makes sense, and you can get tests done and know you belong to that category. But me, my fem side is literally only in my head, and short of an autopsy when I die, there isnt any way to be 100 % sure I 'm not just crazy.,

Ah, well.

Thanks to the kidney stones and the two stents I have in, I am basically on bed rest and can do nothing but surf the net, watch movies, play LOTR online, read and write. So this means good things for you.

by Saturday, Sunday at the latest. I've had a computer failure of my MacBook which required taking it to the repair place for surgery. Apparently we experienced a power surge which attacked the inverter, which is in the hinge where it opens, and also burned out the LCD, which lights the screen.

Approximately 200 dollars or so later, I might have it back by Friday. I've been using my old desktop, which I fortunately never got around to taking down and storing away. ALL the relevant info I need to post the story is, of course, on the Mac.

I know, it's been a while since I blogged last... Honestly, my life's gotten pretty boring of late. It's the same story day after day, I go to work, eat, play some games, read some stuff on BCTS, occasionally try to write my stories that I'm really horrible about updating... And I'm getting absolutely no where with my transition goals. I'm not getting any closer to being able to afford health insurance (that covers transition), and my family and close associates still insist this is just some "phase" at best. At worst, they're like my mom and are refusing to believe it's happening at all.

South Bend, IN passes LGBT anti-discrimination legislation! Heck, I might even move back down there with the rest of the family! I'm really surprised in such a Catholic town!

http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/wsbt-south-bend-antidis...

Wren

It's almost the end of March and we've had a bit more expenses this month than usual, including me personally who has just spent close to $500 bucks on unexpected private expense (including $225 for plumbing repairs). So if you haven't joined the Hatbox yet, now would be a good time. There will be some new content for the Hatbox going up soon, too.

Sometimes it works out for the good . My Garage door took an electrical surge and not knowing who to call I called the original installer, they found a circuit board was fried and said it was under warranty a week later (TODAY)they came to install new parts and pulled a NEW motor from the box all for $20.00 labor charge and 65.00 service call WOO-HOO.That made my dayand the door now goes up & down without me pulling it.I just neede to share this with my BCTS friends ---HUGS RICHIE2

I've been thinking about what the counselor said to me about having some kind of mourning ritual for the things of my past. Obviously, I couldnt do all of them in one go, so the first thing I would need to do is try and separate them out so I can tackle them one at at time. With that in mind, I've created a little grief list, and here it is, in chronological order:

1: my father's death. How do I say goodbye to someone I knew more by their absence than their presence ?

At my counseling session today, my counselor suggested I find a way to process all the grief I went through as a kid by having some kind of mourning ritual. The death of my father, the loss of my innocence, the "burying" of my girl self, all need to be grieved over. I'm not sure what form this should take, but it sounds like a good idea.