As strange as it may sound, I'm rather hoping that the doctor who will do my 2nd opinion does more than just rubber-stamp me onto the SRS waiting list.

I hope he takes the time and effort to make sure of me, because sometimes I'm less than sure myself, and having a medical person confirm my status would help me deal with those anxieties.

But, only time will tell - 3 weeks and 4 days, to be exact.

Yeah! 20 years ago today, I was having GRS done by Dr. Stanley Biber at Mount San Rafael Hospital in Trinidad Colorado. This time of day, too.

Some of you here knew that I was a Muslim of the non-bomb making sect, until January of this year, and had adopted the first name of Khadijah in honor of Muhammad's first wife.

Some of the peepz here know this already. I have been having problems at work for a few years now. For one due to the fact that they don't want to admit that there's a problem.

So one of the last steps in this drama happened tuesday when I got called before the retirement commission. Due to the fact that there isn't a dossier against my direct supervisor I'll be retired in a maximum of 3 months (so before october and this only if the main office doesn't decide to retire my as of next month against advice of the commission).

I am reading a certain main stream Author's stories again after 25 or so years. He has one series of books about 12 books long and with my experiences in the intervening years, I am more sensitive in recognizing certain tendencies that seem to be common among TG genre folk.

The way he and his team of researchers have handled certain subjects in these books makes me suspect that a good many of our stories right here in BCTS could survive and perhaps do well in the main stream market, especially those with relatively mild and brief TG content.

Woot!! I did it. Finally after a little over three years I finally finished my Ranma fic. There is no excuse for that story for taking this long, but I think it was worth it. I loved Ranma for a long time and this really was very fun to give back to the fandom of something that helped me cope back when Ranma was about the only pseudo trans person I could find. So, to finish this story is a big deal for me. Now all I really have hanging over me is 300 Rains and that shouldn't be too tough to take care of... right?

I need to start collecting something or starting a hobby, but I don't know what so I was hoping for ideas.

I use to collect Christian Music CDs but with the internet and downloading, that has gone to the wayside. I wanted to collect awards for writing, but I haven't gotten one yet. But now that I have the house, it needs something with personality.

Anyone have an idea why several sites seem down? stardust, crystalhall, fictioneer, etc. I know crystalhall was working last night.

I went to the YMCA this morning, and I had a wonderful time. I got shown around, given a free pass for the day, and got info on how I might be able to get a membership at a discount or even free if I qualify based on my income. Then I used the pass and went into the pool and swam for an hour, just enjoying the ability to go out as a woman without any mistreatment.

So that was good, but now for some reason I'm really shaky. Dont know if its depression, or flashbacks, or what, but I'm really struggling to hold on to my happy

Ah, well.

Well, my daughter has her graduation ceremony for grade 6 on Thursday, and I'll be in drag for the day - wearing boy clothes, at the insistence of her mother. I had already promised to wear clothes that were gender-neutral, but that wasnt good enough for her. The other night while I helped her do her 2nd job she demanded I not be so selfish and put on male clothes so as to cause no disruption in either the ceremony itself or the small party that will be afterward for my daughter and my family.

To err is human, to really foul up requires a human with access to a computer!

For all my many wonderful fans!

Coff Koff! Ack fooey! Hard to get the taste of Bullshit outa my mouth...

I haven't forgotten Wild Magic 45, but I was inspired to write something different last week, and I just couldn't stop! I wrote a piece for EOF's Dark Realms Universe before it closed, and I'm just waiting for approval. I gotta tell you Eof, Maggie and Donjo made some incredibly helpful suggestions and ctiticisms. I think the story is much better (Even without the Laser-eyed Astro Dragon...). Just Kidding.

Hey everybody,

I've been thinking about writing a Star Trek TG story set in the STO timeline. Would anyone be interested in reading it?

Don't worry, I will finish Tell Me Your Secrets and Maiden of Magic first.

Drakira

Just got a call from the hospital, and my 2nd opinion has been moved up. Now it will be July 18, at 1 P.M.

One more major hurdle could be done a month from now!

(Does a little happy dance)

Yay!

Still not getting much writing done. But I am trying to get back into shape.

As part of this, I'm trying to put in more time on the bike.

...or, What does one do when one's muse hurts them?

When I write, I draw deeply on my life's events. With that as a wellspring, I then try to either create a cohesive story out what has happened to me, or embellish these events to create 'worlds' that didn't exist yet are things I wish would have happened. In Andy's Diary, the events are all true and little is embellished -- only as it said on Dragnet, names have been changed to protect .....

I was actually a bit worried, nothing was past due but things were getting tight. And knowing that everyone has their own expenses I wasn't sure anyone would be able to help out. But plenty of you cam through with donations and in two days, we reached goal for June and got a start on July.

Yay, us! :)

I'll be gone for a week in July but I'll have my laptop with me and Piper and my other helpers will be around to keep things on an even keel. Let's have a great summer!

Hugs to all,
Erin

I got a request to expand a concept for someone, and to do it publicly, so, here we go. It might end up a little long, but consider this to be a little bit of my personal view on what makes compelling conflict.

So, you've come up with the wonderful hero, Peter the Protagonist. He'll save the damsels, stand for the eradication of bigotry, and generally be a swell guy. Now you just need to throw a villain at him and everything will be set and you have yourself a story.

Well, apparently I cant hide it very well when I'm having a bad flashback.

I was at the pot-luck dinner for my trans support group, and started having real problems, when a couple of people made a point of asking me if I was okay.

Of course, I wasnt, but by keeping myself engaged in my surroundings through what I could feel, see, hear, and even smell, I was able to ride it out and get back to normal.

I got a very nice card from my son today, in addition to the nice ecard he picked out,

his personal note to me was:

Happy Father's Day to the best of the best! I hope Kristy has a wonderul day too.

Love, ...

According to my wife, FanFicWriter, he wrote it himself (with her assistance on spelling and grammer lol)

A very nice treat for today.

Here is wishing to all of you out there that are Father's, a very happy Father's Day to you as well.

Hugs,

Kristy

Brief synopses:

John is shot interfering with a carjacking. His wife, Krista and her two sisters give him some of their life force to save him. It worked and makes him female and genetically their sisters. The three original sisters are from a parallel universe. In one section they travel back to the other Earth.

Has anyone heard from her recently? We don't always see eye to eye on things, but I miss the pithy bloggs and comments. I hope she's okay and just busy.

It's June 16th and we're a bit in the hole. We didn't make the subscription goal for last moth and this month is half over. I know not everyone can do so, but if you can, please, send us a few bucks via the Hatbox Membership request box on the side bar. It really does take about $40 bucks a day to keep this place open.

Thanks and hugs,
Erin

Well, on Mother's day I talked a bit about how that day and Father's day can suck for people who dont fit the gender stereotype, but today, with Father's day being tomorrow, I wanted to talk a little about some of the challenges I have being one.

First, you have to understand that I was totally not prepared for parenthood, to but it mildly. This was not just because of my gender issues, or my overall mental health, both of which have played a part in my struggle to be a good parent, but because I had no role model in my own life to draw on in terms of what a good dad looked like.

Can someone explain who votes these idiots into government?

http://jezebel.com/5918493

Well, I had a super hard day at work in terms of trying to get stuff done, and I'm paying for it with a stiff neck, sore shoulders, and general tiredness. Added to that, I'm losing my up part of my bipolar cycle, which means I'm headed down, and fast ...

To make things totally yucky, after reading a story on here that had a forced sexual moment, I started flashing, and really havent stopped so much as have small breaks between flashes.

Ah, well.

This has to count as one of the most bizzare stories ever to come out of the world of sport:

A female Indian athlete who won a gold medal at the 2006 Asian Games appeared in court on Friday charged with raping her former lover who has alleged that she is actually a man. Pinki Pramanik was remanded in custody for 14 days to await trial on allegations that she repeatedly raped her female live-in partner.

Source: AFP (via Yahoo)

When I first started this universe, everything was going fine. There was the right balance of story and characters, enough to populate the town and keep it still mysterious. Now however, the town has been starting to get flooded with characters and all different kinds of stories, all of which that seem to be happening at once. So sadly there is going to be a new DRU rule from now: No More Stories in Ravencrest.

I hate to do this but there's really no other way. The town is just too crowded now and not everything can happen at the same time.

THAT AND MORE I’LL DO

I would cross mountains, rivers and valleys if I needed to find you
I would brave storms, cyclones, dragons no matter what
Just to be able to look into those beautiful eyes
And feel the glory of being at your side
Because I have always known that I need you,
That and more I’ll do.

If the cost of gaining that fresh smile from your soul is so high
If one glorious day I can get you here close by my side
Would it mean I must offer up the dearest thing I own?
Gladly would I pay that, whatever the cost

Heya peeps! Long time no hear, right?

Let's kick this thing off right, then.

How many here can tell me the difference between good writing and great writing?

Anybody?

A tough question, right? After all, there are so many ways to judge a particular work. Great characters, but crappy story line? A great story, but terrible dialogue? Mediocre everything, but nothing particularly wrong with any one part? What makes a work of writing good, and what makes one bad?

Bears Know Best

A New Novel by Tiffany Shar!

I'm pleased to announce that I will begin posting my new novel, 'Bears Know Best' tomorrow evening here on BC. I will be releasing it here as a serial work, or you may purchase the full edition on Lulu.com beginning tomorrow as well. This book is a standalone work outside of my Standing Up to Life Series. I hope you will all enjoy it!

I'm conflicted about what to do with my Quest story, now that we managed to make it available on Kindle. Part of me wants to encourage all of you to buy it, and use what has been posted as a teaser to hopefully help, but I have really enjoyed the feedback I've been getting on each chapter here, and would miss it if the rest of the story wasn't posted here.

Suggestions?

Formerly known as Tom Gabel, here's Laura Jane Grace of Against Me! in her first live performance since announcing her transition. (Previously blogged by Rami and others) I'm happy for her; she looks like she's having a great time! Good for her!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/29/against-me-transgen...

It appears as though the US Anti Doping Agency can't leave Lance Armstrong alone - they've written a fifteen page letter to him littered with yet more allegations dating as far back as 1996, claiming a "pervasive pattern of doping" over many years.

Unsurprisingly, Armstrong has hit back: "I have never doped ... These charges are baseless [and] motivated by spite ... These are the very same charges and the same witnesses that the Justice Department chose not to pursue after a two-year investigation."

I am a Desert Shield/Storm Veteran. During the war I was a Field Artillery Surveyor in the 1st Infantry Division. As such, I directly participated in the liberation of Kuwait from Iraq. This also means that I actually witnessed the results of what happened on the "Road of Death". This is the main road between Kuwait City and the Iraq border. Needless to say, the sights were not very pretty (I actually stepped on brain matter). For years now, I have been having difficulties so, I finally forced myself to go to the V.A. Medical Center in Bedford MA.

If anybody would like to do a story in the CENTER Universe please send me a PM. I am not creative enough for writing a full story, but I think my idea could be a interesting story with one of our talented authors working thier magic with thier creative minds
HUGS EVERYBODY -- RICHIE2

I LOVE THIS SITE

Maybe some of you are like me, a good song can change my mood, so I share with you this beautiful video that fills me with joy. Enjoy it you too. I was not privileged with a beautiful voice to sing, but likely I can dance like the small pet in the video. Isn’t it lovely ? Hugs.

http://youtu.be/oUMwu_gXK7Q

well my day started last night really. To get a better Idea though I'll give a bit of back history.

A friend has asked me to fix his car. It's a 1966 Chrysler, nice car but the old rubber needs replacing. Since there is very few people that can do the job correctly I get to do it.

In exchange for the work I am getting a 1991 Power Ram. Its a 4 x 4 that also needs some work. However in the meantime it is still his truck. So he uses it and while driving the exhaust breaks he keeps driving it breaks more and he runs over the exhaust pipe and breaks some stuff.

For the vast majority of my life, I've felt like a failure. No matter what I tried, I failed at it, or at least that's how I saw it. Then, having nothing left to lose, I went looking for help for my rape, and then for my gender issues.

And a funny thing has happened since. I've made amazing amounts of progress on both issues.

First, with the rape, I can now ground myself through a flashback, and my nightmares have gotten much better.

This is quite interesting:

http://biblethumpingliberal.com/2011/05/19/you-can%E2%80%99t...

I hadn't taken it to quite the extreme that the author did, but he is exactly right.

The article mentions the Old Testament prohibition of homosexuality, but it is equally applicable to what the OT says about cross dressing.

There are lots of other examples of rules that people universally consider to be Christian commandments, when what they really are is cultural norms masquerading as morality.

I overheard some men enjoying this rather rude joke at a party on Saturday, so as part of the language studies that my brother and I are doing, I translated it into my semi-bad Spanish:

Una vez Caperucita Roja estaba caminando por el bosque, para llevar una cesta de cosillas buenas a su abuela. Caminaba sola cuando un conejo se acercá³ a ella y le dijo: "Me temo para te, Roja. Hay un lobo en el bosque y él podrá­a intentar herir te."

Had a busy few weeks, mostly moving to another neighborhood. It was quite hectic, among other things. Didn't know if you guys missed me or not (I hope you did! ;_;) but I figured an explanation was in order.

In any event, I'll have another chapter of Ithycca done soon, then resume writing more of Scott Ryan's story in the Crossroads. I really haven't worked on that in awhile, and I'll most likely focus the next few weeks on that. Of course, it may not be released as fast as I normally do (which is fast!) but I'll be doing what I can while I unpack and get settled in.

Okay, as many of you know, this is the time of year when I start posting stuff about Whedonfest, the three day charity festival that celebrates the works of Joss Whedon and raises money for Equality Now and Kids Need to Read. If you are interested in coming to Whedonfest, which is being held near Nashville at a campground just outside of Scottsville KY, then please follow this link and check it out: Whedonitesunited.