Wow! I thought I'd check the news before turning in, and I found this on MSNBC. Two things are striking, the first being how much this parallels the story PB wrote in All Things Denied; and the second being the divide in generations. The kids are accepting while their parents are not. I think that bodes well for the future, things are (slowly) getting better.

I have just done a quick calculation and so far this story has had 26,152 hits over the thirteen episodes. I get the distinct impression that some of you like it.

Alright, I cannot take it anymore.

Sight II starts next week - providing I can drag myself away from the close of the Olympics and the Grand Prix

Sorry for leading you all up the garden path.

Can you stop beating me up now?

NB

I have written nothing this week and have no real excuse for not continuing Stevie's adventures.

I know I posted it too late, and for that I apologize. I originally intended a short fifteen hundred word complete, but like so much in my life that soon snowballed into something much more ambitious.

That being said, even with all its flaws I'm happy with my generically titled but I like to think creative story.

Hi folks.

I know this is a lame excuse, but I don't know whether I am going to be able to post this week as usual.

The thing is, I am drawn like a moth to the flame to the British cyclists in the Olympics--not to mention a fairly unbelievable run by Bolt and well, I just haven't had the time to get into the story.

Treated myself to a pedicure today. I was dressed in standard random male street clothes, sneakers, socks. Just picked a random nail salon, went in, asked about getting a pedicure, with polish, was greeted with a bit of a giggle, but directed to a pedicure station in the back of the shop. "Great," thought I, "at least I won't be on view from the street."

BBC's My Family sitcom has, I just recently discovered, an episode with a TS character/theme. In it, Ben, the leading male, has an old university friend coming to visit, who happens to be TS and has already transitioned, but not yet told him. This isn't the first LGBT-based episode for the program, and I was dreading watching the episode a bit, as the previous ones weren't entirely tasteful.

I was looking at the "My Stories" page and I noticed something odd. The latest chapter in the Stark series, Stark: The State of Grace, has less than a thousand hits overall. Compare that to every other chapter, with hit numbers between 2000 and 3000, and you have a bit of a mystery.

I've been writing and posting stories for over 8 years now. I started with FM, moved to Storysite and Sapphire's, then to here. I am proud and humble at the same time, to announce that, at Storysite, I have passed 225,000 hits on my stories. That's a lotta hits, folks, and I am psyched. Since there are no counters at FM, I have no clue how many have hit on my stories there.

'My Body Is Wrong' an article in today's Guardian, about transgendered children.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/aug/14/children.young...

I hope the link works.

Angharad.

From US Magazine: One of the 14 girls who will compete on the new season of America's Next Top Model — which returns to The CW on September 3 — is transgender.

"My cards were dealt differently," Isis, a 22-year-old former receptionist, tells Us Weekly exclusively in its new issue, on newsstands now.

Full story:

This is too hard for me to figure out, giggle, even if I did take my shoes off! :)

But somewhere on here, I was reading about the lady and the IRS and in the bottom of the article it said that the there are between 1600 and 2000 SRS operations performed in the US every year. There are probably 10 times that done by US citizens outside the US, but I doubt that they counted those.

Voting on the Summer Romance Contest is delayed because the fucking voting software does not work. The old software worked, poorly but it worked, the new stuff does not and the old software is not available now.

I've spent two-and-one-half hours on this and I've got bupkiss. I'm going to bed.

Hugs,
Erin

I have tried to access the Gaby Zone this week only to get an error message. I hope that it's back up tomorrow because Maddy Bell should be back from her vacation by then.

You know, I haven't been able to keep up with reading all the postings on BC for over two years. So Much Good Stuff. I want to say thanks to everyone who posts stories, makes comments, blogs or helps me out with tech knowhow, front page assistance or freelance editing.

It just keeps getting better.

Take care all of you, hugs,
Erin

Temporarily disabled, due to database problem. Hope to have them working tomorrow.

Hugs,
Erin

About 10 years ago, I saw parts of one of those "B" grade teen movies which used BB King's "The Thrill Is Gone" as sort of the theme. It was a teen adventure thing. I think perhaps she was an aspiring singer, band person but there was a lot of action and it seemed entertaining.

Hit counts on BC fascinate me.

Like others have pointed out before, a hit count of 3000 has become a kind of badge saying a story is doing well.

I'm having a spot of bother with OHOP - it's not that major really, but I think I'm more than a little bit in love with Stevie, and it's affecting how I treat her. I fear giving her too easy a ride, or making her too perfect.

Does this happen to everyone, or am I being singularly weird? :)

Downloaded a tool for keeping track of updates and upgrades to the software we use here. Looks like I've got two or three days work to do to get the current version up to date

Hey:

Look at this link. Maybe not so empty headed? Maybe she has a lot more brains than she lets on? And, once she found out that there are consequences to her actions...who knows?

http://cdn.funnyordie.com/videos/4178033806

Gwendolyn

I've just come back from a long weekend in my home village, and my best intentions of writing the next few parts of OHOP went by the board very early on. I'm not sure why I couldn't write in my mother's house - a little guilt perhaps for the mother character in the serial, or possibly just another case of me compartmentalising my life... I write in Hampshire, I don't in Wales.

Interesting story from a business news source that occasionally publishes human interest or sociological trend stories. It's about a new government regulation in Thailand to outlaw elective castration for those under 18. Gay rights campaigners support the new restrictions, while the medical establishment opposes it, citing the rights of transsexuals to be who they are.

Last month, I went back and took a look at the first few chapters I posted on this story... Needless to say, I was less than happy with what I read. (How did you all say such kind things about it?) (Why did I look? I was thinking of revising it as more of a mainstream story. (I don't know that it's worth the effort though.)

I talked with my dad this weekend. Probably for the last time. I just don't think that I can deal with him anymore. Everytime I call him, he hassles me wanting grandchildren. He does not care who I marry, or even if I get married, he just wants grandkids and he wants them soon. Several times after he gets done pestering me about that, he will try to make a joke while questioning my sexuality.

The New York Times...

God bless them! With any luck, this is the wedge that eventually breaks open the minds of the keepers of the rigid "Binary model" of gender.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/opinion/03boylan.html?_r=1...

Just finished Geoff's "Lola" series. This hilights nicely a blind spot of mine. I'd probably never have gone back to search for this story had it not been mentioned in one of the comments on something.

People, there is a lot of good stuff here if you are willing to root around in the wine cellar. Try it, you won't be disappointed. :)

Gwendolyn Brown

I don't know if this is appropriate for blogging here, but I'm going to anyway.

If you use Wendy's you really have to watch how they charge you for what you order.

For example, let's say you ask for a double, they will automatically enter a double with cheese, asking you if you want cheese. If you say No they will add No Cheese as an attribute, and you will be charged $4.29.

In a series of astonishing developments, it appears as if I am going to be the first T woman to renew her Electrical License in the State of Oregon. It all began when...

PW, the ad server for the left column ads, is having some service interruptions. I've temporarily suspended their ads so if you had an ad in the left col, it will probably be back up soon.

Hugs,
Erin

There are several editors that have helped me with my story about Kelly. They've all been very patient with me and when they saw the size of the story, I guess that I amazed them because I'd never attempted anything so long.

One question that is puzzling me here is why do i need to choose a author name when posting a blog or a story here under my account name? Its a minor issue really but one that got irritating here. I forget that field the other night when posting and when I had to go back and choose one, my wireless Ethernet failed me and it took an hour to get it back running.

I thiught I would post this here as we all could use a laugh now and then.

Melanie

ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: Thanks. I'm setting up an office in my den and I'm thinking about buying a computer.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: No, the name's Lou.
ABBOTT: Your computer?
COSTELLO: I don't own a computer. I want to buy one.
ABBOTT: Mac?

I have devised a fictitious UK company and would be grateful for help in making sure that the profile that I have written makes sense.

The UK magazine "New Scientist" has a report of an Austrian study that suggests a genetic contribution to FTM transexuality

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14424-transsexuality-g...

We just had an earthquake here, or near here. A few people called so I just want to post that I'm okay. :)

Actually, I was in a restaurant drinking coffee and talking to a friend in Florida when it hit. I told her all about it, she asked how bad was it and I went into a spiel I made up on the spot.

I said something like this:

Things have been going okay lately. I finally got a chance to talk with my sister without anyone around. we had a very nice chat. Before we talked, she emailed me. In the emial she called me Jessica. When I saw that, I was so happy that I started crying. We talked for almost an hour. This all started when I thought she had seen this site on my computer. Well, guess what? She did not see a thing.

I've been following a really good story about a Writer who gets duped into dressing as a woman for some award. I can't remember the title and notice it has not been around in a couple weeks. What?????

I like to keep an eye on my stories to see which ones are more popular. At present, that seems to be Totally Insane which at the time of counting, a few minutes ago, had a combined hit score of 17,500 for ten episodes. Looks like I'll have to keep it going a bit longer (or the death threats from a soon to be teenager, will start again!).

As the title says, Calling Toni Trepasso!!

The reason why is that several months ago, she started posting Becoming Antonia and Mean Girls 3026 and to date, neither story has been finished and I am left feeling the need for the finish of the stories. I know I may have said a couple of things in comments that were sort of out of line, it didn't mean that I didn't like the stories.

"Said Bookisms are boring," she snarled.

I think I might be at the breaking point.
I just spent the better part of the last two hours bawling my eyes out, and I hope to post this before the real breakdown starts.

According to UK MSN, there are several dangers about too much booze. This one should prove interesting if the link works.

http://style.uk.msn.com/wellbeing/mindbodysoul/gallery.aspx?...

Angharad 8)

I've slowly been switching from Wimpdoze to Linux (specifically, Ubuntu 8.04, Hardy Heron). The longer I use it, the more I realize I did *exactly* the right thing. This began slightly before I finally put feet to the realization (which I'd known for years, but was scared to leave my comfort zone) that I am a member of the working poor and applied to a near by university to finish (after a 21 year hiatus) my bachelor's degree. I'm returning to get a degree in Computer Engineering. I intend to use this route to get a *real* job.

I have a collection of 30 storys from reluctant press and mags inc to sell plus thirteen back issues of transformation magazine.here's a list 1)A season in New York and Winter Solstice by J.L. Mc Donough 2)The Embarrassment and Jack Norton by Sarah Thorpe 3)Growing up into Jenni by E.B.

A tip of the hat to Ceri for the blog about writer/editor relationships. That and some of the comments made me start to think about those self-important "head firmly embedded in their anus" individuals who inflict their presence on us through the media and make us go apoplectic at the sight or sound of them or the words they write.

Has anyone else been following the spat between Times food critic Giles Coren and the paper's subeditors? Highly entertaining stuff, tho not for the faint hearted, as Mr Coren's opinion are rather pithy.

A good summation from the Guardian here - http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jul/25/pressandpublishi...