I'm having trouble controlling my emotions at the moment. one minute I'm depressed, the next I'm angry, the next giggly - just like a teen girl. For someone like me who normally doesnt have a lot of filter between "feeling" and "doing", its at least a good exercise in using the one thing I have that a teen girl doesnt - a lifetime of experience to damper the extremes. Keep cheering me on, okay?

A message from Holly Hart:

Well, my body has betrayed me once again

It's not as serious as the cancer which seems to be as good as before.

But in the cancer surgery, they had to do a bit of rebuilding on my liver, and apparently it did not heal well.

I've developed an abscess and had to be d\admitted to the hospital to have a drain put in and to get several antibiotics that can only be give intravenously.

I cannot access BCTS on the hospital computers, but I do have email access.

A recently arrested chap in Thailand gives a whole new meaning to the term "Panty thief". How about a collection of 10,000 pairs of women's underwear?!
He's been convicted of breaking and entering but not theft, as (perhaps unsurprisingly) nobody's reported their undies disappearing...

http://www.weirdasianews.com/2012/02/14/thai-man-10000-pairs...

I started my diet today. I know many are probably wondering why I didn't start from my last blog. Simple answer: I didn't have a fridge or a stove until yesterday afternoon. I know the first three days of the diet will be the hardest as I break old patterns, Wendy's and Checkers will miss me. I am about moved in my new place so writing should commence in a day or two.

Well, it's kind of funny, but just now, when I feel like I've finally got my swing back again as a writer, life is stepping up and taking my time and energy.

Just got back from picking up my daughter, and something interesting happened. There is a boy who for the last while has called me "smiley" whenever he's seen me at the school, and somehow, he's now got other kids doing it too. (I blush like crazy when he does it, I have no idea why). Then the ball dropped. As I was leaving with Sam, I heard him ask, "Is that a woman's coat?" So I guess I'm not as stealth as I thought, and if a kid notices, I'm sure Sam's teacher has noticed too. Oh well, as long as nobody makes a fuss about it....

I have just re-read A Summer,s Odyssey by Jennifer Sue.It is a real feel good story with plots and sub plots to keep the readers attention.Give it a try you shouldnt be dissapointed.Thank you Jennifer Sue for keeping me enthralled for the last few evenings.

I'm hoping someone has contact information for Alyssa Davis, who wrote several stories that appeared on Crystal's Story Site and Fictionmania. I asked this question last year and the only response was crickets and tumbleweed ...

If anyone knows but doesn't want the info public, please PM me or have her contact me directly through BCTS.

Thanks!
Karin

Why am I smiling like a little girl? ^_^ There's nothing new about that, but I thought I'd share the reason.

I realised this morning... On one of my routes to work, I pass a house with a title. The title has "dyke" in it. ^_^
Despite my hardline MegaTomboyness, I am a Lipstick Lesbian at heart. The mere THOUGHT of being embraced by a "dyke" makes me feel all squishy inside. ^_^

Don't worry gentlemen, I am not 100% lesbian. It's just that "Lipstick Almost-Lesbian" can be a bit odd sounding at times.

I'm missing having a church to go to. I work Sundays, so that's just a no-go. There is one church near that has a Saturday evening service, but I've been reluctant to go because I cant seem to find out how they would feel about someone like me. I may just go, and if I'm welcomed, I will make it a weekly thing.

Breaking News on Google+ originally shared this post:

Washington becomes 7th US state to allow same-sex marriage, as Gov. Gregoire signs bill into law Olympia, Wash., USA

+KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reports that Gov. Chris Gregoire has signed Washington State's gay marriage bill into law. The measure takes effect June 7.

Not making a lot of progress on writing. Fighting a cold for the last week or so.

And I've had a few ideas that just won't fit.

Yesterday we had a pot-luck at the trans group I belong to, and what happened there opened my eyes a bit. See, there was a new person there, who had just started to come out, and was getting harassed for it at work. But it was her attitude that made an impact. She seemed to be resigned to abuse, and in fact acted like she deserved it. She called herself a "freak", and all I wanted to do was give her a big hug and tell her, "You are not a freak. You are precious, and beautiful."

That's when it really hit me.

How many times have I called myself names?

Sometimes the funnies can teach all of us something: http://www.slagoon.com/cgi-bin/sviewer.pl

:)

Hugs,
Erin

Well one problem solved. Leaving mall with new smart phone. The old one was dying and the battery was swelling in the center. So now I need to wait for next unemployment check to get antenna for computer. But. Will be writing till then and may move. Computer to modem and post thatway

Hi every body,
Just one little question about tags.
What does Contributed by author(s) mean ?
As I'm pretty sure that I contribute to any stories that I would post, and the same goes to all of the writer we got here.

I've decided to enter "Indestructible" in the February short story contest. We'll have to see how it does.

For those of you who don't know, in a previous male only life I was a world class wrestler (not that crap on television but Greco-Roman). In fact I won nationals in college twice (wasn't a Div I school so I don't know if you count that as an accomplishment but I do.) I also wrestled overseas in Central America representing our country. Internationally I am undefeated in Greco Roman Wrestling and hold a 12-1 in Freestyle (I lost to the bronze medalist of the 92 Olympics, he tore me apart).

I was thinking the other day about the band Klaatu. I grew up on their music, and I find I miss it even now. I'm not really sure why it spoke to me the way it did, but somehow, it reached me in a way that few other bands have ever managed. Its too bad they didnt have a bigger following, but maybe that was part of the appeal.

hee hee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=fvwp&v=MkXxLhvAiYE

I will need to see/read each hero's bio (so to speak) to determine whether or not he or she is overpowered, underpowered, or whatever, along with his or her back story and a name is possible. PM them to me, or email to cathy_ t_ 99 at yahoo dot com. Any questions at all, PM me, skype me.

Cathy

I'm thinking of starting a new universe which will deal with an alien superintelligence appearing to the people of earth with a doomsday prediction. To combat/stop this event, a team of heroes will be established by him. The powers/abilities he grants each member of the team will be limited to about half what Superman is capable of. This will be a co-operative series of tales and, by that I mean, we will meet regularly to discuss what the heroes do. each writer will have complete autonomy of their hero character, and will determine their actions etc.

I've started a new comic strip! :)

I found my glasses. Somehow,they had fallen behind my bed. So that's better. Last night, I was talking to a co-worker about where I am, and where I hope to be, and it occurred to me that once I have my name change, I'll be as done as I expect to be, since SRS is not a realistic goal. So in one way, I'll never be a full woman.

And that hurts.

Ah, well.

The picture here is one of the two outfits Charlie tries on in my upcoming instalment of the Adventures of Crossdressing Charlie. I hope you all like it :)

There are so many things that I do not get about the whole gay/lesbian thing, but I know it is a personal choice and should remain so.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/07/us-usa-gaymarriage...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNEkgWimQ6c&feature=fvwrel

Well, I managed to hit myself in the face last night at work. Not fun.

I made a critical girl mistake that any rational woman would scoff at me for: I refused to buy my actual dress size. Yes, I'm one of those types. Sure I could have got that red A line in a 16 (XL) and probably had room to spare, but no, I went for 12 (L). My ego will not allow me to be a 16. So on go the spanx and in I will wedge myself and hope that the industry is also playing to my ego by having a size 12 actually be a 16. I know, I know it's shallow. I should just be comfortable, and not worry about numbers but man... no! I will not kowtow to my overindulgence.

In some areas of my life I am unapologetically weird. Pantyhose make me feel claustrophobic, so I always wore gartered stockings, which I gave up on when I was Muslim, because with floor length skirts, who needs anything but cotton anklets? So, now that I have rejoined a wider community, I can wear skirts up to my knees, so in more formal situations, I need to wear stockings again.

An English family finds that a cancer cure for their daughter is more than just medicine in Oklahoma.

http://www.kfor.com/news/local/kfor-uk-family-comes-to-ok-fo... (please excuse the short ad at the start)

Be sure and watch the video also and have a few hankies ready!

So, yeah. Life happened, huh? My wife and I welcomed an adorable baby girl into the world and the days since have been just so full of joy. It's been hard to really think about the girl-side with so many things going on professionally and personally. I gotta tell you, when you're over 6 feet tall in your thirties and packing an extra 20 lbs, you really consider hanging up the skirt. Mine had been hung for well on 9 years and I was no longer the 155 lb waif I once was.

Well, last night, before I went to work, my mom let me know that my ex mentioned reading my letter when she dropped off Sam after having her for the day. Mom said that my ex's only comment was, "Well, he'll always be Todd to me." If that's the wost that comes out of this, its a pretty darn good result.

Then, I got to work, and my supervisor passed on a compliment from the day staff in the fashion department . He said they had said, "Can we keep her?" So that made me feel pretty good.

I know it has been mentioned at least once. But, here in California one of the supposed more foreword thinking areas of the USA. Unfortunately this is not true, and her parent may have affected her opinions of a person her has never seen in the flesh according to the sources I have read and the videos I have seen both in her favor and against the views he has taken. There is Girl Scout who is trying to under mine the organization of girl scouting.

Just got back from lunch with a friend from the local trans support group. It was really nice, especially when they said I'm more feminine than most of the other members, some of whom have already transitioned fully.

This is an election year. It is also a leap year. Tomorrow, the annual American football championship game will be played, and the teams competing in this year's Super Bowl are the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. Four years ago it was also a leap year, and an election year, and the Giants faced the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

I met a girl today who told me she started taking hormones when she was 10. She looks amazing an could pass as a supermodel.She's around 172cm maybe more. She dances and teaches dancing to kids. she's got a boyfriend- pity (for me)

I think I'm getting stronger, and I dont mean physical strength. One way I'm getting stronger is the ability to stop beating myself up over mistakes. For example, yesterday I started to regret getting my hair done. I realized it was not the best use of the money I had gotten for my bottles, that I had other things I should have done first. But rather than spend hours calling myself names, which would have been my response before, I simply filed the whole thing in a mental box called "stuff to learn from", and let it go.

Here's a lovely little ditty for the writers among us:

http://johnanealio.com/album/i-should-be-writing

Hey everyone...

I sort of have a personal question to ask.

As I mentioned in some story comments...

I'm beginning to suspect that EOF, Ang, Maggie, and a few other authors all got together and decided to hold a cliffhanger contest.

Now that we're all hanging off of half a dozen cliffs, has a winner been declared?

Does anyone know if cadets at the Naval Academy get summers off or a spring break? I'm doing a little research for my next story and i can't seem to find the answer :(
You can PM me or respond to this.

Thanks!
Cindi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo7o2LYATDc&feature=related

This is an interesting take on the meaning and origin of expressed gender. It looks like a good discussion starter, anyhow.