Here We Go Again

I've been a fan of the Law & Order franchise since the original series premiered on NBC in 1990. I didn't watch it for years, but I started catching reruns on TNT a few years ago, and I caught myself up. Then I got hooked on the spinoff shows, SVU and Criminal Intent. I actually like these shows more than the original (at least with the current crew). SVU has covered transgender stories in the past, and the depictions have been less than flattering. They're back on next week with an episode entitled "Transitions". From the NBC site:

When a man is severely beaten outside a bar, his transgender teen becomes the prime suspect.

Like I said, here we go again. I could be wrong. The writers might have educated themselves since the last time. One can only hope.

Belated Birthday Gift

My father came by this morning, as promised. I thought he was lending me his camera, but I think he gave it to me outright. It's an Olympus D-550. It's larger and clunkier than my A330, and it will take a while to get used to, but IT'S A CAMERA! I've been jonesing for days, unable to take pictures.

I got to talk to Dad for a little bit. I hadn't seen him since before Christmas. We didn't really say a lot, but that's always been the way. I asked if he wanted to wait for Nate (who was out donating plasma up the street), but he said no. He's mad at Nate over something I won't talk about here, and its driven a wedge in deep. In an ironic turn of events, I find myself the favored child now. I love my dad, but I love my brother too. I don't like being in the middle.

Not With a Bang

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I used to belong to Kappa Beta, the Charlotte, NC-based chapter of Tri-Ess. They were my first support group. They were not the first trans people I ever met, but they were my first taste of a larger community. I had some good times with them, and I learned a lot about myself in the process.

I left the group when I moved back to Virginia. I tried to stay in touch via email, but after a while, my communications seemed to be one-way only. The group maintains two email groups on Yahoo, one public and the other for members. I was dropped off the members' list when my membership expired last winter, but I stayed on the public group for a while, just to keep tabs on people. After about a year without hearing from anyone there, I dropped out of the group yesterday.

I suppose it was wishful thinking on my part to assume that someone would notice.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yes, it's my birthday. I don't normally make a big deal out of these things, but if I don't celebrate, who will? At first glance, I didn't think I had all that much to celebrate, but I thought about it some. I have my health, a job, a roof over my head, and good friends. I got two phone calls this morning, at work, to wish me a happy birthday. One was a former co-worker of mine.

The other was my dad. I've been bluesing a bit the last few days, because my beloved Fuji Finepix A330 is on the fritz. I've had it about four years. It's taken great photos, and worked above and beyond the call of any simple digital point-and-shoot camera. Anyway, a couple of days ago, it whited out on a couple of photos. I mean to say that I lined up two perfect photos, and got two white blobs. All subsequent photos have curved lines across the image, like something's come loose in the lens assembly. It's a four year-old machine, and I've been told that I can probably get something comparable for less than it would cost me to fix this one. Dad, in addition to wishing me a happy birthday, has offered me his. It's another Fuji of similar vintage. If he took as many photos as I do, I'd feel bad about taking it, but...

After I get off work this morning, I'm going to see if I can talk my brother into buying a little cake with what's left of the food stamps. Wish me luck.

Good Things

I went to the monthly NLTO meeting last month. I caught a ride over with a friend because Nate had the truck (He got a job!). This was my third meeting, and I actually knew or had at least met everyone there. There was some talk about last month's Lobby Day. I had wanted to go, but I had to work. Everyone said they felt like they'd made some progress, so that's a plus. LLLL presented a couple of videos, one by the Athens Boys Choir:





and another by a Youtube poster, riftgirlblog:



So that's how this embedding stuff works. Shiny!

We went around the room talking about ourselves and things that are going on in our lives. When my turn came, I got to gush a little about writing here, then I went off on a tangent talking about my brother. I thought I was getting off topic, but De pointed out that everything in my life is trans-related. I can't turn off being trans just because I'm not living femme 24/7.

We talked a little about this month's movie night. Julian commented that he'd like to see something about transmen that wasn't sad. When I came home last night, I did a little Googling. Most of the films about transmen are documentaries. Boys Don't Cry is mentioned a lot, but it's a retelling of a real event, and it ends on a sad note. I did find a number of films (mostly comedies) featuring a crossdressing woman as a major character/plot element, but in most of these, the character is a straight woman who ends up in a conventional hetero relationship by the end of the story. I would appreciate feedback on this subject from anyone who knows.

There was a clothing swap, but I didn't see anything I liked that would fit. If there's anything left of my tax refund after I pay the rent, I might treat myself to a few new pieces.

I Broke a Nail!

I know, it's petty to bitch about this, but they were good and long, and I was trying to nurture them along until next payday, when I could (hopefully) afford another professional manicure. I've worn my nails long ever since I learned that I could. I've had to truncate them from time to time, because of either work or leisure activities, but I prefer them a little long. This has often come at odds with my male identity, but I try to keep them neat, and well-polished.

It's been three weeks since my last manicure, and they were getting a little long, even for me. I started catching the edges on things. I finally broke one last night at work, snapped it all the way back to the fingertip. So I naturally had to trim the rest down, though I left them longer than that. Now I've got to polish them. I'm off this weekend, and NLTO's tomorrow, so I might take the plunge and use a real color. Maybe I'll even share a photo.

I've got more, but Countdown with Keith Olbermann is on.

Good News!

Just a quick blurb here. My brother got a job! It's only part-time, but he's working. Yay!