Catching up with the postman Thursday, Aug 6 2009 

comments and internet and posting Zelda Rose 8:12 PM

I haven’t written a lot lately. I had eye surgery two weeks ago, and it will be another week or two before I try applying makeup. The surgery was to remove a cataract; and yes I’m very young to be dealing with them. The plus is that now I have 20/20 vision; the minus is I have to wear reading glasses and use a magnifying mirror to apply eye makeup.

I have not been out in a while, and now I have to wait a bit longer. I really have been going through a bad self-image period, where I feel very…ugly. Eventually I’ll work it out.

I’ve got twenty followers now. Who knew?

The English Lesson has gotten more responses than anything else I’ve posted here. And a few other people have added their own irritations. I’m glad I am not the only one who feels that way…

I am glad that I copied my Yahoo 360 stuff before they killed the service off. It was a service that had promise, but Yahoo never had a clue. And now, Yahoo is not even a search engine anymore.

Oh, and what’s so great about Ping? I’ve used it, and I don’t see that it does much better than Google. The only thing I like so far is that its air travel search also uses Farecast’s price forecasting algorithm. If you’ve never used it, it predicts air fares over time and advises you to buy now or wait for a better price. But I prefer Kayak to search for prices.

And the weather has been blistering hot.

 

Comments, I haz them Wednesday, Apr 29 2009 

comments and passing Zelda Rose 2:05 PM

I got more comments on my last post than on anything I’ve written in a while. And I’ve got followers!

So, a few of those comments…

Caroline said:

We all wish we could just pass and good luck to all who can but nature is cruel and even a lottery win can’t fix some of us.

Then again have you had a good look at your fellow citizens? Nature has often also left them short of an ideal beauty and they also just have to get on with life too.

When I was a lil’ tranny, my Auntie Crystal said that we should never shun our sisters-even if they are homely. Because their needs and hopes are just as legitimate as ours. And maybe they never had someone help them out-like people helped me as I got started.

Tina Jensen wrote:

…I know I’ve never been a male as society defines it and I’ll never be a girl in that world either. Actually, being a Transgendered girl is something I’m very proud of. Passing can be good in that it doesn’t draw undue attention, but do any of us really pass…I mean really?? Maybe we are special people who someday will be accepted as everyone else is. Getting out and setting a positive example is what really counts.

Maybe we are special people-we certainly have a unique perspective on gender. We have experienced both male and female, and we can understand things that others never will. We should embrace this!

I’d prefer to be unnoticed than to be stared at. And to be treated like anyone else. As for being positive examples? I know that’s asking a lot, but if you can manage not to act stupid in public I’ll settle for that…

Renee wrote:

…I’m glad this particular notion – that passing isn’t the “be all, end all” of transition – is gaining steam in our community. It’s important that those who feel trapped by their circumstances, when they come looking for information, don’t feel doubly-isolated because they happen to have unfortunate genes. And the only way for that top happen is to talk about it every chance we get.

What the community needs is to stop trying to segregate and label everyone and accept that there are no simple answers, and not everyone is going to fit your ideal. Appearance is just part of it, but it’s something that we have managed to fixate on. Talking about this will help move us towards acceptance among ourselves and the general public.

Some of you wrote some great compliments, and I’ll just say thank you. And hope that you’ll continue to find something useful from my stuff…

 

Yes, I do read the comments… Sunday, May 13 2007 

comments , Zelda Rose 10:22 PM

Angie Demaskau posted a nice comment to my last entry:

I guess it comes as no surprise that I say, nah – not uncomfortable at all. I identify with the question you posed. Heck, I am sure most like us have pondered which of those labels best describes us. For some it may be easy and straight forward, but I am sure there are many who identify with aspects of two or more of those definitions. making the decision about which is more applicable can be the defining moment. This experience is such an individual thing, and for me, I don’t try and use labels as a defining thing. If someone says to me “I am a …..”, then it helps me understand where they see themselves, helping me identify with them in one way or another. Ultimately though, it is the quality of the person – their attributes, personality and values that truly defines who they are and whether they are someone I would like to know.

She makes a couple of very important points here. First, that the labels people use for themselves often define themselves to others. Which is why you need to chose labels carefully.

Second, that it is the quality of a person which matters. I know someone who, the first time I saw them, was dressed in the most provocative outfit you could imagine. She got looks and whispers behind her back, and even I thought she was being a bit tacky. When I ran into her later that night, sitting on a patio, I talked to her and found out she was a very intelligent, very interesting person.

Sometimes, you need to put away your preconceptions and accept the real person there.