Maybe, just maybe, being transgendered will be our strength in the next life.  Perhaps, just perhaps, the bodies & characteristics we posses now will be transformed into what so many of so desperately want; to be female, or certainly to achieve a balance in who we are gender wise.  See this link at Amy Wellborn’s blog to spur your own thinking on  Link: Theology of the body

I just love the lyrics to their songs…especially:
I wanna be like YOU (from Jungle Book)
Totally fun, with Luis Prima doing the vocals – if you don’t dance you must be either deaf or have no rhythm – if you have kids and don’t dance with them your missing one of life’s true joys.

The Bare Necessitates (from Jungle Book)
Another awesome song. Reminder that sometimes all ya need in life is a totally laid back who gives a hoot attitude.

I’ll Make a Man out of You (from Mulan)
‘specially as Mulan is being a man in the army – her gender bending heroics to save her dad and her country

Friend like Me (from Aladdin)
I loved Robin Williams in this movie, I laughed till I peed my pants

It’s amazing how life works.  Tonight, I was having a "moment".  My moments generally come when I’m not doing anything.  Then, like a tidal wave of emotions, the reality of my GID crashes over me as an uninvited dilemma till I’m terribly sad, crying, or grabbing the LARGE bag of M&M’s.

Mask was nice to read…now where are my M&M’s.

Wife of 1st couple: “I think that’s our house isn’t it?” <in curious voice tone>

Husband of 1st couple: “Nope that’s not it” <in a very matter of fact kind of tone>

Wife of 1st couple: “I think it is, I really do” <earnest voice>

Husband of 1st couple: “No way, I’m a pilot and know my directions cold and where we are at. Look we are going to start
banking now to prepare for decent” <exerting his authority as the expert>

Wife of 2nd couple: “we must be near York”

Husband of 1st couple: “nope, there’s no way. I’m very certain of this” < stating himself as the expert>

Wife of 1st couple: “let her say what is on her mind, she might be right” <clearly perturbed at hubby for acting as the lone expert>

I found the exchange humorous but grating. Actually it started humorous then grew to grate on my nerves and it made me think. Sometimes, it’s just better to get along than to be right. Some people (both men and women) have a tendency to want to be the expert – to be right. It’s nice to be right. I used to like being right all the time – then I found out I was actually only right half the time, the other times people were just humoring me.

Did it really matter if we were over York, or Peel or Saskatchewan? If we were in the pilot seat, yeah it’d matter a ALOT! But we weren’t. So maybe it’s not such a big deal if we don’t get our way all the time, if maybe we just say “Hey maybe we are over York”. You might be wrong, but it might make things just a little nicer for the other person (unless of course it’s the pilot!)

CNN ran a spot on Anderson Cooper 360 tonight featuring Alison Fahey, Editor of Ad Week, and, Bishop TD Jakes. The topic was on a current trend of corporations sponsoring of Christian events. Alison’s had two points, but the one that stuck out for me was that the advertiser may be sponsoring a Christian event one day, then an event with completely divergent values & views the next. Bishop TD Jakes’s view was that this trend was okay, that they didn’t want to “discriminate” against advertisers and that the money of Christians appears to be worth advertising too.

The real question, at least in this woman’s mind, is, what impact does this have on the message of the event? Does the sponsorship compromise the message? Is the sponsorship even necessary at all? If the costs are covered, is it necessary at all? Surely, marketers can slice the demographic up any way they wish and target market via whatever vehicle that is most effective. But the sponsoring of a specific Christian event smacks of more than an group of smart marketers choosing a demographic then going after it. It smells like the Christians working in league with the marketers. It smells like the money changers being let into the temple. While that may be a stretch (the money changes after all were selling sacrifices – a far cry from what Coke is doing. See John 2:12-22 & this article, The Cleansing of the Temple) it just doesn’t feel right, sort of like saying “Coke” is the soda of all Christians or “Delta” is the airline for the Born Again set. Why would any energy be spent even considering this kind of activity? Perhaps instead of sponsoring a Christian Music festival, those same sponsors could step up their support of feeding the poor, showing mercy to the downcast, and building homes for the homeless (Micah 6:8) – those are true directives from God worth sponsoring.

This is an interesting tidbit. Of course, AMD has had an agreement
with IBM for manufacturing and process development R&D since at
least 2003 as this link says here: Link C/net IBM to help AMD on future chips

But what does this mean for the enterprise user? The average
consumer? The telecommunications company considering AMD?

(1) For the enterprise user, it means that AMD’s CPU’s will become
better than they are already. AMD’s team is small in comparison to
Intel’s or even IBM’s PowerPC team. But, it’s smart and has excellent
technology. About the only drawback to the Opteron design is that
memory advances have to be incorporated with the spin of the CPU,
since the DDR memory controller is integrated into the chip. With Sun
giving input (and IBM already doing so) Opteron will improve in the
areas that enterprise customer’s really care about (security,
encryption, high availability, faster and cheaper deployment,
flexible system deployment). This will be a big help to AMD (and to
Sun, since Sun is now using Opteron even more so in it’s server
line).

(2) For the average consumer it means
that they will have a better platform – and a lower
cost point. How so? With Sun’s influence, the chip will get better
than it already is, and, with a better chip comes more adoption by
the major players (though Intel’s market dollars and influence may
still rule the day). With more adoption by the major compute
companies (HP, IBM, etc.) that puts pressure on Intel to make their
excellent products better – and cheaper. And, there will be 32-bit
systems and single core 64-bit systems unloaded onto the market -
making for great deals for Christmas (please see my note on 32-bit vs
64-bit computing here at this link: 32 or 64?

(3) For the telecommunications company
considering AMD instead of Intel, it means that the AMD CPU will
likely be a better choice for telecommunications than before. Many
telecommunications companies run Solaris on SPARC today. With
Solaris being optimized for Opteron
(see info here on Solaris Optimization for Opteron) (and
with Sun’s input and help as noted) this will be an even better
choice for telecommunications companies going forward (and more cost
effective too).

Filled with heartache, joy and strife

We struggle to grasp this “blessing we have”

While all the while praying that it’s not from the hand of
God

We stray, we fall, our lives fade away –

The birth
of a butterfly we so hope one day

Many it’s said don’t make it it’s true –
harsh realities of life invade

Make a coup

We fall, get back up, and stumble around

Some choose the soft darkness and never awake to sing again

But is that extra expense and money really worth it? If you are on a
budget, it might be wise to think twice before you launch in though. By
and large, the operating systems for desktops are not 32-bit yet. Even
if they were, the chances you would actually use the capabilities are
highly unlikely at this point. Indeed, a good 32-bit computer with the
standard MS Windows XP Operating system, or an Apple MAC with Tiger or
even an Intel machine with Linux running on it with Open Office are
going to do the job for 90 of us out there.

They key thing is – what are you going to be doing with it? Don’t
get sucked into the hype of more memory, faster processors, better
storage – just think "what DO I do with this thing anyway?" If you are
like most people you probably do the following:

• Surf the web
• Read The Beck’s Cafe blog 
• Chat with Yahoo IM or at URNOTALONE or some other place
• upload/download photos to Yahoo (Flickr, MSN or some other place).
• Download MP3′s or iTunes and play them
• Play CD’s
• Edit photos
• Write in your journal (you do have a journal don’t you??)

For
the above, a high speed connection to the net is sufficient (cable or
DSL) and, a basic PC is just fine. AND, you’ll save money. Most of us
are on a budget, and the idea of getting what you need at low to
moderate cost is really the way to think (besides, that leaves more
money to spend on clothes, makeup, or to bless one of your sisters with
lunch ). What does a basic low cost PC look like today? Here’s some
suggestions"

• 1.5Ghz CPU or above (Intel or AMD)
• 512MB of memory (don’t go lower,  you’ll save money but be unhappy)
• an
  80GB hard disk (we like to store photos – burn them to a CD-ROM is a
  better idea and allows you to get a less expensive hard disk)
• Basic graphics card
• 15"
  LCD flat screen monitor (If you can 17" flat screen LCD go for it – to
  save $100 go with the old reliable CRT monitor, it’s much bigger, but
  they work great).
• KB, Mouse

  Should
you get a laptop or a desktop? If you are on a budget and don’t need to
travel around with your PC, get the desktop, you’ll save hundreds of
dollars.

What about software? Microsoft Office is great software – BUT – a
free alternative exists that is 100% MS Office compatible, that is Open
Office. This software is backed by Sun Microsystems and a large number
of independent developers. I use it to write parts of my blog actually, it’s that good! You can download it for free from Open Office.org

As 64-bit desktops start coming onto the market, the 32-bit systems
will drop in price and great bargains will abound. 64-bit computing is the wave of the future – but for most of us, we will not benefit from it in this go around.  Being a sharp eyed shopper will make it possible for you to get a new 32-bit system at a great price!

drop me a note if you find something you like and your not sure about

Educational Links:

• What is 64-bit computing? 
• What is 32-bit computing? 
• What is an operating system? 
• Why you may or may not need a 64-bit desktop from ZD Net

Curl up with a cup of coffee, click here for the essays, open your heart and enjoy  "Real Life Essays at Moxie"

I love people because they are what make up the world. It’s not so
much the html code that is the backbone of this blog nor the 0100101
that my typing is converted to and then moves along an Ethernet cable
to some servers that are then served up yummily to your browser when
you click on this link – no. It’s really all about people. Connecting
and interacting. Knowing and being known.

Groups of people can either be a gang, a rabble or…a community. A
community is (in the words of the Wikipedia): “an amalgamation of
living things that share an environment…What characterizes a
community is sharing and interaction in any number of ways.” There
have been some very cool things recently that mark our community, I’m
proud to say that these came from trans-women helping other
trans-women. I hate to “classify” us really. But given that we are
trying to change the view of society of trans-folk (for both the men
and the women) from societal
pariah to really just people, I thought these bore out some highlighting:

* Just recently a sister of ours is heading to get FFS (Facial Feminization Surgery). The word went out into our community that she needs support, encouragement and love as she goes through this very difficult operation. Many sisters responded to cheer her on!!! Image how it makes her feel

* A friend who transitioned is a Physician. She needed help in order to be able to continue on with being a Physician during a tough time. The word went out. Lots of sisters pitched in to make that a reality for her!

* I read on a Yahoo Group that a sister recommended a bunch of us getting together for lunch on a regular basis – why? Because (as she wrote) “There is more to relationship building than merely
clubbin’ it.”

* I’ve heard of so many other stories this past year of sisters in trouble who were aided by other sisters – not to mention just plain listening to each other and being a shoulder for each other. I’d love to hear stories of brothers too – I’m sure they are out there.

The point to all these is that they are proof we are not powerless, we
*can* help each other – in both large and small ways…(psst, even if
we are still in the closet to some degree ).

Some links on community worth a read:

• Community Development Society
• Organizing: People Power from the Grassroots
• What is Community? Mother Jones Magazine
• A General Theory of Community
• Random Acts of Love