This is your body,
Your greatest gift,
Pregnant with wisdom you do not hear,
Grief you thought was forgotten,
And joy you have never known.
You are currently browsing the monthly archive for February 2006.
This is your body,
When rushed for time before work do not…
- Mistakenly grab and then apply your pink lip gloss as beard cover (ahhh it sticks like glue!)
- Epilate both legs and then both arms thinking "hey this will take only 5 minutes"
- Try at that moment to figure out how to style your hair – just use the wig
- Decide that rosy red cheeks can be corrected two seconds after having PUSHED the blush into the pours of your face with the same force as you would pound a 10-penny nail into a 2×4
- Choose to feed two hungry cats who decide at that exact second, when your ready to start working, that they are your bestest of buddies and snuggle oh so close and SHED white fur all over your new black blouse
There is an interesting artilce on Transgenderism (gender dysphoria) in the Lahey Clinic Fall 2005 Journal. The clinic actually features this article, and you can read it at this link here. I was referred to it from doing some reading at Andrea Jame’s outstanding TS Roadmap.
The article does a good job of outlining the potential sources for our being transgendered as well as the ethical issues in intervening in children who are diagnosed with gender dysphoria. There are other good insights in the article as well, such as the authors opinion that psychological issues (such as depression, fairly common in the trans-community) are really a result of not dealing constructively with a person’s gender dysphoria.
Click here for this excellent article, from this well respected medical institution in New England
4-2-2008 Update
There is a nice Q&A Interview on the author of this Lahey Clinic article, Dr. Norm Spack. It was done in Boston.Com. You can reach the Boston.com Article by clicking here. You can read our coverage at Beck’s Cafe on this Boston.com article by clicking into Beck’s Cafe at this link here.
I have no idea how this happened but Jay Sennett’s blog appears to be the victim of web hijackers. It’s a pity, he had (has?) a very insightful blog, and some funny cartoons as well. I hope he is able to reclaim his place in the blogosphere somehow. I had to remove his name from the links list only because, it wasn’t him anymore it was linking too.
Who do you call in this kind of situation? Yet another way to mess with people in the cyberworld – yeeesh!
*update* Please read Lisa’s comment, it appears this may not be such a big mystery afterall.
*Yet another update* Mystery Solved!! Thanks to Lisa for rescuing Jay 
see comments for the gory details.
(cartoon courtesy of GoopyMart, used under license from Creative Commons)
A friend of mine has breast cancer. She’s taking it well actually. She figures that she’ll just go in, have the mastectomy and be done with it. I envy her courage though I’m sure her outside calm must in the middle of the night give way to worry and fear. Each year more than 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer and of those 40,000 will die according to the American Cancer Society. Doing some simply bath in my brunette head, that comes out to be a 25% mortality rate. The good news is, 97% of women survive breast cancer when it is discovered early.
The ACS recommends a Breast Cancer Self Exam (BSE) monthly and WebMD has insructions you can read at this link here. The Koman Foundation has an outstanding BSE Tool. There are some additional options also for the BSE and for clinical exams that may be worth taking a look at that are reported to make these exams easier:
Mark for Life T-Shirt
This t-shirt shows wearers exactly how to do a BSE; simply follow the arrows. T-shirts are based on bra size and come with instructions and a washproof pen to record suspicious bumps or changes. You can check them out at Mark for Life or ring them up at 877-512-5433.
FaRose and Fenomenole breast self-exam scented oils
This helps your fingers slide over your skin (or your partners ) for easy exams. You can check the FaRose oil out at ZenMomma, 877-804-4749 or the Fenomenole oil at Bath By Bettijo, 877-528-1584.
The Aware Breast Self-Exam Pad
This FDA approved pad has liquid sealed between two sheets of plastic and, when pressed to the breast, it actually reduces the resistance between the fingers doing the exam and the breast being examined to give a better feel for lumps or changes. You can see them at Aware BSE, 800-854-3002.
MammoPad by BioLucent, Inc (now owned by Hologic)
The FDA approved MammoPad takes some of the discomfort and pain out of a mammogram. Sitting between the breast and the mammography machine it reduces discomfort by half researchers claim. The pads aren’t available in stores, but you can check the MammoPad/Hologic web site or call 866-460-4141 to see which mammography centers use them.
(Source material for this article came from USA Weekend Magazine, p. 13, January 13-15 2006 edition, author Karen J. Bannan)
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Update for 10/26/09: ZenMomma’s site appears to be out of business; Mammopad now a part of Hologic; added links to instructions on how to do a breast cancer self-exam (BSE)
This workin’ girl has been traveling way too much lately, so much so I’ve not had time to do much writing. However, whilst sipping blazing hot, strong coffee this morning in the cafe I happened upon this article HERE, penned by Jory Des Jardins on her blog, Pause.
It’s well worth a read. I think the quote that sums it up best from her post is this:
Competence has become a commodity.The only way to differentiate yourself in the business world today is to insist on being yourself. Ironically, it takes some of us years to come full circle back to the place we were, before we tried to be someone else.
Interesting eh? I’ve noticed myself that as I come to grips more with who I am, with being transgendered, that I’m able to me more authentic. And, wonder of wonders, people respond to that positively (or are confused enough to just respond nicely, I’ not sure now that I think of it!). It’s an interesting side benefit that I’d not anticipated frankly. So as I don’t lead anyone astray here, I’m not out at work at this time. However, the current effect is an interesting personal experience. It sounds like all of us, whatever your walk in life, would benefit well from just being yourself. And if your a leader or serve in a leadership position (whether business, civic or religious) it sounds like the key for you to do even better is to be authentic. Read Jordy’s post and enjoy!
A friend of mine was the subject of a rumor that hurt her. She put up a very well done post that describes the bad effect rumors can have on people – it’s always a good idea to think twice before you spread that seemingly juicy bit of gossip you hear
You can read her post at her blog here: The Snake that Poisons Everyone
Over at C/net I read a very interesting article on finding the love of your life, virtually! That article is here I had to take a step back thinking what does this mean for us as people? It’s a very interesting story for sure, and yes it’s romantic too (after all, where else nowadays can you both slay an Orc AND get married to the elf you have the hots for but in a virtual world).
Virtual worlds have been around for a long time of course, MUDs, IRC worlds and virtual taverns, and today’s Web Based Chat have been around for a while. People do meet each other and fall head over heels in love (or at least imagine they are). But the communication piece that seems to always be missing in those "worlds" are the most important parts of interpersonal communication – the non-verbal kind: touch, facial expression, voice tone, hand movements, body lean. All of these and so many others convey so much to the context of good communication it’s hard to imagine having good communication without them. However, with the worlds the article mentions it appears some of that non-verbal communication (such as a person’s imagination, or how they might react to a given situation – albeit simulated) can be done.
Have a click over the article here to read for yourself.
If you live in the New York Metro area, you might want to consider being a part of the Transgender Project.
The project, funded by the NIH, is designed to:
describe the economic, social and personal, family and workplace experiences of male to female trans-persons, how these experiences change over the course of our lives, and the impact of these experiences on our mental and physical health.
This sounds like a worthwhile study that will produce some very valuable information on the transgendered community. If you live in the NY Metro area, go have a look, sounds like you could be a part of history if you do!
It’s Monday…I forgot my badge to get into work, I almost ran out of gas, I spilled a cup of coffee on my lap…time for a laugh break (enjoy it…I did)
(source: Monday Funnies Yahoo Group)
Three couples--one elderly, one middle-aged and one newlywed--wantedto join a church. The priest said, "We have special requirements fornew parishioners. You must abstain from having sex for two weeks." Thecouples all agreed and came back at the end of two weeks. The pastor went to the elderly couple and asked, "Were you able toabstain from sex for the two weeks?" The old man replied, "No problem at all, Father." "Congratulations! Welcome to the church!" said the priest. The priest went to the middle-aged couple and asked, "Well, were youable to abstain from sex for the two weeks?" The middle-aged man replied, "The first week was not too bad. Thesecond week I had to sleep on the couch for a couple of nights, but,yep, we made it." "Congratulations! Welcome to the church," said the priest. The priest then went to the newlywed couple and asked, "Well, were youable to abstain from sex for two weeks?" "No Pastor, we were not able to go without sex for the two weeks," theyoung man replied sadly. "What happened?" inquired the priest. "My wife was reaching for a can of corn on the top shelf and droppedit," said the young man. "When she bent over to pick it up, I wasovercome with lust and took advantage of her right there." "You understand, of course, this means you will not be welcome in ourchurch," stated the priest. "We know," said the young man. "We're not welcome at the supermarketanymore either."
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