Burning Bridges

 

Louise has a friend who hosts a dinner party every New Year's Eve and, year after year, there's always 8 sitting around the table; four men and four women.  This year will be minus one woman, which upsets the balance.  

Louise is going to end a year filled with stress and uncertainty by burning one more bridge...and balancing the men/women ratio at the dinner party as a result.

If I've piqued your interest, you'll want to read Burning Bridges and you will probably want to bookmark Louise's blog, Louisemostly, because we're all going to want to see how the dinner party went.

Oh, and I don't suppose they'll be playing bridge at the table?  Perhaps Louise will let us know.

Happy New Year to all!

Happy Holidays!

In advance of writing a short Happy Holidays note, I took a look at just where our T-Central readers reside.  As it turns out, those of you who come to T-Central to find your favorite blog live in all parts of the world.  Not only are there thousands and thousands of you who live in Europe and North America, but there are hundreds who reside in the Middle East, and thousands who reside in Asia and South America and parts of Africa.  There is hardly a country or populated island on our beautiful planet that does not have one of "us" who routinely visits T-Central and, for that, we thank you so much.

While the vast majority of our readers out there are celebrating the Christmas holiday this weekend, we do want to recognize all of the December holidays.

Christmas, on the 25th.

The eight day celebration of Hanukkah.

The seven days of Kwanzaa.

All of the above revolve around the Winter Solstice which, for some, is a holiday in itself.

So, with this in mind, the three of us at T-Central - Halle in Canada, Jenny in England, and myself in the United States - want to wish each and every one of you Happy Holidays, and may the upcoming new year bring peace and happiness to you and your loved ones.

I do want to note that the lovely graphic at the top of this page came from the website of the Northwest Arkansas Center For Equality.

A Little Gentle (I Mean Genital) Holiday Humor

    Tired of Christmas music? All those saccharine-sweet canned carols getting you down?

    Matt Kailey has the answer over on his blog, a carol tinged with deliciously dark transsexual humour. Go on - read it here.

To the Reluctant Parent

It is just so important to me to see parents in this day and age recognize a perceived gender issue prior to the point where their child reaches puberty and to deal with it accordingly.  

Spunky Bookworm is a parent who has done just that for her son.  It took a lot of strength and understanding on her part.  I just love this post, and I hope you do too.   

Perhaps we can see a spouse someday author a similar post.

The Weight of Waiting

Transsexualism Congenital Disorder.  That's a very clinical name for a blog, but one well worth the read.  A friend suggested that I feature it.  I had not previously seen the blog.

Sagebrush (that's the only name we know her by) has a blog devoted to the transsexual who transitions later in life.  

She only has a few posts up at this point, but what I read really hit home with me.  They're not emotional posts.  Her writing just tells it like it is.   Nevertheless, I had tears in my eyes when I read the post we're featuring here on T-Central and I'm not even sure I know why.

This blog is for the late or potential transitioner, and his or her family and friends.  No nonsense.  No fancy words.  No emotions.  It just tells the reader what the late transitioner has gone through in life since he or she first discovered their gender issues. 

The Weight of Waiting is the post we're featuring but, since the blog is brand new, and Sagebrush just has a few posts up, why not read it all now?  

Statistical Difference Between Men and Women

Jack Molay over at Crossdreamers has a reputation for saying what he thinks. Sample this for instance:

"Men can be as introvert, timid, submissive, emotional and hysterical as women, and women can -- if they are allowed to do so -- be aggressive, analytic, assertive, ambitious  and plain out cold blooded."

Check out two posts on his site, "On the statistical difference between men and women" for his original ideas and lively debate, and the more recent "Literature on sex and gender differences" for more of Jack's thoughts and research results too.

One?

Teagan has completed her transition and has just written what is, perhaps, her best post ever.  

It's also her final post; the end of the blogging road for a prolific writer who has been posting for about three years.

There's a lot in this post for virtually anyone who visits T-Central and it doesn't matter just what your journey is in life.  Teagan leaves us with a message, and it's a good one.

"One?"  is a must-read, in my humble opinion.  Go here to read it.

Now, Teagan, enjoy living the rest of your life and make up for all of that lost time!

Who The Hell Do You Think You Are!!

Joey's having a bad day, but he hasn't lost his sense of humor.  

I had to laugh at the fashion comments.

Read about it at Joey's Pad.

Letting Go

It's always nice to see the wife of someone who is trans sharing her thoughts with us.  Lucy refers to herself as, "An ordinary wife in an extraordinary marriage". 

In her post, Letting Go, we get to see just how difficult it is for the non-trans person in a relationship to understand what is going on in her spouse's world as well as in her own thoughts.  I'm sure she echos the thoughts of those somewhat rare non-trans spouses who are accepting or even just tolerant of their trans partner.  In this case, the problem for Lucy right now is total lack of control.  

In her words,  

Have you ever gone down to the ocean and try to stop the waves from coming in? No... .it's impossible. I'm not in charge of the waves. I live in earthquake country and I have no control or power over when the ground starts trembling below me and everything around me starts to shake. None.  Yet I can accept it and not try to control it.

My emotions after reading this post are mixed.  As someone who is married, part of me so feels for what she is going through while the other part of me is so happy that Lucy's life partner is so fortunate to have such a loving woman in her life. 

Please take a look at Lucy's blog, The Trans-Gentle Wife.

Four Tall Women

So many of us are tall, so why not celebrate it?

Jennifer Finney Boylan's Four Tall Women post does.  And, take a look at just who those four tall women are!

A Husband Would Have Been Useful

    When she is not showing us the paths and byways of her native Cornwall, Angie spends some of her time creating model railways.
    Female railway modelers, it seems, are so rare as to be unheard of. So what is a girl to do when she has her eye on a Southern Railway upper quadrant signal kit and the only place to buy one is a quiet model shop in a small English town?
    Read her solution here: A Husband Would Have Been Useful. Passing stories are rarely like this one!

No More Closets

It's rare that we feature one of Stana's posts.  I guess our girl is just a victim of her own success.  Femulate is a "mega-blog" in the T-World and we generally will feature posts from lessor known bloggers.

Nevertheless, Stana is a friend and this post deserves a shout-out from T-Central.

You've probably already read No More Closets but, if not, go here to find it on Femulate.

If you haven't read Stana's contribution to our Thoughts & Reflections series of guest posts, go here to check it out.