A question of direction

    We believe that our community has become not as happy a place as it could be.

    Some of the writers whose blogs we feature have been getting too personal in their animosity towards each other and in turn some of those writers have taken issue at a rather insulting level with us because their foes are also featured by us.

    We do not take sides and we act in no official capacity, we are a group of unpaid blogging enthusiasts who maintain what is simply an aggregator of blog feeds from all corners of our sphere. We do not write the content in the T-Central feed save for that from our own blogs, and except where we feature a piece in an article of our own we do not endorse any particular viewpoint.

    We thus are not amused that the schoolyard tiffs of those around us have spilled into our inboxes. We have our own battles to fight in our paths through this mess, and this is not helping.

    So what is to be done?

    T-Central is our show, collectively we run it. All four of us equally, we are not a hierarchy. And though we have our differences and argue on all sorts of issues, we are in agreement on one thing: we do not appreciate it when one of our number is singled out for personal attack.

    Since this site is ours with which to do as we wish, we could simply get busy with the big shiny red button and delete the feed of any writer who incurs our displeasure. But that doesn't feel right. We've removed people from our listings before, and learned that to be a rocky road indeed as we descend into a nightmarish spiral of if-you-banned-her-why-don't-you-ban-her accusation and spite.

    We also feel uncomfortable at removing writers from our list because even those who have given us the most grief have shown themselves capable of writing the kind of top-quality content we wish we saw more often.

    So we've agreed upon an alternative. We're going to ask our readers to decide our editorial direction through a poll.

    We're going to give you two choices.

    The first is the red button, vote for that one to give us carte blanche to remove anyone we see fit from the listing.

    The second is our preferred option, to establish a separate section for troublesome writers way down at the bottom of the page below all the other blogs. A sin bin, if you will. If a writer violates our inclusion criteria they will find themselves in that section. If they continue to do so they will find themselves removed entirely from our listings, however if it proves to be a temporary infraction they will find themselves back in the main listings.

    If you are a regular reader of this site, please take a moment to vote. We appreciate your input and we will abide by the choice of our readers. Please vote only once, the software we are using detects multiple votes from the same IP address and invalidates them.

Announcing the @TCentralBlogs Twitter feed

    You will all be pleased to hear that we now have another channel through which to deliver top quality posts from our community's bloggers, we've created a Twitter feed.
    This is an "Editor's pick" rather than simply a replication of the main T-Central blog list, so you will see us Tweeting quality posts that catch our eye for whatever reason.
    They may be on serious topics, deeply personal ones, the purely frivolous, or simply those that make us laugh. Some days you may see several Tweets, on others hardly anything.
    In addition we will use the Twitter feed to announce new blogs featured on T-Central, as well as new T-Central posts.
    So if you are a Twitter user please consider following us by clicking on the button below, and retweeting us to all your friends. Because the bloggers we feature deserve as wide an audience as possible.

Goodbye and Hello.

This is the goodbye part.

I've grown accustomed to writing blog posts after midnight.  I don't know, perhaps it's a pattern I developed during transition when I couldn't sleep and stayed up for hours upon hours trying to figure out how to get through the transition tube.  When you're inside the middle of the tube, you're surrounded by a cold and hollow darkness, and you're not sure if you can see the light at the end of it.

But thankfully for me, I made it out to the other side alive and in one piece.  Looking back I'm not so sure it was all a perfect plan or massive luck.   What I am most certain is that I relied heavily upon the many friends who at times offered a hand in the day or an ear to the phone so late at night it became morning time for coffee at a Denny's somewhere in Alhambra, California.   There's nothing like establishing a connection with those who know exactly what you're going through, even if turns out they live fifteen hundred miles away.

The time has come for me to step aside from T-Central.  As many of you know I am longer posting to my old LorisRevival blog and my "life at the next level" is keeping me busy enough where I simply don't have as much time or energy to maintain what started off as a second page to my original blog.  It was  a page designed just to highlight all the blogs I followed and the friends I made for easy reference.   Over time T-Central grew in both blogs listed and in followers that it's taken a life of its own.   Because it continues to provide a service to many, from the trans person just beginning to consider transition, to the parent raising a transgender child, and even to the significant other of a trans person who's looking to read from the perspective of other trans people to help them chart the next course with, or without, the person they first fell in love with.

That being said, in addition to the current moderators/administrators who are listed, I have named my good friend Calie of Calie's Chronicles as the main moderator and caretaker/owner of T-Central.   I'm certain that the site will continue as is, free of ads and updated with new bloggers as they too come on the scene wherever they might be on the T-spectrum.   I will continue to read and post comments when I'm able to find the time to read blogs, but I will no longer have any control or admin privileges over T-Central.   I'm thankful that there are those willing to carry the torch and continue to maintain it as a service to others.  

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be of some use, and thank you to all of you who continue to share your story.   I believe every one of us has a unique, inspiring story to tell.   I'm grateful for all the extraordinary people I've met and look forward to peeking in from time to time to see more bloggers share in this amazing journey.  

Calie, (and Veronique, Renee, and Christianne), it's all yours.

Countdown.

As you all know, I've tried to make T-Central as user-friendly as possible while enabling people to grow their connections of "Followers" for the sole reason that being T can often be quite lonely out there.   Having the ability to reach out to someone who knows what you're going through is a damned positive thing, and I'm glad this little personal blog roll has been a help.

Soon there will be a minor change under the hood of this site.  It's not going away, at least not quite yet.  No, I refuse to make it a profitable venture by slapping %$#^& ads all over the place.  And there aren't plans to change the look and feel of the site.   

Stay tuned.  And make sure you keep on commenting on those obscure, hardly-read blogs.  And if you're not one of those prolific bloggers, take the time to build an audience by commenting on other's blogs.  You can't expect people to follow you if you only hang out on your own page.

Question on Improving T-Central

I've received some mixed responses about access and the loading speed of T-Central.  I am on a broadband connection and generally use a speedy MacBookPro viewing in Firefox or Safari, and I rarely have any delays in page loads.  Sure, there are a couple of "Followers" gadgets and the extensive list of blogs takes some time to generate thumbnails for each site, but aren't you drawn into a particular page because of the title and thumbnail?  Would you rather have only titles to blogs and have a followers page moved to a separate page where people could go there separately? What other things could be done to make things better?

I'm not able to spend as much time and energy on reading t-blogs as I'd like, but I need some feedback on how to continue to make this a simple site that keeps the many different blogs and perspectives centralized for those desiring a central location for their frequent blog reading.

If you've ever benefited by our work to incorporate a massive blog list like this, please leave a comment on how we can make it a better and faster loading site for all.   If you're interested in being a contributor to the featured posts (the ones posted in this section of the page), please send me an email to lorisrevival at gmail dot com.   We're looking for either contributors to post original content or reviews of other blogs of special interest.  As always, this is a personal site and we have the right to refuse or publish the content submitted.

Thanks,
Lori D.

T-Central Viewed Through Google Analytics

I wanted to provide a brief update to show the steady growth of T-Central since I first created this blogroll as a type of second page to my main blog.  The site continues to be used by many of you who are interested in reading trans related blogs but prefer the site to using RSS feed readers ( I also use Google Reader to keep up with all my favorite feeds).



As you can see by the image above, T-Central receives on average anywhere between 150 to 200 unique visits a day, and it continues to trend upwards with more readers returning to use the site as a link to visit other blogs.  

If you know of new sites you'd like for us consider including here, please use the form at the "T-Central Comments and Questions Page."  If you don't like the broad range of topics here, feel free to create your own blogroll page similar to this one that suits your needs.  Otherwise, keep enjoying reading and sharing your comments with other fellow bloggers!

New Headlining Content Coming to T-Central?

I wanted to submit an idea to the readers of the continually growing T-Central site.   Recently I've been thinking how we can keep content fresh and relevant in this top section in addition to the all-too infrequent review of people's blogs.  What I'm considering is posting relevant T-related news or opinion and could call upon a few friends who also provide news feeds pertaining to trans-related issues to post or cross-post some of the big happenings of the day. 

It's just an early thought, but it could make coming back to T-Central a little more exciting.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. 

Fresh Blood

Sorry, the title isn't indicative of a new vampire flick coming to a screen near you. Rather, I wanted to introduce you to two awesome bloggers in their own right who will be posting their own blog reviews here on T-Central.

Veronique has been faithfully posting to Trans-Canada since mid-2007, and it's this blogger's opinion that the running message of hope and perseverance throughout her blog is a must read for any person beginning to or in the process of transitioning. Veronique is a representative of what can go right with transition.

Christianne Benedict of Scheherezade's Sister is a long time friend of mine whose own transition I've been following since the old "decrepit 360" blogs in days of yore. The only thing I enjoy more than reading her blog is talking to her on the phone, which we seem to do with a bit of regularity. Her other movie blog Krell Laboratories is amazingly extensive and provides some really great insight in current and classic film. You may be seeing posts in this space coming from them in the near future. Don't worry, and don't adjust your TG Set...

Oh, and these aren't the droids you're looking for. Move along. Move along.

From Lori Anne to LoriAnne's World

Okay, that's not a photo of my twin and me, but I bet it made you look!

I did, however, just finish reading about the "week of incomparable lows and stratospheric highs" that my friend of same name and similar life LoriAnne experienced. LoriAnne continues to write about life in transition, this time as she is about to step into the corporate world as her true self. Her writing style is another that I eagerly covet, her ability to accurately express the ranging emotions of the highs and lows in our transtion rollercoaster ride.

Follow along and give her your best wishes as she takes yet another major hurdle within the next two weeks! You can read her blog (HERE).

Blogs of the Day, Version 1.0

Beginning today, Renee and I will be giving brief reviews of recent blog postings from others that you may have missed. While it will certainly only scratch the surface, we hope to highlight interesting stories and life events here at the top of the T-Central page.

Over on Teresa's Treasures, today was the day she got her name changed...woo hoo! Go T.E.R.E.S.A! That's just a name FULL of "awesome sauce!" (as Jayna and Mila put it).

Kathryn of Kathryn's Journey met with HR and has a date set for her to go full time at work...stay tuned to hear how that goes. Results from coming out at work still vary from person to person. I have a feeling Kathryn will do just fine, after having followed her blog for a while. Go girl!

And Veronique over on TransCanada discusses what life is like to be happy. She also includes a video at the bottom. If you haven't followed her blog yet, you're missing a wonderful writer who shares her heart and soul.

Finally, Stephanie posts in her own blog about coming to terms with the big "Why," and decides that "I'm a happy girl, not an angry shadow. That's all that matters."

I like that reasoning. I like it a lot.

112 PERSONAL BLOGS...Sheez

112 personal blogs here. Whew! Lots to read. While I may not have enough time to comment on nearly as many as I'd like, I do read a LOT.
All because I'm still learning... a LOT.

Now get back to reading!

2009 ...and STILL growing!

I want to thank all of you who seem to be using T-Central as a jump point to newer trans and glb-related news and personal blogs. (Google Analytics says so!) I am personally using it more than the Google Reader, my current RSS feed reader, unless I read blogs via my mobile phone. We're still debating whether to break blogs down by subjects, but the main issue is where to put each one considering most topics overlap.

For now we'll keep two lists in addition to the new "What We Just Started Reading" list.

I'm glad we can help increase readership with personal bloggers as well as contribute to this interweaving of online friendships. Keep on blogging, and keep on reading and commenting!

Happy New Year!

72 Personal Blogs and Counting...

72 personal blogs added here so far in two weeks, most of them trans-related, all of them GLBT-related.

Wow, that's a lot of reading. I enjoy reading when I can, whether it's on my MacbookPro (it's true, once you go Mac, you never go back), or if it's using the Google Reader app on my Crackberry. There are a lot of great minds out there. Hope you like reading too.

Please feel free to contribute to their sites by commenting when you have something positive to say. I'm sure it's appreciated. Oh, and while you're at it, be sure to check out our own personal blogs: http://lorisrevival.blogspot.com and http://srknipe.blogspot.com. Go'on, git reading!

Welcome to T-Central

Love to read trans-related blogs and news sites? Tired of having to look for all the wonderful new people coming out who have started blogs so that you can find and be part of a like-minded community?

Well this won't be all inclusive no doubt, but this will be an extension of my main site a T Revival .

This will be in a way, page 2. Also known as:

T-Central.

Posts will refresh and display with the most recent blogs at the top.

Hope you like to read. Now get busy.