Going beyond transition

  • Remembering TransPersons
  • About Linus
  • Pix by Linus

I iz famous!

Posted on March 12, 2010 by Linus Posted in Finances, LGBTQ, transgender, transition, Traveling/Work .

So I’ve had a busy week. I got my 2nd 15 minutes of fame in my life (my first was when my mom died and some friends did a wine and cheese to raise awareness about violence against women in Canada). This week CNN has been doing a few pieces on what it’s like to be transgendered/transsexual and they wanted members of the community to transmit messages to the world at large. Yesterday I got a ping from one of the editors who wanted more info about me (including phone number). As it turned out my iReport was used as the main iReport for the overall concept (see here: http://www.ireport.com/ir-topic-stories.jspa?topicId=417959). It’s rather flattering. I checked out Anderson Cooper’s interview with Chaz and some of the responses/comments to it. Most people seemed to be saying “Why? I don’t understand..”.

Possibly the only way I know how to answer that is with a question: Explain to me what it’s like to feel completely at home in your gender, where looking in the mirror you think to yourself “Yup. That’s me”.  It’s odd that this is something that has always been part of my life, like a dull migraine in the back of my head but one that I never really examined until I saw that perhaps there was a way to get rid of it. And when I understood that there was a variety of paths I could take, including on that might actually result in me seeing the “inner me”, it was time for a jump. I have not regretted any part of my transition thus far and I still have more to go, along with the challenges associated with them. One of the biggest is surgery. I so desperately want top surgery and I’d like to get it before going on my bike trip next year.

So to that end, I cashed in some stock that I got as a bonus (the government took it’s overly fair share) and the rest will go to wiping out nearly 60-70% of my debt in one fell swoop. I still have more shares left over and those I might use towards surgery itself if I cannot get it covered under health insurance. I’m waiting until I get to L.A. and there I will be aggressively aiming at losing weight. I’ve fluctuated at losing about 10 lbs but I need to shed more. I have to bring myself down by nearly another 90lbs. I’ve let the exercise go by the wayside because of a few life challenges but will be trying to incorporate those again. I’ll also be looking at pursuing a more raw vegan lifestyle.

K and I discussed the move the other night and we decided to sell or donate all larger items (except for the printer, bikes and humidors) or stuff we don’t need. Books and non-critical stuff we’ll send via USPS while critical or sensitive stuff we’ll send via UPS. This makes only Bobcat the issue when moving (she won’t like it but hopefully this will be the last plane trip for her). Once we’re in L.A. we get furniture there. I’ll be selling my Dell desktop and I’ll get a new personal desktop when I’m in L.A. (likely go Apple but not sure yet as to whether to get a Tower or a Mac Book Pro). The thing that I like is that it removes my attachment to things and allows me to purge the things I really don’t use/need. This should, theoretically, make life simplier. As I look around I realize there is a lot of clutter in my life and things I really don’t need. I’ve gotten better at asking myself “Do you really need that? Wait a night or two before buying it, if at all possible”.  Books, in particular, fall under this category. I LOVE to read and I LOVE to learn. Books, for me, have always been the avenue for this. Most of the books I tend to keep are technical books since I tend to use them as reference (I have a heard time reading on my laptop or other computer screen although I’m ok on my iPod — go figure).

Of course, tied in with this stress over the move (exact date TBD) is the stress over the work visa. And it appears I may be getting a new one. This new one should lead me to a green card and then, well… who knows. If we get just get the visa part settled, it would alleviate a lot. Add to that the wait for the new birth certificate. Now that I’ve settled all the uproar over what commissioner they wanted (a commission of oaths), I’m now waiting for the actual certificate to come through. Then I can move forward on a SIN and then — yay! — new passport with a new picture! Gender will still be F for now. Until I have surgery, I cannot get that changed. Once I do have the surgery, I get to go through this all over again…

Whoop.

Dee.

Doo.

2 Comments
« CNN iReport and A Message To..
Much closer to my financial goal… »

2 Responses

  1. Jaiden says
    March 12, 2010 at 6:07 pm

    Hey hows it going? I just came across your website, found it through google. Anyway, I have a website that I started and was wondering if I could add your site to my links list. Check it out if ya like! Also you can drop me a line at my e-mail luckyirish7@ymail.com
    Thanks for posting info! It’s hard to find. lol
    Jaiden

  2. Linus says
    March 13, 2010 at 6:47 am

    Cool and ya. By all means, add my site to the links. I was going through your site a bit last night. Very nicely laid out. 🙂

Leave a comment

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Pages

  • Pix by Linus
  • Remembering TransPersons
  • About Linus

Blogroll

  • Arwen's Website
  • Linus’ Flickr
  • Me in Claiming Masculinity Project

Other Stuff

  • Cigar Newbie

Queer Links

  • Butch Femme Planet
  • Joe. My. God.
  • Polymatchmaker
  • Queer Canada Blogs
  • Queers United

transgender

  • FTM Mentors
  • Just Another FTM Chronicle
  • Laura’s Playground
  • Les said, the Better
  • Questioning Transphobia
  • TransCanada
  • TransGriot
  • TransGuy Mapping Project

Recent Posts

  • Day 105: Whiskey Aging… DONE!
  • Aging Whiskey (day 7)
  • Aging Whiskey (day 0)
  • Small House Idea
  • Tiny steps still move us forward (long post)

Archives

  • April 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • July 2013
  • December 2012
  • July 2012
  • September 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • January 2011
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008

Pages

  • Remembering TransPersons
  • About Linus
  • Pix by Linus

Archives

  • April 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • July 2013
  • December 2012
  • July 2012
  • September 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • January 2011
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008

Categories

  • Buddhism (4)
  • CIGARS (9)
  • Daily life (61)
  • Dreams (1)
  • Finances (19)
  • fitness (18)
  • Gratitude (22)
  • hate crimes (19)
  • LGBTQ (38)
  • Life (104)
  • Novel writing (2)
  • photo blog (15)
  • Politics (25)
  • Polls (5)
  • recipes (7)
  • trans activism (25)
  • transgender (69)
  • transition (72)
  • Traveling/Work (53)
  • Twitters (9)
  • Uncategorized (108)
  • vegan stuff (16)

WordPress

  • Log in
  • WordPress

CyberChimps WordPress Themes

© Going beyond transition