Seriously… I’ve been tweaking some things behind the scenes. I’m going to be a total tease and not tell you what has changed. If things break, I’ll fix them.
Locked down, secured, and hopefully compatible among all modern browsers, and with a decent mobile version to boot!
An original sketch I did for the incredibly talented (but not quite as visible over the internet as she was about a decade earlier) dj bridget, for her birthday this past Thursday.
The toughest part, other than going for a realistic interpretation of one of her photos, was choosing which photo out of hundreds to base the sketch off of.
I stumbled across her Flickr (It’s gone now ;_; ) in June of 2009, and, that was the “tipping point” that made me realize I was lying to myself by continuing to deny an important part of myself… That I am transgender, and twenty-seven years of hiding was essentially only a partial existence, and essentially “living death” for me.
I’ve come out to a few, I’m getting out in public, either with other girls, close friends, or on my own, and I’ve made quite a bit of progress in about 18 months.
But, if things didn’t happen, or I didn’t get curious back in the summer of 2009, I’d probably still be in hiding.
Who knows what my life would be like if I came to my senses a decade earlier.
This is only a small way I know of of saying “thanks” to someone who played a small, yet significant part in my ongoing rebirth. ^_^
… Actually, a lot, in fact, so much, that instead of making one big, long post that will probably take me about an hour or more to put together, I’m going to go with a series of little posts, updating and bring people up to speed on what my world’s been like since the end of June, 2011 through now.
Yes, this is blog post #100 – 100 is a special anniversary (and usually something ground-shaking, as in episode #100 of Criminal Minds)
The bad news is, I’m still out of work, and my COBRA benefits have been yanked out from under me three months early, thanks to my previous employer shutting down operations completely.
The good news is, I’m continuing to take small (though somewhat imperceptible) steps to get my life reorganized, and of course, express myself, even if only being a part-time girl, but I am getting out there, at home, at restaurants, the gas station, the mall, the grocery store, wherever I can, blending in, and just being a woman like any other, out in the world.
Stay tuned – I will fill you in, but I wanted to break this “writers’ block,” and just say what I need to say, before things backlog any further than they’ve become.
Yes, I’m alive, I’m somewhat happier than I’ve been in previous months, and I have a general idea of what I need to do — I just need to get out there and to it.
It’s all about staying alive, healthy, active, and focused.
(Oh, I have tales to tell about where I’ve been, and photos to post – Some of them have been posted on Flickr and Facebook, and elsewhere!)
Stay tuned, darlings! ^_^;
Yes, the site looks different – The short story is this: I tried upgrading the theme I used, and it broke. It broke so bad that the entire site wouldn’t display at all until I switched to a backup theme. (I proceed to reinstall a previous version, still 1-2 steps up from what I was using, and basically had to re-tweak everything – sidebar widgets, color, placement of elements, etc.)
I’m happy with how it looks now – I hope it doesn’t seem too busy, or harsh on your eyes. Let me know what you think. (Oh! Apparently I got reCaptcha integration to work, finally. Google Friend Connect is off for now.)
Enjoy! Expect more outings and adventures coming up within the next few days!
Well, not entirely. If you’re viewing this on a non-mobile web browser, you’ll see a nifty little addition to the lower left sidebar. I’ve added a QR Code (“Quick Response” code) that will forward the address of this web site to your smartphone, if it’s capable of reading these codes. (Flaunting my new mobile phone. I’ve been having fun with my nice new Samsung Captivate, which I’ve given a name – Cappy, or “Constance” – Ask me why I chose those names, you may be surprised. ^_^; )
Anyway, scan it with your smartphone’s camera, and it should work. You can get your own QR codes here at Kaywa’s site at http://qrcode.kaywa.com/.
Oh! Are you having issues with your Captivate not resolving anything over the wifi connection to your router, or at any public wifi area? Try powering down and rebooting the phone. (It works for me.) You also want to try setting up your Captivate so that the wifi doesn’t go to sleep when the screen does. (I did, and I’ll update this with my findings.)
Just press the lower left “menu” softkey, press “Settings”, then press “Wireless and network”, then press “Wi-Fi settings”. Press the “menu” softkey again, and then press “Advanced”. Press “Wi-Fi sleep policy” and then select “Never”.
Of course, if all else fails, just deal with the minute or two a reboot cycle takes up. And yes, if you’re curious, my Cappy was born on August 8. (The day after my birthday this year.) It unfortunately suffers from the “shutdown” issue some of us Captivate users are having. Mine seems to do well when the battery’s taken down to 85% charge, but I’m trying to isolate why it’s causing it. If things get really bad, I still have time to swap for a hopefully fixed model. (But I love my Cappy… Captivate is love. ^_^; ) – I hope you’re loving yours as much as I do!
Hugs and kisses,
— Julie Anne ^_^
I picked up a cold over the middle of last week. Funny how that happened, especially since I spent most of the past week, and the week before that, in the house, save for a few times out, like last weekend, and yesterday, and one day about a week and a half ago, but I apparently got lucky. You go, girl! 😛
So, I’m sniffling and sneezing, and I’m hoping to beat this, because I’ve got a few things coming up – Primarily, I’ve made the decision to attend my first public event where I’ll meet other folks like myself. I’ve bought a ticket, and booked a hotel room to spend an overnight stay up in Sacramento for River City Sparkle this year, put on by the River City Gems, a relatively new (three years running) transgender support group in the area. (About an hour and half from my hometown.) They have members from around the area, including the Central Valley (where I’m at), the Bay Area, the Sierra Nevada region, and neighboring states. (In fact, one of my new friends on PINKEssence, encouraged me to attend the event.)
A run through Phantasy Star Online Blue Burst, on a private server, just me and the rest of the “girls” (Well, out of the three of us, I’m the only one who dresses up like one – at least that I know of.)
I remarked how we’re all playing girl characters, and a few other things – I received the best compliment I could, even if it was somewhat in jest. A friend of me called me a “proper lady.”
That made me feel very happy. I’m working on it, God knows I am… ^_^;
Or maybe this is a tip of the hat to TrapGirlfriend.com ^_^;
I have a Facebook of my own, of course, as part of my strategy to be all over the place online as Julie Anne. ^_^;
Today, I’ve achieved a bit of happiness, or at least it’s reason to make me laugh with contentment. I’m winding up a discussion with a friend of mine from Australia, as she’s acquiring a MacBook Pro. Between herself, myself, and the others joining in on the thread, there’s a lot of computer talk, and of course, the perceived image of Mac users. (Hey, she’s getting it for her graphic design job!)
I’m taking it as a compliment from one of the folks, who stated, “…is it wrong that I’m a little turned on by all the XXs talking OSs and hardware?” ^_^;
Now, if only I can pass in person, as well as online. ^_^;
Just a few ideas seen elsewhere, and lovingly hacked into the customized theme I’m using.
If things go well, and I’m on the ball, and don’t link from Twitter or Facebook, or elsewhere to pages that don’t exist, or mysteriously disappear from here, you should rarely see it.
Of course, you could try this link that goes nowhere and does nothing, but it will most likely bring up the page, unless I actually post enough to make something go here.
I’ve just acquired a new “soft touch red” Asus Eee PC 1015PE netbook, or as I’m calling it, my “pink netbook”, or her formal name, “Karen-chan”. ^_^;
250 GB capacity, Wireless-N capability, loaded up with my time-tested assortment of security/antivirus/antispyware tools (And everything else configured by me, saving myself $50, though the Geek Squad folks were quite helpful with the six months support package.)
I have a webcam, so who knows? Maybe I’ll be able to post video and/or photo updates from where I’m at. (Well, maybe not if I’m talked into clubbing. ^_^;)
Music to quick-blog by: “Brown Eyes” by Lady GaGa – Good night, my darlings!