Hi,
After last week’s bounty of good news and happy memories, I’ve been trying to keep an eye on things that are going well.
When Calie very kindly featured a post of mine on T Central, she made comment that things have been a little dark of late on YATGB… and she’d not be wrong. Mostly sunny, occasionally overcast. 😋
Writing here, well, I try to be honest as best I can. Most of the time, life bumbles along and that’s cool. There’s rare rumblings of the less than ideal, but they are thankfully outweighed by good things in life.
I think the crux of it is that – for the media at least – panic, doom, gloom, and conflict are what sell. I guess we still respond more quickly to the proverbial distant wolf howl, than we do the beauty of a forest or luck we have now.
I think it can be difficult to disengage with such material, especially when you feel it’s targeted at you and yours. I am, however, trying to avoid reading things that will push my buttons. Yeah, call it an echo chamber if you want, but I’m not sure doomscrolling through Hate Du Jour helps me, so f*** that noise 😋
What I’m trying to do, is not give this Living Your Best Life vibe because it’s not true. Don’t get me wrong, in that if you are: enjoy! For me, life is often quite quiet and I’m okay with that.
In an effort to bridge the gap between a famine & feast in terms of gender expression, I’ve trying to mix and match. I guess you could call that underdressing, but how does that work with shoes? 🤔 What I mean is, I can’t dress fully at home due to video calls, the Ever Lovely Mrs J coming home early, and needing to be available for school related stuff for Child 2.0. I should add, I’m not grumbling here, it’s just how life is at the mo.
Rather than feeling the I can’t… end of the story, I’ve tried to embrace the idea of But I could try… instead. So, with the temperature lowering to autumnal levels (bliss! ❤️) and wanting to keep the heating off, I’ve started wearing holdups under my jeans. They help keep me a little warmer and they help bridge the gap between the Richard/Lynn ends of that binary. Likewise, after a long hot summer of Birkies, I’ve time to wear my heels while I work or do chores. Is it perfect? No, but what is?, and in a choice between some good news and less, I’ll take the good thank you.
Next week it’s Chams and – if all goes to plan – TrendCo will be visiting with some new items. I’ve put a request in for ideas for a ‘new do’, so I’m looking forward to that. As autumn picks up, so does membership for the group and we’ve had nearly half a dozen folk get in touch or join the forum. The group are fully switched over to our new hosting and I’m hoping to apply for a support grant to help with that. There might be a chance of a morning out if in really lucky and to top it all off, The Good Law Project (along with other trans positive organisations) are currently in court. They’re pushing for the review of a certain ‘charity’ to not have that status. Fingers crossed for that and the light it shines on anti-trans activities.
L x
PS: There seems to be a fault with the plugin I’m using to collect blog updates. Specifically WordPress.com blogs, so my apologies for that. Hopefully it’ll clear up in time.
Given the amount of manure that has been flying around, I am not surprised that things have been dark and stormy
On the upside, we might have a mahoosive crop of rhubarb 😉
How much of the wearing holdups under you jeans comes from the feeling of having newly waxed legs?
Hopefully wearing heels for the chores doesn’t extend to taking the bins out.
Hauling the bins in heels? 😁 While we live in the sticks and a distance from the road, there’s the risk of the postie or passing dog walker. So no to that, but yes on putting the washing out.
A good question, Susie. Umm, I think it’s influenced by that, yes. In colder weather I’d wear leggings or opaques for warmth. With keeping the heating off, having an extra layer helps. The holdups keep my legs warm, but not hot. The only issue is they’re not great for longer walks.
Lovely pair of Mary Janes Lynn!
When I have the opportunity to be alone I wear heels around the house while doing chores. The heels make it a little restrictive in what I can do as I have to keep away from floors that are ‘impressionable’. The added elevation comes in handy when putting things away on high shelves in the kitchen.
No chance of leaving the house in heels not even to water the potted plants on the patio. There is not only the neighbours left and right but a 4 story building over the road at the bottom of the garden. No way of getting a bit of fresh air while dressed just too many possibilities of being seen on the off chance.
As to leg wear I’m just glad it’s cooled off and at long last made wearing my stockings bearable.
Thanks Abigail. I’ve had these yonks. I wonder if they’re coming up to their second decade yet? 🤔
As you say, sometimes extra care is required if you live somewhere overlooked. I guess I’m lucky in that regard.
Mostly sunny, occasionally overcast is okay Lynn and it’s much better than mostly overcast, with short periods of sunshine.
Glad your bridging that gap through underdressing, those little things all help. I must admit, I’ve never done underdressing apart from painting my toenails.
It’s probably a wise decision to switch off from anything that is going to get your back up. Best to walk away if it’s getting you down.
Good luck with the application for a funding grant for the hosting, I’ll keep my fingers crossed. Hopefully in the new year I may be able to get to a couple of Chams meetings myself.
After three… “Always look on the bright side of life…” 😉
I’m with you on avoiding things that annoy, frustrate, and/or depress you. I used to listen to the news and various satirical shows. After the Leave result and the seemingly ‘turn right, turn right’ of the current encumvents, (to borrow a line from Mr Hicks), I stopped. Likewise, I try not to look at the ‘OMG, look what these people are doing!”. I feel torn on not being informed (and there’s a great quote by Mark Twain about the news 😁). But, in not being able to change things, the powerlessness of it is deeply upsetting. So, I chose to not look and try to be kind or do what I can here & there. Was it Ronnie Barker’s character Fletcher who said little victories?
Fingers crossed around the grant. The Womens’ Centre have helped us before, bless them, so I’m hopeful for this time.
I hope you can make it to a meeting at some point. It would be cool to say hi and chat. Let me know if you need anything in that.
I have found the News relentlessly depressing for years and it’s tricky trying to stay informed yet psychologically and emotionally healthy. I find present-day leaders toxic but incompetent.
I’m pleased to hear you get a bit of semi-dressing time at home these days. Connection, however small, to our femininity is vital for our sanity, I think.
Good luck with funding and all the rest.
Sue x
There’s many a time in which I wonder if we’ve slipped into the dark future sci-fi warned us of 🙂 “…like a deranged experiment in social Darwinism, designed by a bored researcher who kept one thumb permanently on the fast-forward button,” as Mr Gibson wrote back in the 80s. But hasn’t it ever been thus? 🤔
Ignoring the toxicity of the above vinegar for the eyes and soul, locally and in the Jones bubble, we’re ticking along as best we can. You do what you can to help out a neighbor, your in-laws, kids, and community groups.