Year: 2022

Crack the lens

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Hi, By all that’s fabulous, it is far too hot today. A global uptick in heat waves and extreme weather, but hey, let’s count the money from burning fossil fuels in our air conditioned mansions. 😋 A few weeks back I happened to go to a professional ‘do’ and photos were taken: group shots on the fly and posed ones too. Luckily I managed to avoid most, but not all. I found myself looking at the smiles and laughter, thinking that folk had enjoyed themselves (which is great). There, in the background, was what looked like an egg with a pair of glasses drawn on it, balanced on a shirt and tie. Yes, that would be me. I clicked by […]

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Script: Make the skies grey again

Shade

Dear Fictional Newspaper, I feel it’s time to be truly honest about the causes of my transgender nature. For years I’ve been reading scholarly articles, following researchers including psychologists, geneticists, and other health professionals, hoping that they may find an explanation as to why some of us are straight, gay, cisgender, or transgender in nature. Having both an interest in the above and living as a trans person, well, this does not make me an expert. Perhaps, at best, maybe well read on the science. Certainly the strongest contenders seem to be either a genetic propensity towards sexuality and/or gender; or how hormones affect – or not – as we develop in the womb. For readers of the Newspaper That […]

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Four days

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Hi, This week saw the start of an experiment in a number of UK organisations: the four day working week. The important bit is folk are still paid for five days. That and it’s not where you do five days of hours in four. Been there, it was awful 😋 As someone who struggles to balance home commitments with work, and occasional bouts of, well, just feeling burned out by late Thursday, I could really fancy this approach of a shorter week. I read last year where Microsoft had tried it in one of their offices in Japan. Part of the deal was to stay off social media at work and try to cut down on lengthy meetings. The outcome […]

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You can’t say anything these days

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Hi, It also seems I haven’t quite understood how to publish a post on the right date. How embarrassing 🙂 This week I happened to stumble upon an article about two comedians. One American, one British, both very well off, and both known for anti trans ‘jokes’. I thought I’d put that last word in quotes, just in case there’s any confusion. I mean, a joke is supposed to make you laugh, right? Sometimes, all I hear is hate and ignorance slithered out with the thin veneer of irony or “just sayin’”. The funny thing about humour – if you pardon the clumsy language there – is humour is both very personal and it changes. The knowing look and modern […]

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Late

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Hi, Crikey, writing a blog post on Saturday. Tut tut and I haven’t even got a note from my mum to to explain my lateness. 😉 Hmm, there’s a thought and also an awkward conversation! 🙂 Hi, Mum. Remember I told you back in the 90s I’d stopped dressing? Yeah, well, it turns out that stopping was just a phase and I’m much more myself. No, Mrs J is fine and no, the kids don’t know I’m trans. Well, if they do, they’ve not said anything. Anyway, I’ve been running a blog for the last decade or two, and I was wondering if you write me a note to explain why I was late posting? Oh, yeah, I tend to […]

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What works for you

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Hi, I almost called today’s post To Bare Arms or Hair Today, but I guess there’s plenty of beauty salons that have similar names. They do love a pun it seems. Earlier this week, I happened to fall upon an interview with someone who’d given up on leg hair removal and embraced her body as is (Source: A moment that changed me, The Guardian). You don’t have to have read that to read the rest of this, but I would say the interview and upbeat experience may chime with you too. Or not 😉 We’re all different. As i finished reading it, I was struck thinking that it was good to know someone had found what worked for them. It […]

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