| coming home.. |
[Sep. 5th, 2008|10:27 am] |
wont bore everyone with the details of my trip as i am paranoid about turning into one of those people who over talk about their travels and bore everyone to death..
anyways we are flying out of san fran tonight after an awesome few days catching up with friends and enjoying the sunshine! the drive down from seattle to here was the most amazing part of our trip. we took about a week to do it even though the drive is only about 14 hours so we well and truly took our time and made the most of it! stopped at olympia and portland as well as about three camping spots (two on the beach and one in the redwoods) as well as a night in a friends mums cabin in mendocino which was incredible.
its been so cool to hangout with old friends and make some amazing new ones along the way. as much as i love this place and am always thinking that i would love to move here someday (either seattle, nyc or san fran!), i am also really excited to be coming home. i feel like im in a really content space at the moment and am really happy with where i am at and the things that lie ahead.
so yeh ill be home sunday night. i think the plan is to have dinner again the east on tuesday night so tom, az, jak, lee, will, jonathan, danielle and whoever else is reading this in melbourne see ya there about 6?
cheers all, hope you are all well.
ps. havent read my friends list for weeks so if theres anything i need to catch up on let me know! |
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[Aug. 26th, 2008|04:23 pm] |
i just checked my email... i find it kinda ironic that while i am travelling in the states feeling the love of the diversity of gender and trans* stuff in general here in the states that there is debate on the tmgp list re the validness of those on less traditional journeys of "transition" (ie. not necessarily doing the hormones and surgery thing) wanting to change their gender markers on their paperwork... (FYI this all sparked by the recent HREOC stuff)
anyways urgh... i really cant be fucked..
sorry and thanks to my buddies reading this who are putting energy into this when i really dont have the time or the engery (or the net access) to assist!
goes back to the bliss of roadtripping along the east coast where gender diversity (and veganism - soooooooo much food) is part and parcel... |
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| update.. |
[Aug. 25th, 2008|10:18 am] |
NYC was awesome - burlesque shows, central park, williamsburg, mcclarens pool, trans performance show at fringe, staten island ferry, statue of liberty, walks along the east river, a couple of shows, lots of great food, lots of great people.... after leaving NYC on friday we have had a ball in Seattle the last few days (went to see mirah last night as well which was really good crazy bumping into people i know in a foreign city but also kinda nice!) as well but this morning is the beginning of our raodtrip which is extrememly exciting! first stop olympia, then portland, then three camping spots along the coast before we reach san fran. this has been an amazing trip. its really great to be travelling with liz as we havent done an extended overseas trip together before. and its been amazing to catch up with old friends and to meet new friends.
ive also done a hell of a lot of shopping!! yikes!! liz and i have brought 8 pairs of shoes between us - we will need an extra bag just for them! its just crazy how much more expensive things are at home than here so i figure i wont have to shop for a while!!
oh and i only got my bag yesterday as it got lost on the way from new york which really fuckin sucked! thanks to travel insurance i wasnt too stressed and was able to buy some clothes and stuff like that as compensation for the delay but still it sucked as i kept thinking about band shirts i wouldnt be able to get again, my late grandpas hat etc...
anyways it came back finally so all good!!!!
hope that everyone is well. i haevnt checked my friends list for ages so if theres anything that i need to know let me know!
cheers,
ash |
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| NYC |
[Aug. 19th, 2008|01:10 am] |
hey all im in NYC staying at lizs sisters place in the lower east side. its amazing here. the city never sleeps. the place is fuckin huge. theres so much to do. we're here till friday arvo then flying out to seattle and spending two weeks on the west side inc driving down to SF via olympia and portland and camping along the way which is very exciting.
good times indeed.
sorry im not online much at the moment so not so good on the emails as yet but thinking of yas all.
cheers,
ash |
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| zoom zoom zoom... |
[Aug. 14th, 2008|09:40 am] |
just to let yas know, after tonight i wont be online much for the next few weeks cause tomorrow morning im heading here:
( crazy big buildings )
and yes im fuckin excited!!! |
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| one of those moments.. |
[Aug. 13th, 2008|03:56 pm] |
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i was at a meeting this morning and was talking to a dude from the local queer gay radio station here in melbourne .. he asked me what radio station i listened to, im like "I dont listen to the radio much but occassionally ill have it on Gold FM cause I might be lucky and catch some Elvis, the beatles, Johnny Cash etc...." he replies "Oh I should of guessed with that haircut!"
im so in love with going to the barbers rather than a trendy hairdressing salon that cant cut my hair exactly how i want it.
i had my hair cut yesterday and guessing by that comment, it is exactly how i want it!
yay.
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| i miss this.... |
[Aug. 10th, 2008|10:39 am] |
( liz )
EDIT: thanks Gene, im finally getting there with the lj-cut stuff!! |
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| note to self |
[Aug. 10th, 2008|09:14 am] |
must get this essay done today so i can start getting organised and packing .....
that sounds easy enough, but i cant fuckin stay focused cause im too excited!!
anyone wanna write an essay on the settings based approach to health promotion within a workplace?
its pouring rain so i cant even procrastinate by going for a run! |
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| TMGP meeting reminder - monday 11th august 6pm |
[Aug. 8th, 2008|04:21 pm] |
Here's a reminder about the Trans Melbourne Gender Project support meeting next Monday, August 11th.
This month's theme is medical and non-medical transition.
Here are some of the things we might talk about:
How many ways are there to transition gender? Is 'transition' to a different gender an idea that applies to everyone who identifies as trans? If you don't want to take hormones or have surgery, does that mean you're not trans? What if you want to change pronouns but don't want to change your body? What if you want to change your body but don't want to change pronouns, or want to be in between genders? What other ways of changing our bodies re there, aside from medical ones? Is being trans always about becoming a man or a woman? How do people who aren't easily recognisable as either gender get around the rules that tell us we need to be either?
Date: Monday August 11th.
Venue: Group Study Room, Frank Crean Wing in the City Library, 253 Flinders Lane, between Swanston & Elizabeth St. (venue is wheelchair accessible with a gender neutral wheelchair accessible bathroon)
Time: 6pm
Who's welcome: anyone and everyone
TMGP gatherings are supportive but informal. People of all ages, backgrounds, and gender identities are welcome. We provide a friendly and safe (and fun) space to chat with other people about gender-related issues. We encourage you to come along and talk to us about your experiences. Generally meetings are run by a TMGP member, who might bring along some photocopied resources to take away, or just kick the conversation off at the beginning.
For more information about TMGP, please check out our website: genderproject. net. au.
You're also welcome to join our email list for more information on other TMGP projects or to get monthly meeting reminders. To join, go here:
http://lists. genderproject. net. au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tmgp |
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| eighth of the eighth two thousand and eight |
[Aug. 8th, 2008|01:36 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  chipper | ] |
i feel like i should post today as its 08.08.08 which is pretty cool. it reminds me of the time that i turned 23 on the 23 of the 3rd 2003. which was also pretty cool as far as dates go.
obvivously this post is a waste of time.
anyways, basically life is good. and im really excited because this time next week ill be sitting on a plane impatiently waiting to get off in NYC to see Liz again!
been busy with lots of upstart alley stuff, gender centre stuff and outgames stuff as well as catching up with friends and doing a thousand things before i leave. did the SLIT shoot on wednesday night as well which was pretty funny. i havent seen the photos properly yet but ill try and post a few when i get them. kinda creepy cause we did them at the croft institute! funny! we also had a pretty good band practice last night and im excited that we are writing a sea shanty song - possibly either about dumpstering or school reunions... work is also kinda crazy as im trying to fit way too many appts in each day - a months worth of work in a week basically. im also feeling much better about the whole other job thing now too, though im still pretty bummed that we got as far as negogiating wages and study leave etc before they realised that finanically they could only offer me 4 days even though they had advertised as full time!! im going to take the time away to think about what i want to do about work stuff. things are amazingly good with a full time manager now, im surprised that i actually coped here without one for 18 months - though im extremely worn out and in need of a holiday!! theres the possibility of some pretty exciting opportunities to change my role around and do more CD stuff here if i decide to stay on so things are looking up....
but whatever cause im taking just under four weeks off work which is totally exciting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yay! |
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| my weeked surrounded by homophobia/transphobia/gender policing.. |
[Aug. 3rd, 2008|10:42 am] |
last night i went to my lil cousin's school musical..
on the way up i was listening to Gold 104 (as you do on long road trips!) and Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing" came on the radio. I thought I was hearing things as one of the verses starts with "See the little faggot with the earring and the make up..." .... how the fuck can these lyrics be acceptable to be played on mainstream radio?
These are the lyrics:
( Read more... )
the musical was actually really great and really well done for a high school musical, the singing was actually really amazing. and my cousin obvivously has all of the families singing genes in her as shes quite amazing!
anyways the musical was meant to be humorous.. lots of people were laughing... though i was really disturbed that all the so called funny bits were either homophobic, transpobic or gender policing in some way. eg. one policeman is queer and tries to kiss the other one and everyone laughs, one of the rich business men is assumed to be queer and everyone laughs at his over the top stereotypical hand movements and voices, the senator makes some joke about "i used to be a woman" and again everyone laughs ... seriously i could go on but i fear boring you all!!
and then theres all the shit with jeff kennett and his fuckin offensiveness - www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24084523-1243,00.html
luckily i didnt see my brother in law this weekend or i could of also reported on some kinda comment referencing how "lesbians" must miss "the sausage".. or some other fuckin disgusting comment like that.
is this what normally happens in 24 hours?
do i live in some happy homo sphere all the other days of my life?
or is this a reminder for me not to get too complacent, a reminder that homophobia/transphobia/gender policing exists in so many spheres of our lives constantly... maybe its easier to ignore it sometimes or maybe these things are overlooked as i am usually more angry at other social justice and inequity issues.
end of rant. |
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| check this out.. |
[Aug. 2nd, 2008|09:41 am] |
hi everyone check out this amazing website and spread the word.
****************PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY!******************
Dear friends,
After much excited brainstorming, dialoguing, essay soliciting, and teaching ourselves basic web skills, we are thrilled to announce the official launch of a new website: ENOUGH!
ENOUGH is a space for conversations about how a commitment to wealth redistribution plays out in our lives: how we decide what to have, what to keep, what to give away; how we work together to build sustainable grassroots movements; how we challenge capitalism in daily, revolutionary ways.
We want this site to be a space for conversation, inspiration, and the creation of ideas. Please read, comment, send us thoughts, submit essays, and join the conversation!
Tyrone Boucher and Dean Spade
www.enoughenough.org/ |
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| procrastinating... |
[Jul. 31st, 2008|10:39 am] |
after all the work stuff i am having a lot of trouble trying to concentrate and write my first essay for the semester today, hopefully i can at least get the plan done before liz gets home this arvo. im on study leave which is nice after yesterday. its also lizs last day (shes finishing a few things up at work this morning and then having a massage). i cant believe shes leaving tonight. we're having a few people over for dinner tonight and then heading to the airport later!
im so excited that our trip is finally here after almost 10 months of waiting/planning!
it will be strange without liz here in the house, it will be strange, but its great that shes going solo for a while and livin' the bachelorette lifestyle! my free nights before i leave are already looking scarily full with naturopath appt, osteopath appt, counselling, various meetings, photo shoot for slit, cousins musical debut, sisters bday and dinner dates. we'll miss eachother a lot but she's going to have a ball runnin' amuck in london, berlin and amsterdamn! hehe... |
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| update re chest surgery stuff... |
[Jul. 30th, 2008|10:33 am] |
Ive been corresponding with Dr Stanley Taub in NYC and have had an online consultation. Tell ya what it was gross sending photos of my chest across the world!! Yikes!
Anyways here's the go:
"I feel you would be an excellent candidate for a partial subcutaneous mastectomy through a periareolar incision. There would have to be a skin tightening procedure which would be accomplished by making a larger circumareolar excision designed to remove excess skin resulting from laxity resulting from the subcutaneous mastectomy. By excising skin inbetween the an outer circle and the smaller inner circle of the areola circumference a more normal male chest could be created. Your areloa are presently at the level of a normal male
chest, approximately 22 cm from the sternal notch. There would be no need to raise the areolae. The only scarring would be around the areolae border.....Costs of the surgery are $8500 plus the facility fee of 800 dollars and the cost of anesthesia which could be around 1400 dollars."
It's all very much very gathering info at this stage in my life due to my finanical situation (mortage stress much?! anyone know of any high paying social work jobs?!) but its really good to hear that my chest is small and that peri would be the go as that would mean much less scarring and hopefully more chance of nipple sensation etc. But fuck so much $$$!! Though it is my body and I spend a lot of time with it so in my opinion id rather spend more for results which I would be totally happy with etc. so we'll just wait and see what happens..
If anyone has any info on Taub or any suggestions on other surgeons to check out Id be into hearing more as all this surgery gargon is new to me. Im also having a consultation with Brownstein when I am in SF in Sept which is very exciting too.
Yay.
But in not so good news my sister is going back to her husband so i am feeling pretty gross about it all and still dont really know what is going on. |
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| finally worked out how to upload photos... blatant tattoo showing off here |
[Jul. 26th, 2008|07:46 pm] |
late 07 - kat at fox body art
( radio tatt late o7 )
june 08 - again by kat at fox body art (who's unfortanately now left and moved to london!)
( here comes the sun ) |
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| TOILART HAS MAPPED 100 TOILETS!! |
[Jul. 22nd, 2008|02:29 pm] |
CONGRATULATIONS AND THANK YOU!
Thanks to your submissions and the solid effort put in by the ToilArt survey crews, we now have over 100 gender neutral, unisex and/or wheelchair accessible toilets on our map of Melbourne (and surrounds)!
If you’d like to find out more about what we do and why we do it, check out our website at www.toilart.org . If you’d like to get more involved by joining the Google group or simply attending a meeting or survey, drop us a line at toilartproject [dot] gmail [dot] com. If you’d like to submit a toilet that’s not already on the map, visit www.genderproject.net.au/toilart.
Thanks once again – may the next hundred toilets be mapped soon!
Crossposted. |
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| just confirmed... |
[Jul. 22nd, 2008|09:25 am] |
we are taking Upstart Alley to FEAST in Adelaide this year!!
woo hoo!!
very exciting!
in other news i have a job interview on thursday... i think i would be keen on it but not sure if the wage will work out way too low for me to survive... anyways lots to think about though... |
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| posi. |
[Jul. 15th, 2008|05:08 pm] |
i have a job interview next thursday!!!
yippeee!!!
*fingerscrossed* |
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