(For those of you who don't know what this is about, go here)

I know everyone in the trans community has been blogging about this as of late, so I'm going to throw in my thoughts to this, too.

Lu's Pharmacy, in an effort to make their services accessible to women in an environment that is patriarchy-free, has thrown some of the most marginalized women under the bus - trans women. Let's look at this in more abstract terms. In fighting privilege, it never makes sense to marginalize a subset of the group you are intending to support, especially one that is further marginalized than the main class. Now let's look at this in more specific terms. Let's say a group that wanted to agitate for change in our societies' treatment of racial minorities, but decided to exclude, say, First Nations people. The fact is that there would be a huge uproar by the majority of the population, precisely because First Nations people are another racial minority - a marginalized group within a larger marginalized group. This scenario would be seen as so ridiculous in the context I've just given, so it seems just as ridiculous that a women's group would exclude transwomen and get away with it.

Secondly, I wonder if the leaders of Lu's Pharmacy have ever heard of the phrase "divide and conquer?" For a group that supposedly exists to fight patriarchy and marginalization, they're employing a strategy that flies in the face of common sense. Anyone who knows even a little bit about the history of war and conflict, knows that to divide your target group is the easiest way to win. And that's exactly what the fundamentalists, the anti-feminists, and the sexists are looking for - an easy way to divide women's communities. Lu's has used this same argument back at the trans community. They've essentially warned us to take a chill pill (my words) and leave Lu's alone to do their thing, and to go back to our own groups. They've cleverly tried to shift the blame back onto the trans community here, though luckily no one's buying it. The fact is, it's easy for them to say such a thing, when, relatively speaking, they are the privileged group. I want to be clear here, I'm not saying ciswomen are not marginalized here - because they certainly are marginalized - but that trans women carry the marginalization both for being women AND being trans. And here Lu's Pharmacy has just perpetuated that marginalization. And anytime a group has been marginalized, they agitate for change - just as they should.

One more thought: another argument used by Lu's Pharmacy is that they don't have "special knowledge" on trans medical issues. Some members of the trans community have shot back with "what do they need to know, they dispense medication, and aren't doctors." I don't buy this. The fact is that pharmacists are more than just people who give pills to their customers. Being a pharmacist does take specialized knowledge, and often dispense medical advice. Especially for those living in the Downtown Eastside, this can sometimes be their only source of medical advice - indeed, their only source of health care whatsoever, which is exactly why Lu's Pharmacy was created in the first place. However, what pharmacists do not need, is specialized knowledge of transwomens' health issues. The fact is, transwomen have the same health issues as any woman. Many transwomen do just fine with a regular GP, who has no specialized knowledge of trans issues. Many transwomen do just fine with a regular endocrinologist, with no specialized knowledge of trans issues. Many transwomen do fine with a regular gynecologist, with no specialized knowledge of trans issues, and so on. Even the most glaring "difference" - that of hormone treatment - isn't really a difference at all - many menopausal and post-menopausal women take a hormone treatment as well. The medications are the same in both cases, which have the same drug interactions in both trans and ciswomen.

Quite frankly, I'm hoping that Lu's Pharmacy will soon get off their high horse, and include transwomen in their services. I'd like to see *every* transwoman in the GVRD switch to getting all their prescriptions from Lu's Pharmacy. Once they see the volume of transwomen they are turning away, hopefully the leaders will understand the economic reality - that they have yet another niche market that they could be tapping (translation - more revenue!) if they could just drop their exlusive policy...

HOME video game systems, and computer games. People have stopped leaving the screen. They get up and go to work. They sit at a computer all day. Then come home and stare at their home computer, or play video games till it is time to go to bed.

No one goes outside and plays anymore...

Tags: writer's block

The "Zero Linden" store (currently at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kuai%20hele/120/219/22 )  is bout to lose its lease at that sim.

The owner, Naastik Rau, is in need of funds to start again on another sim.

As the name implies, the store supplies free clothes.
Don't we all need clothes? Even if you have all you need in your inventory, think of the newbs!

Please send any spare Linden Love to this noble cause.

Current Location: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kuai%20hele/120/219/22
My soul is filled with...: determined

Courtesy of ABC News, here’s the latest example of the human propensity to see patterns in random stimuli and interpret them as somehow significant. (There’s a thirty-second ad for weed killer before the news clip starts.)

It seems a bird in Bryan, Texas left a little gift on the side mirror of the Pachuca family’s pickup truck. The family are apparently devoutly Catholic. Having a special affinity for Our Lady of Guadalupe, they immediately interpreted the bird crap as an image of the Virgin. As you can see, the similarity is uncanny.



Besides, the miraculous bird bespattering happened on July the 12th. The feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe is December 12th. What more evidence of divine intervention do you need?

Since last Sunday, a steady stream of the faithful have been stopping by to pray at the holy crap. The Pachucas plan to remove the mirror from the truck and mount it in a shrine. ”We just all feel protected,“ Cristal Pachuca said. ”It’s a blessing to our family and everyone that comes to see it.“

Let us join together in the hymn ”There Shall Be Showers of Blessing“.

EDIT: Gah... the list just keeps growing >_>

Well this is primarily to serve as a reference to myself.

I went riding today for a little bit and ended up messing up practicing tight curves. (think figure 8's) I didn't drop the bike but I did end up jaming my shoulder pretty good. So I ended up calling it a day a bit earlier than I normally do. Did only about half an hour of riding instead of my hour-2 hours I've been doing.

I decided that I wanted to spend some time taking a look at the health of my bike and see what needs to be done so far and what can be done to clean things up.

I have to say I definitely have my work cut out for me. So far this is my upcoming todo list:

*change oil
*change oil filter
*change fuel filter
*remove fuel tank and finish current inspection  (my list will probably double in size after this part)
*replace a decent a couple lines that are showing wear or have paint on them
*reroute carburator hoses and electrical wiring(one of the last owners wired things according to "well this sorta fits" instead of the manufacture design)
*probably replace chain, or at the very least relube
*remove road gunk from massive amounts of the frame and block and probably relube
*relube cluch cable
*check(possibly replace) air filter
*check(possibly replace) spark plugs

somewhere in here I want to eventually also replace the majority of the plastic on my bike as the person who did the old paint job really FUBARed some of the plastic when it comes to where things snap in. So far it doesn't look like the bike as been laid down, or if it was it didn't bend the frame. This is promising. Oh and although the color is fantastic the quality is poor and it looks like they never sanded things down or properly buffed the paint after.

Fairing parts to replace or need work:
replace Rear left fairing (improper installation damage)
replace Rear Right Fairing (improper installation damage)
Paint and install Lower Fairing
Replace upper fairing (looks like someone crunched the fairing at some point)
 

Someone did not love my bike as much as I love it, this makes me sad.

So anyway, I unfortunately wasn't able to catch the bike mechanics class that is local to here. I'm definitely going to bug some of my mech. savy friends as I visit them through the country, but is there anyone local here that wants to help me work on my bike?

I am just very glad that this is work that needs to be done on a bike and not a car. I get the feeling that parts are going to be a lot more affordable then otherwise would be. Also the majority of the current work that needs to be done isn't part replacement but mostly going through and cleaning things up.

Well thats all for now.

TTYAL
-Alexa

Tags: bike, mechanics, new, travel prep
Current Location: home
My soul is filled with...: mellow
The orchastra is playing...: Nacho Sotomayor - Cafe Del Mar | Powered by Last.fm

I posted here a little while ago about possibly coming out to one of my friends over email and decided against it, deciding to wait to talk to him face to face for better understanding, because I can’t see him understanding that well (because of various religious and political reasons.)

However, I decided to come out to a few of my (incredibly liberal and accepting and awesome) friends over the internet (Myspace and Facebook, because I don’t know their email addresses,) and was happy with the results. I wrote six friends and got back three responses so far.

( My )

Crossposted to transgender, ftm_youth, and transyouth

Tags: coming out/disclosing
My soul is filled with...: pleasantly surprised

I posted here a little while ago about possibly coming out to one of my friends over email and decided against it, deciding to wait to talk to him face to face for better understanding, because I can’t see him understanding that well (because of various religious and political reasons.)

However, I decided to come out to a few of my (incredibly liberal and accepting and awesome) friends over the internet (Myspace and Facebook, because I don’t know their email addresses,) and was happy with the results. I wrote six friends and got back three responses so far.

( My )

My soul is filled with...: pleasantly surprised

I've gone through a lot of crazy these in my life. I mean truly honestly batshit "what the hell" type experiences. I've lost an older sibling at age six walking in on him being dead. I've been in a house raid with AK-47's and AR's all over the place. I've been in a number of serious car crashes without a scratch. I went to nearly as many high schools as years in high school. I have traveled tens of thousands of miles in my life. I have performed on stage, and I've even transcended the lines between gender to follow what I feel was the right route for me.

In all these experiences, of all these crazy things that usually should only occur in books or television I've found that the most exciting and envigorating thing I've come across yet is riding motorcycle. It is truly unique and also probably one of the hardest and scariest things I've ever undertaken. It is sometimes said that no sane man or woman would EVER decide to ride a motorcycle and continue to do it. In all honesty I believe that this is an accurate statement. The choice to ride a motorcycle is -not- a logical one no matter how one defends it.

Yet here I feel a calling to ride one. There is an inherently emotional factor to it. It is extremely dangerous though, regardless of emotional attachment. Thousands of people die every year on a motorcycle, either due to intoxication, error, or otherwise some sort of factor. Getting on a motorcycle and truly being aware of the risk means being aware that you are risking your life.

As I've said though, riding a motorcycle has been one of the most strongly impacting factors on my life to date. It routed a discipline in me that I've very rarely exercised on anything else. I can count the number of times on one hand that I have willingly sat down and studied a piece of literature with everything I had to make sure I assimilated it all. It calls me from being so recluse in my current living arrangement and to step outside and reconnect with nature. It has even been a social equalizer and has made tremendous bounds in balancing my social anxiety and feelings in regards to that. When you have ridden at 45MPH with only a few inches to spare between yourself and the ground, it really puts in perspective the world we live in.  

I've heard stories of people going into the armed forces and being transformed by it. Likewise there are many other venues and other experiences people have undergone to experience a similar catharsis and refinement of personality. However I have to say that for me right now riding motorcycle is simply and purely the most "right" thing for me to do that I know.

If nearly any friend of mine walked up to me and asked me if I wanted them to start riding motorcycle, I would look them square in the eye and tell them absolutely not. In the same line of action though, if they still went through it, I would welcome them to the community with open arms as a fellow rider as others have done for me.

I am rambling on now, but if i had to leave with a message it would be if you want to be a rider, do it for you and not a single other person.

/ramble

TTYAL
-Alexa
 

Tags: bike, inspiration, rambling, travel
Current Location: home
My soul is filled with...: impressed

So I decided I think almost 2 weeks ago that I wanted to get some window boxes and grow some stuff at home too since I'm suddenly really into and intrigued by this "grow your own veggies" thing. So I got 3 window boxes, a bag of potting soil and 3 packs of seeds.

The seeds were Chives, Spinach and Sage

Today the onions and spinach sprouts were about 1-2 inches tall so time to thin them out! I planted wayyy too many seeds apparently so I had to pull out like 80% of the sprouts, but the cool things about this is that I get to eat them as a very nutritious afternoon snack. =)









( More pics )

Tags: growing stuff on the porch, veggiebear