if the bigots in montgomery county have their way, these people:

would be forced to use the men’s public restroom.

and these people:

would be forced to use the ladies public restroom.

so who is confused?

i downloaded and watched the second episode of transamerican love story last night. again, i was fascinated and discomforted at the same time. while i usually avoid these kinds of dating game/reality shows, i can’t look away from this one.

i suppose one of my main issues with this show, is that calpernia doesn’t seem very real with her interactions with the men. it’s as if it’s all poorly scripted with clichés and platitudes. and the “events” in which the contestants are forced to participate seem rather, well, silly. this episode has the men planning and executing a southern-style dinner party for calpernia and her friends. the men are responsible for everything, from planning, purchasing (at a kosher grocery store no less), cooking, and serving the meal, while calpernia and her friends judge the men and the food.

as if one can actually find ham hocks at a kosher food store.

i don’t know, if i were trying to find a mate, the last thing i’d care about would be his ability to plan and cook a dinner party for 20 people. frankly, i’d be more concerned about his ability to love me unconditionally. maybe i’d want to spend time alone with him, which is something that calpernia seems to do little of. she spent a few minutes with two of the guys, but really, the whole thing is just weird.

that said, i’m looking forward to downloading the third episode. they are all going to the beach. finally, an activity that seems like it might be a good idea.

i came across this image in a gainesville.com article entitled finding one’s self: what is life like for the transgendered?.

i was first surprised that an article about trans people did not show a trans woman applying makeup.  then i realized that the “putting on makeup” image was merely replaced with a “look at the freak injecting herself (or more likely, himself) with estrogen, like a heroin addict” image.  sheesh.

this is a bad thing.

A. Beginning January 1, 2009, a manufacturer shall code all handgun and ASSAULT weapon AMMUNITION that is manufactured or sold in this state. This section applies to all calibers.

b. Beginning January 1, 2011, a private citizen or a retail vendor shall dispose of all noncoded AMMUNITION that is owned or held by the citizen or vendor.

c. The department shall establish and maintain an ammunition coding system database containing a manufacturer registry and a vendor registry.

it gets worse. we will even have to pay for this “privilege”. i’m wondering how “they’ll” differentiate .22LR ammo sold for my .22 marlin plinking rifle (a supposed “non-assault weapon” rifle), .22LR ammo for .22 s&w 2206 handgun, and any .22LR ammo sold for any “assault weapon” rifle i may buy in the future. and really, can *any* .22LR caliber firearm actually be considered an “assault weapon”? wtf?!?!?!?

too bad i can’t get one of these for reloading rimfire cartridges.

looks like i’m going to have to start stocking up on ammo now.

what’s even scarier - what’s to stop someone from collecting spent and dud ammo from the range, and placing it at the scene of a crime?

The shooting death of a gay teenage boy who was dressed in women’s clothing is being investigated as a possible hate crime, while detectives try to determine whether he was targeted because of his sexual orientation.

Simmie Williams Jr., 17, was attacked on the 1000 block of Sistrunk Boulevard by two young men who wore dark clothing and might live in the neighborhood, police said. Williams, who was wearing a dress and was known in the area by his first name or as “Chris” or “Beyonce,” was shot about 12:45 a.m. Friday and soon afterward died at Broward General Medical Center, police said. It’s unclear what Williams was doing in the area, about four miles from his house, but police are investigating whether he was working as a prostitute, officials said.

poc? “man” in a dress? out after midnight? must be a prostitute. and in the minds (however small those may be) of the bigots, must be murdered.

it seems that calling a trans person “it”, is the new “that’s so gay”. in the comments of a celebrity gossip column about christian slater, reported by tmz.com, two commenters suggest christian’s new girlfriend must be trans.
first, r.zimmerman says:

Is the girlfriend a transsexual? It looks like a man trying to be woman.

(emphasis mine)
then, jumbo loan account says:

17. that girl does look like a trans

so, “it” looks like “a trans”.

this reminds me of a post secret entry that was posted this week:

yes, society treats us like monsters, or just kills us.

in smith & wesson’s 2008 product catalog, a new addition to the world of pink accented pistols is revealed. Designed in collaboration with julie goloski the smith & wesson m&p9 jg is a 9mm full sized polymer frame, stainless slide, champion series pistol. featuring a black melonite finish, and a choice of 5 included grip inserts - two of them pink - this pistol weighs in at 24 oz in a 7.5″ overall length.

performance stats include a fiber optic front sight, a warren tactical rear sight, and a lower mounting rail, all nestled on a 4.25″ barrel length. there’s no msrp yet. though with an awareness ribbon engraved on the slide, a portion of the proceeds are donated to a breast cancer awareness charity.

i have to think this pistol will retail somewhere around $1000. *sigh* so many guns, so little money…

i stopped by shooter’s world for ladies night the day before yesterday as the range time is free. i had recently purchased a brick of remington cyclone 22 long rifle hollow point ammo and was curious as to how it performed. my advise - don’t bother. this was the dirtiest ammo i have ever had the displeasure of using. with every single 10 round clip, at least one round was a dud, and about every third clip the dud round got stuck in the chamber. after about 10 clips - half of what i usually shoot - a round got so stuck, i couldn’t dig it out. so i just came home and spent the next 2 hours cleaning my very dirty smith and wesson 2206. it was way dirtier than any other time i’ve gone to the range, during which i usually shoot twice as many rounds. and just handling the ammo, like loading up the clips, left a gray residue on my fingers requiring the use of lava soap to clean.

so the next time you see this on sale at the store:

put it down, and walk away.

my local chapter of the pink pistols hosted our saturday shoot yesterday, and i decided to try some different ammo this time. and while it’s a bit more expensive, i found the cci mini-mag ammo a lot cleaner, and perfectly reliable. every single one of the 100 rounds fired, not one jammed, and my pistol hardly needed cleaning when i got it home. i even came in second in our shooting contest, so it seems to be pretty accurate. i’ll try it a few more times to be sure.

i’ve used federal ammo in the past with varying results. it’s usually very inexpensive as i’ve paid as little as $10.00 for a brick of 500 or 525 rounds (as a comparison, the cci mini-mag ammo was $7.99 for 100 rounds at the range, and the remington ammo was $19.95 for 500 rounds on sale at big 5 sporting goods). and while i’ve tried a few different varieties, i’d still get a few jams with it. i should probably start to keep more accurate records of each ammo’s performance.

one of the pink pistol members (hi john!) bought a new smith & wesson .38 revolver (a model 442, i think) in a pretty black satin finish. it’s one of those super light aluminum alloy futuristic models that operates double action only - the hammer is not accessable. he let me fire off a few rounds, and i’m glad i did. it seems a .38 is just too much gun for me. i had trouble maintaining control of the recoil, and it actually hurt my hand after just 5 rounds. and to think, i was considering a model 60, a .357 magnum, for myself. i’m now totally reconsidering what i want for personal defense - perhaps a .32, or even a .22. my 9mm doesn’t nearly have the kick that the s&w revolver did, though granted, my 5906 is a much bigger and heavier pistol.

after the shoot, we met at our favorite hangout, copper star coffee and discussed our plans for the phoenix pride phoenix pink pistols booth. see ya there!

i went to the doctor yesterday for my annual check-up. as it turns out, i hadn’t been since november of ‘06, so i was over due. i had the usual prodding, poking and peeking, blood tests, and extensive questioning that accompanies any thorough medical exam. i am fortunate and privileged to have the medical insurance that covers this (besides a $20 co-pay, and a small co-pay for the blood work), and i feel extremely lucky to have found an excellent medical group that specializes in lgbt medicine.

actually, i schedule my visits with the resident nurse practitioner as opposed to the doctor there. i usually prefer female medical personnel when it comes to someone poking in and around my body, and i’ve been seeing her since i moved to phoenix, so she knows my history.

at this visit, i met their new assistant, who performed most of the exam. she was quite personable, and she put me at ease immediately. apparently, she’s in training, and i was her first post-op trans woman. which was quite the experience since i was past due for an internal exam, and i haven’t found a gyno in the area with whom i was comfortable.

she did quite well, wielding that speculum like a pro, making this the most painless internal exam and pap smear i’ve had. well, it’s not actually a pap smear, since i don’t have a cervix - they’re just testing to make sure there are no abnormal cells floating around in there.

anyway, it seems i’m doing my part in helping to educate the next generation of medical personnel in trans health care. perhaps they should pay me next time