Time for a real update, I guess.

My life has been school and work. No joke. I wake up, shower, study, go to school, study, go to work, study, sleep. Repeat. Which is alright with me. My grades are alright so far. We got new management at work. It sort of sucks because I really, really liked my old boss. We had the same type of personality, so he and everyone in the store really clicked. I'm sort of bummed, but as long as I get to keep my job, I'm fine with it.

I got sick last weekend, just a sneaky sinus infection, and now I have a chest cold. Again. We'll see how that goes.

Apparently in order for insurance to cover my visits to the endo, I have to go visit my primary care physician first. And she doesn't have an opening until November. I'm a little irked.

I'm tired. It's cold. I've got to get ready for work and a date later tonight.

Peace out.

So Xanga, it's been a while. Sorry about that. I've been pretty busy lately.

I took my five hour. My road test is October sixteenth. And my mum (with help from college funds) bought me a fantastic car that we found on Cragslist. It's a 1996 Dodge Stratus, in incredible condition. I love 'im. Now all I've got to do is learn to parallel park.

I'm taking a full schedule of academic classes this semester. It's a death wish, I know. Usually I have Band, which is sort of a gravy-grade, but I dropped it this year to take Psych. The predominance of my classes are college level courses. I've been busy.

I'm really thankful that I got a job in retail over the summer. I've noticed that I'm a lot more outgoing around people. And I actually made a friend. For the first time since seventh grade.
Speaking of work, I came out to my boss. He's been fantastic about the whole situation. Work is one of the very few places I can go and be comfortable about being out. Legally he can't use "Shaemus" on the floor, but he's been pretty good about using it any other time. I'm getting a lot of extra hours too, which is really nice.

Unfortunately, a bunch of trans-related things fell through. I've got to set up a bunch of appointments, and I haven't told any of the school officials, which means I'm going by my birth name. It's really weird for me, because teachers call on me, and sometimes I don't know their talking to me. I have no emotional or mental connection to my name any more. It's all right I suppose. My few close friends call me Shaemus, and I'm relatively quiet in class unless I have something worthwhile to contribute.

So today I get paid. Have to go run around and pick up books and satchel and a birthday present and clothes. Should be a hoot.

Peace out, Xangans.

Saw this posted on Queerish, and decided to rant. I'll put in a personal update at the end, along with a link to the article.

"The mayor of Anchorage on Monday vetoed a ban against discrimination based on sexual orientation, saying it was unclear that such discrimination existed." Really? So in Alaska, there is no homophobia, and therefore, the gays don't deserve to have protection of their civil rights? Maybe all the homosexuals in the world should move to Alaska, then. I mean, there's no discrimination, right? They'll have no problem with it then. The article goes on to say that,
Mr. Sullivan’s [the mayor of Anchorage] father, George Sullivan, who also served as mayor, vetoed an initial proposal in 1976. Then, as now, the ordinance met with vocal opposition among Christian conservatives." Good. So they teach their children intolerance. And finally, the last line, "Another member who supported it, Sheila Selkregg, said the issue had become entangled by questions like whether employers could prohibit men from using women’s restrooms and whether they would have to provide separate restrooms for transgender people."

How many times do I have to say it? Sexual identity/orientation is not the same as gender identity. They are two completely different issues. Gay men do not all cross dress. It's like the idea that all older homosexuals are pedophiles. It's ridiculous! I'm transgendered, but I don't identify as a straight man. I'm pretty much as queer as they come. It's not the same thing, and so to veto the opportunity for gay rights because one doesn't know the difference between what's in your pants (or what you like in your pants) and what's in your head, is really a shame.

All right. Personal update - GO!
Work has been pretty good. I came out to my boss, and he's been great about it. Where I live there is no law protecting transgendered workers from discrimination, and so if he fired me, it would not be a hate crime. It was all good though, he's been involved in the LGBT community since high school, as an ally.

What else? School starts soon. Three weeks, really. They had to do asbestos removal at my high school, along with a huge renovation project, and word is that it's all taking much longer than they expected. They may have to delay school for us, which would be a bummer, because our school schedule is already wayyy out of whack because of the late start.

I bought a really nice hat. I like it. I'm going to bleach and dye parts of my hair soon, once I get paid again. AND. I'm almost finished with The Dark Tower. It's the seventh book in the Dark Tower series. I don't know what on Earth I'm going to do when I'm done. I've been reading these books for two years. No joke.

That's pretty much it. It's been hot. I hate the summer. Time to get ready for work.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/us/18alaska.html?_r=3

Back from the monastery. I might upload some portions of my journal from Sesshin, but I'll have to break it up into a couple of entries. I wrote a lot.

Kinda busy though. I'll be back later.

Peace

I don't really have much to blog about these days, as my life has been spent traveling from home to work for paperwork and playing mindless video games, with small bits of art and reading in there somewhere.

I'll be going on a short hiatus after Sunday of this week. Sunday night I've got a meeting at work, Monday I start working, and from Tuesday to the following Sunday is Summer Sesshin. I'll be living in a Buddhist monastery for about a week. In silence. I'm pretty excited.

So, if I'm in the mood I'll post something or other, but I may not.

Still can't believe I've actually got a job.