Alana is Blooming

Aborted of Health Care Reform?

2009-11-11T04:50:14Z

It is starting to look like one issue could stop health reform from being passed: abortion. I'm really getting tired of this issue popping up to divide people into uncompromising dichotomies. We need health care reform now, regardless of abortions. This is not the time to try and score political points on divisive issues!

Historic Health Progress!

2009-11-08T06:20:37Z

House passes health care reform bill - CNN

If we can come this far, there's no telling what else we can change. We can become a more compassionate and conscious people. A more perfect union is always possible, if we can put forth the effort. Yes we can.

One of the 39 Democrats to vote against it was Scott Murphy from my district. I called his office on Friday, the first time I've called a Congressman and learned he was still reading it, but I told them my preference.

I just sent an email asking him to explain his vote, so we'll see how that goes.

He found Captain Winky!

2009-10-30T23:00:24Z

Holy Testicle Tuesday!

What a plot twist...

A great day for the LGBTQ community!

2009-10-28T22:48:02Z

CNN - Obama signs hate crimes bill into law... a law that makes it a federal crime to assault an individual because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity... Former President George W. Bush had threatened to veto a similar measure, but Obama brought a reversal of that policy to the White House."

"Our nation's first major piece of civil rights legislation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people." - Joe Solmonese, HRC President

This makes me feel better about being out in society, although I still try to avoid violence, regardless.

Sex Video!

2009-10-13T17:39:41Z

I made a new video where I talk about many things, but mostly about sex. It's not graphic, and it's not comprehensive, but it covers a lot about how I feel about that activity. Survival and reproduction are primal drives, but that doesn't mean our lives have to revolve around them! We have the ability to choose our own path.

Today is a good day for HRT, Piercing, & Peace!

2009-10-09T23:28:36Z

Today is my first day of hormone replacement therapy as you can see in my new video! I also got my ears pierced with 14 gage, 1/2" hoops, since they had closed up after I took my earrings out 2 years ago. Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009, showing that many in the world stand behind our vision. There will be more good days in the near future, but today is one that I will be special in my heart. Tomorrow, it's time to celebrate!

Capitalism: A Love Story

2009-10-03T22:48:14Z

Cora: Crying. Alana: Nodding. I'm with you, Michael Moore, in standing for the average worker. I'd rather be called a democratic socialist than a 'Reagan Conservative' capitalist. The United States of America is not based on, nor are it's people benefiting from, free markets. Regardless of how I feel about things, or the movie, the question remains: what will we do about it? F.D.R. had the concept of a Second Bill of Rights and while that may not be possible with the current political environment, I believe it's worth working towards.

Read it and weep...

2009-10-01T23:55:08Z

Year Zero!

2009-10-01T04:02:25Z

Honestly, even with all the challenges ahead, the future has never looked brighter. Looking back at the last year of preparations, 8 years of this journal, and the 30 years I’ve been alive, it has all come to this moment. It’s an amazing thing to be starting over, yet still carrying three decades of experience. I actually have another week until I’ll have some specific news, but I’m ready for whatever comes. Dreams are not something that you achieve, but something you work at, as a life goal. There have been many transformative moments along my path, but I finally feel like I am finally living a good life, and able to find the truth beyond the creations of society. Year Zero is now!

Whip It!

2009-09-27T16:39:35Z

Last night I saw a sneak peak of "Whip It" hosted by The Hellions of Troy Roller Derby.

I'm glad I saw this movie instead of the one my friends went to see, and I got a free t-shirt. Even though I am not that young anymore, it has inspired me to start roller skating again, and maybe get involved in the future. If nothing else, it inspires me to follow my dreams, to find myself.

Maybe years from now, if I practice on my own, I can be a derby girl!

Bloodrayne 2: Deliverance - Uwe Boll

2009-09-25T01:02:09Z

"...Life is like a penis. When it's hard you get screwed. When it's soft you can't beat it." - The final line of dialog in the movie. (No, I did not watch it, only TANG!)

Health Care is a Human Right

2009-09-10T01:07:25Z

President Obama's speech on health care moved me to tears, and also made me cheer! I hope the days when people's lives are destroyed by medical bills or lack of coverage will soon come to an end in this country. I'm going to watch the speech again soon, to pick up the parts I missed. I will include a video here when it's available, so you can watch it, too.

Eggs & Milk

2009-09-02T00:58:57Z

I try to minimize things like eating eggs and drinking milk, but it's hard to eliminate them, and I still consume products that use them. In case you didn't know, there's a video of people throwing live male chicks into a grinder, because they are not needed, only the females are. I guess life is cheap.

Being a vegan is hard. I can work towards the day when I can call myself one, if I can stay healthy.

Religious Spectrum

2009-08-31T23:00:25Z

I've listened to many beliefs, from atheists to theists, from Buddhists to Christan's. People often get in arguments about semantics, and how people are categorized. This can be from without, such as a Christian saying what an atheist or agnostic or even a Zen Buddhist person is, or it can come from within the group about it's own members.

The same type of thing happens in debates about gender and sexuality, which I have also talked about here. My belief is that everyone is diverse and different. Trying to figure out who fits into what category is really not important. No 2 Christians have the same beliefs, and the same goes for any other group.

I'm not trying to be the same as other Buddhists, atheists, or agnostics. I couldn't be, even if I did want to. When people try to change reality into a binary system, with everyone needing to fit at one extreme or the other, you end up causing a lot of suffering. Unfortunately, that black & white world is what many people try to see.

The Morality of Gender and Sex

2009-08-25T00:23:42Z

It may not always seem obvious, but many of the things we take for granted as normal and accepted were once immoral. Some people still feel that way. Think about the Puritans who colonized this country, or even the extreme Muslims of today. There are some in this country who still hold on to those type of views, but they are now in the minority. Laws have changed, but we are not at the end of the road of equality.

Women still have not reached equality with men. Homosexuals still have not reached equality with heterosexuals. Transgendered people have not reached equality with cisgendered people. Women have come a long way, and that struggle may be less a legal one know, and more a matter of time, generation, and inertia. Homosexuals have come pretty far, but they are still in the middle of legal struggles, and many still view their sexual orientation as immoral.

Religion still influences the beliefs of many people, and depending on their particular religion, transgendered people are people who are as bad as rapists and pedophiles. If this sounds familiar, it's because the same used to be the beliefs of people about homosexuals. How far do we have to go until the average person realizes that transgendered people aren't doing anything immoral? Decades, or maybe never.

For myself, I am just going to try to be honest, so some members of my family will realize that their understanding was wrong. Being open about yourself and true to yourself is not a sin, but living a life you don't feel right with is. My grasp on what is right and wrong is not based on old traditions that often are outdated, but on what's really happening, in every moment. I refuse to waste my life in fear and living against my dreams.

Try to avoid causing harm, treat others as you would want to be treated, and live life to the fullest: don't waste it. That's how I generally see morality and the good life. So why should transgendered people be forlorn?

Friend Interviews

2009-08-17T14:05:57Z

Open Letter to Michael Moore

2009-08-04T23:31:29Z

I will soon send this email to mike@michaelmoore.com and I will post a response if and when I get one. This is my first attempt at this, but I feel like it may be worth the effort.

Dear Mike,

Allow me to get right to the point, because I know you get lots of email. I am having a debate with my close friend about your movies, centered on a scene in Fahrenheit 9/11. He feels you edited a question in to get the answer you wanted with a secret service agent outside Saudi Arabia’s embassy. Unfortunately, the scene shows a close up of his badge during the question, so you cannot determine if the audio is live, or edited in. If it’s edited in, it’s not possible to determine if he’s answering the question you seem to ask. If you had an uncut version of this interview, it would be the best way to clear this up. You ask a question about the secret service being at embassies, and the agent answers “no, not usually.”

The reason he feels so strongly that you purposefully changed it is two fold. For one, he knew that secret service do go to many embassies as part of their job description, because of his friend who did so. For two, the friend who worked in the secret service explained that the man interviewed had answered differently, and that you cut in a response to a different question. Therefore, he feels you have lied in order to prove your point, and that you’ve lost your credibility. I give you the benefit of the doubt, as I would anyone, but I don't have the facts. This information is damaging, so I wanted some information from you.

I was arguing that documentaries could be informative and entertaining, but my friend felt that your movies were not documentaries, but rather propaganda. I am trying to be open minded, but it’s hard to defend your point of view on this scene when I only have my own point of view. It’s also hard to argue against secret service agents’ credibility. I checked your website for supporting facts, but could not find an answer to this specific question, although I may have missed it. If you have answered this specific question before, maybe it would be simple enough to share it with us.

Now that you know our debate, I hope you can respond and give us your perspective on this scene, and maybe your take on what your works are made for and how they should be classified. I would like to share your response with everyone, including my friend, so let me know if you would approve of that. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Peace,
~Alana

P.S. I also wanted to add that I’m a long time fan of your books, TV shows, and movies, and I look forward to your new projects like the movie on the financial bailout. I found Fahrenheit 9/11 to be very moving. Every time I watch Sicko, I get choked up and teary when I see our citizens treated at Havana Hospital. Thanks for your consistent efforts to fight for the people left behind and forgotten.

Olbermann: Legislators for sale

2009-08-04T04:56:57Z

Aug.3: In a Special Comment, Countdown's Keith Olbermann slams members of Congress for acting more in the interests of their health industry campaign donors than their constituents who so clearly favor health care reform.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#32277034

Santorum

2009-07-29T03:07:56Z

There are some assholes who don't follow common sense. I'm not being cheeky about this warning. Most of you already know, but if you don't, then you need to get your butt in gear and do some research. You don't want to be left behind. This is the bottom line; if you see santorum, stop what you are doing. It's better to get rid of santorum at first glance, rather than allow santorum to fester. Santorum is disgusting, and will only get more so, if you allow santorum to strengthen. Don't touch santorum with your bare hands, because santorum is not safe. Remove santorum as if santorum is infected with HIV, because you never know, and you don't want to risk your sweet buns by being lazy. Santorum is not a game, so always protect yourself! Don't be an ass: say "no" to santorum!

MMO

2009-07-28T19:48:57Z

I have a problem with the standard MMO game, so I thought I would share it with you. I am mostly thinking of WoW, the most popular game. I will share the way I would prefer things changed. This does not really apply to Free Realms, or Guild Wars, so let me know if you want to meet up on there.

If I'm playing an online multi-player game, I want to play with my friends. This does not work with the current setup for many reasons. Firstly, your characters are stuck on specific servers. Second, even if you are on the same server, if you want to really play together, you must be on the same faction, and you should be around the same level, and it may even be advisable to be the same race and class, to have similar quests. This is not a common thing, and if you force it, it doesn't always work, as you start to separate over time.

As far as the meeting random people, again, you should get a close match with people for them to join you, and the world is so large, you likely will be playing solo. I don't want to pay a monthly fee for a solo experience. If you are the type of person who likes to power game, grinding and farming constantly, and tries to get to the top, then these games could be for you. I got bored with the repetitive, lonely, and long missions. Frustration set in. I wouldn't say it was a waste, but it would have been foolish to continue.

As I said, Free Realms fixes a lot of these issues. You can choose your server. There's no monthly fee. You can instantly change jobs. It's not a game that makes you feel penalized for not being at some high level. It's just a fun and casual game. It may be geared to a younger audience, but I appreciate a lot of what it does right. Then again, I don't know anyone who plays, and everyone seems to play WoW...

Compassion - Gender Differences

2009-07-25T00:54:31Z

What I'm going to describe is simply my experience with recent events, so it is inherently subjective. In spite of my mentioning this in various ways in the past, I feel it is something I want to bring up, again. The stimulus for these thoughts is not so narrowly focused, but I recently have been going through some dramatic coming out conversations, and other talks about the transition. Often, the gender of the person I'm talking with is an important signifier of how they will react.

It may come as no surprise to you, but there really are differences in male and female gender, at least in my experience with compassion. What is compassion? I feel it's not simply the willingness and action of helping someone, but also the empathy to care about what they are going through. I know someone who loves to point out the different ways people relate, from a masculine way (stoic and rational) to the feminine way (emotional and relational.) It's not quite so clear a dichotomy, and people do break this rule.

-Males who are accepting tend to be somewhat supportive in word, but very detached and less empathetic. Males who are not accepting seem "brutally honest" with their opinions that they think are facts, more interrogative, and practically hateful. Generally, they seem to focused more on events and rules, and act more ambivalent.

- Females who are accepting say supportive things, do supportive things, and generally are more in touch with how it's affecting me. Females who are not accepting... I haven't really had this yet. Even those who have a hard time with it at first, they still deal with it privately, and end up to be supportive. Generally, they seem to be more open and engaged.

I'm not saying that males can't be compassionate, but I usually can notice the difference in how people handle things, and females have been more compassionate. This is all based on what I feel is compassionate, so if you have a different idea, such as the "tough love" approach, then you might feel differently. When it comes down to how I want to relate to others, I still try and have a bit of rational and relational compassion, but I much prefer the female way of engaging with people.

Does this mean I dislike males? No, I don't think one gender is better than the other... well, except in certain situations. It probably isn't that important, but it does make me feel a little better about what I'm going through.

(Oh yeah, if you are female, then the winner is you!)

Trans Shooting Verdict

2009-07-17T21:28:05Z

NY man guilty of hate crime in transgender slaying

My letter to the family of the victim:

All of us have fears, but we put them aside to live happy lives. I remember at the "Day of Remembrance" seeing that a person from New York, not far from Oswego where I went to school, was killed recently. Even though I didn't know Lateisha Green personally, I won't forget what happened, and I will keep moving towards a more just and peaceful society. I hope that our state will pass GENDA to protect against discrimination, but losing my job is not my only concern. We must stand together and tell everyone that hate crimes based on gender identity, or any other hate crime, is especially unacceptable in society. I am happy to see that justice was done, and I am hopeful for our future. Peace.

Body = Funny

2009-07-13T22:00:38Z

I was thinking about how bodies change, and how they can easily grow, but you can't easily make things go away. Then I had a weird feeling where I felt the super low friction of my knee joints while I was standing doing my work. I started laughing as I jiggled my frictionless knees back and forth, feeling the smoothness of their motion under my weight. Bodies are so funny!

GENDERBLEND

2009-07-13T00:56:50Z

I am part of a new community on YouTube! I just posted my first video there, where I talk about some gender related issues that are coming to New York, once I talk to a bunch of people who posted earlier this week. After that, I posted a video as a response from my persona channel, talking about transition updates and Chaz Bono. If you have about 20 minutes, and don't find me talking to be boring, then check them out...

Music = Life

2009-07-10T09:50:08Z

I just ordered the SanDisk Sansa View 32 GB Video MP3 Player for $200. The best thing about this is the MicroSD slot, and with cards going up to 32 GB right now, the future looks good for unlimited storage. I already have some 2 GB MicroSD cards for other things, like my cell phone and my DS, which makes it a good companion. It also has a microphone, which could be good for practicing my voice. Maybe I'd even listen to some radio... I'm sure the old 80 GB iPod will be useful in other ways, even though it can't play music out of the headphone jack. It sure beats brining my CD's around in a huge case!