So not breast cancer then. One harmless lipoma and the rest gynaecomastia. All the same, the circumstance of a non-transitioning, non-medicating, sort of mtf, sort of trans person having “woman” problems of whatever kind does have a certain piquancy. A cosmic joke from the trans goddess if you will. But more importantly... Earrings. Since I had my ears done last December, I've been buying earrings. These were the first (and most expensive)... Neometal threadless. Swarovski crystals. They go in from behind the ear, which is tricky. My fastest time is 1:15 (both ears), but I can spend 6 min ..read more

This blog. Today. I remembered this time. On my early anniversaries I used to write about stats, so... Total page views As of this precise moment – 281,236 Page views per month Since I'm not writing anything much, PVPM have dropped from an all-time high of 5389 but are still rarely below 1000. Just four occasions in thirteen years: 922, 957, 927 (all Januaries - dunno why) and 577 (September 2022). What happened that month, bots?!? Highest offsite referrals Google, Reddit, T-Central (thanks, Calie), Twitter (nuts to X, Musk, you bellend), YATGB (thanks, Lynn). Most popular posts Straigh ..read more

Me. Today. So it's official: I'm no longer middle-aged. I'm now on the last leg of my threescore years and ten. And if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow. Which raises the question of what to do with them. Dedicate myself to good works for the benefit of humanity. Sit on the sofa watching TV with a big box of pork rinds, living life to its fullest, as per Homer J. Simpson. Sneak the equivalent of 36 big barrels of gunpowder into the Westminster cellars and raze the edifice of corruption to the ground. Get my ears pierced. I might do that ..read more

I've hardly blogged at all this year. Anywhere. Just twice here. Just twice on my chess blog. And I'm three months behind on my buying records blog. I've gone AWOL. Meanwhile, I see Lynn still blogs every week. Or more. Since 2005. I think her 1000th post was in May. One thousand posts. Respect is due :) In a recent one, she flagged the following online thingy: IDR 7 Identities Test Okay, I've just done that. The only result I'd question there is Transgender. Hmmm. 76%. I'm not sure I feel quite so trans. But I guess it all depends how you define it. On the other hand, my Gender Fluid an ..read more

So I went to my niece's wedding as planned. Here we both are: Obviously she wins in the fashion stakes there. And it's very nice to see her looking so happy :) As for me, it didn't actually take much nerve at all. (I mean, I'm nearly 60; why the fuck am I even still thinking about this shit?!) But reactions were interesting in one (or two) respect(s)... The women (the younger ones anyway) were all: “Ooo, fabulous skirt, where did you get it?” To answer that: from someone called Linda, who makes “gothic victorian steampunk” gear and flogs it on eBay. The men en masse said nothing. No antipa ..read more

Four months later, I have another new pair of boots. Well, secondhand pair of boots. They were advertised on eBay as “drag queen boots”. I bid on them anyway – a last six seconds sniper's bid – and got them for £5.50 plus p&p. £10.82 all told. Sweet. And they fit, which is by no means a given with eBay footwear purchases. Here's what they look like with my aforementiioned skirt. Frankly, this post is just an excuse to post that picture – which I like because of the way it's taken: with a small reflected sun where my face should be. Now the question is whether I have the nerve to wear bo ..read more

You keep saying you got something for me. Skirts, check. Tights, check. (What else with skirts?) How about footwear? I've already mentioned my humming bird boots, once or twice. People seem to like these... Now I have a new pair of boots. My youngest niece arranged with her multiple siblings to buy me some DMs for Christmas. She'd mentioned DMs before, and later asked my shoe size, so I was more than half expecting them. But not the colour... Aren't they grand :) Sod the whole of last year. 2023 is going to kick. Something or someone. Are you ready, boots? Start walking ..read more

Yes, most everything is still shit. No change there. However, I've managed to resolve the skirt issue from the previous post. The one where I was “thinking all the time about wearing skirts.” After pondering and perusing the question, considering the possibilities, weighing them up, sifting them through, looking at them from varied angles and perspectives, I finally hit upon a solution. Wearing skirts. Hardly anyone gives a fuck. “I'd probably have to ask my mate first.” — Wear what you want. — Okay :) Two gigs, two skirts. Two trips into town, two skirts. (I don't get out much.) Comment ..read more

The whole world is going down the fucking toilet. Everything is just shit and it's getting increasingly worse, it seems to me, increasingly. I can't even begin. Shit, shit, every where, nor any way to avoid it. You'll be drinking it whether you will or no. From this super happy place, I've found myself thinking a lot about... Skirts. For instance: Isn't that gorgeous! Who wouldn't want to wear a skirt like that? Even if it won't look quite so good on you. Or me. Nevertheless: Now I just need an occasion to wear it out. My youngest niece has suggested her wedding. Maybe :) The last time ..read more

There was a piece in The Guardian a few months back: “‘I went from basic to flamboyant overnight!’ The people who transformed their style – in their 50s, 60s and 70s”. It's subheaded: “Growing older can mean getting bolder – so why shouldn’t this be reflected in our clothes? Meet four people who refuse to blend into the background”. I don't know about “getting bolder”. I think it's more an increasing feeling of “I really couldn't give a shit”. When I am an old woman I shall wear purple. The person with the style I most like there is Arlinda McIntosh (64, New Jersey): “The clothes I wanted t ..read more