"Calm Act"

With respect and due deference to my cousin who brought this issue to her facebook page.

http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50185371/#50185371 

I would like to share my viewpoints as someone who has been in the radio/television/cable advertising profession since 1990...and with what is now Suddenlink Communications Cable Advertising Operations Central Group since 1997.

 ummmmm, friends.....this was already going on behind the scenes before laws were passed. I know that at least for my daytime job, we do not "turn up" the ads. Here is what is happening. 1. Programming is produced in one place, ads in another. Although there are standards, there is some degree in difference in how different people apply those standards, even when trained correctly. 2. Most of the time what you hear is louder is "apparent loudness", due to the number of frequencies in the audio you are hearing. Think about it, which "sounds louder" NASCAR or a funeral home ad? NASCAR is louder because ....indeed, many times the average level of audio is louder.....but it also has "more sounds" in the audio that in the typical funeral home ad (which will "sound" quieter).
 This legislation is important, just don't buy into the falsehood that advertisers always "pump up" the volume.

 In regards to complaining to a television broadcaster about their commercials Please be respectful when calling.

There are technical details at play here that are not as easy to handle as one might expect. For instance, Suddenlink CAO - Cable Advertising Operations, central group operates over 300 sites across Texas, Lousiana, Eureka California, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. When there is a complaint against one commercials out of thousands, we research it, double check it against standards, and get an engineer to the site to double check how overall audio levels are set. This takes research and time. Our competitors either have the same set up as we do (Comcast/Time Warner), or they are individual stations with master control operators (the person who switches the programs and commercials, etc) trying the past to make everyone happy.

Katy needs a new "coin purse" to replace current "power tools"

So, for those of you whom don't know. After some time and infinite patience on the part of a certain Phyllis Randolph Frye, I can now finally say "She's a girl" in regard to myself. I had a name change some years back (2001) and "F" on my driver's license, due to the mercy of a public official. However, I was not fully official till recently.

Phyllis Frye made that possible. When my new birth certificate arrives, I will scan it and share it with all you wonderful Facebook people.

So, what you may/ may not know about me is that I do have a constant struggle with my bodily configuration. Now, I have lasted as long as I have because of a certain amount of peace, a certain amount of focusing of passion towards the community, and a certain amount of talking with the Goddess.

I had heard about the Jim Collins Foundation grants to help with such medical necessities. And, I have considered off an on applying. On the one hand, I do not want to take from someone less privileged than me. On the other, I have enough to do to work on advocacy and education about transgender and this journey. Applications are currently closed for this round of grants.

However, applications will open again soon, and I need to do this for myself. One of the conditions of applicants is a certain amount of fundraising.

I am good at fundraising, I do it great for organizations I am passionate about and people I call friends. I have done quite a bit of fundraising therefore for others or for myself vis a vis for an organization I am integrally involved with.

I, however, do not always sell myself well. My virtue tends more towards modesty instead of self-marketing. And, I don't want to interfere or confuse with other fundraisers I have coming up in the next few months.

In December I will be raising funds for Trans Advocacy Network. In late winter/spring I will be raising funds in the form of sustaining donors to TENT.

I need something different for myself, but need to show I can do it.

So, here is what I am going to do. I am going to ask you to save up and donate your change to me for surgery with Dr. Raphael in Plano. Let's do a month by month goal, of $100? $250? $1K? A reminder will be posted at the beginning and middle of each month with a "change raised" thermometer here on my facebook page. If you desire, your name will also be featured in an animated graphic either here or on my blog.

Where will you send your loose change for Katy's new coin pussy?

Katy Stewart
PO Box 4041
Bryan, Texas 77805

Please consider helping out!

 

JibJabbin 2012

     Just about every Winter Season at some point I cheer up with a dose of Jib Jab at JibJab.com. I have been meaning to do this year's JibJab pictures and dances, and finally got to it today. Because I don't want to buy a bunch of videos in addition to our annual membership, I have referenced links to the videos below.

I hope you enjoy as much fun as I had creating them.

Links:

• http://www.jibjab.com/view/WNEnHHSRRlu1xLJ1mKki0Q
• http://www.jibjab.com/view/jc57a49hScejh9uIV4jWrg
• http://www.jibjab.com/view/NZNFVgcnQoyAvArTA2LVjA
• http://www.jibjab.com/view/sJ_xR-N2TS--oFWDfSvdqA

Legacy, Death and Hope post TDOR 2012

     Last night at the Brazos Valley Transgender Day of Remembrance Memorial, Dan De Leon left all of us with a message from the Navajo people. Something along the lines of,

 Earth's feet have become my feet

by means of these I shall live on.

Earth's legs have become my legs

by means of these I shall live on.

Earth's body has become my body

by means of this I shall live on.

Earth's mind has become my mind

by means of this I shall live on.

Earth's voice has become my voice

by means of this I shall live on.
http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~rfrey/220dine_navajo_landscape_drypaintings.htm

This resonates with my soul.

You see, I worry. I worry too much, but I worry just the same.
I fear what will be thought of me once I pass on.
I fear what will happen to my essence when the end comes, as I so dutifully want to continue with full knowledge of who I am.
And, I fear that my legacy will be lost, as I have no human children to continue my message.

I have witnessed the Goddess as she has walked in my life. At the same time, I use her more as a crutch and call upon her when afraid, threatened, and in pain. Still, I have felt...rather than seen...her passing in my life.

And, for that matter I have felt the passing of souls when children of mine (canine) has gone beyond this life.

But, I still have doubt, and I still have fear....faith is not my best talent.

And I acknowledge that I don't know what is coming. I acknowledge that aetheist community family see things that I may not.

So, I walk in flux and "fear the reaper".

These words though....these words from the Navajo Dine tradition.
They give me hope for legacy
They give me hope that the message, that the work
will live on.

Thank you!!