there are a few things in Boston that are going to take some getting used to after living in Pittsburgh. i've thought to write about them, but one in particular has grabbed my attention lately.
it's so great to live in a city with functional mass transit. they have the T system really well worked out here: trains run frequently, fares are reasonable, and you can use them to get pretty much everywhere. but the subway cars are always crowded. the seats are arranged like a cross between the D.C. metro and the NYC subway, with some facing forward/backward and a fair number along the sides of the car. there's plenty of room for standers as well.
here's what i've noticed: the only people who offer to give up their seats to anyone are women. one man did offer his seat to me last week, but he was middle-aged and clearly from out of town (visiting his college-aged daughter and her boyfriend, who were both seated near him and his wife), and only after i offered my seat to an elderly woman who got on the train a few stops after us. outwardly-appearing male people under the age of 40 never offer their seats to anyone. not all outwardly-appearing female people do, but with that one exception, all the people i've seen do so have been women or girls.
this gets me thinking. ever since i figured out that gender roles are not black-and-white, i've tried to be chivalrous. that is, i try to treat people with respect, and i try to treat women with a special level of it. part of this is the lesbian in me, hoping she will notice, and part of this is the gender rebel in me, trying to make people go what-the-fuck. but i never expect other women to behave this way; i always expect that men should.
if there is one seat left on the train and Chance and i are together, i always get to sit down.
the conclusion i'm drawing is, chivalry is not dead. chivalry will not die as long as there are butches.
the subsequent question: how does this relate to the still-foreign concept of outwardly heteronormative women performing chivalrous acts that their masculine counterparts do not?
29 August 2011
16 August 2011
on emotional misconduct
i started writing this months ago about one emotion. then when i picked it up again, that one turned into two. the two are so closely related that i feel no need to adjust my use of nouns.
i'm glad i know what pure, all-consuming hatred feels like. it's not a comfortable feeling; i don't like it. i'm glad that i am able to experience the full range of human emotions in all their depth, and i like learning about them. i believe it is my purpose as a human being to live the fullest human experience i can, and emotional experience is a big part of that.
i'm glad i know what pure, all-consuming hatred feels like. it's not a comfortable feeling; i don't like it. i'm glad that i am able to experience the full range of human emotions in all their depth, and i like learning about them. i believe it is my purpose as a human being to live the fullest human experience i can, and emotional experience is a big part of that.
hate is ugly. it makes me an ugly person, and i don't want it in me. and the truth is, i don't know why it's in me. i've heard it said--mostly by religious people, which always makes me suspicious (even though in this case i suspect it's true)--that forgiveness is the cure. but forgiveness is hard, especially when you can't identify what it is you need to forgive a person for. or when it's so many things that it seems impossible, or their behavior is so consistent that it seems the person will never change and it won't be worth the effort.
it's not always possible to deal with anger productively. edit: it may not always be simple to do so. what if the person or people with whom you are angry is/are not receptive to anything you have to say? yelling doesn't work. even in writing--i've written pages i can't even flip past anymore without feeling heat bubble into my face.
so my response, at least recently, has been to leave it behind. this may or may not be the same as ignoring it. i can admit that i'm angry, i can admit that i feel hatred, but it seems to me that there's no need to invest energy in those negative emotions. so i don't. the problem is that this leaves a lot of things unresolved. it would be much easier if letting go meant letting go, but anger is a stubborn beast. if there is no resolution, no explanation of what made me angry and no indication that the situation will change (or, at the worst case, absolutely nothing i can do about it), the slightest thing can trigger a descent right back down that slippery slope. stupid facebook with its old pictures in the right-hand column. a shared name on a television show. someone of similar stature or bearing seen from behind. adrenaline, heat, and frustration. what do you do? what am i supposed to do?
i don't think that experiencing anger, or even hate, is in itself somehow unenlightened. but i think this lack of understanding of how to deal with it, this uncertainty that my method will work, shows there is a lot i have left to learn. and i think it's terribly unfortunate that there are people who want to keep me in those emotions--even moreso that in so doing, those people are keeping themselves there. (what's really funny is, in so doing, they've accused me of the same.)
i hope this is a conversation i can continue to have with myself. it needs to be.
09 August 2011
wedding
i've been meaning to write some thoughts on the wedding i went to as part of the Epic Road Trip, and here i sit having found about 2 dozen jobs to apply for and wanting to submit nothing until my signature is on a piece of paper that confirms i will have a Boston address, so i might as well.
it's interesting to find yourself in a collision of people you knew well a number of years ago, whether that number is few or many--it's all relative. some of those people have clearly kept in better touch than others. it's always interesting to take a field trip to your past.
the wedding ceremony itself was probably my favorite that i've ever been to. admittedly, that number is small. i loved the combination of "christian and pre-christian traditions" that resulted in some of the most honest & meaningful promises i've ever witnessed. i felt privileged to be there. particularly striking:
"will you burden her?" "i may." "is that your intention?" "no."
"will you anger him?" "i may." "is that your intention?" "no."
"you cannot possess me, for i belong to myself, but while we are living, i will give you that which is mine to give."
i wonder what it's like to be someone to whom the words "husband" and "wife" have meaning. they don't to me, really.
when he approached me at the reception and asked, "what did you think of the ceremony?" i believed that it mattered.
the moment of pride upon learning--and sharing--that the three of us were the reason there were no titles (mr., ms, mrs.) on anyone's placecards. there is still work to be done in this circle (to anyone who may wonder whether it's appropriate to invite a transwoman to a bachelor party, or whether she "disqualified [her]self": the answer is to treat her like every other woman you know, because she is one.), but we have already made such a difference. (memory: "so, you swing?" "...sit down. we are having this conversation right. now.")
and of the woman mentioned above: i have so much admiration and respect for the strength and resilience it must have taken to walk into that place, completely yourself, and surround yourself with the boys who knew you as he, the ones you shared living space with in a college dorm, the ones who knew you when.
it's interesting to find yourself in a collision of people you knew well a number of years ago, whether that number is few or many--it's all relative. some of those people have clearly kept in better touch than others. it's always interesting to take a field trip to your past.
the wedding ceremony itself was probably my favorite that i've ever been to. admittedly, that number is small. i loved the combination of "christian and pre-christian traditions" that resulted in some of the most honest & meaningful promises i've ever witnessed. i felt privileged to be there. particularly striking:
"will you burden her?" "i may." "is that your intention?" "no."
"will you anger him?" "i may." "is that your intention?" "no."
"you cannot possess me, for i belong to myself, but while we are living, i will give you that which is mine to give."
i wonder what it's like to be someone to whom the words "husband" and "wife" have meaning. they don't to me, really.
when he approached me at the reception and asked, "what did you think of the ceremony?" i believed that it mattered.
the moment of pride upon learning--and sharing--that the three of us were the reason there were no titles (mr., ms, mrs.) on anyone's placecards. there is still work to be done in this circle (to anyone who may wonder whether it's appropriate to invite a transwoman to a bachelor party, or whether she "disqualified [her]self": the answer is to treat her like every other woman you know, because she is one.), but we have already made such a difference. (memory: "so, you swing?" "...sit down. we are having this conversation right. now.")
and of the woman mentioned above: i have so much admiration and respect for the strength and resilience it must have taken to walk into that place, completely yourself, and surround yourself with the boys who knew you as he, the ones you shared living space with in a college dorm, the ones who knew you when.
08 August 2011
life update
i'm pretty sure that i need this license to get a job, but i need a job to get this license.
we thought we found a place to live, but by the time we got around to the paperwork, somebody else had already put down a deposit. back to square one.
if i am at least smart enough to figure out how to ask for help with the parts of this process that confuse me, don't treat me like an idiot. there's no excuse for rudeness over the phone.
vacation was nice. i'm trying not to prolong it too much.
we thought we found a place to live, but by the time we got around to the paperwork, somebody else had already put down a deposit. back to square one.
if i am at least smart enough to figure out how to ask for help with the parts of this process that confuse me, don't treat me like an idiot. there's no excuse for rudeness over the phone.
vacation was nice. i'm trying not to prolong it too much.
22 July 2011
dreams/tattoo/marbles/thought/things
i've been having some crazy dreams lately. apparently there are some interactions my subconscious feels the need to complete, whether or not i'll get the opportunity in my waking life. last night i dreamed that i literally knocked somebody out of a performance they were hijacking and then told them, "you are a gluttonous, selfish exhibitionist. selfish. it's embarrassing, really." then my subconscious thought that sentence was so perfect that dream-me needed to go write it down. so i guess i can honor my subconscious for getting through that interaction for me by putting it here.
my tattoo is in the stage of healing where it's peeling in giant flakes. incredibly exciting, but also a little unnerving.
this town has literally brought me to tears at least three times in the last few days. i was driving into Lawrenceville past Wilson's Pharmacy and saw their LED sign in the window that read, "Good luck [4 random feminine names] at the National Marbles Championship!" this is the kind of place i am leaving, where a locally-owned and run business will recognize members of the community--youth--by name in their window, for marbles.
and a thought that's been floating around in my head for months if not longer:
by the time you decided to become a boy, i was ready to be with a man.
my belongings are in a big metal box on a truck on their way to a faraway place. panic is setting in, a little bit.
my tattoo is in the stage of healing where it's peeling in giant flakes. incredibly exciting, but also a little unnerving.
this town has literally brought me to tears at least three times in the last few days. i was driving into Lawrenceville past Wilson's Pharmacy and saw their LED sign in the window that read, "Good luck [4 random feminine names] at the National Marbles Championship!" this is the kind of place i am leaving, where a locally-owned and run business will recognize members of the community--youth--by name in their window, for marbles.
and a thought that's been floating around in my head for months if not longer:
by the time you decided to become a boy, i was ready to be with a man.
my belongings are in a big metal box on a truck on their way to a faraway place. panic is setting in, a little bit.
18 July 2011
on mobility
i've never understood the impulse to stay in one place. i understand that some people possess it, that there are those who are perfectly content to graduate from high school, go to college close to home (or not go to college at all), come back to town with a degree, get a job, marry their high school sweetheart, raise their children in the place where they were raised, live, retire, and die all within a 5-mile radius. i also understand that there are people who like to put penises in their mouths; i don't get that one either. it really does take all kinds, and as far as i can figure, the impulse to move or the impulse to stay in one place is no different.
i was raised by people who did not stay in the same place. both of my parents went away to college, and after they got married, they moved even farther away from home. neither of them ever suggested to me that this was the "right" way to do it, and every time i try to move farther away, my mother threatens to cry. but that's where i come from, and implicit lessons can be some of the strongest ones.
i get these incredible bouts of wanderlust. i get restless if i stay in one place for too long. i've never traveled as much as i would like, but sometimes it's just time for a new city. frankly, i'm surprised i've stayed in pittsburgh for as long as i have.
i just don't get how, in a world this wide, a person can be content to stay in the same place and limit their experience that way. there's something to be said for a sense of home--i want to find it. (i wonder if i will ever feel that need to "settle down," to buy a house, plant a garden, and let my children complete their entire education in a single school district. part of me hopes that i will; it seems unfair to do otherwise. but i'm still waiting. i have yet to find a place i'd be willing to sit still.) but there are so many different kinds of home: the house where my parents live, the town where i grew up, the campus where i went to college, the haus my college friends lived in where i learned all the most important lessons, the comfort in a circle of people who honor each other with mutual respect and affection, the passenger seat of my best friend's car, the sound of my partner's heartbeat when i lay my head on his chest. home is not a place so much as a feeling for me, and it's one i can find anywhere given the right circumstance. and if i can find home anywhere, why should i not try to find it in as many different places as possible, and learn the many ways people in different places make it for themselves?
sidenote: i'm postponing writing a piece about anger, for reasons i will address when i finally get around to it, which are the same reasons i need to write the piece in the first place. my life is in chaos given the upcoming move, and i'm not writing nearly enough (theme for the year). counting my days left in Pittsburgh in single digits.
i was raised by people who did not stay in the same place. both of my parents went away to college, and after they got married, they moved even farther away from home. neither of them ever suggested to me that this was the "right" way to do it, and every time i try to move farther away, my mother threatens to cry. but that's where i come from, and implicit lessons can be some of the strongest ones.
i get these incredible bouts of wanderlust. i get restless if i stay in one place for too long. i've never traveled as much as i would like, but sometimes it's just time for a new city. frankly, i'm surprised i've stayed in pittsburgh for as long as i have.
i just don't get how, in a world this wide, a person can be content to stay in the same place and limit their experience that way. there's something to be said for a sense of home--i want to find it. (i wonder if i will ever feel that need to "settle down," to buy a house, plant a garden, and let my children complete their entire education in a single school district. part of me hopes that i will; it seems unfair to do otherwise. but i'm still waiting. i have yet to find a place i'd be willing to sit still.) but there are so many different kinds of home: the house where my parents live, the town where i grew up, the campus where i went to college, the haus my college friends lived in where i learned all the most important lessons, the comfort in a circle of people who honor each other with mutual respect and affection, the passenger seat of my best friend's car, the sound of my partner's heartbeat when i lay my head on his chest. home is not a place so much as a feeling for me, and it's one i can find anywhere given the right circumstance. and if i can find home anywhere, why should i not try to find it in as many different places as possible, and learn the many ways people in different places make it for themselves?
sidenote: i'm postponing writing a piece about anger, for reasons i will address when i finally get around to it, which are the same reasons i need to write the piece in the first place. my life is in chaos given the upcoming move, and i'm not writing nearly enough (theme for the year). counting my days left in Pittsburgh in single digits.
06 July 2011
moving (stream-of-consciousness xvii)
i'm moving out of Pittsburgh.
it's time for some serious writing. let's start with the basics.
we got bored with sitting around waiting for something happen, so we decided to make something happen. we knew it was pending, but i am only motivated by deadlines. we are leaving Pittsburgh on the 24th. of July.
today is the 6th.
we made this decision a little more than a week ago, and the time since has been a clutter of packing and deciding, planning and organizing. i reserved the UPack Relo-cubes (what a great idea!); we are contacting friends and family and making plans for sleeping space. most of the details are down, but there are still a couple fuzzy dates. i don't know when we'll make it to Boston.
oh, did i skip that part?
we're moving to Boston, following an Epic Road Trip.
leg #1: drive to my parents' house to drop off my car. we're only keeping one. it's his Jeep; that's why i'm learning to drive stick shift.
leg #2: go to Vermont to visit my dad's parents. staying at camp. loving the lake.
leg #3: go to Long Island to visit my mom's family. interesting house.
leg #4: going to NEPA for an old friend's wedding. interesting thoughts.
leg #5: camping!
leg #6: going to NYC to visit an old friend of his, then
leg #7: to family in New Hampshire. this is the last stop before
leg #8: eventually, probably, crashing with friends who are moving into an apartment in Boston on Aug 1, but not until their lease begins and not for more than 2 weeks. i'm hoping to find a place to live that won't result in my needing to crash for longer than that...i have multiple sets of people willing to house us, but would like to be independent rather than an imposition.
it's going to be an adventure. i'm excited and nervous. i don't have a job. i don't have a place to live. bunch of places to stay, but no place to live. it's going to be awesome.
i'm going to have to make my peace with this city, this place that raised me, that made me grow up. i didn't live here through my childhood, and i'm thankful for that. i don't think i ever would have grown up there. i've learned a lot in the last 6 years and i'm ready to move on. it's time.
it occurs to me that i should be glad i have the luxury. [i know i'm spoiled.]
i rode in the backseats of the cars of people i trust this weekend, up and down Mt. Washington twice, and every view of the city was beautiful. they do it right when they really want to. the sky filled with smoke from the 4th of July fireworks, glowing like a night when everything's perfect and the clouds want to smother you in it so you don't have to go. it was yellow and red and awesome. the fireworks were the smallest part of my night, really, due to timing beyond my control. time is tricky like that.
i haven't been writing as much as i'd like lately, but when isn't that true. i'm working on it. i think i'll get there. this concept of "free time" is strange and foreign.
it's time for some serious writing. let's start with the basics.
we got bored with sitting around waiting for something happen, so we decided to make something happen. we knew it was pending, but i am only motivated by deadlines. we are leaving Pittsburgh on the 24th. of July.
today is the 6th.
we made this decision a little more than a week ago, and the time since has been a clutter of packing and deciding, planning and organizing. i reserved the UPack Relo-cubes (what a great idea!); we are contacting friends and family and making plans for sleeping space. most of the details are down, but there are still a couple fuzzy dates. i don't know when we'll make it to Boston.
oh, did i skip that part?
we're moving to Boston, following an Epic Road Trip.
leg #1: drive to my parents' house to drop off my car. we're only keeping one. it's his Jeep; that's why i'm learning to drive stick shift.
leg #2: go to Vermont to visit my dad's parents. staying at camp. loving the lake.
leg #3: go to Long Island to visit my mom's family. interesting house.
leg #4: going to NEPA for an old friend's wedding. interesting thoughts.
leg #5: camping!
leg #6: going to NYC to visit an old friend of his, then
leg #7: to family in New Hampshire. this is the last stop before
leg #8: eventually, probably, crashing with friends who are moving into an apartment in Boston on Aug 1, but not until their lease begins and not for more than 2 weeks. i'm hoping to find a place to live that won't result in my needing to crash for longer than that...i have multiple sets of people willing to house us, but would like to be independent rather than an imposition.
it's going to be an adventure. i'm excited and nervous. i don't have a job. i don't have a place to live. bunch of places to stay, but no place to live. it's going to be awesome.
i'm going to have to make my peace with this city, this place that raised me, that made me grow up. i didn't live here through my childhood, and i'm thankful for that. i don't think i ever would have grown up there. i've learned a lot in the last 6 years and i'm ready to move on. it's time.
it occurs to me that i should be glad i have the luxury. [i know i'm spoiled.]
i rode in the backseats of the cars of people i trust this weekend, up and down Mt. Washington twice, and every view of the city was beautiful. they do it right when they really want to. the sky filled with smoke from the 4th of July fireworks, glowing like a night when everything's perfect and the clouds want to smother you in it so you don't have to go. it was yellow and red and awesome. the fireworks were the smallest part of my night, really, due to timing beyond my control. time is tricky like that.
i haven't been writing as much as i'd like lately, but when isn't that true. i'm working on it. i think i'll get there. this concept of "free time" is strange and foreign.
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