Happy New Year!!!

No, I'm not at a gala party tonight nor am I at a festive house party. I'm at home, in my pj's, warming up something comforting for dinner having just fed my cat a half-hour ago. At nine pm, I'll be getting call from my father in Montreal (where it will be midnight Eastern Time). At midnight here on the West Coast, I'll be opening a bottle of sparkly ... pop: not champagne.

But, none of this is sad, tragic or in any way unfortunate. In fact, this is how I wanted to see out the old year, restful (I've also just gotten over the flu), quiet and gathering my energy for the new year as I'm sure I'll need. Many projects lay ahead (more in my next post) and I need to be ready. For now, though, I contemplate the past year one last time. It was year of fewer posts than previous years, but no lack of developments in life. I would like to say a final farewell to the friends who are no longer in this life; thank you for accompanying on my life's journey for as long as you could. For my surviving friends, some having good years and others not, I love you all and do not forget it.

And for my blog visitors, thanks once again for being there!

Happy New Year to you all and be true to yourselves in 2014 and beyond!

“As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison.” - Nelson Mandela

Happy Christmas!!!

I guess there are many ways to wish people well this season, but I like the UK way of saying "Happy Christmas"; sounds cozy. Cozy is what I am hoping to get a lot of over the next week and a half while I am on vacation, hanging out with friends, celebrating abundance and helping others who do not have it so well. Inevitably, it is also a time to reflect on the year gone by and begin to visualize a better future next year and beyond.

In the meantime to all my readers, thanks again for stopping by and my best wishes this season, whatever you celebrate, and in 2014!

The December Project, 2013

Having a hard time this holiday season? If you're trans* and feeling blue this time of the year, the December Project is back for the third year in a row and is ready to make your Christmas/Yule/Solstice brighter and warmer.

The December Project was launched on December 1, 2011 as a support network for transfolks who, given that this season is a lonely, isolating one for many of us, would like someone to talk to. The Project, founded by Jennifer Finney Boylan, Helen Boyd, Mara Keisling and Dylan Scholinski, aims to: "raise the spirits of people in the trans community during what can be a difficult time of year".

Boylan elaborates on her site: "We are two trans women, a trans man, and a spouse of a trans woman. Between the four of us, we have heard many different kinds of trans narratives.  If we can help you, we would be glad to do so."

See the rest of Boylan's post for more information. To everyone in the trans* and genderqueer communities, please take care of yourselves during the holidays. Remember, you are loved!

And to the December Project network: Once again, Good on you! Keep up the great work!

A Brand New Beat: Farewell, Shake a Tail Feather

And so, today, I hosted my last episode of "Shake a Tail feather", the classic soul music program I have been hosting on CITR FM (University of British Columbia) since September 2006.

Over the past seven years and two months, I have laughed, cried, danced, sat and listened in awe to some new, but very old obscurity sharing it with my audience as well as sharing the newest indie soul and funk done the old-fashioned way by new bands hailing from Vancouver, Ottawa, Brooklyn, Barcelona and many points in between.

Many things went into my decision to draw the show to a close, and I will likely get into some of them in more detail in a later post (when I reflect on the turbulent year that was 2013), but suffice it to say that I had a lot of fun hosting, interviewing guests, and hearing back from my listeners. It is simply time for me to move on to a brand new beat.

Thanks so much to CITR and the show's fans and to all the soul/rhythm and blues artists, living or dead, who poured their hearts out on record so that I and others could enjoy their fresh, heartfelt sound many years later.

And now, it's on to bigger and better.

Best,
Love, Vanessa (DJ V)

Once the Candles Go Out ... TDOR 2013 and Beyond

Today is the fifteenth anniversary of The Transgender Day of Remembrance; it was originally started in 1998 by Gwendolyn Ann Smith, a transgender graphic designer, columnist, and activist, to memorialize the murder of Rita Hester in Allston, Massachusetts. Since then, the memorial has grown from a web-based memorial project into an international day of action; the TDOR web site still operates, its scope international as well.

Sadly, 2013 has seen many more names added to the remembrance list. I am confident that those of us in the trans* or genderqueer communities will either be at one of the many events today or will find other ways to memorialize, perhaps remember friends or family that have been lost due to transphobic violence or suicide. I am also confident that, once the candles go out this year, that we will resolve to fight for the basic civil rights that we deserve, the we will speak truth to power in Victoria, BC, Ottawa, California, Washington DC and elsewhere, and that we will also fight to tell our own stories in the media and in our popular culture so that the vitriolic rants of reactionaries on so-called news stations and the cheap, dehumanizing jokes of talk show hosts and so-called comedians will eventually fade, drowned out by the truth of our individual lives and our collective experience.

Let's gear up for the good fight ... and may the light outweigh the darkness in 2014. 

Coming Out Day, 2013: More Life!

Coming out has been, by now, a years long process, including coming out to myself. My knowledge that I was a transwoman was hidden from my conscious view for many years: a subliminal message. Then, at various points throughout my twenties, I glimpsed it, but was too afraid to name it. It gradually dawned on me from my early thirties onward, finally hitting me like a ton of bricks in my thirty-eighth year. Even then, it took over another year before I started my transition, after much research and soul searching. For a more detailed telling of all of this, those of you who have not already done so can have a look at the "About Me" section of this blog by clicking on the link in the right hand column.

Since, actually before, starting transition, I have been coming out to friends, co-workers, and folks in virtually every area of my life including my radio listeners. My family, most of it estranged, is another matter. But, I continue to come out every day in every way as the ripple effects of being myself in this way flow out to other realms of my life. More confidence, more passion, more compassion, more maturity, more detachment, more life. I would not trade this for anything else.

'The Switch' Trailer: New and Improved!

For those of you who were wondering, yes, The Switch, the trans-themed sitcom in which I was a member of the writing team, is still chugging along. A new pilot, with an almost completely new cast has been completed. Here is the new trailer, enjoy!

Keep up to date with the latest news on our production at The Switch web site.