Merry Christmas* 2013

It's Christmas Eve on my side of the International Date line, but for all of you on the western side of it, it's Christmas Day! 

Merry Christmas to all of my TransGriot readers who are spending it with family (either blood relations or chosen family) friends, or the people you love. 

Can't thank you enough for the support that you have given to me and to my blog since its inception back in 2006, and deeply appreciate you continuing to surf by and check it out.  

Maybe one of these days I'll finally be blessed enough to be able to take those international trips I've always wanted to take to Asia, the Philippines, Australia and the rest of the Pacific Rim and actually spend some quality time with you.

Safe travels to and from your holiday destinations, and may you have a wonderful holiday season.

.  

Happy Turkey Day 2013

Today is Thanksgiving Day, which we give thanks for all the blessings that we have received this year and spend time with family and loved ones.

One of the blessings I have received is your love and support for my blog.   You tell me when I'm out and about in the community just how much you appreciate what I do.

And I thank those of you who from time to time will drop change on the TransGriot Tip Jar.
  
The holidays are usually the toughest time for trans and LGB pees who may be estranged from their blood families, so let's be extra vigilant during this time of year to reach out to out TBLG peeps who may be emotionally vulnerable.

For those of you who aren't around your families and lamenting that, don't.   The best way to deal with that situation is create your own family chock full of the people who love, honor and appreciate you in their lives. During this holiday season break bread with your chosen family and create holiday memories with them..

And if you're feeling down or depressed, call someone.   Suicide is never the answer.  Your best revenge is to live your life and be radically successful at it in terms you define.

So Happy Thanksgiving Day!    I'm going to take the day off to hang out with the peeps who love and appreciate me, and will be back tomorrow to carve up some jive turkeys in my weekly Shut Up Fool post.

But if I feel moved to write something  or some breaking news happens that I must get out there, you'll see something today on the blog. 

But until then, see ya tomorrow.     

Post Number 1000 in 2013!

Considering I had an unplanned writing break when Computer Prime had to go to the shop for repairs, the fact I hit 1000 posts this year with over a month to go isn't surprising.  

It;s the fourth consecutive year I've hit this mark since I started the blog in 2006.  I can confidently predict with 2014 being a midterm election year, I won't have any problem reaching that number of posts next year either. 

Thanks once again for all you loyal TransGriot readers around the world who take time out of your busy lives to surf by the blog, read my take on the world around us, get a little knowledge about trans issues, comment, suggest stories, send links to events I may have missed, and even drop a little change in the TransGriot Tip Jar from time to time.

We'll see how many posts I finish the year with..  
 

Computer Prime Is Finally Back Home!

And so am I from Oakland!

As many of you readers know, I have been dealing with Computer Prime being in the shop since August 29.  While it was there, I had to go to three different branches of the Houston Public Library to use their computers in order to keep the blog updated and keep you supplied with the fresh and on point commentary and posts you've grown to love   

Computer Prime being in the shop was a pain in the azz for me.  Nothing bothers a writer more than not being able to have the tools available to do what they love to do.   It was also a bad time for it to happen because there was a lot of breaking news and stories in Trans World while my computer was in the shop that I'll have to get caught up on. 

And not being able to write that idea at the moment of inspiration for it on the blog immediately was also maddening for me.

Thanks to those donations you peeps make on that TransGriot Tip Jar button in the upper left hand corner of the blog, I had the money to fix it.

As you know from the series of posts I wrote from Oakland, I was at the inaugural Trans* H4CK as a judge and the event was amazing.  I was sad when it was over and had to head to the airport for my 1:20 PM flight that I discovered upon arrival and getting through TSA security was oversold.  Since I had nothing planned for Monday night except watching the Steelers-Bengals Monday Night NFL game, I decided to volunteer and they needed my seat.  I finally got back to Houston from the Left Coast at 12:30 AM CDT this morning from Oakland via LAX.

While I was spending extra time in the Oakland airport waiting for the new flight I been rebooked to after being an oversale volunteer on my original 1:20 PM PDT nonstop departure, I called the shop to find out if Computer Prime was ready.   When I was told it was repaired I was happier than a Republican passing oppressive legislation.

I was there at the computer shop near Reliant Stadium not long after they opened this morning to pick up Computer Prime.  I'm in the process of reinstalling all my software, browser settings, et cetera all while jet lag is kicking my behind, but once I do so I will be getting some sleep.

And after I wake up from that nap, look out Net, the TransGriot's back online and back in 'bidness'!. 

Trans Griot Post 7000!

This is the 7000th post that I have written on this blog since I started it back on January 1, 2006. 

I probably would have hit this milestone last month if it hadn't been for my latest bout with computer issues that has me impatiently waiting to get my computer out of the shop and start cranking out my posts like I normally do.

Thank you TransGriot readers for spending your valuable time reading my posts, recommending this blog to your friends, and helping me to become the go to media platform and blog when it comes to the issues of transpeople of color.

You continue to show me love for doing so, and the feeling is mutual.

Now to the next milestone.

5 Million Hits!

(singing) 5...5 million..5 million blog hits!

Thank you TransGriot readers for helping me reach another blogging milestone as of 2:43 AM today.CDT.  

And how apropos it happened on July 4,  our nation's Independence Day?

Who knew when I started this blog seven years ago that it would be considered a must read one and I'd reach this milestone?

I remember the days I was happy when I'd look at the hit counter and see 500 people read what I posted that day.  All I was trying to do at the time was ensure the voice of African-American transpeople were heard on issues of importance to us inside and outside our community and from time to time comment on the world as I saw it.

Mission accomplished.   But it's still an ongoing mission.   Thank you for reading and telling me how much you appreciate me and what I write here.   Thanks to those of you who drop some change from time to time in my electronic tip jar in the upper left hand corner or send links to stories that you think need to be covered.

I deeply appreciate those of you who spend your day reading and telling your friends about TransGriot.  It's been a major part of my success.   Me being blessed with writing talent and not being 'scurred' to call crap out when necessary doesn't hurt either.

So now that TransGriot has passed this milestone with your help, on to the next one of 5.5 million hits.  

Renee's Medical Update

For those of you who are wondering how our fave north of the 49th parallel frequent guest blogger is doing in combating her recent health challenge, there's some positive news to report on that front.

Renee is on the mend, in good spirits, is determined to get better and the medical team is just as determined to help her get to that point. 

She is now in the rehabilitation hospital for the next three weeks and look out world, is still armed with her tablet.  

She wants to thank all of you who continue to send her get well soon messages on her blog and who lifted her and her family up in prayer during this challenging time.  

With continued progress she'll be unleashing her wit, wisdom and commentary on the world in no time..

I'm Not Kidding When I Say This Is An Internationally Read Blog

Was checking my stats and was curious to find out which countries my readers are coming from and what the Top Ten Countries are who surf by and read my TransGriot posts. 

From the tenth to the top one, here goes:

10. Malaysia
 9.  Brazil
 8.  Russia
 7.  Taiwan
 6.  Germany
 5.  Australia
 4.  France
 3.  United Kingdom
 2.  Canada
 1.  United States

So of the Top Ten countries that read TransGriot posts, noting I have a lot of European readers with the UK, France, Germany and Russia representing that continent.  The Asia-Pacific rim is represented in Malaysia and Taiwan, and South America's largest nation in Brazil.  It's no surprise that the United States and Canada would be numbers one and two.

But what it does tell me is I need to do a better job of including content that will pique the interest of my fellow African descended people across the Diaspora in the Caribbean and Africa. 

I'll probably need to do a monthly post to keep track of my international Top Ten countries as well. 

But no matter what nation you reside in whether it's on my Top Ten list or not, I thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to surf by TransGriot and read my posts.

Rewriting The All-Time TransGriot Traffic Record Books

One of the things I've been happy about during this sometimes sad week for me was seeing my all time TransGriot traffic records spike to record levels.

My traffic is starting to recover from the hit it took when Computer Prime died last month and it has been fluctuating between the 3,500-5,000 hits per day range.

The 'Why The Transgender Community Hates HRC' post I wrote back in 2007 went viral this week and as a result of people and a few major blogs linking to it,  my traffic zoomed to unprecedented levels in the seven year history of this blog.  

And yes people, I am currently working on a sequel to that post.

Starting on March 25, the old one day all time traffic record of 9678 that was set on April 3 of last year was obliterated when 18,990 people surfed over to the blog on that day.  

The next day, March 26 saw that new standard fall when 39,027 peeps surfed by TransGriot.   Even with the Easter weekend approaching on March 27 I had a total of 28,893 people visit the blog that day and on March 28 another 14,756 people stopped by my cyberhome.  Even though yesterday was Good Friday, had 8,550 people surf by to check out my writing . 

So thanks TransGriot readers for an amazing record-breaking few days that has totally reshuffled my all time top five TransGriot traffic days.   And for those of you who are just being introduced to my blog during this period, I invite you to stop by more often.

Back Online People!

Hallelujah!    Have a new (to me) Dell Dimension 4800 desktop computer that arrived today while I was at the HISD school board meeting. 

I'm still working on getting it configured, getting used to the new mouse and having sound coming through my speakers once again, but who cares? 

I'm just happy to be back on line, and megathanks to Polar for the new TransGriot Computer Prime. 

I have had a lot of things going on I need to talk about, and nothing drives a writer crazier than not having the tools at hand to ply their craft.

What I'll do with the donations I've received so far is apply them to either a laptop or table that I can take on to road to blog with.    

All i care about right now is I'm back in the blogging biz and just in time for this week's Shut Up Fool award.

Computer Prime Is Dead

Well, after seven years of faithful service and a rebuild, my desktop computer died on me yesterday.   Time of death was approximately 2:25 PM  Monday afternoon.  

Yeah, it sucks because I'm still working on my speech for the upcoming Black Transmen, Inc conference in Dallas, but I look at it as I was fortunate my computer lasted this long. 

So until I get it replaced and raise the funds to do so, looks like I'll be making a several block walk to the HPL Young Branch to post stuff on TransGriot and keep up with what's happening online.

I do have a PayPal button on the left hand margin of my TransGriot blog if y'all wanna help a sistah out and get her back online as expeditiously as possible.

Oh well, I did say during the LGBT Media Convening I needed to lose some of my Christmas holiday weight I put on.

Another TransGriot High Traffic Day!

Y'all must have really loved that Why I Can't Stand RuPaul post, because 7,690 of you surfed by on January 30 to read it.

That is now my fifth highest all time traffic day on the blog, and I can't thank you folks enough who surfed by to read that one and the other scribblings on my blog.

Deeply appreciate all you folks who took your precious web surfing time to read it, and who recommended it to your friends.

Thanks to you peeps who dropped some change into my TransGriot Tip Jar, too.

Another Record TransGriot Hit Day!

January 23, 2013 was a big day for me on this blog.   I had 8999 people surf over to TransGriot to check out the post that contains the 'Sadie's Dream For The World ' essay she wrote.   

That is now the second highest total of people I've ever had to visit this blog all time.  It is only exceeded by the 9678 of you that did so on April 3, 2012.  

As a matter of fact, at the moment I'm compiling this post that essay alone has been read by over 5700 people since I posted it on January 22.  

The Thanks, Sadie! post has drawn another 800 people and counting to the blog to read it.

Thank you Sadie once again for speaking your mind and your unabashed pride in being a girl like us. Our community could use a lot more adult girls like us with your courage to stand tall for themselves and the trans community.  I have no doubts you achieve some fantastic things when you get older.  

Sage, as her proud mom for you, thank you and Sadie for allowing me to post it so that Sadie's words got the now national and international attention they deserved.

Thank you TransGriot readers who continue to tell me from time to time how much you appreciate what I do here.  I couldn't have achieved that number two all time high without y'all taking time out of your busy days to check out what I write here.  

And trust me, there's more thought provoking commentary to come before this year is concluded. 


TransGriot Update:  January 24 was another record day with 8573 people surfing by the blog.  That's now my third highest all time traffic day.

Happy 7th Anniversary TransGriot Blog!

January 1 also happens to be the anniversary date for TransGriot.  At midnight EST on January 1, 2006 the first post went up on this blog.  

You can also thank Jordana LeSesne for pushing me to get the blogging party started as well thanks to a phone conversation we had in November 2005.  I was griping about the dearth of transgender blogs at the time focused on trans issues from an Afrocentric perspective, and she said after patiently listening to my lament, "So when are you going to start it?"

She didn't leave it there.  Jordana also made me commit to a start date for the soon to be born blog and I chose January 1.      

This is the closing paragraph from that initial post.

One thing I can promise you dear reader is that you won't be disappointed. There will be times I'll make you laugh. Other times I'll touch your heart. Then there will be the occasional time or two when I piss you off. But my goal is to make you think and expose you to some of the drama that African-American transpeeps (and transpeople in general) deal with.

The mission statement and hit counter came later, but the humble beginnings of that first post have now led to several awards and me having over 4.5 million people around the world reading the over 6000 posts I've compiled in this electronic space.   

And what's the TransGriot Mission Statement you ask?

The TransGriot blog's mission is to become the griot of our community.  I will introduce you to and talk about your African descended transbrothers and transsisters across the Diaspora, reclaim and document our chocolate flavored trans history, speak truth to power, comment on the things that impact our trans community from an Afrocentric perspective and enlighten you about the general things that go on around me and in the communities that I am a member of.

Hopefully in the now seven years this blog has been in operation, I've lived up to that mission statement. 

I know I've lived up to everything I said in the closing paragraph of that January 1, 2006 post.

Happy anniversary, TransGriot! 

4.5 Million Hits!

Another day, another TransGriot milestone.   

It was only back in July that I had the 4 millionth person surf by to visit my cyberhome.  As of 5:48 PM CST today person number 4.5 million has done so.

Thanks TransGriot readers for your huge part in making this milestone happen.   You spend your valuable time reading my over 6100 posts including this one, recommending them to your friends and even dropping tips in the electronic tip jar.    I can't thank you enough for that.

My soon to be seven year old blog (midnight January 1 is my blogiversary) wouldn't be where it is without your support.

Now on to 2013 and my next milestone of 5 million hits!.

Thanks Again TransGriot Readers For Another Record Traffic Day!

I just set on November 6 my fifth highest all-time TransGriot record traffic day, and now that just got eclipsed on November 13.

If you surfed by here on that day, you were part of the 7566 people who perused the content I posted on that day, so pat yourselves on the back.  One of them was a post with me musing about TDOR 2012, the other was about New York's Ali Forney Center being destroyed by Hurricane Sandy flooding.

But then again, you never really know what posts will go viral.  All I do is try to write quality ones, post it, and let it go from there.

While I'm justifiably popping my collar over my new fifth highest ever traffic day, once again I need to thank you TransGriot readers for surfing by and taking time out of your busy schedules to read what I write here.

Without you loyal readers I don't have the visibility, buzz and love y'all shower me with.  I enjoy having this electronic platform to tell it like it T-I-S is about being trans from an Afrocentric perspective and whatever other subject I wish to talk about, and I thank y'all for reading my posts and telling your friends about it.

All I can do is continue to live up to my TransGriot Mission Statement, keep writing the quality stuff you expect from me and see if I can beat my all time record of 9678 visitors I set back on April 3, 2012. 

Thanks again TransGriot readers.

Thank You Readers For TransGriot's Fifth Highest All-Time Traffic Day!

If you surfed by here on November 6, you were part of my fifth largest traffic day of all time at TransGriot.

I didn't write much on that day except a post exhorting people to vote , a post thanking you for my fourth highest traffic day of all time , a short one noting a local trans feminine leader who was running for US Congress and when I got the word that President Obama won, I reposted the video of Ann Coulter's 2011 CPAC prediction about what would happen if Romney was selected as their nominee.

I ended that day with 7341 page views and the fifth highest TransGriot traffic day of all time..

As I said before, there are hundreds of trans blogs, but only one award winning one written from the perspective of an IFGE Trinity Award winning proud African descended trans activist.   Thank you for taking the time out of your day to surf by here and read what I have to say about various issues.  

I write to keep you apprised of what's going on inside and outside transworld and talk about it from a chococentric perspective.   I'm aware of how important that is because y'all tell me while I'm out and about how imprtant that is to you to have that perspective injected in th stories that impact our community, much less have someone talk about the issues that affect us that tend to get ignored

Thank you once again loyal TransGriot readers, and with your help and me continuing to focus on writing quality posts, I know I'll break those traffic records someday

Thank You For My Fourth Highest All-Time TransGriot Traffic Day

If you surfed by TransGriot on October 28 to read my posts for that day, you were part of the fourth highest traffic day I've ever had on this blog since I started it on January 1, 2006.

I had 7,784 people surf by to check what I wrote concerning Roseanne Barr's transphobic tweets and the other content in this award winning blog, and I sincerely thank you for that.

In case you're wondering, my all time high was set back on April 3 when I had 9678 people check out the blog.  

Once again, thank you TransGriot readers for your support. 

1000th Post For 2012!

It's not even Election Day yet and you're looking at the 1000th post I've written this year. 

And note, that's just on my blog.

That makes the third straight year since 2010 that I've written that many posts, and that was also an election year in which.I finished with 1260 when the clock hit 11:59 PM CST.  

In 2011 it was my all time high of 1563 by the time the clock ushered in the New Year.

I doubt I'll exceed that number of posts by the time we hit New Year's Eve 2012, but I still have eight weeks left in this year.  I was actually trying to at times back off from that frenetic writing pace I had last year. I wanted to actually leave some time for me to chill, live my life, hang out with my friends and strictly limiting myself to three blog posts per day was a way in my mind to do that. .

Who was I kidding?  

This was a presidential election year, and news events here and around the world sometimes demand that I write more than three per day.   My status as an IFGE Trinity winning activist and major blogger sometimes meant that I needed to add my Afrocentric comments on issues of importance to the trans community.

And yes, sometimes I'm in hard solid thinking mode about something and it inspires me to write a post I have to put down for posterity or something happens that pisses me the hell off and I need to vent.

One post you will see on New Year's Eve is my 2012 Shut Up Fool of the Year one, and I'll have it out in time for you to read it before you get your New Year's Eve party and drink on.

And before I end this one, thank all you TransGriot readers who have surfed by here over the years and spent your valuable time reading what I have to say about the world as I see it.  I deeply appreciate it. 



  

TransGriot Post 6000!

Wow..didn't realize I'd come to this milestone so fast, but you're looking at the 6000th post I've either written or posted to this blog since it began on January 1, 2006.

That's a lot of words and writing over six years on a wide range of subjects, and thanks to all of you who let me know how much you appreciate it in my travels around the country, and the e-mails and Facebook messages you send.  

Without you taking the time out of your day to read TransGriot, it wouldn't have the over 4.2 million hits it has garnered.

Well, on to the next milestone.