Happy King Day To You!

Today is the national holiday in the States that since 1986 we have celebrated the life and legacy of the man who Tavis Smiley calls the greatest American our people ever produced.  It's one of the few things lately me and Tavis Smiley see eye to eye on these days, but he's correct.

Dr. King's words are timeless and even more apropos and prescient in the second decade of the 21st century as they were when he first wrote or spoke them during his all too brief lifetime.

At some point during this MLK Day celebration I'm going to take some time during it to reread some of his essays and speeches and do as he called it some hard, solid thinking about them in the context of the human rights struggle that transpeople are waging for their own liberation from intolerance, anti-trans violence aimed at us and transphobic hatred.

I want to do my part to make rel the promises of democracy for America's trans citizens. . 

I hope those of you who are reading this take some time to think about what you can do to help the trans community expand human rights for us and by doing so expand them for yourselves.

Happy King Day, TransGriot readers!

Happy New Year 2012 -Happy TransGriot Blogiversary!

It's 2012.. Happy New Year TransGriot readers!   

Today also happens to be TransGriot blogiversary in which on this date six years ago my first post went up on my then fledgling blog. 

Six years later I have over 3.2 million hits and counting on this blog, over 5000 posts, a worldwide following, multiple nominations and awards for what I write here and the love, respect and admiration of my blogging peers and people inside and outside the trans community.

But without you loyal readers stopping by on a regular basis, spending your valuable web surfing time reading the posts I compile here and recommending them to your friends and associates, I wouldn't have achieved it as quickly as I have. 

Yes, I have mad writing skills and talent.  A lot of hard work has gone into building this blog and is a major  part of my formula for success here, but you readers are the most important piece of it.   

You can bet that I'll have a lot to say about what's going on in 2012 inside and outside the trans community here in the States and around the world.

Will I write more than 1563 posts like I did last year?   Well, considering it's a critical election year in the United States and the Summer Olympics are just two of the major events happening in 2012, maybe.

Happy New Year!
 

Merry Christmas 2011 TransGriot Readers!

Well, Merry Christmas people!   The Festival of Conspicuous Consumption reaches its climax today and we get to find out what gifts are under the tree for us.   Thanks to everyone who has sent me cards, dropped cash in my blog's tip jar, or sent me gifts.  It's deeply appreciated.

Another thing I deeply appreciate as I said to my readers west of the International Date Line yesterday, is you spending your valuable websurfing time here.   Since being trans is an international human rights issue, I try to cover it with that perspective on my blog

So I'm taking the day off to enjoy it with friends and family and dig into Mom's German chocolate pound cake.  Will be back to doing my normal posting schedule tomorrow.

Merry Christmas TransGriot readers!  

Merry Christmas*

To every one of my TransGriot readers west of the International Date Line.   It's still Christmas Eve over here on my side of it and I'll be watching some NFL games on the tube later today while anticipating what might be under the tree for me when I open my gifts tomorrow.

But one gift I'm thankful for is all of you who surf by my cyberhome throughout the year.   I deeply appreciate the fact that you take time out of your busy day to read what I have to say about a lot of subjects inside and outside the trans community here in the US and around the world.. 

I hope and pray you're having a wonderful Christmas Day and that 2012 will be a fantastic year for you as well.

Merry Christmas!

Happy Hanukkah!

Wanted to take a moment to wish all of my Jewish TransGriot readers a happy Hanukkah!

The Festival of Lights is a significant Jewish holiday that starts at sunset tonight and runs through sunset on December 28.   It celebrates a miracle that occurred after the second century BCE Maccabean rebellion ousted the Greek forces occupying their land and they regained control of the second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.

The Temple had been desecrated by the Greeks and the Maccabean  troops were determined to reconsecrate it for Jewish spiritual purposes by burning ritual oil in the temple's menorah for eight days. To their dismay they discovered that the Temple only contained a one day supply of ritual oil in the single flask they discovered inside it. 

They lit the oil and miraculously the tiny flask of oil fueled the temple’s menorah for eight nights.

This miracle is what Jews all over the world celebrate during Hanukkah.   The first candle is lit on the first night, then two, and it continues until all eight candles on the menorah are lit.
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Bardstown Road Aglow 2011

Last year was not only the 25th Anniversary edition of Bardstown Road Aglow in Louisville, it was the first time I really felt the sting of missing my chosen family, friends, and church family up there in Kentucky..

And DJ Moni wasn't there to spin Christmas tunes with soul and exhorting the festive holiday crowd traipsing up and down Bardstown Road to "Sliiiiide into Edenside" and take advantage of scarfing up my church's delicious holiday snacks, our hospitality and get the opportunity to meet our pastor Rev. Sally McClain and the members of the Edenside Christian Church family.

Well, with December finally here and the first Saturday weekend rapidly approaching, it's time for the 26th Annual edition of Bardstown Aglow.

Like the Light Up Louisville ceremony downtown, it's a traditional kickoff to the holiday season for the businesses and organizations in the Highlands neighborhood. 

The businesses along that Bardstown Road corridor break out the holiday decorations and stay open with extended Saturday hours until 11 PM as holiday revelers enjoy the bargains, the music and the street vendors set up along that several mile stretch between Grinstead Dr and Highland Ave 

Being that Bardstown Aglow happens the first weekend in December, the weather can vary wildly for it from a t-shirt and tennis shoes late fall day to having to be bundled up against the cold and gingerly tiptoeing along the freshly snow cleared sidewalks.

I got to actually walk the streets during the 2009 edition of it because the church decided to try something different that year and I had fun bouncing up and down Bardstown Road and soaking up the Christmas magic of that event.  

But to tell the truth I would have had more fun behind my turntables and a mic.  

The 26th annual Bardstown Aglow kicks off on December 3 this year, and if y'all TransGriot readers in the Louisville area "Sliiiide into Edenside", tell them Moni sent you.