Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Back in Stars Hollow...
I am so excited to return to my favorite tv small town tonight- Stars Hollow, CT. That's right folks, the Gilmore Girls' Lorelei and Rory are returning from their summer in Europe and little Rory is off to Yale. I can not tell you how excited I am about this premiere. This show is in the running for the wittiest on tv, neck in neck with tomorrow's small town return- back to Stuckeyville on Ed! More about that tomorrow! Be sure to watch tonight as I am sure we will laugh, cry, and become better people...heehee.
Last night I went to the City Institute branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia to see Jennifer Finney Boylan speak about her memoir She's Not There. There were a good number of folks there, plus tv cameras from 48 hours. JFB is a male to female transexual who just happens to be the co-chair of the English department at Colby College in Maine. Talk about a different image of trans people. Forget those lunatics on Jerry Springer. We are talking about a 100% academic. Laughing at her own jokes, making obscure literary references, wearing a long flowered skirt and black flats. The reading was wonderful. You can read the excerpt we heard last night on JFB's website. I can't wait to read this book.
There was some controversy last night. An African American woman who just so happened to be trans asked JFB, in a rather nasty way, why white men get married, have kids, and then go through the transition. The questioner basically told JFB that black trans people know that they are trans when they are 3-5 years old, never date women, take responsibility for themselves, go through the transition at a young age and don't rip families apart in the way white mtf trans people do. Needless to say, JFB and the audience were rather taken aback by the anger this woman showed. JFB kept her cool and did her best to answer but eventually the yelling woman was escorted out. JFB said the most astonishing and respectful thing. (I am, of course, paraphrasing here.) She said as the woman was being led out, "She is very hurt and angry. She is also right. This did hurt my family. This is tough on them. But I tried as hard as I could to make this not true. I did not want this to be true. I wanted to be, and I know this sounds corny, but I wanted to be normal. I lived that life until I could not live it anymore." I was glad she validated that it does hurt people. JFB also said though that she knows trans people across cultures and races who have gone through transition late in life and have done so after starting a family. It certainly is not only a white thing.
The experience was a good one and I am glad I went. Looking forward to Joyce Carol Oates in November with a girl I used to work with who is a HUGE JCO fan. Wishing I could go to see Toni Morrison in November but I will be at a conference out of town. Bummer.
No knitting last night. I was beat! Am wishing I had Elizabeth Zimmerman's books Knitting Without Tears and Knitter's Almanac. I am putting both books on my Christmas list.
Last night I went to the City Institute branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia to see Jennifer Finney Boylan speak about her memoir She's Not There. There were a good number of folks there, plus tv cameras from 48 hours. JFB is a male to female transexual who just happens to be the co-chair of the English department at Colby College in Maine. Talk about a different image of trans people. Forget those lunatics on Jerry Springer. We are talking about a 100% academic. Laughing at her own jokes, making obscure literary references, wearing a long flowered skirt and black flats. The reading was wonderful. You can read the excerpt we heard last night on JFB's website. I can't wait to read this book.
There was some controversy last night. An African American woman who just so happened to be trans asked JFB, in a rather nasty way, why white men get married, have kids, and then go through the transition. The questioner basically told JFB that black trans people know that they are trans when they are 3-5 years old, never date women, take responsibility for themselves, go through the transition at a young age and don't rip families apart in the way white mtf trans people do. Needless to say, JFB and the audience were rather taken aback by the anger this woman showed. JFB kept her cool and did her best to answer but eventually the yelling woman was escorted out. JFB said the most astonishing and respectful thing. (I am, of course, paraphrasing here.) She said as the woman was being led out, "She is very hurt and angry. She is also right. This did hurt my family. This is tough on them. But I tried as hard as I could to make this not true. I did not want this to be true. I wanted to be, and I know this sounds corny, but I wanted to be normal. I lived that life until I could not live it anymore." I was glad she validated that it does hurt people. JFB also said though that she knows trans people across cultures and races who have gone through transition late in life and have done so after starting a family. It certainly is not only a white thing.
The experience was a good one and I am glad I went. Looking forward to Joyce Carol Oates in November with a girl I used to work with who is a HUGE JCO fan. Wishing I could go to see Toni Morrison in November but I will be at a conference out of town. Bummer.
No knitting last night. I was beat! Am wishing I had Elizabeth Zimmerman's books Knitting Without Tears and Knitter's Almanac. I am putting both books on my Christmas list.
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