End of year '23

 My resolution for 2023 is not to leave things till the last minute.

An old joke there.

I hope you had a nice Christmas and Santa brought you something pretty or sparkly to wear. I'm sure you had something nice to eat and drink.

Anyway, it's the last post of 2023 and I've just got back from a few days away with friends in France. The same place I went last year. Some of the more unusual sights this year include a snowman in a plane, a rainbow of beehives on the road into town, a weather vane in the shape of a cat chasing birds, frog face graffiti high up on the town hall clock (how did it get there? - is it a comment on the mayor?) and a wall covered in soft toys. It's the odd things you notice most!

I ate too many croissants, though! Mind you, despite the inevitable overindulgence at this time of year, my weight loss has not been too badly affected... well, certainly not as much as I thought it would be. I'll see exactly what the scales say tomorrow morning. 

It's been raining all morning so I hope that's not going to carry on to this evening and drown out tonight's fireworks that are always a pleasure to watch.

Wishing you a good New Year's Eve and a good New Year's Day holiday tomorrow, and a happy, successful, prosperous 2024. May your stresses be low, your heels be high and your makeup never fail.

Sue x

Season's greetings

 There's a lot I'd like to write about but it's the start of a nice long weekend and there are presents to wrap and all that food to prepare so instead I'll simply wish you a very happy holiday season and I hope you get lots of nice gifts. Ideally, of course, that'll be jewellery, perfume and pretty clothes. Maybe you'll get to wear them, too. 

I've always made sure that at least one day of the Christmas holidays is a fully fem day with my makeup done properly, and it's an excuse to wear something a bit more glamorous than usual. I'm about to look through my wardrobe now to choose something suitable...

Best wishes

Sue x

 

Window shopping only

 Hello little blog, Mummy's been away.

I went to Milan, which is one of the world's fashion capitals. That's a great thing ... and not so great. Amazing and fun to see the pretty or crazy get-ups but I wouldn't spend ridiculous money on the sort of clothes to be seen in the windows of the fashion houses.

It's always the busiest week of the year just before Christmas so, rather than present anything too challenging, I thought I'd just post some photos with captions and let you look too.

Here's the Christmas tree outside Montenapoleone metro station.

 And the huge one in the cathedral square.

 And the vast cathedral itself.

The Christmas market behind the cathedral.

 

Sausage stall.

Chocolate kebabs!

This little old lady checking out jars of beans will be giving a quality report later!

A stall that sells cuddly sheep in all sizes!

Christmas decorations.

In the main shopping arcade there are the large fashion houses, such as Dior. I didn't mind these outfits - ageless style and rich colour, I guess - or the display.

Prada window display. I quite like the bag.

Does anyone remember the 1984 movie Falling in Love? (Probably not as it bombed.) Meryl Streep and Robert de Niro bump into each other at Rizzoli's in New York. Well, here's the original, which is my favourite bookshop anywhere. 

Christmas trees and lights in the fashion district.

The shop windows are full of overpriced bags, rings, skirts, coats and such. But this one made me wonder what was going on. It looks like the cookie monster's dressing table. No makeup on it, though - I guess he ate it all!

For information, a Marni cotton top will cost you around €700 and a short cotton skirt about €500. Insane! I didn't enquire about the furniture.

The rest of the time was spent in some very nice restaurants with a relative who likes to eat out. I bought him a new 2024 Gambero Rosso Restaurant Guide which he was super enthusiastic about. He also complimented me on my shoes, which are 100% from the female racks in the shoe shop but just not quite obviously feminine. No comment on my girly jeans or tops. People see what they want to see.

I'm pleased to say that despite all the eating, I found I'd gained only 1 kg in weight on my return, so this December's indulgences may not be a disaster after all! Maybe window shopping helps burn the calories.

Good luck with all the Christmas shopping.

Sue x

Where are the photos, Mrs?

 A comment on my last post asked why I don't have any recent photos. 

I've been trying to get my makeup done since November 1st when I returned home from England but every day since then I have been interrupted by builders, technicians, glaziers and foremen doing all sorts of work inside and out, or neighbours wanting to talk about the work. OK, work has to be done sometimes but it's the poor co-ordination that's annoying me. It's never easy getting a group of separate properties to work well together. The autumn storms and rains have also delayed work. The current lack of panels that would normally divide my outdoor space from next door's leaves me with less privacy. So, yes, I'd love to take some new photos but I don't get a moment's peace.

Today is a public holiday and it's the weekend when the Christmas lights get switched on so I'll be out, and then next week I'll be away in Milan. So maybe on Christmas Eve I'll get some time? Who knows. 

The world has been incoherent and chaotic for years now and I hardly expect anything to be plannable any more. Frankly, the depressing state of world affairs doesn't leave me with much enthusiasm for anything either. In all the violence and transphobia, though, I continue to see positive support, allyship, encouragement and protection and will continue to post about that even without pictures.

Weight loss

In the last week I have lost another 1.7 kg or nearly 4 lb. That brings my total loss since November 1st to 13 lb, with 37 lb to go. 

That at least is good news and I'm pleased with my progress. Next week I'm away so I'll lose some control of my diet so we'll have to see what the scales say when I'm back. Then there's Christmas week when, frankly, people might as well not worry about slimming because there is no way anyone is going to lose weight! I intend to enjoy the indulgence, as always!

 

Settled in Italy

I left the United Kingdom five years ago amid the chaos of Brexit, not quite knowing where I would settle but needing to retain European citizenship for work, health and other purposes. Under a law of 1912, anyone who has an ancestor who was an Italian citizen from 1860 (when the modern state of Italy was created) is automatically also an Italian citizen but needs to claim that right. This applies to me and that is what I have been doing here. I have had an Italian passport for the last 18 months, which is one of the most powerful in the world. In fact, since 1st December, I can even go to China visa-free, which I can't on my UK one. I've been wondering whether to bother even renewing my UK passport. 

Anyway, next week I am going to Milan to confirm that my birth certificate has indeed been created by the court following the petition I sent in April. I hope that will end this Kafkaesque rigmarole I wrote about in the spring and I can feel settled here. The climate of the riviera has worked wonders for my physical health and it's probably best to stay here for the foreseeable future.

A dip in the archives

Sorry, Violetta, but here's another photo from the archives in lieu of a current photo that I don't have the privacy to take yet! My last meeting with trans friends in London was just before I left for Italy and here's me at the Lyceum Tavern on the Strand on that occasion, a picture I've not posted before. You can read about our evening here.

Sue x

Influential allies

 For every transphobe, there are a dozen allies.

I was about to sit down and pen this post last night when all the lights went out. There was a blackout of the whole area and while it lasted it was actually quite nice to have dinner by candlelight and see other homes with just a similar flicker in their windows. Strangely, at the same time, the fire brigade came to put out a small fire that had broken out in the telephone exchange opposite. And when I got to my laptop it had somehow got zapped, presumably in some pre-blackout surge and wouldn't work properly. Thankfully, it seems OK now. What a weird evening!

In a world where crazed men like Putin make promoting the international LGBT "movement" (as he calls it) very illegal, with penalties similar to those for murder for people and organisations supporting LGBT rights, you do wonder what we are coming to. But then Putin is rather obviously on the wrong side of history. And there's little doubt that many governments are trying to focus public disaffection about high living costs and other failings onto people other than themselves, such as refugees or minorities like us. For every act of hate, though, I continually see endless open support for LGBT people from influential quarters. All this year I have been able to report on art exhibitions, media promotions and news that shows trans people in a positive light or how they are mistreated and shouldn't be.

This week the monthly health supplement to my daily broadsheet newspaper has a four-page spread on the research into the Y chromosome that suggests its inherent weakness and uncertainty over whether it actually promotes masculinity as previously thought, and on human gender variety being normal and to be expected.

The Pope, leader of a religion that has been an inveterate enemy of ours for centuries, tells his peers to go easy on LGBT people. Maybe he's realising that his church's intrasigence and intolerance are putting people off.

Doctor Who, an amazingly popular and influential Sci-Fi TV show that has been running for sixty years, has a trans character, Rose (played by a trans actress Yasmin Finney), and the show's writer and producer, Russel T Davies, described transphobes thus: "there are some people who are full of absolute hate and venom and destruction and violence and would like to see that sort of thing wiped off the screen entirely... Shame on you and good luck to you in your lonely lives." High-profile actor David Tennant, one of the many who has played the Dr Who character, has been a ferocious trans ally for a long time.

I also enjoyed this article in the UK's Independent newspaper about a trans woman's major influence on the microchip revolution and how she overcame prejudice: Lynn Conway. Well done to her. Now, Lynn, about my laptop going weird on me last night ...

These are just the most obvious pro-trans items I have come across this week alone. It's the same every week. I don't despair yet, though I know we have a fight on our hands. Thanks once again to allies and supporters who keep pushing back against the hate, prejudice and ignorance.

Weight loss

I had hope to lose a bit more weight in November but I made the mistake of eating a chocolate sponge pudding on Thursday and that wrecked my losing streak. Chocolate, the devil of devils! Anyway, in November I lost 9 pounds overall, so I have 41 to lose by May. Still, that's a good loss and I'm not complaining. 

A dip in the archives

Here's another photo from my old memory card. Did they name the street after me? Or do I just gravitate vainly to where I will be recognised?

Manchester, 2014.

Sue x