Christmas Eve!

A bit of trivia ... what movie is this from? (No cheating!!)


"Would it please the court if I gave you a christmas card? I probably won't see you again unless I get arrested, which is very unlikely, since it's christmas eve and I'm going to bed uncharacteristically early."

Advent Calendar, Day 9 ... and my Birthday!!

Today is my birthday. :-) I am 6 ... with experience. It was 12 years ago today (ignore the math - I'm only 6 and can't do it anyway) that my LG spirit burst on the scene, with much enthusiasm. My life has not been the same since, and I wouldn't want it to be. Not that life was so BAD before, but there were lots of pieces of the puzzle that were missing. Like, when I was little, why were almost all my friends girls? Why did I always like such "flamboyant" clothing? Why was most of my playing so much different from the other boys? Why did I like dollhouses so much?


Today I can decorate my house however I want - I have dolls and a dollhouse, and paintings of little girls all over my walls. When people ask, I shrug and tell them I am eccentric. If they don't like it, too bad - they aren't the one living the life. That's because I know who I am and I am comfortable with it ... before I discovered what LG is, I didn't know and I wasn't comfortable. After, I understood and a lot of the events of the past made sense in this new light.


I am a Christian and I had to decide if this was wrong. People tend to mix a bunch of lifestyles together which have no business being so. I believe homosexual sex is wrong because the Bible says it is, in Romans 1. (I'm not interested in a debate about this ... I've already heard all the arguments one who disagrees with me has, and likely they have heard all the arguments I have, and frankly I have no need of making more enemies than I already have.) I had to look to see if there was anything in the New Testament about transgender. I couldn't find anything except one word ... "effeminate". I had to wonder if God really cared whether I sometimes want to live as a little girl - view the world with that kind of innocence and love, be full of wonder and excitement? Is it wrong to wear a dress?


A study of the word gave me two ideas. One is that effeminate refers to a boy lover - a sexual act. The other is that the word literally means "soft". I am not soft. I may be a little girl, but I'm tough as nails when it comes right down to it. I stand up for what is right, and I believe that was the meaning behind the term - one who doesn't live up to responsibility.


Someone said today that I am like a boomerang. I get thrown but I keep coming back around to where I was before. It was funny because in the past I had a friend who referred to my male personae as having an incredible amount of perseverance ... no matter how many times I get knocked off a cliff I keep climbing back up it. I found it interesting that this quality is seen by friends to both sides of my personality. However, I think it leaves out one thing.


I don't return exactly where I was before. I climb higher up the cliff. I fall further ahead than I was before. I'm stronger than before and I know the way back because, "This is not a place I have not been before." My personality is in constant evolution. Plus, any mistakes I made before, I know not to make again.


I'd like to share a few lighthearted, and some deeper, things I have learned over the years:


1. People can be friends, despite extreme differences in personal opinions and backgrounds.


2. You can have a "twin" who looks nothing at all like you.


3. It DOES matter if you are color blind. Get a friend to help you match your tights, shoes, accessories, and dress.


4. Self-pity is a bottomless pit, and it feeds on itself ... the more you pity yourself, the worse you will feel, which in turn will make you pity yourself more.


5. Shopping is the ultimate fun experience .... but someone has to pay the bill for it!


6. A person who will allow you to become dependent on them ... even in just small ways and in small doses .... is a very special person.


7. And...... we shouldn't build towers at the Dining Room Table out of crystal wine glasses..... :: Giggle ::




Now - these are deeper things I have learned from being knocked down once or twice. Hopefully they are not just cynical and they might be of help to some people:


1. Most people don't really care what you do with your personal life, but those who do are REAL adamant and loud and closed minded about it. If a good portion of your life is going to depend upon how these people perceive you - and there is nothing you can do about that - be careful how much info about yourself you make available. Always have plausible deniability. In worst case scenarios, cut your losses and simply refuse to answer your critics. Why give them more ammo anyway; what possible good can come of that?


2. Some people are going to act like idiots. Let them. Everyone else can already see it, and if they can't, they soon will. If you've wasted your breath trying to warn people BEFORE they find out for themselves, they will resent you for it. Just make sure you're not in the way when the fall comes.


3. Everyone thinks they know what is best, but when it comes to volunteering to lead .... very few will. Instead, they will let someone else lead the way, and then complain about the way that person is leading. After all, that's more fun. IF you simply bite your tongue and keep leading, they'll still follow. You don't need to nip at anybody's heels to make them go. And if some don't .... you're probably better off.

Advent Calendar, Day 8

Now, I know you've all been wondering what to get me for Christmas (Or my birthday ... it's on the 19th you know)!  :: Giggle ::  So here's a few ideas.  Just email me and I'll tell you where to send the gifts!

Ooooooor.......... maybe you'll want to ask your Mommy or Daddy for them yourself...

That's called KidKraft Majestic Mansion. Isn't that a great dollhouse?? And it's even available on Diapers.com : http://www.diapers.com/p/kidkraft-majestic-mansion-dollhouse-73535?site=CI&srccode=cii_5784816&cpncode=26-66146798-2&utm_source=cse&utm_medium=cpc_D&utm_term=KS-093&utm_campaign=pricegrabber

Course it is also available at Walmart for $100 less.....  but hey - think of the convenience!  Buy your diapers, then just click over and buy the Christmas present for Kita Sparkles!  Right?  :: Giggle ::

And then I saw this on a "must have toys" list:
http://shopping.yahoo.com/893692522-lite-sprites-wand-prisma-and-pod/;_ylt=AhVmKsMgduradLbPjGUKo7lpWr8F

Seems like a cute idea.

Advent Calendar, Day 7

Here's a merry little commercial with a cute little girl singing Feliz Navidad with her Daddy.



AND ... apparently she is quite famous. Here is Alexa Narvaez's official website: http://alexanarvaez.net/

Advent Calendar, Day 6

Here is another Christmas Story for you!!
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Don shuffled his feet boredly as he stood in the long line of children. His little sister was chattering away endlessly about something or other, but he wasn't listening. He was instead brooding over getting stuck taking her to see Santa while his mother shopped. He had only come along to the mall today thinking he would get to go to the arcade; he didn't know he was going to get saddled with his little sister.

 

"Don! DON!" Samantha, his little sister, was tugging on his arm.

 

"WHAT?" He looked down, and realized they had finally reached the front of the line. "Oh. . ." He let go of her hand and she rushed to get into Santa's lap. 

 

"Aww - she's so cute," a female voice near him said. 

 

"Huh?" Don looked into the face of a very pretty girl, dressed in an Elf costume. He felt his entire 15 year old body go tingly as he stared into her eyes. She looked about his age, maybe slightly younger, but he knew that couldn't be because you had to be at least 16 to work at the mall. Maybe this whole day wasn't a TOTAL loss after all. He prepared himself to flirt with the girl.

 

"And YOU are a good boy to bring her to see Santa, Donnie," the girl went on. Don felt his ears burn with shame - she thought of him as one of these CHILDREN! She even called him "Donnie" - he made sure NOBODY - even his mother - called him that  ever since he was 8!

 

"Now see here. . .!" he started, then stopped himself. He was trying to be angry, but she was so pretty it was taking the anger right out of him, it seemed. And her outfit, he looked her over in it, then blushed as an uninvited thought entered his mind - he wondered how he would look in it.

 

Don didn't know why he had thoughts like that. Ever since he could remember they were daily occurrences. When he was six and had seen girls going to a party, he wanted to wear their party dresses. When he was eight on Halloween he was a cowboy, but what he really wanted was the cowgirl dress. When he was in a school play at 11, he had wished he had the part of one of the girls in his class, since she wore a ballet tutu for her part. And even this year when he had seen the dress she had picked out for Samantha's Christmas Dress - OH! He had been so jealous of Samantha then. 

 

Now, here he was in front of a pretty girl in a somewhat revealing outfit, and all he could think about was what it would look like on him?? These thoughts often made Don feel guilty, and afraid that maybe he was gay. He didn't like boys, though, he liked girls. 

 

"Yes - a VERY good boy, Donnie," the girl said. "I bet you're right at the top of Santa's  'nice list'. Not like a lot of other little boys – they end up on the 'naughty' list so often. Usually around Christmas time they remember and are good enough at the end to squeeze in on the bottom of the 'nice list', though."

 

Don somehow kept himself from rolling his eyes. This conversation was getting ridiculous. "It's DON," he corrected her. "And I'm NOT a little boy. I'm going to be 16. . ." It wasn't a total lie. He had another ten months to go, but he was GOING to be sixteen. He trailed off as her green eyes seemed to probe deep into his mind.

 

"Not a little boy, Donnie? No - I guess you're not. . ." she said, a small smile coming to her lips. "But still on Santa's nice list. And I bet I know what you want!" she finished in a sing song voice.

 

Normally Don would have taken this as an invitation to ask her out, but he had had about enough of this batty chick. He looked to see if Samantha was done yet.

 

"Oh, Don. When did you stop believing in Santa?" the girl asked. "Was it when you were seven?" Don looked at her and his mouth dropped open. She couldn't know about that! No one did! "When you were seven Don - Santa couldn't give you what you asked for. It was a mistake - the letter never got to the right department. You see, Santa brings toys and dollies and teddy bears to all the good little boys and girls, but he doesn't do what you asked."

 

Don turned his back on the girl, disbelieving what he was hearing. She had just made a lucky guess, that was all. He knew for a long time that Santa was just a fairy tale! He reached out and grabbed Sam's hand as she was coming back, wanting to make a fast getaway.

 

"Don! Don! Did you hear? Santa said we've BOTH been really good this year, and we're both gonna get what we wanted. And he said I can have a sister!" Don wasn't listening, he was making his way to the exit. He turned for one last look at the nutty girl, and found she was right behind him.

 

"Didn't you know, Don?" she asked. "Santa brings TOYS. It's Santa's ELVES that grant WISHES." She touched his arm, and that was the last thing he remembered as he thought he was passing out.

 

_________________________

 

Santa smiled as he looked around the toy factory. Everything was running smoothly it seemed. He chuckled as the newest little elf ran about, checking everything out herself. She was such a cute little girl - and she had the cutest name too - "Christmas DAWN".

Merry Christmas, and may all your dreams come true. - Sparkles

Advent Calendar, Day 5

Today, a story of love and civil rights that I learned in Charleston. Don't get bored ... there are a lot of twists in this tale.

Our subject was born - most likely in 1922 in Sussex in England. He later in life claimed 1937. This is not as much a leap as the other changes that took place in Gordon Langley's life.

Understand that much of Gordon's life is shrouded in mystery, purposefully by some in Charleston, for reasons you will soon learn. Thus, historians differ on certain details. The main points, however, are fairly agreed upon and we will attempt for the most part to stick to those.

Gordon came to North America at the age of 16. When he came to America, he met and charmed several older women. One of these was Isabel Whitney (of the Whitney Museum Whitneys), and he was a major beneficiary of her will when she died in 1962.

Now with quite a sum of money, Gordon came to Charleston and settled in an area where mostly gay men were known to live. This did not cause a stir among the Charleston Elite.  He was  writer by this time and was quite eccentric, trying to rent a drinking club for a debutante ball .... for two of his dogs.

Gordon eventually fell in love with a mechanic named John Paul Simmons. John Paul, however, was not gay. Oh, he TRIED to be,  but it just wasn't  happening.  So Gordon began to dress in drag for him. Eventually, Gordon disappeared - taking a trip to Johns Hopkins University Hospital it seems for a somewhat new surgical procedure. When Gordon resurfaced in Charleston, he ... or rather SHE ... was now Dawn.

Dawn hired John Paul Simmons as her butler, because they could not get married. And do you know WHY they could not get married?  It had nothing to do with Dawn having once been a man.  You see, until 1967 it was illegal for a white person to marry a black person, and John Paul Simmons was black.

They joined the fight for civil rights, and in 1967 a famous case in Virginia went all the way to the Supreme Court, who ruled that these laws were unconstitutional. (For the record,  South Carolina kept the law in the books until 1998,  but they could not apply it because of the Federal Law.) In 1968, Dawn Langley became Dawn Langley Simmons.

Now - the Charleston Elite were ok with eccentric Mr. Gordon Langley being gay and trying to have debutante balls for his dogs.  They were ok when he was seen around town dressed as a woman (having experience in this, I can tell you no one has a problem with it now either!) They were even ok when he resurfaced as a she. BUT, when Dawn married a black man, THAT'S when Charleston went ballistic.  The wedding announcement was in print barely large enough to read, and found in the obituary section of the newspaper.

So - the first interracial marriage in South Carolina was between a black man who was a mechanic-turned- butler, and a rich white woman who used to be a poor white man.

And that is one of the many reasons Charleston is so interesting.

Special thanks for the history from historian and Tour Guide (Wicked Charleston Tour) Mark R. Jones. Some extra research was from: http://strangeflowers.wordpress.com/2011/10/15/dixie-orlando/ and from http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_mar14.htm

Advent Calendar, Day 4

Playing Catch-up now!  

A couple years ago, my sister Spinner-Grace and I put together a Slideshow of Christmas pictures and I posted it on my site. Well, my site had to come down a little while after that, and now technology has changed and SWF files are hard to find a place to post - let alone embed. Thus, I converted this one to a movie, and am hoping it will play right here.