A few months ago, life was sweet.
My new found life in London was going great. In most respects, it still is. I’m finding it easy to get work, my bank account is healthy, I have friends and maybe even a potential partner (who doesn’t live in London, but does work at Alton Towers). But I seem to be losing an ability that I unexpectedly gained when I moved to the city; one that’s incredibly important and effects every part of my life.
I seem to be passing less and less.
I’ve always been a Nintendo fangirl. Since I got the original Game Boy, and the Nintendo 64 a few months later, I’ve always had a bizarre loyalty to the Kyoto-based gaming giant. I’ve owned everything from the Gamecube to the 3DS, and so long as they continue to make hardware, I’ll continue to buy them.
Continue reading ‘Don’t count the Wii U out just yet, even if developers are’
I’ll be the first to admit that my blogging hasn’t been as regular as I’d like. I can’t place my finger on exactly why that is. I think I could blame it on some of the personal issues I am facing in my private life. For example, right this moment I am off work due to anxiety issues. Which is disruptive, to say the least. My job is stressful, which hasn’t helped matters. But the people there are lovely, and I hate being off for this long as I feel I am taking advantage of their understanding surrounding my situation.
So I have still a few days in which to pull myself together. The whole situation I am in is taking it’s toll, to the point where some pretty major events in my life have almost taken a back seat. But there’s one in particular that has barely even sunk in yet, and is what I’m going to be discussing today.
It’s been well over a month since I moved away from North Wales up to London. It’s certainly a whole world apart from what I’m used to. Every day on the way to work I pass world famous landmarks like the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. From my office, I can see The Shard, the looming skyscrapers of Canary Wharf, and the still rather bizarre looking ‘Gherkin’ (which I still think is a stupid name, and and truth be told looks more like something that’s kinda rude). The diversity I see in the crowds is completely different from the almost whitewash of faces I used to see every day around Chester. It’s a place where straight, white males aren’t necessarily the majority all the time (when I started my job, for example, there was only one guy in the group, and he is Asian. I’m 99% sure he’s straight, though). So really, London is a place where there is everything for everyone.
Well, almost everyone.
Once again, I’ve found myself not writing. When I got my iPad I promised myself that I’d make a blog every few weeks…but that hasn’t happened. I’d start writing, then I’d get distracted by something, whether it was my TV or going out or whatever. I had a nice, big post planned about my most recent accomplishment – moving to London – but I fell I’ll and by the time I actually had time to write the thing, I had already settled in my new house, and started my very business-like job. It felt too late to actually start writing about it.
So I’ve decided to start doing something a bit simpler – video blogging. See my head is always filled with ideas, and I feel I can communicate it easier through my voice. I can get it done there and then. With writing, I need more time to make sure what I’ve written makes even the slightest bit of sense (this post being an exception). I’m hoping to make it a series, discussing different developments through my transition, and exploits in my new home city of London.
I hope you enjoy, and please spread the word 
Ashlee x
It’s been just over six months since I wrote my last blog. Back then, I only had a terrible netbook, and an even worse job, that kept me from doing any writing. Every day I’d come back home stressed out of my mind, and would be so tired that I’d barely contemplate writing anything more than a few words long. Six months and one new job later, and I’ve decided to buy and iPad. And I love it! But that’s not why I’m writing.
More importantly, I’m writing because it’s been just over a year since I started taking hormones. See, whilst Charing Cross prescribed me everything just a few weeks ago, I’ve been taking oestrogen that I’ve purchased from Hong Kong for much longer than that. And it’s only now, that I’ve passed the one year anniversary since the blue pill first passed my lips, that I can step back and appreciate the changes that have occurred in my life, whether it’s the biological differences like breast growth, or the faith I’ve developed in myself as a transwoman. I’ve lost friends and gained new ones. I’ve had two jobs during a tough recession. I was able to prove myself to my parents. And I got an iPad.
Bastard
I’ve never called myself a big fan of Jonathan Ross. I’ve enjoyed him on shows like They Think It’s All Over and Penn & Teller: Fool Us (though neither of those were a success because of him), but he’s never been more than an ‘alright’ entertainer. To an extent, I actually found him fairly likeable, in the same way one might find Ant & Dec kinda enjoyable. Unfortunately, all that’s changed.
Last Saturday, on his fairly popular ITV1 chat show, Ross started his show with this little doozy:
Have you seen this story, I love this story today, a Thai airline, a company called PC Air has announced an exciting new recruitment policy – they’re going to recruit more ladyboys to be air stewards! [pauses: audience laughter]
Unlike most airlines, they’re actually encouraging you to take a concealed weapon on board, it’s a whole new, it’s a whole new (just waiting for some of you) it’s a whole new (I would! I think I have for one of them…)
The biggest shock on that plane is when the plane hits turbulence because it’s not just the oxygen masks that fall down in front of your face. [audience express disgust]
What a great way to spend a flight though, because you wouldn’t need puzzles or movies, because you’d just be, “Is she? Is he? Is she?” And when you want to find out the answer you just press the buzzer and go, “Excuse me, do you have any nuts?”
Unsurprisingly, this has gone under the radar, not least because the actual joke was rather lame. However, things have gathered steam since Paris Lees bought it to the attention of the masses (read all about it here). So why should you care? Why should anyone care?Here, I outline five reasons, in no particular order, as to why I will be complaining to Ofcom. I know some of these, well most of these, don’t have any bearings on what has been said. But these points have kinda pushed me into action.
Continue reading ’5 Reasons why I’m gonna complain to Ofcom about Jonathan Ross’
