Twitter 2.0

Before continuing with other things, let me continue previous theme with an unashamed copy from my friend Joanna's blog..

After Twitter, here's Flutter!



Sorry & thanks Jo for this brilliant piece.

Social network congestion: why less is more

Flickr and Facebook have gone from hot to not. Does somebody still really use MySpaces? Twitter/Jaiku whatever really looks hot but they're just bollocks, a new momentarily adrenaline dose for the tired.

Social networking works when the network is small and smart. The moment it grows unmanageable to limits of human cognition (what do you really do with 2.359 contacts?!? Can you remember your common history with no. 1.703?) and quality plummets below mediocre all the networking effect wears off.

Flickr was cool when there was just trannyflickr with Miss K and Erika Baarova (ok perhaps a couple others too :), and it was a privilege to join. Now every picture gets ten invites "Add to my 'Blondes wearing pink lipstick and high heels while sitting on sofa' -group!".

I've read bright opinions how all this false "being connected 24/7 and having hundreds of friends all over the world" is actually worsening the quality of our social lives and more importantly prevents us to focus on anything, be it work, family, hobby, or a real social life. I strongly believe in the referenced fact that being good in anything requires long-spanning concentration more than anything. Would we have the relativity theories if Einsten Twittered his daily minutes of life? I give you Kathy Sierra, I really recommend reading it. And she wrote it two years ago!

"Coffee with your next-door neighbor could do more for your brain than a thousand Twitter updates."

To prove my point, take a look at this monster. Inspiration for this post and a picture from www.ping.fm that enables you to send your status messages from web/mobile/social sites to all the major social networking sites. God bless us from the minor.




I'll go make a coffee and concentrate on my work.

On British blue eyes

According to a recent study 80% of Brits have blue eyes. Now that is news, at least to me! The rest of you probably knew it already?

Admitting being wrong is a sign of strength ;)

And when did Lady J change to a Pink Fluffy Duck?!?

Momentary lapse of reason

It's 1am, disco is open until 4am and it's all inclusive aka booze for free. And I'm back to room. Writing blog entry. Am I getting sensible or old? Or both?!?

I found out Turkey - based on a court decision - is banning Youtube because some Greek people have posted anti-Turkish material. Cool. I didn't say it to my Turkish colleagues, but really, is your nation planning to join EU? Are you sure you are ready for it? We have some concepts like human rights and freedom of speech that you might not be familiar with. Yet.

Personally I've always detested these all-inclusive luxury resorts and now I'm sure. Come on, a concentration camp without any outside people. Suicide. MIA. The German pensioners really don't know how to have fun.

Walk like a Brit

Jo, Becky, Mom!


All the Germans and French think I'm British.
What went wrong? Brits don't have blue eyes. Cake or death?!?

On Turkish specials

I will never ever ask a Turkish bartender for his special drink. Did that x N (don't remember anything about the night) and got everything destroyed. I say, I throw up very very very seldom, but now I did it all day. And I was still drunk 18 hours after finishing the last drink. Is that possible really?!?
It's next night and surprisingly everybody thinks I'm British + wasted = over + out.
Hey it's just me. Val.

Bloody Turkish ISPs have blocked Youtube ?!?

PS: you have no idea amount of concentration went for this blog entry! I had about 20 mojitos and a half tonight...

Back in business

Spending a working week in five star resort in southern Europe. Today I realised just how much I've been missing traveling. I'll put down some of my thoughts later, now I'm too busy destroying the minibar, next diving to foam bath.

Dial B for Burlesque

It's the D-Day for Helsinki Burlesque Festival and I've organised a day for around 20 people. Tita just came to my place and we'll start preparing. First some shopping around town & some business visits, on evening we have dinner gathering and finally the actual burlesque party. I've been waiting for this, finally here!

And oh, yesterday I remade my gel nails with proper tips. Oooh they are wonderful!

Inside/Outside

Just retreated for a relaxing weekend at countryside and then DTM (manager who just got a new boyfriend and is utterly happy) announces they have tomorrow special night w/ sparkling wine 10e/bottle!?! Decisions, decisions. Missing today already Helsinki Burlesque goes Hehku (lebian girls monthly club).

I trashed myself last weekend totally, twice. Destroying a pair of high heel boots included. Is the capability to warm up while making up with 12 cosmopolitans an asset or liability? It surely is liability after entering the bar as my bills are always awesome. Problem is, after gaining speed there are no limits, I just keep going like duracel.

Anyhoo I think I had some point when I started writing (before all the glasses of red)..

I just had artificial gel nails done today. Nice and actually totally natural as I didn't take any extra length. Now I'll just sit and watch them growing naturally. I've been wondering the eternal issue of "advanced" CD's over and over again. It would be easy to be firmly on either side of the fence, but balancing the act in-between is a difficult job to do. For most of society you need to present yourself as normal, keeping up a perfectly satisfying heterosexual relationship but then in meantime present your feminine side and do it good. Going forward with plucked brows, full-body shaving, artificial nails, ear (and other) piercings, lasering beard etc inevitably makes your appearance more and more feminine. Entering no-man's land where your old mates just might start talking behind your back. Where you start to wonder if you want to hang around with the old any more.. I haven't faced anything but I'm well aware of the fact that my outlook is lingering the border of.. non-conventional. And the problem is I've only started! I'd love to do many many more things. But still I'd like to repair my 4x4 and go hunting. On surface it looks like modern society is accepting about sex roles, but when it comes to a man with good dress sense, high heels, artificial nails, and arguing about transmission overhaul.. Not really.


Lady Gaga: Poker Face

PS: the title is a theme of this week's biggest job assignment: World's #1 consulting we-know-everything organisation is calling me all the time being lost how to create a certain architecture. Aaaargh. Talk about balancing act between knowing all the details of enterprise IT architecture and smoke eye makeup techniques. And more. *sigh*

I die after every party

I will never again get trashed night before I need to work in the morning. I will never again get trashed night before I need to work in the morning. I will never again get trashed night before I need to work in the morning. I will never again get trashed night before I need to work in the morning. I will never again get trashed night before I need to work in the morning. I will never again get trashed night before I need to work in the morning. I will never again get trashed night before I need to work in the morning. I will never again get trashed night before I need to work in the morning. I will never again get trashed night before I need to work in the morning. I will never again get trashed night before I need to work in the morning.

Had sushi & champagne housewarming yesterday and went out to DTM snuggle Sunday. Enough said?

Real time

19.00
Yay! It's happening again. You remember what happened last time? It's Cosmo #3 going and it ain't gonna finish anytime soon..
19.12
Epilator is the devil's revenge for women!
But I try to switch for that as razor shaving makes my legs go all blisters, looking I have like plague or something...
19.13
Frickiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin hurts! 4 days growth makes me suffer seriously! I think I need Cosmo #4!
19.25
We have a winner! At worst moments I was concentrating on Khmer Rouge concentration camps and repeating "Pain is only my imagination". First prize: Cosmo #5
19.37
So we were supposed to hit town with Timi but she couldn't come. Now I have full party stock all to my own. Or actually, had. Let's see tomorrow if anything's left.. My 2008 DTM vip expired, let's see if I get new one tonight. Yes I haven't been out for ages!!!
19.47
We have reached cruising altitude: alcometer says 1.1%%
20.00
There's a new LGBT bar in town called Feeniks!?! Need to go check it sometime.
20.29
-> shower
20.46
Cosmo #6
21.12
Ready for make-up but hey, nobody's downtown before 23 so what's the hurry? Cosmo #7 and Ministry of Sound. I usually take shower, shave, dress, and only dressed start to do make up. Also practical as it would be inconvenient dress up with all slap on. I'm not bothering about my nails as they are all fucked up anyway. I will go next week to have gel artificial nails *promise*
21.23
Alcometer is all "HI" meaning > 2%% after cosmo #7 - but hey machines lie anyway (see Eddie Izzard)
21.49
Cosmo #8 - btw I'm not just sitting and getting berusad, I'm chatting in Puuteri and Facebook - busy!
21.59
Valerie's "I iz cheapo" lip-tip: Asian tiger palm. It contains cajuput, cinnamon & clover oil - guaranteed to make your lips swollen = fuller :P PS: I just invented that myself!
22.08
Honey is dressing & making up, I'm having Cosmo #9 + chatting + partying (Kelly Rowland: Work [Freemasons Remix])
22.25
Cosmo #10 & Armin van Buuren : Imagine!
23.05
I'm made up! So beautifuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuul!
23.06
Cosmo #11
03:00
Back home
03.08
Is it ok if I just die?
10.12 am
Just woke up. Had a fun night out but surprisingly quiet at DTM yesterday - that's why we finished before closing time. Very very easy nowadays to go there as I have a flat just three blocks away. No more suffering in taxi queue or arguing who's the designated driver. Now smoothing music, tomato juice and hot bath in candle light with my honey baby, later off to country house for total relaxation and sauna. Tomorrow we'll host a kind of house-warming party here for friends and go for DTM snuggle Sunday. Over and out!


-*- Cosmopolitan -*-
1.5 cl Triple Sec(Cointreau)
1 cl Lime juice (sweet)
3 cl Cranberry juice
2.5 cl Vodka

Buggr

My today's Flickr stats: 1.010 call me a contact, 500.000+ views on my pics, 670 unread mail.

1.010 contact viewers and nobody to sponsor me a pro account, which I've been observing after mine expired a few months ago ;) (And no, if you're intelligent enough to read my blog I don't want you to sponsor it!!!)

Instead of aiming for the magical million views milestone I think I'll scale down. Actually a million views shouldn't be too difficult nowadays. Flickr is hugely popular, just post whatever (especially x-rated whatever) on continuous fire and post it to as many pools as you can, et voilá just in a month and a half.

Flickr was essential in my coming out years ago, a sudden paradise island of quality trannies forming a community. Now it's the Manila waste dump where one can occasionally find something nice. To advance the message of Tranny Freedom and Fun I took the task of documenting - okay, at least trying to! - my whereabouts in a diary format (ok, a byproduct of selfishly posting my pictures all over and get masses of fans calling "Amazing!", "You're so beautiful!", "urhot got msn?"). Now I think I've done my part. Maybe I'll change it to a portfolio of my best portraits. Maybe I'll even set up my pro photo studio gear and take a few shots.

Actually taking a more closed look at photography again could be interesting. I still haven't read the manual of my Nikon D200 I bought over two years ago! I used to teach photography and b/w printing at my University...

If teh internets is all about peer content creation while majority of net users anyway still are consumer couch potatoes, why do the artists need to pay the bill?

Another annoying thing btw is if I wanted to put my huge amount of boy-pictures online I should buy another account. Why not be able to have a single repository of content and then being able to publish different views for different audiences?

Sorry Flickr but I'll add to global downturn and not renew my pro account. Which btw has gotten more expensive during the years. I always thought there are economies of scale in teh nets?


Valerie's 1st theorem of web 2.0 : as the user base of a social content sharing web site grows big enough to support actual business model, the original content- and community creating core users start to get fed up.

Happy Holidays!

Slightly belated Happy Christmas time to all!!!

In 2008 many things have been going on all the time, lots of changes in my life (again) but 2009 theme looks like building stability. Maybe I'll be able to write more often and keep in touch with all you friends better. *muah*

(Today, I've been mostly lying in bed with fever. Doh.)

I'm gonna start the fight?

Why is it that everybody describes me with this link: Pink: So What

Googlestorming

Ha! I'll just write this funny googlestorming instead of putting any of my real thoughts down:

Got utterly annoyed reading Cross Dresser #1 the Pope himself, God's chosen Man in a Dress declaring fight against homo- and transexuality is as important as protection of the environment.
While googling around for a humour picture of Pope dressing in a cross aka cross-dressing for my forum post I came up with a seemingly interesting blog by a 20sh Helsinki girl. Haha she's the same ice queen I've met several times in DTM whos head-in-the-arse "I must be the most handsome hetero in the bar" boyfriend is groping my wife's arse (and surely others') at every possibly chance. Last time I got enough and was going to make an issue but my beloved wife changed her mind that something had happened so I was left without evidence.

Arse.

I so hate those types coming to gay bars and 1) thinking they can behave like they were in their regular hilly-billy pub 2) totally incapable of even imagining a heterosexual tranny, and yes, that gorgeous girl you're fancying is actually with him, and thank you, go back were you crawled out from! Well we've had several hilarious nights observing that self-conscious couple making such a loser joke out of themselves it's almost ok.

Noble

Finland got yesterday it's 3rd Nobel Prize as our ex-president Martti Ahtisaari received the 2008 Nobel Prize for Peace in Oslo. I feel happy and proud for that. He is propably the most underestimated Finn ever, my (previous) opinions included. When he was president we had plenty of jokes like "Ahtisaari is the only president you can see from Moon" - let's face it, he is huge and not the most handsome of world politicians. He came outside party circles as a black horse and won elections big time. He was claimed to be populist, disregarding our country and inclining to business as he spent much time traveling around world doing international politics and promoting Finnish companies. Disregard for home field ultimately hit him as his party came up with another candidate for next elections. Rumour goes he got fed up with this and thus decided not to continue as a president. Good for the rest of the world I say, as he has worked tremendously for solving crisis around world.
It's funny how Russia is very sour of his prize, no official recognizion so far and all main papers just barking bullshit critic. They are still sour about Balkans where Ahtisaari helped produce a plan for the indepence of Kosovo from (Russian ally) Serbia. Today's Pravda: "When the Finns blocked his second presidency, they probably were spared of sharing fate of rest of the world caused by Mr. Ahtisaari."
Err WTF? Attack of Russia? Putin will nuke the world because Norwegians gave Nobel to him? Balkans taught me a Russian lesson, we almost ended up boxing with my then-best cordial Russian friend about the issue. A Ph.D. ready to take Kalashnikov and fight for the Nato oppression there, nothing else ever happened, just American propaganda. I'm actually worried about Russia because the country has gone only much worse ever since when it comes to democracy.

Imagine

Today I'm surrounded by a military camp. This morning getting out of my house to work a sergeant with attack riffle stopped me "Sorry Sir (sic!) road is closed, there's a mine field. You need to turn and go other way." Now how often does your day start like this? Ultimately they gave in and I got to go to work. I'm terribly afraid the reality of their training suffered from pulling off the enormous mine-sweeping truck and watching as a bloody civilian coupé sped right through their minefield. Hey, it's my road, get off or I will drive into your camouflage tent.
Or worse, put my military uniform and attack you tonight! :P

Circus

There's only two types of people in the world
The ones that entertain, and the ones that observe
Well baby, I'm a put-on-a-show kind of girl
Don't like the backseat
Gotta be first
(Oh..)

I'm a like the ringleader, I call the shots (Call the shots)
I'm like a firecracker, I make it hot
When I put on a show...



Went with Tita to Britney's Circus album release party on Wednesday. On circus theme there were magicians and girls on five feet legs around. Got free CD & poster. Party was actually pretty lame but had fun anyway. I felt we were about only ones dressed for the occasion (plus a bunch of girlies dressed as Britneys, we instantly clicked!). Got a weirdo fan trying to pick up, summoned staff to throw him out. Also very very by chance met Rach from UK, nice to see you & get in touch if you ever come again to the cold LGBT capital of Nordics!

Many many things have happened but I haven't written anything. I'll try to be nicer and catch up. I'm feeling happy!


Britney: Circus


I feel the adrenaline moving through my veins
Spotlight on me and I'm ready to break
I'm like a performer, the dancefloor is my stage
Better be ready, hope that you feel the same

All eyes on me, in the center of the ring
(Just like a Circus) (Uh. Uh.Uh-huh)
When I crack that whip, everybody gonna trip
(Just like a Circus) (Uh. Uh. Uh-huh)
Don't stand there watching me, follow me, show me what you can do
Everybody let go, we can make a dancefloor
(Just like a Circus) (Uh. Uh. Uh-huh)

Sense and Sensibility

Had a sparkling Halloween party in a good company.

We closed down Puuteri for 3 days to educate the Delta Tau Chis about internet forum behaviour, clean the place a little bit and simply, to have a perfect Halloween holiday :)

We started receiving plenty of feedback and remarkably, 100% supportive and approving. Talk about taking the right move. Also last night on going back online everybody was happy for us coming back. Thanks everybody for support.

Looking back my mistake has been trying to get along with everybody and being active on the forum on day-to-day discussions. Therefore I tried to deal the issue on personal relations, not just cold implementation of rules. Lesson learned. I also re-found Becky's old gem: Envérité's version of Godwin's Law and started implementing that :P

What's funny, local people seem to have started reading my blog. Obviously somebody's been sending a link. I've never advertised it to anyone and consider it my semi-private diary where I'm for instance ranting about the idiots social challenges I come across and then be able to continue with the requirements of a civilized society.

Looks like some people have been bruised by my previous post. First of all, it's truth. Truth needs to be told when too many people believe lies. Truth screams to be told when lies try to replace truth publicly. Second, if somebody acts like an idiot she must face being called one. I can apologize my rant to one person, H, because she apologized me for her part of the mess. Otherwise, it's been very quiet so I count having 5-1 lead.

Time to move on. Case closed.

Evil Evil Evil: On hatstands and fruitcakes

13 months ago I set up transgender website puuteri.org with the idea of bringing all transgender people together in fun and accepting environment. It has been popular with around 500 users and 5.000 posts to date, 20+ online chatters every night. (for a language audience of 5 million people).

I'm considering to close it down.


For the past 13 months I can count with single hand fingers people who've thanked me for the site. Currently more people mock me on daily basis for whatever reason they can find.


Want the script of a drama featuring cheaper back-stabbing liars and retards than the novel at local Tesco's?

Hardly a surprise that all the characters are pre-transition m2f TSes, many of whom got their first bite of Zumenon last week. (I'm refering to them according to sex stated in their passport - just returning the favour of being called names for over a week now)

Shame shame as some of my loveliest friends are TSes. But then again, my friends don't have serious mental problems.



It all started with a discussion on transvestite part of the forum, topic "Transvestite ICD classification" sliding gradually to off-topic mostly by some besserwissers wanting to tell How Things Are, as usual. We knew what was on the road ahead and decided to act on it.

A newbie hatstand J started explaining the standard wisdom "You are like having a hobby, like doing yoga, a lifestyle choice. The choice of wearing a skirt is like somebody want to use a suit, some others jeans. [...] I on the other hand am a Real Woman feeling and thinking like a woman, not any (transvestite) ass-shaker from bar".

He got private warning for putting that blurp public.

Simultaneously on the same discussion fruitcake H was posting pages of data on transexual treatment. Everything started sliding off-topic, so fellow moderator Tita wrote a general reminder to everyone "Please stop posting off-topic". The fruitcake heated, threw personal insult, and went on.

He got private warning for writing that insult and disrespecting moderation.

But now he started revving. He started calling us names, "blokes in a dress", boys with inflated ego, ts-haters, asking to ban him, and writing some strange scorny forum articles. We didn't care so far and told him to calm down and relax, nobody's interested in banning him. I contacted him and tried to talk the case clear, actually believing we did reach an understanding. How wrong I was. He continued, and got the hatstand J along. Now we had two persons looking for trouble and challenging moderation.

I put the newbie for a 3 day ban, and asked the more mature H once more to get real. After hearing of the ban the fruits flew all over the place: he continued insults and started writing articles that every TS should get off the site as it's run by ts-hating blokes in a dress. Enough of that so he got a 7 day ban. The website aims to bring together TSes and TVs, so the TS/TV war he started mongering was attacking the core idea of the site.

Result was that a public anonymous transforum, regularly full of tranny-haters and bashing, started to fill of insults on the website and us administrators. Mostly insulting poor Tita who wasn't even to blame! Part of messages were signed by H himself, but most of it anonymous. Very, very low class insults.

Random hatstands started making trouble on our website. A grandma-aged nutcake J, specialized in generating hot air, was every day claiming admin of bashing ts's and general bad behaviour. He who himself blew off personal insults on a priest one of the same days for christ's sake! A true hatstand supreme M who's usually writing stuff nobody can really understand was generating bad atmosphere as well, claiming all the time that TSs are randomly banned because we hate TSes and that we are just bunch of kids stretching our muscle, but "we will all be killed my stronger force".. Explaining dutifuly in chat to everybody how things are, even he had no idea what had happened. J, a weekly visitor with sour one-liners and insults started celebrating that finally we are getting what we deserve.

O.M.G.

Despite all this pile of shit mounting and even moderate TSes starting to jump this imaginative bandwagon to "resist the oppressors" we cut the original bans on predetermined days. Last night I caught H in chat and after some insisting got him to talk about the episode, and got an apology. So we are ok. Also J agreed episode was over. End of story? Not! The wheels H set into motion keep turning.

While talking this M was simultaneously mocking of power politics, childish abuse and demanding for a apology for him. Excuse me? He's not involved in the row in any other way than spreading lies, insulting, general bad will, and he even admitted writing many of the anonymous insults on the other website. And now he's waiting for an apology? I shrugged that off at the time, but this morning seeing that random hatstands are still continuing the mockery, my cup was filled and spilled.

My site is an attempt to find intelligent, nice transgender people in Finland who can discuss and share thoughts without scorn, need for self-promotion on others' expense or purge personal anxiety on insulting others. If none exist, the social experiment failed. End of story.


I'm most disappointed about two things: First seeing that some TSes I thought were my friends have been nodding acceptingly to this pile of shit mounting because of the claimed oppression of TSes - and they happily believed those lies. Second, that no-one of the presumed intelligent, nice persons among the wider audience are standing up to voice that this is wrongness. How can a handful of troublemakers abuse a vast majority of users, however edgy and noisy they be? That leaves me with two conclusions: either I'm wrong or alone. Both cases, I'm seriously considering giving it all up and continuing with nicer things in life.


I'm afraid I'm in desperate need of relocating to a country with citizens equipped with social skills and more positive life attitude.



It's been a while.. I know I shouldn't have kept you waiting, but I'm here now


PS: Administering the forum has consumed virtually all my t*net quota, haven't been reading anybody's blogs or writing/posting pics for ages. Wonder if the same people are still around LOL.

Interlude

Umm, I'm not dead - again - but just having a blog-death. Uuh I promise I mayhaps topped Extreme Trannying FOREVER last weekend at the night of the (t)arts.. maybe I'll report more later, maybe not. Lucky I didn't end up in jail for the night ;) What else? Puuteri has over 400 users / 3.500 posts. Whoa.

I'm having a serious mid-tranny-crisis: after you've partied several capitals, several spouses, several genres - what next? Well obviously I haven't done everything as I'm planning a trip to Barca with friends.

September: Cry For You (2008)