It appears that the case of the missing journal entry postings has been SOLVED!
I can see from my own list of the number of journal entries posted on my site that last June 4th was a busy day. I know I have posted quite a few journal entries over the years but not 53 of them!!! I can talk and write alot but . . . . .
Trying to repair the site the guys posted over 30 test entries on my site in just a few hours! When the site recently got repaired these disappearing journal entries suddenly reappeared. I just noticied this and have spent time deleting the test items.
I would suggest that everyone go delete repetative journal/test items to cut down on the clutter.
Thanks Dan & Jon for the great work in making Urnotalone such an awesome place!!! You have proved yourselves again!
Read the second article in the first newsletter and the second and third articles in newsletter that follows. I left the newsletters in so you had a better idea on where then came from - Suzi
ACCESS TO ENERGY A Pro-Science, Pro-Technology, Pro-Free Enterprise Monthly Newsletter NOVEMBER 2007 (Vol. 35 no. 4), Box 1250, Cave Junction, Oregon 97523 Copyright 2007 by Access to Energy Adaptation Empirical evidence supporting the hypothesis of biological "evolution" is meager at best This hypothesized phenomenon is experi-mentally unobservable and. therefore, not validated. Many of the outstanding scientists I have known - from atheists to Christians -quietly subscribe to some form of "intelligent design." "Quietly" is the operative word here because American academia has become increasingly uninhabitable for those who do not appear to conform to current politically correct trends.
"Adaptation." however, is easily observable and constantly in evidence. Each living species contains very great variation within its genes - biological variability between individuals of the same species. This allows species to adapt to changing'conditions.
A remarkable example of this is found in bacteria that require the essential amino acid tryptophan in their diets. If tryptophan is eliminated from their diet, the entire colony of bacteria quickly gains the ability to make it. If tryptophan is returned to the growth medium, then the bacteria colony loses the ability to make it.
Without dietary tryptophan or the ability to make tryptophan, the colony would die. If tryptophan is supplied, however, there is a competitive advantage in not using resources to make tryptophan. In each case, a few bacteria with the opposite talent remain in the colony. If their particular ability becomes advantageous, their progeny quickly dominate the colony.
Evolutionists like to describe such phenomena as micro-evolution - the colony evolving back and forth driven by survival of the fittest. Survival is driving this process, but it has nothing to do with evolution. Biological variation - or "diversity," to use a popular politically correct word - is present in all living species. This assures that the species survive under widely varied conditions. This diversity can take the form of individuals of different abilities or of biochemical systems that measure the environment and change individual biochemistry to adapt to conditions as needed
The United States Constitutional Republic was constructed in such a way as to take advantage of a similar phenomenon. With many separate semi-autonomous states, errors made by one state government were unlikely to be made simultaneously by the others. People and resources- flowed back- and forth between these largely independent states in accordance with the wisdom of their policies.
For example, if one state debased its currency and another maintained honest money, market competition would have soon ended the debasement. With, however, the vast growth of centralized power in Washington, this advantage has been substantially lost. An error in Washington affects the whole.
Still, the process of adaptation is nevertheless at work. Through excessive governmental taxation, regulation, and litigation, the United States has been rendered a poor environment for energy and manufacturing industries. So, these activities have flowed to other nations that have not been as unwise. In this way the community of nations - the political species - has gained survival capabilities through adaptive survival of the fittest. The human race has an abundance of energy and manufacturing even though it is increasingly no longer located in the United States. Survival of the fittest is therefore diminishing American prosperity and power.
Now, however, international elitists want to impose tyrannical control over the entire community of nations. The human-caused global warming propaganda drive is an effort to transfer power to tax and ration energy into an international body that will thereby control the energy and technology of all nations. Aside from its immoral and unethical aspects, this diminution of the independence of nation states contains great peril for the human race.
While Al Gore and retainers regale the public with fear of global warming, NASA scientist David Hathaway is predicting the opposite. John Casey, Director of the NASA Space Science Research Center, has confirmed that their research indicates an impending return to Earth temperatures as low or lower than prevailed during the Little Ice Age that occurred about 200 to 300 years ago. See http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/10may_longrange.htm and also www.spaceandscience.net.
These NASA studies indicate that the solar cycle beginning between 2015 and 2020 may have unusually low activity - similar to that which contributed to the Little Ice Age. Accurate predictions of future weather are not yet possible. The actual temperature could rise or fall - no one knows this future.
If, however, a member of the current crop of political opportunists running for U. S. President is elected - rather than Ron Paul, the energy deficit in the United States will seriously worsen. All of these people have endorsed the human-caused global warming. United Nations agenda. So, if NASA is right, Americans are going to be very cold and miserable beginning about 10 years from now. While we could easily cool the Earth with the Penner-Teller procedures, we have no means with which to warm it.
Should the fears of misinformed and over-governed Americans be allowed to drag Asia and Africa into the same disaster? If energy production is unregulated - controlled by free enterprise or at least by separate nation states, then some of the world's people will not be energy poor if colder weather comes.
Without an immediate revival of the American hydrocarbon and nuclear energy industries - made possible by government withdrawal of the oppressive taxes, regulations, and litigation that currently prevent this, Americans will be very short of energy 10 years from now. Energy for heat and for mitigating technology is the only human response available to lower temperatures.
It has always been thus. The man who hikes into the winter mountains without warm clothing may freeze to death. He has, however, no moral right to demand that everyone else also leave their cold weather gear behind. Freedom to be different is an inherent human right. Freedom also confers important adaptive survival characteristics for the entire human race.
CURING THE INCURABLE Thomas E. Levy's book, Curing the Incurable, Livon Books, 2002, is largely a review of the work of Frederick R. Klenner, M.D., and other related discoveries. Dr. Klenner began medical practice in 1940. He soon became interested in research carried out in the 1930s, which showed that vitamin C could kill viruses "in vitro," outside of living things.
Frederick Klenner discovered two things. First, vitamin C can be given to humans in enormous oral and intravenous doses over short to medium time intervals without serious harm - long-term very high doses may be an exception. Second, very high doses of vitamin C, especially given intravenously, are remarkably effective in curing serious viral and bacterial infections, and even poisonous snake bite. Klenner reported that he cured 60 out of 60 polio patients during the polio epidemic of 1948 with vitamin C.
Klenner's work found its way into the alternative medicine industry in the 1950s and 1960's. Nutrition gurus such as Adele Davis and Carlton Fredricks advertised Klenner's findings to their followers. This led to the ingestion of supplementary doses of vitamin C by many Americans.
When Irwin Stone - on the basis of Klenner's work - first convinced Linus Pauling in 1967 to personally take 3 grams of vitamin C per day, Linus began to read the literature on vitamin C and to write summary articles and books about it. Klenner was delighted, thinking that Pauling's entrance into the field would lead to much greater recognition of his own, pioneering work. In this, Klenner was to be disappointed.
Pauling was willing to work closely with people whose work did not predate his own, but Klenner had 25 years of precedence in the field - which would overshadow Pauling. He referenced Klenner, but had very little interest in working with him.
This historical and personal interplay was unfortunate because Klenner's most important discoveries received too little attention, and Pauling's claims that "75% of all cancer can be prevented or cured by vitamin C alone" distorted the field away from some of the true merits of vitamin C.
Initially in the 1970s, I had little interest in Klenner's work. Working closely with Pauling, I tended to be influenced by his interests. Then, students working in my laboratory at UCSD discovered that vitamin C, in the presence of air, quickly destroys peptide and protein molecules. As a result, I asked Stanford graduate student Steve Richeimer to investigate the mechanism of this process.
Richeimer found that aerobic oxidation of vitamin C leads to free radicals and peroxides, which destroy peptides and proteins. We also found earlier published work showing a similar result, wherein vitamin C plus oxygen destroyed the integrity of DNA molecules. Later studies showed that these reactions also occur "in vivo," in living things. These findings were personally unfortunate for Richeimer, whose work was quickly terminated by Pauling in actions that seriously damaged his career.
In any case, Richeimer and I published a short paper suggesting that the oxidation products of vitamin C may have a significant positive value in biological systems - and Fredrick Klenner's work began to interest me more.
Klenner used doses of vitamin C very far beyond those found in ordinary biological systems. Moreover, his results were startling. Poisonous snake bite? Snake venoms are peptides. Peptides are chemically destroyed by the oxidation products of vitamin C. Viruses? Viruses are simple packages of DNA and protein, both of which are chemically destroyed by these same oxidation products. Bacteria could be similarly affected. Human cells and molecules would, of course, also be affected, but these are easily replaced within human tissues.
Did we now understand the mechanism of action that led to Klenner's results? Possibly, but by no means certainly. It is often the case, especially in fields as complex as biochemistry, that a hypothesis leads to experiments and procedures that turn out to be useful -even though the hypothesis turns out to be wrong.
It is also the case that outstanding empirical medical results are frequently ignored because they are not understood within the framework of ordinary medical training and orthodoxy.
Klenner's empirical results, however, stand on their own. They need not be understood to be of value. They have the potential to save many, many lives.
I strongly recommend that each reader of Access to Energy obtain a copy of Curing the Incurable by Thomas Levy - even if you just put the book on a shelf without reading it. Then, if you or someone for whom you are responsible is afflicted with a dangerous viral or bacterial infection - such as the infections that often kill elderly people, take the book from your shelf and read it. Klenner's procedures, especially those involving very high intravenous administration of vitamin C, might very well save a life. In any case, Klenner's discoveries provide an additional reason for hope.
Read the second and third articles ACCESS TO ENERGY A Pro-Science, Pro-Technology, Pro-Free Enterprise Monthly Newsletter MARCH 2008 (Vol. 35 no. 8) Box 1250, Cave Junction, Oregon 97523 Copyright 2008 by Access to Energy
Clathrate Hydrates Contrary to many popular accounts, there is absolutely no shortage of hydrocarbon resources in the United States. Besides large amounts of undrilled oil, the U.S. has enormous reserves of natural gas and essentially unlimited quantities of coal - 25% of the world supply. Oil shale is also abundant. Moreover, these resources can be converted into one another with ease.
For example, the liquefaction of American coal into oil could produce more oil per year than Saudi Arabia - for at least 200 years. Coal liquefaction, used by Germany to fuel its military during World War 11 and now used in South Africa, might be best done today with nuclear power. In any case, this is relatively simple to do with well-developed technology. Similarly, natural gas can be converted to oil, as is now being done on an industrial scale in the Middle East.
The shortage of hydrocarbon energy in the U.S. today - leading to high prices and a debilitating trade deficit - has been entirely caused by the paper-shuffling mob in Washington. Politicians have created a nightmare of taxation, regulation, and litigation that has prevented sufficient free-enterprise development of American hydrocarbon resources. If freedom were returned to our industrial environment, inexpensive and abundant domestic hydrocarbon energy would be available to Americans for several centuries.
Moreover, that "several centuries" is actually "several millennia" when methane clathrate hydrates are considered. In the authoritative book, Clathrate Hydrates of Natural Gases - Third Edition by E. Dendy Sloan and Carolyn A Koh, CRC Press, 2008, a review of estimates of U.S. and world methane clathrate hydrates is provided.
The current total annual energy consumption of the United States in methane, CH4, equivalents is estimated to be about 1 x 1012 cubic meters, m3, at standard temperature and pressure. The best current estimate of U.S. reserves of methane in clathrate hydrates - 1% in permafrost and 99% in the coastal oceans - is 9 x 1015 m3. This is enough methane to power the United States at its present energy use for 9,000 years. The 95% confidence limits of this estimate lie be-tween 3,000 and 19,000 years.
So, with already-developed technology, the U.S. can be self-sufficient in hydrocarbons for several centuries. By developing methane recovery methods for use with clathrates, this can be extended to several thousand years. Commercial methods for recovery of methane from clathrate deposits are already significantly along the way to practicality - both in the U.S. and in India and China..
Moreover, it is clear already that - if technological freedom is restored and maintained in the U.S. - conversion of most energy production to nuclear processes should occur during the 21st Century. Nuclear fuel resources are sufficient for tens of thousands of years.
At or beyond defined temperature and pressure, water freezes into ice - the usual form with which we are familiar. If, however, easily polarizable molecules of appropriate sizes are dissolved in the water, a different ice forms. This "clathrate" ice contains special cavities into which are fitted the solute molecules. Bonding of the solute molecules to the water increases the stability of the ice, so that it melts at a higher temperature than ordinary ice. Dissolved ionic substances such as ordinary salt interfere with ice formation. Also the shapes of the solute molecules affect stabilization, so there is much theoretical and empirical science associated with this subject.
As methane from biological and geological sources percolates into cold permafrost and oceanic regions, very large deposits of methane clathrate ices are formed.
The clathrate ices were discovered in the early 19th Century by Davy and Faraday and were fairly well understood before the beginning of the 20th Century. As natural gas transmission lines were built in the early 20th Century, it was found that formation of clathrate ices frequently caused plugging in these pipes, so clathrate chemistry became a standard component of pipeline engineering.
An interesting classroom demonstration can be constructed - featuring a piece of methane clathrate ice that burns like a candle. Since living things are largely composed of water, clathrate structures are also important in biochemistry. Already at Caltech in the 1960s, clathrate structures in biochemical systems were under study. See, for example, Robinson, A.B., Manly, K.F., Anthony, M.P., Catchpool, J.F., and Pauling, L., Anesthesis of Artemia Larvae: Method for Quantitative Study, Science 149 (1965) 1255.
The Miller-Pauling hypothesis of general anesthesia holds that general anesthetics function by organizing the water in living things into clathrate structures. All living things from swimming one-celled algae to human beings can be anesthetized by general anesthetics such as xenon, which fits clathrate cavities well and is an excellent anesthetic, or methane, which fits less well so is a poorer anesthetic.
The extra stabilization provided to clathrate ices and clathrate solvent structures arises from van der Waals dispersion forces between the included compounds and water. These forces are proportional to the polarizability of the included compound and also to the geometrical fit of that compound in the clathrate cavities.
The structure of water around protein molecules and other biological structures probably involves extensive clathrate structures, which play an essential part in biochemical processes. This field of specialization has, however, never been of much interest to the paper-shufflers who control tax-funded research grants - to which most academic scientists are addicted. So, research on biochemical clathrates has progressed very slowly.
Your body is filled with beautiful clathrate-like water structures similar to those which, as fully-formed ice, contain vast deposits of permafrost and oceanic methane.
Clathrate methane will likely not be used enough to appreciably diminish the supply - especially since we should change to abun-dant, inexpensive nuclear power in the near future. Its presence, however, is one more reason to ignore the misguided priests of "peak oil." The real issue is "peak hydrocarbons." This peak is at least thousands of years in the future - probably never.
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FEEDING CANCER "Vitamin C Megadoses Hamper Cancer Treatments in Mice" by Randy Dotinga in The Washington Post, October 1, 2008, reports research published by Mark L. Heaney of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and his colleagues in which they found that vitamin C interferes with cancer chemo- therapy in mice. The mice were given the human equivalent of 2 grams of vitamin C per day. This reduced the effectiveness of chemotherapy by between 30% and 70%.
Medical "science" progresses very slowly. Part of the reason for this is that it is dominated by people trained in the application of current medical procedures to individual patients.
To be sure, hundreds of thousands of men and women trained in current medical procedures are necessary. Their skills and educations as MDs are extensive and essential, so they well deserve to be highly respected and generously rewarded.
People who are best able to discover and develop new knowledge require, however, markedly different talents and educations.
A research physical scientist carries, in his brain, a model of the systems in which he specializes. Each and every relevant experimental discovery must be consistent with his model. If an inconsistency arises, the model must change to accommodate it. Everything must conform to experimental reality.
In physics, if an experimental observation is made and is found to be rigorously repeatable, then it is considered a fact of nature. Physical theory must accommodate it. It cannot be ignored.
In medical research, however, most work is not rigorous in this way. If an observation is unusual or not in accord with currently accepted dogma, it is often rejected - for that reason alone.
In 1978, my coworkers and I made the discoveries summarized in Figure 1. See, Robinson, A.B, Hunsberger, A., and Westall, F.C., Mechanisms of Ageing and Development 76 (1994) 201-214. The graph shows the number of squamous cell carcinoma lesions in mice as a function of vitamin C intake. Cancer - pathologically identical to that found in humans - was induced in these mice by means of UV light, just as it is induced in humans. Humans eat about one kilogram of food per day, so the human equivalent dose is numerically the same as grams per kilogram in the mouse food.
The number of lesions at one point in the experiment shown in Figure 1, as delineated in greater detail in our research publication, measures the rate of growth of the cancer.
The cancer growth rate was found to be about 100% higher in 100 mice receiving the human equivalent of 3 grams of vitamin C per day, as compared with mice that did not receive a supplement. At, however, true megadoses of 50 grams per day or higher, vitamin C reduces the cancer growth rate. A diet of raw fruits and vegetables also markedly reduces it. The dietary reduction has an advantage, since doses of vitamin C of 200 grams or greater are fatal to some of the mice. It is better not to be so close to a lethal limit - but, for seriously ill patients, this is justified.
The reported Sloan-Kettering work is almost certainly just a repeat of our finding that the human equivalent of 3 grams of vitamin C per day increases the growth rate of cancer. They used a 2 gram human equivalent and found that the cancer grew faster than expected during their chemotherapy.
We published this result 14 years ago. In physical science, discoveries are not ordinarily forgotten for 14 years and then rediscov-ered. The Journal in which we published was Mechanisms of Ageing and Development - an old and very respected publication. Better, however, would have been the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PNAS. Our paper was actually reviewed and submitted to PNAS by Martin Kamen, R. B. Merrifield, and B. Strehler. By the ordinary rules, that submission and recommendation should have meant automatic publication.
PNAS has, however, a special procedure in which any paper with potential medical implications must also pass a designated board of MDs. These MDs rejected the paper - nutrition and cancer not being a mainstream part of current ordinary medicine.
Our publication reported that the rate of growth of squamous cell carcinoma in mice can be varied over a 20-fold range by means of diet alone! Ho-hum. Medicine might become interested if the same thing is rediscovered several times over a period of 50 years.
In an age of ascendency of science and engineering, fields of specialization that depend upon this progress can advance very rapidly -but only if the people in these fields accept this advance. It is not this way in medicine. This is the reason I write medical "science" - with quotation marks. Sometimes it is a science and sometimes it isn't. When it isn't, unnecessary human suffering and death is the result.
HEALTH PROFILING In the review article "Revolutionizing 21st Century Medicine with Consumer-based Diagnostics and the Internet," J. American Physicians and Surgeons 12, 1, Spring 2007, which was sent to all Access to Energy subscribers, we discussed the advantages of application of modern technology to the quantitative measurement of human health. This work involves extracting quantitative information from human tissues and fluids and computationally analyzing it. This review article gives 21 references to the scientific literature that chronicle our work in this field.
Useful information can be extracted from whole body scans, biopsies, compilations of symptoms, blood analysis, urine analysis, and other sources. All of these are used in one form or another by "modern" medicine - but most of their techniques are technologically far out of date. Constrained by the medical monopoly and stifling government control of most health research, diagnostic medicine has fallen many decades behind technological advance.
This is going to change - although, unless the government-caused de-industrialization and de-capitalization of the United States is reversed, these advances will more likely be made in other countries.
As analytical apparatus is miniaturized and reduced in price, and as research using this apparatus advances, some people living now may well see a time when the air in the rooms in which they live is continuously monitored - with the information obtained used to extend their lives by many years and to markedly reduce their suffering due to ill health. The technology to do this exists now, but it is expensive, and it has not been applied to this problem.
In the nearer term and with the capital still available to Americans, the best substitute is regular urine analysis - by methods that are not now and are not likely in the future to be available from the American medical monopoly, without outside intervention.
Our work on this problem has inched forward to the point that we expect to be ready - by early 2009 - to test new techniques of urine analysis that we have developed.
Usually such tests involve sample sets that are impractical for widespread use. The samples are gathered in specialized ways from unusual groups of people. The end products of the laboratory work are research papers - published in the research literature, but rarely utilized in a practical way. We prefer to avoid this trap.
So, we have decided to ask the readers of Access to Energy to participate. Participation will require that the individual send to us - at regular 3-month intervals - a few drops of his urine. We will provide small vials and shipping containers for this purpose.
In addition to the urine samples, we will need to know the individual's sex and age and to know about specific serious illnesses that he has experienced in the past and illnesses that he experiences during his participation in the experiments. This will involve a health questionnaire similar to that ordinarily filled out in a doctor's office.
Everything - the questionnaire and the analyses - will, of course, be kept rigorously confidential.
In return, the participant can expect nothing other than the satisfaction of having helped with this research. We do not suggest that we will find information in his samples that will benefit him.
We are still refining our analytical and computational procedures. A few months from now, we will send out sample containers.
If you or someone you know would like to participate in this study, please send a note to the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, 2251 Dick George Road, Cave Junction, OR 97523. You will not hear from us immediately. Eventually, however, each per-son who volunteers will receive a sampling kit along with the necessary Questionnaire.
It is that time of year and yesterday's/today's snowstorm just seems to add to the festive mood of Christmas. I know that getting ready for the holidays can be stressful and painful.
I enjoy all the bright lights, good cheer, parties, the presents, and Xmas dinner. But let us remember the true meaning of Xmas. It is the day that we celeberate the life of one person and the meaning of what it is to strive and have a better planet to live on.
Enjoy your holidays no matter your belief system!!!!!
I hope that all of you have a great Thanksgiving. We all have, though it may not seem that way many times, so much to be thankful for. The next time you get down emotionally remember that things could be a whole lot worse. Many people are in that predicament.
Routine. Day after day, hour after hour I feel like I have been trapped
in a hamster wheel. A very entertaining and distracting wheel, indeed.
I don't really feel like thinking, or doing the IM thing. Can't be
bothered if making this wheel turn seems so interesting. It isn't
really like there is a whole lot to do after coming back from work.
Glenn calls me a bedbug: I get home, take off the work clothes and plop
my ass on bed. Maybe I should find something interesting to do. But I
don't feel like it. Besides the bed is soft, and the bedroom is the
warmest room in the house. I don't really want to have any drama in my
life, even though that would make my life a bit more interesting to
retell. Yep, not a lot of things get me fired up these days, it is more
comfy to sit in bed and play Neopets Flash games with my kids.
There
is a turning point in your life when you stop doing crazy things. You
remember certain things you rather keep to yourself. Like when you were
in the back of a police car for disturbing the peace back in Peru. Or
when you marched with a bunch of other college students, interrupting
traffic and running the risk of being hit by a bus. I think it was a
solidarity march with the miner's union, although I think it was a good
excuse for skipping a failing class. Yea, the wild days. It was always
a protest in Peru. We did like to complain a lot and let everyone know
about it. Sometimes things got ugly, cops on horses were quite
intimidating. And the water gun, ugh. Didn't sit in the cop car too
long. My godfather ( Rip) was a colonel in the Peruvian Air Force and
his name carried some weight. The slap on the face and the couple of
kicks I got from the cops did not wipe the grin of my face as I was let
go. Crazy days indeed. My grandpa had been a political prisoner during
one of the numerous dictatorships Peru used to have. He never talked
about it, but my mom always told me the stories. I knew they were not
fake because while working at my grandpa's print shop I always noticed
political propaganda lying around. He used to print it for free, he
never charged for any of it. His political party was illegal for many
decades, and he enjoyed the fact that his party won the election during
the mid-1980's before he passed away. The current government is also
that same party, guess they re doing something right. I wonder if the
Us Customs would've let me in if they knew I was this nuts...
Everyone
has written about the elections lately. I can't be happier. I followed
B. Obama since the primaries. I like to follow politics. Tell you the
truth, I liked Dennis Kucinich more, he is just a firecracker. But I
knew he was not going to win cuz he is too liberal sometimes. But
little Dennis is my hero, he is the one who insisted on impeaching Bush
and our heartless vicepresident, even after Pelosi said there was not
going to be any impeachments. I think the benefit of the majority
superseded the needs of the minorities in this election. Propositions 8
and 2, in California and Florida passed, probably because the black
vote decidedly voted for Obama but was definitely against same sex
marriage. I think this is a matter of education. The black voters
followed their preachers, who obviously would be against anything
unholy. Interference of Church in State affairs? Yep, aren't they a
meddlesome bunch?
There is no need to blame or feel angry
against anybody. It is much better to find a solution. I think
protesting works. I do feel like we should voice our opinion, let's
make ourselves heard. Can't help but feel like second class citizens.
though. We didn't make enough to educate the black vote so they could
understand we are being discriminated like they were being
discriminated a couple of decades ago.
I attended a town hall
meeting, not so long ago, in which the representative of the NAACP was
in the panel of speakers. I remember she said, our fight is their fight
and that they would be behind us 100%. Glenn can back me up on this,
cuz he was there too. I feel like we are not alone in this. We can't do
the fighting by ourselves and be taken seriously. Alliances are good.
We have waited and we can wait a few more months, I understand there
are priorities, like the economy. But we must keep this issue in the
front of the news. Protests are good and the Day of Remembrance this
month is a good time to be seen and heard. Find out when they're gonna
have services in your area, try to attend, that's the least you can do. It
sucks to have a right being taken away from you by popular vote. Why is
a right that everyone else has, included in a ballot for the majority
to vote on? How did it get there in the first place? I don't know all
the political intricacies but I suppose there is a clear disregard for
a constitution that claims it contains inalienable rights for every
citizen. Everyone is talking about how America has again become the
greatest democracy in the world. How come other democracies like
Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Norway,
Portugal, Sweden, the Netherlands and Belgium have allowed same sex
marriages for years now? Same sex partner benefits are also recognized
in countries such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia,
Costa Rica, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa( the country, not
the continent Palin followers...) and Spain. America has now to catch
up. So, if you have been caught in a rut for a while, remember you
can't complain about your rights being taken away without doing nothing
about it. Get off your couch, stop playing that video game, don't worry
about dumb jocks and their affairs with grabbing a football and attend
your local Day of Remembrance services. You know what we are
remembering, right? If that is not enough motivation, I do not know
what will :-)
*note: all the pictures are from the protests
against the passing of Prop 8 in Cali. More than 5000 gathered to
march, crazy people :-P
Routine. Day after day, hour after hour I feel like I have been trapped
in a hamster wheel. A very entertaining and distracting wheel, indeed.
I don't really feel like thinking, or doing the IM thing. Can't be
bothered if making this wheel turn seems so interesting. It isn't
really like there is a whole lot to do after coming back from work.
Glenn calls me a bedbug: I get home, take off the work clothes and plop
my ass on bed. Maybe I should find something interesting to do. But I
don't feel like it. Besides the bed is soft, and the bedroom is the
warmest room in the house. I don't really want to have any drama in my
life, even though that would make my life a bit more interesting to
retell. Yep, not a lot of things get me fired up these days, it is more
comfy to sit in bed and play Neopets Flash games with my kids.
There
is a turning point in your life when you stop doing crazy things. You
remember certain things you rather keep to yourself. Like when you were
in the back of a police car for disturbing the peace back in Peru. Or
when you marched with a bunch of other college students, interrupting
traffic and running the risk of being hit by a bus. I think it was a
solidarity march with the miner's union, although I think it was a good
excuse for skipping a failing class. Yea, the wild days. It was always
a protest in Peru. We did like to complain a lot and let everyone know
about it. Sometimes things got ugly, cops on horses were quite
intimidating. And the water gun, ugh. Didn't sit in the cop car too
long. My godfather ( Rip) was a colonel in the Peruvian Air Force and
his name carried some weight. The slap on the face and the couple of
kicks I got from the cops did not wipe the grin of my face as I was let
go. Crazy days indeed. My grandpa had been a political prisoner during
one of the numerous dictatorships Peru used to have. He never talked
about it, but my mom always told me the stories. I knew they were not
fake because while working at my grandpa's print shop I always noticed
political propaganda lying around. He used to print it for free, he
never charged for any of it. His political party was illegal for many
decades, and he enjoyed the fact that his party won the election during
the mid-1980's before he passed away. The current government is also
that same party, guess they re doing something right. I wonder if the
Us Customs would've let me in if they knew I was this nuts...
Everyone
has written about the elections lately. I can't be happier. I followed
B. Obama since the primaries. I like to follow politics. Tell you the
truth, I liked Dennis Kucinich more, he is just a firecracker. But I
knew he was not going to win cuz he is too liberal sometimes. But
little Dennis is my hero, he is the one who insisted on impeaching Bush
and our heartless vicepresident, even after Pelosi said there was not
going to be any impeachments. I think the benefit of the majority
superseded the needs of the minorities in this election. Propositions 8
and 2, in California and Florida passed, probably because the black
vote decidedly voted for Obama but was definitely against same sex
marriage. I think this is a matter of education. The black voters
followed their preachers, who obviously would be against anything
unholy. Interference of Church in State affairs? Yep, aren't they a
meddlesome bunch?
There is no need to blame or feel angry
against anybody. It is much better to find a solution. I think
protesting works. I do feel like we should voice our opinion, let's
make ourselves heard. Can't help but feel like second class citizens.
though. We didn't make enough to educate the black vote so they could
understand we are being discriminated like they were being
discriminated a couple of decades ago.
I attended a town hall
meeting, not so long ago, in which the representative of the NAACP was
in the panel of speakers. I remember she said, our fight is their fight
and that they would be behind us 100%. Glenn can back me up on this,
cuz he was there too. I feel like we are not alone in this. We can't do
the fighting by ourselves and be taken seriously. Alliances are good.
We have waited and we can wait a few more months, I understand there
are priorities, like the economy. But we must keep this issue in the
front of the news. Protests are good and the Day of Remembrance this
month is a good time to be seen and heard. Find out when they're gonna
have services in your area, try to attend, that's the least you can do. It
sucks to have a right being taken away from you by popular vote. Why is
a right that everyone else has, included in a ballot for the majority
to vote on? How did it get there in the first place? I don't know all
the political intricacies but I suppose there is a clear disregard for
a constitution that claims it contains inalienable rights for every
citizen. Everyone is talking about how America has again become the
greatest democracy in the world. How come other democracies like
Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Norway,
Portugal, Sweden, the Netherlands and Belgium have allowed same sex
marriages for years now? Same sex partner benefits are also recognized
in countries such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia,
Costa Rica, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa( the country, not
the continent Palin followers...) and Spain. America has now to catch
up. So, if you have been caught in a rut for a while, remember you
can't complain about your rights being taken away without doing nothing
about it. Get off your couch, stop playing that video game, don't worry
about dumb jocks and their affairs with grabbing a football and attend
your local Day of Remembrance services. You know what we are
remembering, right? If that is not enough motivation, I do not know
what will :-)
*note: all the pictures are from the protests
against the passing of Prop 8 in Cali. More than 5000 gathered to
march, crazy people :-P
Routine. Day after day, hour after hour I feel like I have been trapped
in a hamster wheel. A very entertaining and distracting wheel, indeed.
I don't really feel like thinking, or doing the IM thing. Can't be
bothered if making this wheel turn seems so interesting. It isn't
really like there is a whole lot to do after coming back from work.
Glenn calls me a bedbug: I get home, take off the work clothes and plop
my ass on bed. Maybe I should find something interesting to do. But I
don't feel like it. Besides the bed is soft, and the bedroom is the
warmest room in the house. I don't really want to have any drama in my
life, even though that would make my life a bit more interesting to
retell. Yep, not a lot of things get me fired up these days, it is more
comfy to sit in bed and play Neopets Flash games with my kids.
There
is a turning point in your life when you stop doing crazy things. You
remember certain things you rather keep to yourself. Like when you were
in the back of a police car for disturbing the peace back in Peru. Or
when you marched with a bunch of other college students, interrupting
traffic and running the risk of being hit by a bus. I think it was a
solidarity march with the miner's union, although I think it was a good
excuse for skipping a failing class. Yea, the wild days. It was always
a protest in Peru. We did like to complain a lot and let everyone know
about it. Sometimes things got ugly, cops on horses were quite
intimidating. And the water gun, ugh. Didn't sit in the cop car too
long. My godfather ( Rip) was a colonel in the Peruvian Air Force and
his name carried some weight. The slap on the face and the couple of
kicks I got from the cops did not wipe the grin of my face as I was let
go. Crazy days indeed. My grandpa had been a political prisoner during
one of the numerous dictatorships Peru used to have. He never talked
about it, but my mom always told me the stories. I knew they were not
fake because while working at my grandpa's print shop I always noticed
political propaganda lying around. He used to print it for free, he
never charged for any of it. His political party was illegal for many
decades, and he enjoyed the fact that his party won the election during
the mid-1980's before he passed away. The current government is also
that same party, guess they re doing something right. I wonder if the
Us Customs would've let me in if they knew I was this nuts...
Everyone
has written about the elections lately. I can't be happier. I followed
B. Obama since the primaries. I like to follow politics. Tell you the
truth, I liked Dennis Kucinich more, he is just a firecracker. But I
knew he was not going to win cuz he is too liberal sometimes. But
little Dennis is my hero, he is the one who insisted on impeaching Bush
and our heartless vicepresident, even after Pelosi said there was not
going to be any impeachments. I think the benefit of the majority
superseded the needs of the minorities in this election. Propositions 8
and 2, in California and Florida passed, probably because the black
vote decidedly voted for Obama but was definitely against same sex
marriage. I think this is a matter of education. The black voters
followed their preachers, who obviously would be against anything
unholy. Interference of Church in State affairs? Yep, aren't they a
meddlesome bunch?
There is no need to blame or feel angry
against anybody. It is much better to find a solution. I think
protesting works. I do feel like we should voice our opinion, let's
make ourselves heard. Can't help but feel like second class citizens.
though. We didn't make enough to educate the black vote so they could
understand we are being discriminated like they were being
discriminated a couple of decades ago.
I attended a town hall
meeting, not so long ago, in which the representative of the NAACP was
in the panel of speakers. I remember she said, our fight is their fight
and that they would be behind us 100%. Glenn can back me up on this,
cuz he was there too. I feel like we are not alone in this. We can't do
the fighting by ourselves and be taken seriously. Alliances are good.
We have waited and we can wait a few more months, I understand there
are priorities, like the economy. But we must keep this issue in the
front of the news. Protests are good and the Day of Remembrance this
month is a good time to be seen and heard. Find out when they're gonna
have services in your area, try to attend, that's the least you can do. It
sucks to have a right being taken away from you by popular vote. Why is
a right that everyone else has, included in a ballot for the majority
to vote on? How did it get there in the first place? I don't know all
the political intricacies but I suppose there is a clear disregard for
a constitution that claims it contains inalienable rights for every
citizen. Everyone is talking about how America has again become the
greatest democracy in the world. How come other democracies like
Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Norway,
Portugal, Sweden, the Netherlands and Belgium have allowed same sex
marriages for years now? Same sex partner benefits are also recognized
in countries such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia,
Costa Rica, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa( the country, not
the continent Palin followers...) and Spain. America has now to catch
up. So, if you have been caught in a rut for a while, remember you
can't complain about your rights being taken away without doing nothing
about it. Get off your couch, stop playing that video game, don't worry
about dumb jocks and their affairs with grabbing a football and attend
your local Day of Remembrance services. You know what we are
remembering, right? If that is not enough motivation, I do not know
what will :-)
*note: all the pictures are from the protests
against the passing of Prop 8 in Cali. More than 5000 gathered to
march, crazy people :-P
Routine. Day after day, hour after hour I feel like I have been trapped
in a hamster wheel. A very entertaining and distracting wheel, indeed.
I don't really feel like thinking, or doing the IM thing. Can't be
bothered if making this wheel turn seems so interesting. It isn't
really like there is a whole lot to do after coming back from work.
Glenn calls me a bedbug: I get home, take off the work clothes and plop
my ass on bed. Maybe I should find something interesting to do. But I
don't feel like it. Besides the bed is soft, and the bedroom is the
warmest room in the house. I don't really want to have any drama in my
life, even though that would make my life a bit more interesting to
retell. Yep, not a lot of things get me fired up these days, it is more
comfy to sit in bed and play Neopets Flash games with my kids.
There
is a turning point in your life when you stop doing crazy things. You
remember certain things you rather keep to yourself. Like when you were
in the back of a police car for disturbing the peace back in Peru. Or
when you marched with a bunch of other college students, interrupting
traffic and running the risk of being hit by a bus. I think it was a
solidarity march with the miner's union, although I think it was a good
excuse for skipping a failing class. Yea, the wild days. It was always
a protest in Peru. We did like to complain a lot and let everyone know
about it. Sometimes things got ugly, cops on horses were quite
intimidating. And the water gun, ugh. Didn't sit in the cop car too
long. My godfather ( Rip) was a colonel in the Peruvian Air Force and
his name carried some weight. The slap on the face and the couple of
kicks I got from the cops did not wipe the grin of my face as I was let
go. Crazy days indeed. My grandpa had been a political prisoner during
one of the numerous dictatorships Peru used to have. He never talked
about it, but my mom always told me the stories. I knew they were not
fake because while working at my grandpa's print shop I always noticed
political propaganda lying around. He used to print it for free, he
never charged for any of it. His political party was illegal for many
decades, and he enjoyed the fact that his party won the election during
the mid-1980's before he passed away. The current government is also
that same party, guess they re doing something right. I wonder if the
Us Customs would've let me in if they knew I was this nuts...
Everyone
has written about the elections lately. I can't be happier. I followed
B. Obama since the primaries. I like to follow politics. Tell you the
truth, I liked Dennis Kucinich more, he is just a firecracker. But I
knew he was not going to win cuz he is too liberal sometimes. But
little Dennis is my hero, he is the one who insisted on impeaching Bush
and our heartless vicepresident, even after Pelosi said there was not
going to be any impeachments. I think the benefit of the majority
superseded the needs of the minorities in this election. Propositions 8
and 2, in California and Florida passed, probably because the black
vote decidedly voted for Obama but was definitely against same sex
marriage. I think this is a matter of education. The black voters
followed their preachers, who obviously would be against anything
unholy. Interference of Church in State affairs? Yep, aren't they a
meddlesome bunch?
There is no need to blame or feel angry
against anybody. It is much better to find a solution. I think
protesting works. I do feel like we should voice our opinion, let's
make ourselves heard. Can't help but feel like second class citizens.
though. We didn't make enough to educate the black vote so they could
understand we are being discriminated like they were being
discriminated a couple of decades ago.
I attended a town hall
meeting, not so long ago, in which the representative of the NAACP was
in the panel of speakers. I remember she said, our fight is their fight
and that they would be behind us 100%. Glenn can back me up on this,
cuz he was there too. I feel like we are not alone in this. We can't do
the fighting by ourselves and be taken seriously. Alliances are good.
We have waited and we can wait a few more months, I understand there
are priorities, like the economy. But we must keep this issue in the
front of the news. Protests are good and the Day of Remembrance this
month is a good time to be seen and heard. Find out when they're gonna
have services in your area, try to attend, that's the least you can do. It
sucks to have a right being taken away from you by popular vote. Why is
a right that everyone else has, included in a ballot for the majority
to vote on? How did it get there in the first place? I don't know all
the political intricacies but I suppose there is a clear disregard for
a constitution that claims it contains inalienable rights for every
citizen. Everyone is talking about how America has again become the
greatest democracy in the world. How come other democracies like
Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Norway,
Portugal, Sweden, the Netherlands and Belgium have allowed same sex
marriages for years now? Same sex partner benefits are also recognized
in countries such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia,
Costa Rica, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa( the country, not
the continent Palin followers...) and Spain. America has now to catch
up. So, if you have been caught in a rut for a while, remember you
can't complain about your rights being taken away without doing nothing
about it. Get off your couch, stop playing that video game, don't worry
about dumb jocks and their affairs with grabbing a football and attend
your local Day of Remembrance services. You know what we are
remembering, right? If that is not enough motivation, I do not know
what will :-)
*note: all the pictures are from the protests
against the passing of Prop 8 in Cali. More than 5000 gathered to
march, crazy people :-P
I'm not into conspiracy theories but I do believe that lots of stuff happens because of $. Follow the money on this one and then tell me what you think?
This is long but if you have diffuse symptoms (chronic
illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, lupus, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's
disease-illnesses) or know someone who does, it is worth the time. Likewise, if
you ever have a desire for a diet drink it is a must see - Suzi
This is a test to see if I can input my journal entry. Fingers crossed!
Summer is almost here. I know that 90 degree weather and
95% humidity does not do much for makeup. The season does not always
lend itself to dressing up. The dressed go into the box and the boxes
go into the closest.
Why not slip into that swimsuit and
go on out and get a great tan in a nice secluded surrounding. Or be
more brave and go out in public with a cute, sleeveless top and min
shorts/skirt. Give the guys some "eye candy!"
I am writing this journal entry to see if it will input or not! *Fingers crossed*
Summer is almost here and for many girls the makeup and clothes go into the box and the box goesinto the closet. While makeup does not work well in 90 degree weather and worse in 90% humidity you can still enjoy dressing. How about buying a new swim suit and sunning yourself in a secluded spot? Or if you are more adventuresome go out in public in a smart little outfit or a sleveless top and mini shorts! Give the guys some "eye candy!"
From Ape to Babe – How Far Should a Cross-Dresser go with Digital Photo-Manipulation?
In the Beginning There Were Men Trying to Look like Women…
As soon as digital photography became available to the masses, I am sure that all of us, cross-dressers, saw and took advantage of an opportunity that was near the top of our wish list (second only to the temporary-transformation pill). At last, we would be able to take photos of ourselves without having to take the film for processing and the risks it involved.
Almost a decade has gone by and digital photography combined with the means for creating a female persona to interact with other people like us, has certainly been a dream come true for most of us. There is rarely a web-based community where TGirls in general and CDs in particular have not created a niche. MySpace, Yahoo 360, Hi5, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, to name a few, allow us to have a circle of friends with whom to share this important aspect of our lives. There are also portals dedicated exclusively to the TG community and here I have to mention Urnotalone as a pioneer and the place where many of us made our debut. We use our profiles to share and exchange ideas, thoughts, feelings, and, of course, photos with those who understand us in every way because they have the same passion we have for transforming ourselves into women.
Digital photography is one of the means through which we can share with the world this other side of ourselves and, arguably, the most important (keep in mind that I am talking from a cross-dresser’s point of view). It is through photos that we show our friends how good and how far are we able to go in our transformation and give or ask for help in improving our image. We do this within a community of people who know what it is all about and accept us as men trying to look as female as possible. Having a physical or visual image that matches our pretended gender so that others can relate to this woman they are meeting and with whom they are developing a friendship is very important. How many times have we come across a profile that says that the owner will not add any faceless person as a friend? Yes, it is important to have a face and, even better to have a complete body, to make the woman we pretend to be, appear real to others. Now, unless we get an opportunity to, eventually, meet in person with all these friends, there is no way we can ever be completely sure that “she” is for real. Every day we see profiles of people pretending to be TGirls showing photos that are so obviously of genetic females or photos that are evidently photomontages. Rather than judging these people I’d like to think that in their need to give life to an image that, for various reasons, they are not able to produce themselves, they rely on photos that depict the appearance they honestly wished they had. After all, we live in societies that, sadly enough, favor beauty over intelligence, values or personality.
In the case of cross-dressers and maybe all other TGirls, beauty is even more appreciated than in the case of real women because we are not only contempt with being able to pass for a female but all the better if we can pass for a beautiful woman. It is no surprise then, that “beautiful” TGirls are often more popular, praised and admired than those who can totally pass for average looking females or those who are the intellectuals and activists of our community. There is a strive to look as pretty as possible; in some cases to satisfy our own needs, and I include myself here, and in other cases to gain the acceptance and admiration of the other “girls” in our circles of friends.
… Then, Along Came Photoshop and a Dilemma…
Another field that developed parallel to digital photography was digital photo editing and its power horse, Photoshop. Yes, we are talking magic here. All of us who have come across Photoshop and learned the basics have not been able to resist exploring all the possibilities that are limited only by our imagination and our skills using the program. The dilemma that we face now is: Is it valid to use Photoshop or any other photo editing program to touch up our photos? And if so, how much of that magic should we use without being deceitful or distorting reality? I am sure that there are diverse opinions and points of view in this regard and following I will try to give you my outlook on this topic and will illustrate with examples whenever possible.
… To Deceive or not to Deceive… That is the Question.
I started using Photoshop to eliminate red eye and to correct the color and exposure of my photos. Then, I used it to eliminate chest hair when I wore revealing tops, and leg hair when I did not wear double hose. I did not consider this practice deceitful since it was the equivalent to shaving my body. I do not have thick body hair but it sure is noticeable and disgusting and prevented me from wearing more revealing tops and/or skirts with bare legs and sandals. My wife is not comfortable with me being shaved all the time and since I am a male 99% of the time, neither am I. Consequently, Photoshop provides the best means for me to achieve, virtually, something I can do, in reality, only on rare occasions. Is this level of photo editing deceitful? I guess we could consider it a mild deception but don’t all the photos we see on printed advertisement and on beauty magazines have, in most cases, been heavily touched up? If you think that is not the case, just take a look at the following links and you tell me:
In the previous link you see the before and after photo of Faith Hill. Granted that Faith is already a gorgeous middle-aged woman, they manipulate her photo to make her look a lot younger and shapely. Notice how her face is made smoother and slimmer as well as her arm. Also notice how the little hump showing on her back is removed and the clavicle is made less prominent. I have not read the text of the article sent to me by my dear friend Laura Recinos just recently, but it explains in detail how it was done. The following link provides even more dramatic examples of how a professional touches up photos from famous people for magazines. Click on each thumbnail and then roll the mouse over the enlarged photo to see how it was before and then roll out to see the after again.
http://glennferon.com/portfolio1/index.html
As you can see, all wrinkles are gone, boobs are made larger and with more cleavage and every little imperfection is taken care of to present a perfect image. This is the perfect image we all seek and strive for but, as the Dove commercial, in the link below, clearly states, it is an unrealistic and unattainable beauty standard since it is produced electronically. Yes, every gorgeous girl with a perfect body, face and hair we see in all sorts of magazine adds is not as perfect as she seems to be. Having a good raw material to start with makes the task easier but the photos they show us are idealizations achieved through the manipulation of photos of beautiful subjects that are close but not quite there and, in some cases, not even close to perfection, on their own. Every woman, and I count here TGirls too, would like to have the figure of a Barbie Doll or Jessica Rabbit but we know that their extremely slim waists and exaggerated proportions can only be produced in plastic or drawing and lately, with Photoshop. Our ideal of beauty has become, thanks to photo editing, quite unrealistic. Take a look at the Dove commercial now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibyAJOSW8U
A Justification… or Not.
Where does reality end and deception begin? In the case of cross-dressers it is very hard to define since we are already being deceitful by presenting an image that is opposite to our real gender. Wigs, makeup, breast forms, hip padding, corsets, lashes, nails, etc. are the physical tools we use to create an illusion. What is the difference then, between that and getting similar results with digital photo-manipulation?
If gorgeous models, actresses and singers have their already outstanding beauty electronically enhanced why shouldn’t us, ugly men trying to look like beautiful women, do it too? After all, we need it a lot more than they do. Don’t you agree?
If you ask me, I think we are entitled to do it; but how far should we go with it? In my opinion, we should go as far as to reproduce what we are able to achieve in reality if we have the opportunity. What I mean by this is: if I know I can look better if I shave my body but can’t do it all the time then why not get a virtual shave? If I know, I can produce a decent cleavage with tape and padding when I get to shave my chest then why not simulate it with Photoshop? I used to just remove the chest and leg hair with Photoshop until one time, a little over a year ago, that I got to shave my whole body and produced a pretty decent cleavage with tape. I could not believe my eyes when I saw myself in the mirror and even now, when I see the photos from then (see links below).
It was after seeing how natural my tape-produced cleavage looked that I thought I was entitled to get Photoshop implants by either shading the flat chest or by superimposing and blending real boobs from real girls (it just occurred to me that maybe some of the boobies I have used for my photos might have already been touched up LOL). I will be the first to admit that I have gotten a bit carried away in the chest size and cleavage but if you are going to do it then do it right, don’t you agree? The links below show a few of the photos where I have incurred in what I like to call “Photoshop Implants”. Every time I post this type of photos I include a note stating that the breasts are not real. Please notice the difference with the “authentic tape-created cleavage” shown in the links above:
Up to this point I believe it is still justifiable, in my humble opinion, to use photo editing. Why? Because I have proven to myself (I do it first for me not for others) that I can achieve similar results in real life when I get a chance to shave. By the way, my wife has agreed to let me shave my chest the next time I dress which should be on the second week of June 2008, if all works out as planned. In order to further illustrate the two levels of photo improvement that I am comfortable posting I prepared an image showing the “hairy” Cristy (ape), the “No Cleavage” Cristy (not so babe) and the “Virtual Breast Augmentation” Cristy (arguably babe). I recommend you see the original size (if it fits in your screen). The link is:
How far should I go? I’d like you to tell me. Would you rather see, from left to right, Ape Cristy, Flat and hairless Cristy or Babe Cristy? In Yahoo 360 you will be able to cast your vote in the poll at the bottom but if you read this in MySpace or URNA, please leave a short note with your point of view in this “shallow” but interesting issue.
This writing should not be taken for a confession, because I have always made it clear that I am not smooth most of the time and have also included an explanatory note whenever I post photos showing enhanced breasts. The reason that gave me the idea to write about this topic is that, lately, I have gotten several messages asking me about my new implants and if I am happy with them, how do they feel, etc. I have also been asked about when am I having my SRS! It is evident that, as is often the case, we are so busy with other things that we just take a quick look at the photos and do not bother or have the time to read the captions below them. As a matter of fact I posted a before and after photo almost a year ago when I first started posting photos with “virtual implants” since it has never been my intention to mislead anyone. For those of you who have not seen it, here is the link (as with the other photos, I recommend you see it in large size):
I am not an expert with Photoshop and am far from achieving the kind of work shown in the before and after photos seen in the links at the top. However, I have always been good with computers and have an artistic background that has helped me find my way around the program. Therefore, I have experimented further and just for fun have explored other manipulations that make me appear to have a more feminine appearance by altering the body shape in my own photos or simply putting my face on top of gorgeous GG bodies (a technique I like to call “virtual body snatching”). I don’t know if any of those bodies I have used have, in turn, been touched up before but they serve the purpose of having some fun in “wonderland”. I have shared some of them with close friends but have never posted any before, as I think this is far from reality and something I could not achieve on my own. In other words, I find these images completely deceptive and would not like to have anyone thinking they are real. For the first time ever I will post some of them on Flickr but for that I have created a new account in which I make very clear that they are all photomontages or extreme manipulations of my own photos. Yes, it is fun and gives me great satisfaction but it is not real. Following is the link to the home page for this Flickr profile. From there you can go to the photo pages.
http://www.flickr.com/people/27290011@N07/
Also, here is a link to the one photo of this kind I will post in my regular Flickr account:
I am fully aware that after seeing these last photos you will be wondering how much of the photos I post in my profiles and my real Flickr account is really me. It is an acceptable conclusion once I have shown the magic that can be made with just one program and there is nothing I can do about it. However, as a very dear friend has told me a number of times, my videos are proof of how I really look like and for those of you who are doubtful, here is the link to my YouTube profile:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=cristy98girl
So, After all the Rambling, is There Anything to Conclude?
In conclusion, I think that it is all a game of make believe and as long as we do not hurt anyone else we should be entitled to do whatever we feel appropriate. In my case, I prefer to be honest and make things clear from the start but can understand how other people go for deception in their attempt to give life to a much needed female persona that matches their ideals and standards. However, I prefer when they state from the beginning that the photos show how they wish they looked like and not when they try to mislead others into thinking it is really them in the photo(s). In the case of the latter, the first person they are fooling is themselves but as long as they enjoy it and do not harm anyone in the process, then so be it.
Some of you might agree or disagree with my opinion and you are entitled to it. I have expressed my very own point of view with regards to this topic and I do the “virtual shaving” and “Photoshoped Implants” first and foremost for my own satisfaction; knowing full well that I can achieve similar results if I get a chance to shave all my body. In such cases, I have always made it clear whenever I think it might be misleading.
From now on I might continue posting my “body and face alterations” and my “ virtual body snatching” photos exclusively in the new Fickr account, where I will not post any regular photos of me. I am still debating if I should post the original next to the manipulation in the case of those photos that are not my own since I have not used them with permission. I am also debating if I should open the profile to friend adds and the photos to comments but once you read this document, the decisions will have been made and maybe a Pandora Box will be opening. It seems that in this virtual world our appearance will be composed of our own raw material and our, or other people’s, skills to enhance it. We will eventually get to the point where it is not only about how good or bad we look but also how good can our photos be enhanced by ourselves or by others.
It seems that I just can’t keep a blog entry short but if you were able to stand the reading to this point, we have finally reached the end :-). Thank you for your interest and I will appreciate your feedback if you consider it appropriate.
URNA DETECTIVES NEWS FLASH! DAN, JON & THE CASE OF THE MISSING JOURNAL ENTRIES!
Karen Reeves December 27th, 2008 8:54 pm MSTHi Everyone!
It appears that the case of the missing journal entry postings has been SOLVED!
I can see from my own list of the number of journal entries posted on my site that last June 4th was a busy day. I know I have posted quite a few journal entries over the years but not 53 of them!!! I can talk and write alot but . . . . .
Trying to repair the site the guys posted over 30 test entries on my site in just a few hours! When the site recently got repaired these disappearing journal entries suddenly reappeared. I just noticied this and have spent time deleting the test items.
I would suggest that everyone go delete repetative journal/test items to cut down on the clutter.
Thanks Dan & Jon for the great work in making Urnotalone such an awesome place!!! You have proved yourselves again!
*Smiles*
~Karen~
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Curing the Incurable - Is HIV treatable???
Suzi December 21st, 2008 3:03 pm MSTRead the second article in the first newsletter and the second and third articles in newsletter that follows. I left the newsletters in so you had a better idea on where then came from - Suzi
ACCESS TO ENERGY
A Pro-Science, Pro-Technology, Pro-Free Enterprise Monthly Newsletter
NOVEMBER 2007 (Vol. 35 no. 4), Box 1250, Cave Junction, Oregon 97523
Copyright 2007 by Access to Energy
Adaptation
Empirical evidence supporting the hypothesis of biological "evolution" is meager at best This hypothesized phenomenon is experi-mentally unobservable and. therefore, not validated. Many of the outstanding scientists I have known - from atheists to Christians -quietly subscribe to some form of "intelligent design." "Quietly" is the operative word here because American academia has become increasingly uninhabitable for those who do not appear to conform to current politically correct trends.
"Adaptation." however, is easily observable and constantly in evidence. Each living species contains very great variation within its genes - biological variability between individuals of the same species. This allows species to adapt to changing'conditions.
A remarkable example of this is found in bacteria that require the essential amino acid tryptophan in their diets. If tryptophan is eliminated from their diet, the entire colony of bacteria quickly gains the ability to make it. If tryptophan is returned to the growth medium, then the bacteria colony loses the ability to make it.
Without dietary tryptophan or the ability to make tryptophan, the colony would die. If tryptophan is supplied, however, there is a competitive advantage in not using resources to make tryptophan. In each case, a few bacteria with the opposite talent remain in the colony. If their particular ability becomes advantageous, their progeny quickly dominate the colony.
Evolutionists like to describe such phenomena as micro-evolution - the colony evolving back and forth driven by survival of the fittest. Survival is driving this process, but it has nothing to do with evolution. Biological variation - or "diversity," to use a popular politically correct word - is present in all living species. This assures that the species survive under widely varied conditions. This diversity can take the form of individuals of different abilities or of biochemical systems that measure the environment and change individual biochemistry to adapt to conditions as needed
The United States Constitutional Republic was constructed in such a way as to take advantage of a similar phenomenon. With many separate semi-autonomous states, errors made by one state government were unlikely to be made simultaneously by the others. People and resources- flowed back- and forth between these largely independent states in accordance with the wisdom of their policies.
For example, if one state debased its currency and another maintained honest money, market competition would have soon ended the debasement. With, however, the vast growth of centralized power in Washington, this advantage has been substantially lost. An error in Washington affects the whole.
Still, the process of adaptation is nevertheless at work. Through excessive governmental taxation, regulation, and litigation, the United States has been rendered a poor environment for energy and manufacturing industries. So, these activities have flowed to other nations that have not been as unwise. In this way the community of nations - the political species - has gained survival capabilities through adaptive survival of the fittest. The human race has an abundance of energy and manufacturing even though it is increasingly no longer located in the United States. Survival of the fittest is therefore diminishing American prosperity and power.
Now, however, international elitists want to impose tyrannical control over the entire community of nations. The human-caused global warming propaganda drive is an effort to transfer power to tax and ration energy into an international body that will thereby control the energy and technology of all nations. Aside from its immoral and unethical aspects, this diminution of the independence of nation states contains great peril for the human race.
While Al Gore and retainers regale the public with fear of global warming, NASA scientist David Hathaway is predicting the opposite. John Casey, Director of the NASA Space Science Research Center, has confirmed that their research indicates an impending return to Earth temperatures as low or lower than prevailed during the Little Ice Age that occurred about 200 to 300 years ago. See http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/10may_longrange.htm and also www.spaceandscience.net.
These NASA studies indicate that the solar cycle beginning between 2015 and 2020 may have unusually low activity - similar to that which contributed to the Little Ice Age. Accurate predictions of future weather are not yet possible. The actual temperature could rise or fall - no one knows this future.
If, however, a member of the current crop of political opportunists running for U. S. President is elected - rather than Ron Paul, the energy deficit in the United States will seriously worsen. All of these people have endorsed the human-caused global warming. United Nations agenda. So, if NASA is right, Americans are going to be very cold and miserable beginning about 10 years from now. While we could easily cool the Earth with the Penner-Teller procedures, we have no means with which to warm it.
Should the fears of misinformed and over-governed Americans be allowed to drag Asia and Africa into the same disaster? If energy production is unregulated - controlled by free enterprise or at least by separate nation states, then some of the world's people will not be energy poor if colder weather comes.
Without an immediate revival of the American hydrocarbon and nuclear energy industries - made possible by government withdrawal of the oppressive taxes, regulations, and litigation that currently prevent this, Americans will be very short of energy 10 years from now. Energy for heat and for mitigating technology is the only human response available to lower temperatures.
It has always been thus. The man who hikes into the winter mountains without warm clothing may freeze to death. He has, however, no moral right to demand that everyone else also leave their cold weather gear behind. Freedom to be different is an inherent human right. Freedom also confers important adaptive survival characteristics for the entire human race.
CURING THE INCURABLE
Thomas E. Levy's book, Curing the Incurable, Livon Books, 2002, is largely a review of the work of Frederick R. Klenner, M.D., and other related discoveries. Dr. Klenner began medical practice in 1940. He soon became interested in research carried out in the 1930s, which showed that vitamin C could kill viruses "in vitro," outside of living things.
Frederick Klenner discovered two things. First, vitamin C can be given to humans in enormous oral and intravenous doses over short to medium time intervals without serious harm - long-term very high doses may be an exception. Second, very high doses of vitamin C, especially given intravenously, are remarkably effective in curing serious viral and bacterial infections, and even poisonous snake bite. Klenner reported that he cured 60 out of 60 polio patients during the polio epidemic of 1948 with vitamin C.
Klenner's work found its way into the alternative medicine industry in the 1950s and 1960's. Nutrition gurus such as Adele Davis and Carlton Fredricks advertised Klenner's findings to their followers. This led to the ingestion of supplementary doses of vitamin C by many Americans.
When Irwin Stone - on the basis of Klenner's work - first convinced Linus Pauling in 1967 to personally take 3 grams of vitamin C per day, Linus began to read the literature on vitamin C and to write summary articles and books about it. Klenner was delighted, thinking that Pauling's entrance into the field would lead to much greater recognition of his own, pioneering work. In this, Klenner was to be disappointed.
Pauling was willing to work closely with people whose work did not predate his own, but Klenner had 25 years of precedence in the field - which would overshadow Pauling. He referenced Klenner, but had very little interest in working with him.
This historical and personal interplay was unfortunate because Klenner's most important discoveries received too little attention, and Pauling's claims that "75% of all cancer can be prevented or cured by vitamin C alone" distorted the field away from some of the true merits of vitamin C.
Initially in the 1970s, I had little interest in Klenner's work. Working closely with Pauling, I tended to be influenced by his interests. Then, students working in my laboratory at UCSD discovered that vitamin C, in the presence of air, quickly destroys peptide and protein molecules. As a result, I asked Stanford graduate student Steve Richeimer to investigate the mechanism of this process.
Richeimer found that aerobic oxidation of vitamin C leads to free radicals and peroxides, which destroy peptides and proteins. We also found earlier published work showing a similar result, wherein vitamin C plus oxygen destroyed the integrity of DNA molecules. Later studies showed that these reactions also occur "in vivo," in living things. These findings were personally unfortunate for Richeimer, whose work was quickly terminated by Pauling in actions that seriously damaged his career.
In any case, Richeimer and I published a short paper suggesting that the oxidation products of vitamin C may have a significant positive value in biological systems - and Fredrick Klenner's work began to interest me more.
Klenner used doses of vitamin C very far beyond those found in ordinary biological systems. Moreover, his results were startling. Poisonous snake bite? Snake venoms are peptides. Peptides are chemically destroyed by the oxidation products of vitamin C. Viruses? Viruses are simple packages of DNA and protein, both of which are chemically destroyed by these same oxidation products. Bacteria could be similarly affected. Human cells and molecules would, of course, also be affected, but these are easily replaced within human tissues.
Did we now understand the mechanism of action that led to Klenner's results? Possibly, but by no means certainly. It is often the case, especially in fields as complex as biochemistry, that a hypothesis leads to experiments and procedures that turn out to be useful -even though the hypothesis turns out to be wrong.
It is also the case that outstanding empirical medical results are frequently ignored because they are not understood within the framework of ordinary medical training and orthodoxy.
Klenner's empirical results, however, stand on their own. They need not be understood to be of value. They have the potential to save many, many lives.
I strongly recommend that each reader of Access to Energy obtain a copy of Curing the Incurable by Thomas Levy - even if you just put the book on a shelf without reading it. Then, if you or someone for whom you are responsible is afflicted with a dangerous viral or bacterial infection - such as the infections that often kill elderly people, take the book from your shelf and read it. Klenner's procedures, especially those involving very high intravenous administration of vitamin C, might very well save a life. In any case, Klenner's discoveries provide an additional reason for hope.
Read the second and third articles
ACCESS TO ENERGY
A Pro-Science, Pro-Technology, Pro-Free Enterprise Monthly Newsletter
MARCH 2008 (Vol. 35 no. 8) Box 1250, Cave Junction, Oregon 97523
Copyright 2008 by Access to Energy
Clathrate Hydrates
Contrary to many popular accounts, there is absolutely no shortage of hydrocarbon resources in the United States. Besides large amounts of undrilled oil, the U.S. has enormous reserves of natural gas and essentially unlimited quantities of coal - 25% of the world supply. Oil shale is also abundant. Moreover, these resources can be converted into one another with ease.
For example, the liquefaction of American coal into oil could produce more oil per year than Saudi Arabia - for at least 200 years. Coal liquefaction, used by Germany to fuel its military during World War 11 and now used in South Africa, might be best done today with nuclear power. In any case, this is relatively simple to do with well-developed technology. Similarly, natural gas can be converted to oil, as is now being done on an industrial scale in the Middle East.
The shortage of hydrocarbon energy in the U.S. today - leading to high prices and a debilitating trade deficit - has been entirely caused by the paper-shuffling mob in Washington. Politicians have created a nightmare of taxation, regulation, and litigation that has prevented sufficient free-enterprise development of American hydrocarbon resources. If freedom were returned to our industrial environment, inexpensive and abundant domestic hydrocarbon energy would be available to Americans for several centuries.
Moreover, that "several centuries" is actually "several millennia" when methane clathrate hydrates are considered. In the authoritative book, Clathrate Hydrates of Natural Gases - Third Edition by E. Dendy Sloan and Carolyn A Koh, CRC Press, 2008, a review of estimates of U.S. and world methane clathrate hydrates is provided.
The current total annual energy consumption of the United States in methane, CH4, equivalents is estimated to be about 1 x 1012 cubic meters, m3, at standard temperature and pressure. The best current estimate of U.S. reserves of methane in clathrate hydrates - 1% in permafrost and 99% in the coastal oceans - is 9 x 1015 m3. This is enough methane to power the United States at its present energy use for 9,000 years. The 95% confidence limits of this estimate lie be-tween 3,000 and 19,000 years.
So, with already-developed technology, the U.S. can be self-sufficient in hydrocarbons for several centuries. By developing methane recovery methods for use with clathrates, this can be extended to several thousand years. Commercial methods for recovery of methane from clathrate deposits are already significantly along the way to practicality - both in the U.S. and in India and China..
Moreover, it is clear already that - if technological freedom is restored and maintained in the U.S. - conversion of most energy production to nuclear processes should occur during the 21st Century. Nuclear fuel resources are sufficient for tens of thousands of years.
At or beyond defined temperature and pressure, water freezes into ice - the usual form with which we are familiar. If, however, easily polarizable molecules of appropriate sizes are dissolved in the water, a different ice forms. This "clathrate" ice contains special cavities into which are fitted the solute molecules. Bonding of the solute molecules to the water increases the stability of the ice, so that it melts at a higher temperature than ordinary ice. Dissolved ionic substances such as ordinary salt interfere with ice formation. Also the shapes of the solute molecules affect stabilization, so there is much theoretical and empirical science associated with this subject.
As methane from biological and geological sources percolates into cold permafrost and oceanic regions, very large deposits of methane clathrate ices are formed.
The clathrate ices were discovered in the early 19th Century by Davy and Faraday and were fairly well understood before the beginning of the 20th Century. As natural gas transmission lines were built in the early 20th Century, it was found that formation of clathrate ices frequently caused plugging in these pipes, so clathrate chemistry became a standard component of pipeline engineering.
An interesting classroom demonstration can be constructed - featuring a piece of methane clathrate ice that burns like a candle.
Since living things are largely composed of water, clathrate structures are also important in biochemistry. Already at Caltech in the 1960s, clathrate structures in biochemical systems were under study. See, for example, Robinson, A.B., Manly, K.F., Anthony, M.P., Catchpool, J.F., and Pauling, L., Anesthesis of Artemia Larvae: Method for Quantitative Study, Science 149 (1965) 1255.
The Miller-Pauling hypothesis of general anesthesia holds that general anesthetics function by organizing the water in living things into clathrate structures. All living things from swimming one-celled algae to human beings can be anesthetized by general anesthetics such as xenon, which fits clathrate cavities well and is an excellent anesthetic, or methane, which fits less well so is a poorer anesthetic.
The extra stabilization provided to clathrate ices and clathrate solvent structures arises from van der Waals dispersion forces between the included compounds and water. These forces are proportional to the polarizability of the included compound and also to the geometrical fit of that compound in the clathrate cavities.
The structure of water around protein molecules and other biological structures probably involves extensive clathrate structures, which play an essential part in biochemical processes. This field of specialization has, however, never been of much interest to the paper-shufflers who control tax-funded research grants - to which most academic scientists are addicted. So, research on biochemical clathrates has progressed very slowly.
Your body is filled with beautiful clathrate-like water structures similar to those which, as fully-formed ice, contain vast deposits of permafrost and oceanic methane.
Clathrate methane will likely not be used enough to appreciably diminish the supply - especially since we should change to abun-dant, inexpensive nuclear power in the near future. Its presence, however, is one more reason to ignore the misguided priests of "peak oil." The real issue is "peak hydrocarbons." This peak is at least thousands of years in the future - probably never.
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FEEDING CANCER
"Vitamin C Megadoses Hamper Cancer Treatments in Mice" by Randy Dotinga in The Washington Post, October 1, 2008, reports research published by Mark L. Heaney of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and his colleagues in which they found that vitamin C interferes with cancer chemo-
therapy in mice. The mice were given the human equivalent of 2 grams of vitamin C per day. This reduced the effectiveness of chemotherapy by between 30% and 70%.
Medical "science" progresses very slowly. Part of the reason for this is that it is dominated by people trained in the application of current medical procedures to individual patients.
To be sure, hundreds of thousands of men and women trained in current medical procedures are necessary. Their skills and educations as MDs are extensive and essential, so they well deserve to be highly respected and generously rewarded.
People who are best able to discover and develop new knowledge require, however, markedly different talents and educations.
A research physical scientist carries, in his brain, a model of the systems in which he specializes. Each and every relevant experimental discovery must be consistent with his model. If an inconsistency arises, the model must change to accommodate it. Everything must conform to experimental reality.
In physics, if an experimental observation is made and is found to be rigorously repeatable, then it is considered a fact of nature. Physical theory must accommodate it. It cannot be ignored.
In medical research, however, most work is not rigorous in this way. If an observation is unusual or not in accord with currently accepted dogma, it is often rejected - for that reason alone.
In 1978, my coworkers and I made the discoveries summarized in Figure 1. See, Robinson, A.B, Hunsberger, A., and Westall, F.C., Mechanisms of Ageing and Development 76 (1994) 201-214. The graph shows the number of squamous cell carcinoma lesions in mice as a function of vitamin C intake. Cancer - pathologically identical to that found in humans - was induced in these mice by means of UV light, just as it is induced in humans. Humans eat about one kilogram of food per day, so the human equivalent dose is numerically the same as grams per kilogram in the mouse food.
The number of lesions at one point in the experiment shown in Figure 1, as delineated in greater detail in our research publication, measures the rate of growth of the cancer.
The cancer growth rate was found to be about 100% higher in 100 mice receiving the human equivalent of 3 grams of vitamin C per day, as compared with mice that did not receive a supplement. At, however, true megadoses of 50 grams per day or higher, vitamin C reduces the cancer growth rate. A diet of raw fruits and vegetables also markedly reduces it. The dietary reduction has an advantage, since doses of vitamin C of 200 grams or greater are fatal to some of the mice. It is better not to be so close to a lethal limit - but, for seriously ill patients, this is justified.
The reported Sloan-Kettering work is almost certainly just a repeat of our finding that the human equivalent of 3 grams of vitamin C per day increases the growth rate of cancer. They used a 2 gram human equivalent and found that the cancer grew faster than expected during their chemotherapy.
We published this result 14 years ago. In physical science, discoveries are not ordinarily forgotten for 14 years and then rediscov-ered. The Journal in which we published was Mechanisms of Ageing and Development - an old and very respected publication. Better, however, would have been the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PNAS. Our paper was actually reviewed and submitted to PNAS by Martin Kamen, R. B. Merrifield, and B. Strehler. By the ordinary rules, that submission and recommendation should have meant automatic publication.
PNAS has, however, a special procedure in which any paper with potential medical implications must also pass a designated board of MDs. These MDs rejected the paper - nutrition and cancer not being a mainstream part of current ordinary medicine.
Our publication reported that the rate of growth of squamous cell carcinoma in mice can be varied over a 20-fold range by means of diet alone! Ho-hum. Medicine might become interested if the same thing is rediscovered several times over a period of 50 years.
In an age of ascendency of science and engineering, fields of specialization that depend upon this progress can advance very rapidly -but only if the people in these fields accept this advance. It is not this way in medicine. This is the reason I write medical "science" - with quotation marks. Sometimes it is a science and sometimes it isn't. When it isn't, unnecessary human suffering and death is the result.
HEALTH PROFILING
In the review article "Revolutionizing 21st Century Medicine with Consumer-based Diagnostics and the Internet," J. American Physicians and Surgeons 12, 1, Spring 2007, which was sent to all Access to Energy subscribers, we discussed the advantages of application of modern technology to the quantitative measurement of human health. This work involves extracting quantitative information from human tissues and fluids and computationally analyzing it. This review article gives 21 references to the scientific literature that chronicle our work in this field.
Useful information can be extracted from whole body scans, biopsies, compilations of symptoms, blood analysis, urine analysis, and other sources. All of these are used in one form or another by "modern" medicine - but most of their techniques are technologically far out of date. Constrained by the medical monopoly and stifling government control of most health research, diagnostic medicine has fallen many decades behind technological advance.
This is going to change - although, unless the government-caused de-industrialization and de-capitalization of the United States is reversed, these advances will more likely be made in other countries.
As analytical apparatus is miniaturized and reduced in price, and as research using this apparatus advances, some people living now may well see a time when the air in the rooms in which they live is continuously monitored - with the information obtained used to extend their lives by many years and to markedly reduce their suffering due to ill health. The technology to do this exists now, but it is expensive, and it has not been applied to this problem.
In the nearer term and with the capital still available to Americans, the best substitute is regular urine analysis - by methods that are not now and are not likely in the future to be available from the American medical monopoly, without outside intervention.
Our work on this problem has inched forward to the point that we expect to be ready - by early 2009 - to test new techniques of urine analysis that we have developed.
Usually such tests involve sample sets that are impractical for widespread use. The samples are gathered in specialized ways from unusual groups of people. The end products of the laboratory work are research papers - published in the research literature, but rarely utilized in a practical way. We prefer to avoid this trap.
So, we have decided to ask the readers of Access to Energy to participate. Participation will require that the individual send to us - at regular 3-month intervals - a few drops of his urine. We will provide small vials and shipping containers for this purpose.
In addition to the urine samples, we will need to know the individual's sex and age and to know about specific serious illnesses that he has experienced in the past and illnesses that he experiences during his participation in the experiments. This will involve a health questionnaire similar to that ordinarily filled out in a doctor's office.
Everything - the questionnaire and the analyses - will, of course, be kept rigorously confidential.
In return, the participant can expect nothing other than the satisfaction of having helped with this research. We do not suggest that we will find information in his samples that will benefit him.
We are still refining our analytical and computational procedures. A few months from now, we will send out sample containers.
If you or someone you know would like to participate in this study, please send a note to the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, 2251 Dick George Road, Cave Junction, OR 97523. You will not hear from us immediately. Eventually, however, each per-son who volunteers will receive a sampling kit along with the necessary Questionnaire.
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Merry Christmas 2008 To You All!
Karen Reeves December 20th, 2008 11:51 pm MSTHi Everyone!
It is that time of year and yesterday's/today's snowstorm just seems to add to the festive mood of Christmas. I know that getting ready for the holidays can be stressful and painful.
I enjoy all the bright lights, good cheer, parties, the presents, and Xmas dinner. But let us remember the true meaning of Xmas. It is the day that we celeberate the life of one person and the meaning of what it is to strive and have a better planet to live on.
Enjoy your holidays no matter your belief system!!!!!
*Kisses*
~Karen~
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GOOBLE GOOBLE GOOBLE-Some November Thoughts !
Karen Reeves November 16th, 2008 10:00 pm MSTHi Everyone!
I hope that all of you have a great Thanksgiving. We all have, though it may not seem that way many times, so much to be thankful for. The next time you get down emotionally remember that things could be a whole lot worse. Many people are in that predicament.
Don't each too much turkey!
*Kisses*
~Karen~
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Liberty and Justice for some...
Laura Carrillo November 11th, 2008 5:49 pm MSTRoutine. Day after day, hour after hour I feel like I have been trapped in a hamster wheel. A very entertaining and distracting wheel, indeed. I don't really feel like thinking, or doing the IM thing. Can't be bothered if making this wheel turn seems so interesting. It isn't really like there is a whole lot to do after coming back from work. Glenn calls me a bedbug: I get home, take off the work clothes and plop my ass on bed. Maybe I should find something interesting to do. But I don't feel like it. Besides the bed is soft, and the bedroom is the warmest room in the house. I don't really want to have any drama in my life, even though that would make my life a bit more interesting to retell. Yep, not a lot of things get me fired up these days, it is more comfy to sit in bed and play Neopets Flash games with my kids.
There is a turning point in your life when you stop doing crazy things. You remember certain things you rather keep to yourself. Like when you were in the back of a police car for disturbing the peace back in Peru. Or when you marched with a bunch of other college students, interrupting traffic and running the risk of being hit by a bus. I think it was a solidarity march with the miner's union, although I think it was a good excuse for skipping a failing class. Yea, the wild days. It was always a protest in Peru. We did like to complain a lot and let everyone know about it. Sometimes things got ugly, cops on horses were quite intimidating. And the water gun, ugh. Didn't sit in the cop car too long. My godfather ( Rip) was a colonel in the Peruvian Air Force and his name carried some weight. The slap on the face and the couple of kicks I got from the cops did not wipe the grin of my face as I was let go. Crazy days indeed. My grandpa had been a political prisoner during one of the numerous dictatorships Peru used to have. He never talked about it, but my mom always told me the stories. I knew they were not fake because while working at my grandpa's print shop I always noticed political propaganda lying around. He used to print it for free, he never charged for any of it. His political party was illegal for many decades, and he enjoyed the fact that his party won the election during the mid-1980's before he passed away. The current government is also that same party, guess they re doing something right. I wonder if the Us Customs would've let me in if they knew I was this nuts...
Everyone has written about the elections lately. I can't be happier. I followed B. Obama since the primaries. I like to follow politics. Tell you the truth, I liked Dennis Kucinich more, he is just a firecracker. But I knew he was not going to win cuz he is too liberal sometimes. But little Dennis is my hero, he is the one who insisted on impeaching Bush and our heartless vicepresident, even after Pelosi said there was not going to be any impeachments. I think the benefit of the majority superseded the needs of the minorities in this election. Propositions 8 and 2, in California and Florida passed, probably because the black vote decidedly voted for Obama but was definitely against same sex marriage. I think this is a matter of education. The black voters followed their preachers, who obviously would be against anything unholy. Interference of Church in State affairs? Yep, aren't they a meddlesome bunch?
There is no need to blame or feel angry against anybody. It is much better to find a solution. I think protesting works. I do feel like we should voice our opinion, let's make ourselves heard. Can't help but feel like second class citizens. though. We didn't make enough to educate the black vote so they could understand we are being discriminated like they were being discriminated a couple of decades ago.
I attended a town hall meeting, not so long ago, in which the representative of the NAACP was in the panel of speakers. I remember she said, our fight is their fight and that they would be behind us 100%. Glenn can back me up on this, cuz he was there too. I feel like we are not alone in this. We can't do the fighting by ourselves and be taken seriously. Alliances are good. We have waited and we can wait a few more months, I understand there are priorities, like the economy. But we must keep this issue in the front of the news. Protests are good and the Day of Remembrance this month is a good time to be seen and heard. Find out when they're gonna have services in your area, try to attend, that's the least you can do.
It sucks to have a right being taken away from you by popular vote. Why is a right that everyone else has, included in a ballot for the majority to vote on? How did it get there in the first place? I don't know all the political intricacies but I suppose there is a clear disregard for a constitution that claims it contains inalienable rights for every citizen. Everyone is talking about how America has again become the greatest democracy in the world. How come other democracies like Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, the Netherlands and Belgium have allowed same sex marriages for years now? Same sex partner benefits are also recognized in countries such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa( the country, not the continent Palin followers...) and Spain. America has now to catch up.
So, if you have been caught in a rut for a while, remember you can't complain about your rights being taken away without doing nothing about it. Get off your couch, stop playing that video game, don't worry about dumb jocks and their affairs with grabbing a football and attend your local Day of Remembrance services. You know what we are remembering, right? If that is not enough motivation, I do not know what will :-)
*note: all the pictures are from the protests against the passing of Prop 8 in Cali. More than 5000 gathered to march, crazy people :-P
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Liberty and Justice for some...
Laura Carrillo November 10th, 2008 9:57 pm MSTRoutine. Day after day, hour after hour I feel like I have been trapped in a hamster wheel. A very entertaining and distracting wheel, indeed. I don't really feel like thinking, or doing the IM thing. Can't be bothered if making this wheel turn seems so interesting. It isn't really like there is a whole lot to do after coming back from work. Glenn calls me a bedbug: I get home, take off the work clothes and plop my ass on bed. Maybe I should find something interesting to do. But I don't feel like it. Besides the bed is soft, and the bedroom is the warmest room in the house. I don't really want to have any drama in my life, even though that would make my life a bit more interesting to retell. Yep, not a lot of things get me fired up these days, it is more comfy to sit in bed and play Neopets Flash games with my kids.
There is a turning point in your life when you stop doing crazy things. You remember certain things you rather keep to yourself. Like when you were in the back of a police car for disturbing the peace back in Peru. Or when you marched with a bunch of other college students, interrupting traffic and running the risk of being hit by a bus. I think it was a solidarity march with the miner's union, although I think it was a good excuse for skipping a failing class. Yea, the wild days. It was always a protest in Peru. We did like to complain a lot and let everyone know about it. Sometimes things got ugly, cops on horses were quite intimidating. And the water gun, ugh. Didn't sit in the cop car too long. My godfather ( Rip) was a colonel in the Peruvian Air Force and his name carried some weight. The slap on the face and the couple of kicks I got from the cops did not wipe the grin of my face as I was let go. Crazy days indeed. My grandpa had been a political prisoner during one of the numerous dictatorships Peru used to have. He never talked about it, but my mom always told me the stories. I knew they were not fake because while working at my grandpa's print shop I always noticed political propaganda lying around. He used to print it for free, he never charged for any of it. His political party was illegal for many decades, and he enjoyed the fact that his party won the election during the mid-1980's before he passed away. The current government is also that same party, guess they re doing something right. I wonder if the Us Customs would've let me in if they knew I was this nuts...
Everyone has written about the elections lately. I can't be happier. I followed B. Obama since the primaries. I like to follow politics. Tell you the truth, I liked Dennis Kucinich more, he is just a firecracker. But I knew he was not going to win cuz he is too liberal sometimes. But little Dennis is my hero, he is the one who insisted on impeaching Bush and our heartless vicepresident, even after Pelosi said there was not going to be any impeachments. I think the benefit of the majority superseded the needs of the minorities in this election. Propositions 8 and 2, in California and Florida passed, probably because the black vote decidedly voted for Obama but was definitely against same sex marriage. I think this is a matter of education. The black voters followed their preachers, who obviously would be against anything unholy. Interference of Church in State affairs? Yep, aren't they a meddlesome bunch?
There is no need to blame or feel angry against anybody. It is much better to find a solution. I think protesting works. I do feel like we should voice our opinion, let's make ourselves heard. Can't help but feel like second class citizens. though. We didn't make enough to educate the black vote so they could understand we are being discriminated like they were being discriminated a couple of decades ago.
I attended a town hall meeting, not so long ago, in which the representative of the NAACP was in the panel of speakers. I remember she said, our fight is their fight and that they would be behind us 100%. Glenn can back me up on this, cuz he was there too. I feel like we are not alone in this. We can't do the fighting by ourselves and be taken seriously. Alliances are good. We have waited and we can wait a few more months, I understand there are priorities, like the economy. But we must keep this issue in the front of the news. Protests are good and the Day of Remembrance this month is a good time to be seen and heard. Find out when they're gonna have services in your area, try to attend, that's the least you can do.
It sucks to have a right being taken away from you by popular vote. Why is a right that everyone else has, included in a ballot for the majority to vote on? How did it get there in the first place? I don't know all the political intricacies but I suppose there is a clear disregard for a constitution that claims it contains inalienable rights for every citizen. Everyone is talking about how America has again become the greatest democracy in the world. How come other democracies like Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, the Netherlands and Belgium have allowed same sex marriages for years now? Same sex partner benefits are also recognized in countries such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa( the country, not the continent Palin followers...) and Spain. America has now to catch up.
So, if you have been caught in a rut for a while, remember you can't complain about your rights being taken away without doing nothing about it. Get off your couch, stop playing that video game, don't worry about dumb jocks and their affairs with grabbing a football and attend your local Day of Remembrance services. You know what we are remembering, right? If that is not enough motivation, I do not know what will :-)
*note: all the pictures are from the protests against the passing of Prop 8 in Cali. More than 5000 gathered to march, crazy people :-P
[Comment on this post]
Liberty and Justice for some...
Laura Carrillo November 10th, 2008 9:32 pm MSTRoutine. Day after day, hour after hour I feel like I have been trapped in a hamster wheel. A very entertaining and distracting wheel, indeed. I don't really feel like thinking, or doing the IM thing. Can't be bothered if making this wheel turn seems so interesting. It isn't really like there is a whole lot to do after coming back from work. Glenn calls me a bedbug: I get home, take off the work clothes and plop my ass on bed. Maybe I should find something interesting to do. But I don't feel like it. Besides the bed is soft, and the bedroom is the warmest room in the house. I don't really want to have any drama in my life, even though that would make my life a bit more interesting to retell. Yep, not a lot of things get me fired up these days, it is more comfy to sit in bed and play Neopets Flash games with my kids.
There is a turning point in your life when you stop doing crazy things. You remember certain things you rather keep to yourself. Like when you were in the back of a police car for disturbing the peace back in Peru. Or when you marched with a bunch of other college students, interrupting traffic and running the risk of being hit by a bus. I think it was a solidarity march with the miner's union, although I think it was a good excuse for skipping a failing class. Yea, the wild days. It was always a protest in Peru. We did like to complain a lot and let everyone know about it. Sometimes things got ugly, cops on horses were quite intimidating. And the water gun, ugh. Didn't sit in the cop car too long. My godfather ( Rip) was a colonel in the Peruvian Air Force and his name carried some weight. The slap on the face and the couple of kicks I got from the cops did not wipe the grin of my face as I was let go. Crazy days indeed. My grandpa had been a political prisoner during one of the numerous dictatorships Peru used to have. He never talked about it, but my mom always told me the stories. I knew they were not fake because while working at my grandpa's print shop I always noticed political propaganda lying around. He used to print it for free, he never charged for any of it. His political party was illegal for many decades, and he enjoyed the fact that his party won the election during the mid-1980's before he passed away. The current government is also that same party, guess they re doing something right. I wonder if the Us Customs would've let me in if they knew I was this nuts...
Everyone has written about the elections lately. I can't be happier. I followed B. Obama since the primaries. I like to follow politics. Tell you the truth, I liked Dennis Kucinich more, he is just a firecracker. But I knew he was not going to win cuz he is too liberal sometimes. But little Dennis is my hero, he is the one who insisted on impeaching Bush and our heartless vicepresident, even after Pelosi said there was not going to be any impeachments. I think the benefit of the majority superseded the needs of the minorities in this election. Propositions 8 and 2, in California and Florida passed, probably because the black vote decidedly voted for Obama but was definitely against same sex marriage. I think this is a matter of education. The black voters followed their preachers, who obviously would be against anything unholy. Interference of Church in State affairs? Yep, aren't they a meddlesome bunch?
There is no need to blame or feel angry against anybody. It is much better to find a solution. I think protesting works. I do feel like we should voice our opinion, let's make ourselves heard. Can't help but feel like second class citizens. though. We didn't make enough to educate the black vote so they could understand we are being discriminated like they were being discriminated a couple of decades ago.
I attended a town hall meeting, not so long ago, in which the representative of the NAACP was in the panel of speakers. I remember she said, our fight is their fight and that they would be behind us 100%. Glenn can back me up on this, cuz he was there too. I feel like we are not alone in this. We can't do the fighting by ourselves and be taken seriously. Alliances are good. We have waited and we can wait a few more months, I understand there are priorities, like the economy. But we must keep this issue in the front of the news. Protests are good and the Day of Remembrance this month is a good time to be seen and heard. Find out when they're gonna have services in your area, try to attend, that's the least you can do.
It sucks to have a right being taken away from you by popular vote. Why is a right that everyone else has, included in a ballot for the majority to vote on? How did it get there in the first place? I don't know all the political intricacies but I suppose there is a clear disregard for a constitution that claims it contains inalienable rights for every citizen. Everyone is talking about how America has again become the greatest democracy in the world. How come other democracies like Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, the Netherlands and Belgium have allowed same sex marriages for years now? Same sex partner benefits are also recognized in countries such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa( the country, not the continent Palin followers...) and Spain. America has now to catch up.
So, if you have been caught in a rut for a while, remember you can't complain about your rights being taken away without doing nothing about it. Get off your couch, stop playing that video game, don't worry about dumb jocks and their affairs with grabbing a football and attend your local Day of Remembrance services. You know what we are remembering, right? If that is not enough motivation, I do not know what will :-)
*note: all the pictures are from the protests against the passing of Prop 8 in Cali. More than 5000 gathered to march, crazy people :-P
[Comment on this post]
Liberty and Justice for some...
Laura Carrillo November 10th, 2008 9:30 pm MSTRoutine. Day after day, hour after hour I feel like I have been trapped in a hamster wheel. A very entertaining and distracting wheel, indeed. I don't really feel like thinking, or doing the IM thing. Can't be bothered if making this wheel turn seems so interesting. It isn't really like there is a whole lot to do after coming back from work. Glenn calls me a bedbug: I get home, take off the work clothes and plop my ass on bed. Maybe I should find something interesting to do. But I don't feel like it. Besides the bed is soft, and the bedroom is the warmest room in the house. I don't really want to have any drama in my life, even though that would make my life a bit more interesting to retell. Yep, not a lot of things get me fired up these days, it is more comfy to sit in bed and play Neopets Flash games with my kids.
There is a turning point in your life when you stop doing crazy things. You remember certain things you rather keep to yourself. Like when you were in the back of a police car for disturbing the peace back in Peru. Or when you marched with a bunch of other college students, interrupting traffic and running the risk of being hit by a bus. I think it was a solidarity march with the miner's union, although I think it was a good excuse for skipping a failing class. Yea, the wild days. It was always a protest in Peru. We did like to complain a lot and let everyone know about it. Sometimes things got ugly, cops on horses were quite intimidating. And the water gun, ugh. Didn't sit in the cop car too long. My godfather ( Rip) was a colonel in the Peruvian Air Force and his name carried some weight. The slap on the face and the couple of kicks I got from the cops did not wipe the grin of my face as I was let go. Crazy days indeed. My grandpa had been a political prisoner during one of the numerous dictatorships Peru used to have. He never talked about it, but my mom always told me the stories. I knew they were not fake because while working at my grandpa's print shop I always noticed political propaganda lying around. He used to print it for free, he never charged for any of it. His political party was illegal for many decades, and he enjoyed the fact that his party won the election during the mid-1980's before he passed away. The current government is also that same party, guess they re doing something right. I wonder if the Us Customs would've let me in if they knew I was this nuts...
Everyone has written about the elections lately. I can't be happier. I followed B. Obama since the primaries. I like to follow politics. Tell you the truth, I liked Dennis Kucinich more, he is just a firecracker. But I knew he was not going to win cuz he is too liberal sometimes. But little Dennis is my hero, he is the one who insisted on impeaching Bush and our heartless vicepresident, even after Pelosi said there was not going to be any impeachments. I think the benefit of the majority superseded the needs of the minorities in this election. Propositions 8 and 2, in California and Florida passed, probably because the black vote decidedly voted for Obama but was definitely against same sex marriage. I think this is a matter of education. The black voters followed their preachers, who obviously would be against anything unholy. Interference of Church in State affairs? Yep, aren't they a meddlesome bunch?
There is no need to blame or feel angry against anybody. It is much better to find a solution. I think protesting works. I do feel like we should voice our opinion, let's make ourselves heard. Can't help but feel like second class citizens. though. We didn't make enough to educate the black vote so they could understand we are being discriminated like they were being discriminated a couple of decades ago.
I attended a town hall meeting, not so long ago, in which the representative of the NAACP was in the panel of speakers. I remember she said, our fight is their fight and that they would be behind us 100%. Glenn can back me up on this, cuz he was there too. I feel like we are not alone in this. We can't do the fighting by ourselves and be taken seriously. Alliances are good. We have waited and we can wait a few more months, I understand there are priorities, like the economy. But we must keep this issue in the front of the news. Protests are good and the Day of Remembrance this month is a good time to be seen and heard. Find out when they're gonna have services in your area, try to attend, that's the least you can do.
It sucks to have a right being taken away from you by popular vote. Why is a right that everyone else has, included in a ballot for the majority to vote on? How did it get there in the first place? I don't know all the political intricacies but I suppose there is a clear disregard for a constitution that claims it contains inalienable rights for every citizen. Everyone is talking about how America has again become the greatest democracy in the world. How come other democracies like Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, the Netherlands and Belgium have allowed same sex marriages for years now? Same sex partner benefits are also recognized in countries such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa( the country, not the continent Palin followers...) and Spain. America has now to catch up.
So, if you have been caught in a rut for a while, remember you can't complain about your rights being taken away without doing nothing about it. Get off your couch, stop playing that video game, don't worry about dumb jocks and their affairs with grabbing a football and attend your local Day of Remembrance services. You know what we are remembering, right? If that is not enough motivation, I do not know what will :-)
*note: all the pictures are from the protests against the passing of Prop 8 in Cali. More than 5000 gathered to march, crazy people :-P
[Comment on this post]
Everyone
Suzi September 1st, 2008 6:02 pm MDTI'm not into conspiracy theories but I do believe that lots of stuff happens because of $. Follow the money on this one and then tell me what you think?
[Comment on this post]
THIS IS ONLY A TEST! SOME JUNE THOUGHTS
Karen Reeves June 4th, 2008 7:13 pm MDTHi Everyone!
This is a test to see if I can input my journal entry. Fingers crossed!
Summer is almost here. I know that 90 degree weather and 95% humidity does not do much for makeup. The season does not always lend itself to dressing up. The dressed go into the box and the boxes go into the closest.
Why not slip into that swimsuit and go on out and get a great tan in a nice secluded surrounding. Or be more brave and go out in public with a cute, sleeveless top and min shorts/skirt. Give the guys some "eye candy!"
*Kisses*
~Karen~
[4 comments]
Testing Journal Posting
Karen Reeves June 4th, 2008 7:08 pm MDTTesting basic journal posting for Jon and Dan
Hmm, seems to work. Not sure about everything.
[Comment on this post]
THIS IS ONLY A TEST! SOME JUNE THOUGHTS
Karen Reeves June 4th, 2008 6:36 pm MDTHi Everyone!
I am writing this journal entry to see if it will input or not! *Fingers crossed*
Summer is almost here and for many girls the makeup and clothes go into the box and the box goesinto the closet. While makeup does not work well in 90 degree weather and worse in 90% humidity you can still enjoy dressing. How about buying a new swim suit and sunning yourself in a secluded spot? Or if you are more adventuresome go out in public in a smart little outfit or a sleveless top and mini shorts! Give the guys some "eye candy!"
Enjoy the great weather!
*Hugz*
~Karen~
[Comment on this post]
From Ape to Babe, Ramblings in Photo-Editing
Ana Cristina García June 4th, 2008 11:24 am MDTFrom Ape to Babe – How Far Should a Cross-Dresser go with Digital Photo-Manipulation?
In the Beginning There Were Men Trying to Look like Women…
As soon as digital photography became available to the masses, I am sure that all of us, cross-dressers, saw and took advantage of an opportunity that was near the top of our wish list (second only to the temporary-transformation pill). At last, we would be able to take photos of ourselves without having to take the film for processing and the risks it involved.
Almost a decade has gone by and digital photography combined with the means for creating a female persona to interact with other people like us, has certainly been a dream come true for most of us. There is rarely a web-based community where TGirls in general and CDs in particular have not created a niche. MySpace, Yahoo 360, Hi5, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, to name a few, allow us to have a circle of friends with whom to share this important aspect of our lives. There are also portals dedicated exclusively to the TG community and here I have to mention Urnotalone as a pioneer and the place where many of us made our debut. We use our profiles to share and exchange ideas, thoughts, feelings, and, of course, photos with those who understand us in every way because they have the same passion we have for transforming ourselves into women.
Digital photography is one of the means through which we can share with the world this other side of ourselves and, arguably, the most important (keep in mind that I am talking from a cross-dresser’s point of view). It is through photos that we show our friends how good and how far are we able to go in our transformation and give or ask for help in improving our image. We do this within a community of people who know what it is all about and accept us as men trying to look as female as possible. Having a physical or visual image that matches our pretended gender so that others can relate to this woman they are meeting and with whom they are developing a friendship is very important. How many times have we come across a profile that says that the owner will not add any faceless person as a friend? Yes, it is important to have a face and, even better to have a complete body, to make the woman we pretend to be, appear real to others. Now, unless we get an opportunity to, eventually, meet in person with all these friends, there is no way we can ever be completely sure that “she” is for real. Every day we see profiles of people pretending to be TGirls showing photos that are so obviously of genetic females or photos that are evidently photomontages. Rather than judging these people I’d like to think that in their need to give life to an image that, for various reasons, they are not able to produce themselves, they rely on photos that depict the appearance they honestly wished they had. After all, we live in societies that, sadly enough, favor beauty over intelligence, values or personality.
In the case of cross-dressers and maybe all other TGirls, beauty is even more appreciated than in the case of real women because we are not only contempt with being able to pass for a female but all the better if we can pass for a beautiful woman. It is no surprise then, that “beautiful” TGirls are often more popular, praised and admired than those who can totally pass for average looking females or those who are the intellectuals and activists of our community. There is a strive to look as pretty as possible; in some cases to satisfy our own needs, and I include myself here, and in other cases to gain the acceptance and admiration of the other “girls” in our circles of friends.
… Then, Along Came Photoshop and a Dilemma…
Another field that developed parallel to digital photography was digital photo editing and its power horse, Photoshop. Yes, we are talking magic here. All of us who have come across Photoshop and learned the basics have not been able to resist exploring all the possibilities that are limited only by our imagination and our skills using the program. The dilemma that we face now is: Is it valid to use Photoshop or any other photo editing program to touch up our photos? And if so, how much of that magic should we use without being deceitful or distorting reality? I am sure that there are diverse opinions and points of view in this regard and following I will try to give you my outlook on this topic and will illustrate with examples whenever possible.
… To Deceive or not to Deceive… That is the Question.
I started using Photoshop to eliminate red eye and to correct the color and exposure of my photos. Then, I used it to eliminate chest hair when I wore revealing tops, and leg hair when I did not wear double hose. I did not consider this practice deceitful since it was the equivalent to shaving my body. I do not have thick body hair but it sure is noticeable and disgusting and prevented me from wearing more revealing tops and/or skirts with bare legs and sandals. My wife is not comfortable with me being shaved all the time and since I am a male 99% of the time, neither am I. Consequently, Photoshop provides the best means for me to achieve, virtually, something I can do, in reality, only on rare occasions. Is this level of photo editing deceitful? I guess we could consider it a mild deception but don’t all the photos we see on printed advertisement and on beauty magazines have, in most cases, been heavily touched up? If you think that is not the case, just take a look at the following links and you tell me:
http://blog.sessions.edu/graphic-design/photo-retouching-the-delicate-balance/
In the previous link you see the before and after photo of Faith Hill. Granted that Faith is already a gorgeous middle-aged woman, they manipulate her photo to make her look a lot younger and shapely. Notice how her face is made smoother and slimmer as well as her arm. Also notice how the little hump showing on her back is removed and the clavicle is made less prominent. I have not read the text of the article sent to me by my dear friend Laura Recinos just recently, but it explains in detail how it was done. The following link provides even more dramatic examples of how a professional touches up photos from famous people for magazines. Click on each thumbnail and then roll the mouse over the enlarged photo to see how it was before and then roll out to see the after again.
http://glennferon.com/portfolio1/index.html
As you can see, all wrinkles are gone, boobs are made larger and with more cleavage and every little imperfection is taken care of to present a perfect image. This is the perfect image we all seek and strive for but, as the Dove commercial, in the link below, clearly states, it is an unrealistic and unattainable beauty standard since it is produced electronically. Yes, every gorgeous girl with a perfect body, face and hair we see in all sorts of magazine adds is not as perfect as she seems to be. Having a good raw material to start with makes the task easier but the photos they show us are idealizations achieved through the manipulation of photos of beautiful subjects that are close but not quite there and, in some cases, not even close to perfection, on their own. Every woman, and I count here TGirls too, would like to have the figure of a Barbie Doll or Jessica Rabbit but we know that their extremely slim waists and exaggerated proportions can only be produced in plastic or drawing and lately, with Photoshop. Our ideal of beauty has become, thanks to photo editing, quite unrealistic. Take a look at the Dove commercial now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibyAJOSW8U
A Justification… or Not.
Where does reality end and deception begin? In the case of cross-dressers it is very hard to define since we are already being deceitful by presenting an image that is opposite to our real gender. Wigs, makeup, breast forms, hip padding, corsets, lashes, nails, etc. are the physical tools we use to create an illusion. What is the difference then, between that and getting similar results with digital photo-manipulation?
If gorgeous models, actresses and singers have their already outstanding beauty electronically enhanced why shouldn’t us, ugly men trying to look like beautiful women, do it too? After all, we need it a lot more than they do. Don’t you agree?
If you ask me, I think we are entitled to do it; but how far should we go with it? In my opinion, we should go as far as to reproduce what we are able to achieve in reality if we have the opportunity. What I mean by this is: if I know I can look better if I shave my body but can’t do it all the time then why not get a virtual shave? If I know, I can produce a decent cleavage with tape and padding when I get to shave my chest then why not simulate it with Photoshop? I used to just remove the chest and leg hair with Photoshop until one time, a little over a year ago, that I got to shave my whole body and produced a pretty decent cleavage with tape. I could not believe my eyes when I saw myself in the mirror and even now, when I see the photos from then (see links below).
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=64501063&albumID=1148889&imageID=11241782
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cristy98girl/489126232/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cristy98girl/2420393557/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cristy98girl/999288280/
It was after seeing how natural my tape-produced cleavage looked that I thought I was entitled to get Photoshop implants by either shading the flat chest or by superimposing and blending real boobs from real girls (it just occurred to me that maybe some of the boobies I have used for my photos might have already been touched up LOL). I will be the first to admit that I have gotten a bit carried away in the chest size and cleavage but if you are going to do it then do it right, don’t you agree? The links below show a few of the photos where I have incurred in what I like to call “Photoshop Implants”. Every time I post this type of photos I include a note stating that the breasts are not real. Please notice the difference with the “authentic tape-created cleavage” shown in the links above:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cristy98girl/2467940763/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cristy98girl/2264700419/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cristy98girl/2067365114/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cristy98girl/739261488/
Up to this point I believe it is still justifiable, in my humble opinion, to use photo editing. Why? Because I have proven to myself (I do it first for me not for others) that I can achieve similar results in real life when I get a chance to shave. By the way, my wife has agreed to let me shave my chest the next time I dress which should be on the second week of June 2008, if all works out as planned. In order to further illustrate the two levels of photo improvement that I am comfortable posting I prepared an image showing the “hairy” Cristy (ape), the “No Cleavage” Cristy (not so babe) and the “Virtual Breast Augmentation” Cristy (arguably babe). I recommend you see the original size (if it fits in your screen). The link is:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cristy98girl/2549828866/
How far should I go? I’d like you to tell me. Would you rather see, from left to right, Ape Cristy, Flat and hairless Cristy or Babe Cristy? In Yahoo 360 you will be able to cast your vote in the poll at the bottom but if you read this in MySpace or URNA, please leave a short note with your point of view in this “shallow” but interesting issue.
This writing should not be taken for a confession, because I have always made it clear that I am not smooth most of the time and have also included an explanatory note whenever I post photos showing enhanced breasts. The reason that gave me the idea to write about this topic is that, lately, I have gotten several messages asking me about my new implants and if I am happy with them, how do they feel, etc. I have also been asked about when am I having my SRS! It is evident that, as is often the case, we are so busy with other things that we just take a quick look at the photos and do not bother or have the time to read the captions below them. As a matter of fact I posted a before and after photo almost a year ago when I first started posting photos with “virtual implants” since it has never been my intention to mislead anyone. For those of you who have not seen it, here is the link (as with the other photos, I recommend you see it in large size):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cristy98girl/967913811/
I am not an expert with Photoshop and am far from achieving the kind of work shown in the before and after photos seen in the links at the top. However, I have always been good with computers and have an artistic background that has helped me find my way around the program. Therefore, I have experimented further and just for fun have explored other manipulations that make me appear to have a more feminine appearance by altering the body shape in my own photos or simply putting my face on top of gorgeous GG bodies (a technique I like to call “virtual body snatching”). I don’t know if any of those bodies I have used have, in turn, been touched up before but they serve the purpose of having some fun in “wonderland”. I have shared some of them with close friends but have never posted any before, as I think this is far from reality and something I could not achieve on my own. In other words, I find these images completely deceptive and would not like to have anyone thinking they are real. For the first time ever I will post some of them on Flickr but for that I have created a new account in which I make very clear that they are all photomontages or extreme manipulations of my own photos. Yes, it is fun and gives me great satisfaction but it is not real. Following is the link to the home page for this Flickr profile. From there you can go to the photo pages.
http://www.flickr.com/people/27290011@N07/
Also, here is a link to the one photo of this kind I will post in my regular Flickr account:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cristy98girl/2549828858/
I am fully aware that after seeing these last photos you will be wondering how much of the photos I post in my profiles and my real Flickr account is really me. It is an acceptable conclusion once I have shown the magic that can be made with just one program and there is nothing I can do about it. However, as a very dear friend has told me a number of times, my videos are proof of how I really look like and for those of you who are doubtful, here is the link to my YouTube profile:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=cristy98girl
So, After all the Rambling, is There Anything to Conclude?
In conclusion, I think that it is all a game of make believe and as long as we do not hurt anyone else we should be entitled to do whatever we feel appropriate. In my case, I prefer to be honest and make things clear from the start but can understand how other people go for deception in their attempt to give life to a much needed female persona that matches their ideals and standards. However, I prefer when they state from the beginning that the photos show how they wish they looked like and not when they try to mislead others into thinking it is really them in the photo(s). In the case of the latter, the first person they are fooling is themselves but as long as they enjoy it and do not harm anyone in the process, then so be it.
Some of you might agree or disagree with my opinion and you are entitled to it. I have expressed my very own point of view with regards to this topic and I do the “virtual shaving” and “Photoshoped Implants” first and foremost for my own satisfaction; knowing full well that I can achieve similar results if I get a chance to shave all my body. In such cases, I have always made it clear whenever I think it might be misleading.
From now on I might continue posting my “body and face alterations” and my “ virtual body snatching” photos exclusively in the new Fickr account, where I will not post any regular photos of me. I am still debating if I should post the original next to the manipulation in the case of those photos that are not my own since I have not used them with permission. I am also debating if I should open the profile to friend adds and the photos to comments but once you read this document, the decisions will have been made and maybe a Pandora Box will be opening. It seems that in this virtual world our appearance will be composed of our own raw material and our, or other people’s, skills to enhance it. We will eventually get to the point where it is not only about how good or bad we look but also how good can our photos be enhanced by ourselves or by others.
It seems that I just can’t keep a blog entry short but if you were able to stand the reading to this point, we have finally reached the end :-). Thank you for your interest and I will appreciate your feedback if you consider it appropriate.
Hugs and best regards to all,
Cristy.
[3 comments]
From Ape to Babe - How Far Should a Cross-Dresser go with Digital Photo-Manipulation?
Ana Cristina García June 4th, 2008 11:22 am MDTIn the beginning there where men trying to look like women...
As soon as digital photography....
[Comment on this post]
From Ape to Babe - How Far Whould a Cross-Dresser go with Photo-Manipulation?
Ana Cristina García June 4th, 2008 11:16 am MDTIn the Beginning There Were Men Trying to Look like Women…
As soon as digital photography became available to the masses, I am sure that all of
us, cross‐dressers, saw and took advantage of an opportunity that was near the top
of our wish list (second only to the temporary‐transformation pill). At last, we
would be able to take photos of ourselves without having to take the film for
processing and the risks it involved.
Almost a decade has gone by and digital photography combined with the means for
creating a female persona to interact with other people like us, has certainly been a
dream come true for most of us. There is rarely a web‐based community where
TGirls in general and CDs in particular have not created a niche. MySpace, Yahoo
360, Hi5, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, to name a few, allow us to have a circle of
friends with whom to share this important aspect of our lives. There are also
portals dedicated exclusively to the TG community and here I have to mention
Urnotalone as a pioneer and the place where many of us made our debut. We use
our profiles to share and exchange ideas, thoughts, feelings, and, of course, photos
with those who understand us in every way because they have the same passion we
have for transforming ourselves into women.
Digital photography is one of the means through which we can share with the world
this other side of ourselves and, arguably, the most important (keep in mind that I
am talking from a cross‐dresser’s point of view). It is through photos that we show
our friends how good and how far are we able to go in our transformation and give
or ask for help in improving our image. We do this within a community of people
who know what it is all about and accept us as men trying to look as female as
possible. Having a physical or visual image that matches our pretended gender so
that others can relate to this woman they are meeting and with whom they are
developing a friendship is very important. How many times have we come across a
profile that says that the owner will not add any faceless person as a friend? Yes, it
is important to have a face and, even better to have a complete body, to make the
woman we pretend to be, appear real to others. Now, unless we get an opportunity
to, eventually, meet in person with all these friends, there is no way we can ever be
completely sure that “she” is for real. Every day we see profiles of people
pretending to be TGirls showing photos that are so obviously of genetic females or
photos that are evidently photomontages. Rather than judging these people I’d like
to think that in their need to give life to an image that, for various reasons, they are
not able to produce themselves, they rely on photos that depict the appearance they
honestly wished they had. After all, we live in societies that, sadly enough, favor
beauty over intelligence, values or personality.
In the case of cross‐dressers and maybe all other TGirls, beauty is even more
appreciated than in the case of real women because we are not only contempt with
being able to pass for a female but all the better if we can pass for a beautiful
woman. It is no surprise then, that “beautiful” TGirls are often more popular,
praised and admired than those who can totally pass for average looking females or
those who are the intellectuals and activists of our community. There is a strive to
look as pretty as possible; in some cases to satisfy our own needs, and I include
myself here, and in other cases to gain the acceptance and admiration of the other
“girls” in our circles of friends.
… Then, Along Came Photoshop and a Dilemma…
Another field that developed parallel to digital photography was digital photo
editing and its power horse, Photoshop. Yes, we are talking magic here. All of us
who have come across Photoshop and learned the basics have not been able to
resist exploring all the possibilities that are limited only by our imagination and our
skills using the program. The dilemma that we face now is: Is it valid to use
Photoshop or any other photo editing program to touch up our photos? And if so,
how much of that magic should we use without being deceitful or distorting reality?
I am sure that there are diverse opinions and points of view in this regard and
following I will try to give you my outlook on this topic and will illustrate with
examples whenever possible.
… To Deceive or not to Deceive… That is the Question.
I started using Photoshop to eliminate red eye and to correct the color and exposure
of my photos. Then, I used it to eliminate chest hair when I wore revealing tops, and
leg hair when I did not wear double hose. I did not consider this practice deceitful
since it was the equivalent to shaving my body. I do not have thick body hair but it
sure is noticeable and disgusting and prevented me from wearing more revealing
tops and/or skirts with bare legs and sandals. My wife is not comfortable with me
being shaved all the time and since I am a male 99% of the time, neither am I.
Consequently, Photoshop provides the best means for me to achieve, virtually,
something I can do, in reality, only on rare occasions. Is this level of photo editing
deceitful? I guess we could consider it a mild deception but don’t all the photos we
see on printed advertisement and on beauty magazines have, in most cases, been
heavily touched up? If you think that is not the case, just take a look at the following
links and you tell me:
http://blog.sessions.edu/graphic‐design/photo‐retouching‐the‐delicate‐balance/
In the previous link you see the before and after photo of Faith Hill. Granted that
Faith is already a gorgeous middle‐aged woman, they manipulate her photo to make
her look a lot younger and shapely. Notice how her face is made smoother and
slimmer as well as her arm. Also notice how the little hump showing on her back is
removed and the clavicle is made less prominent. I have not read the text of the
article sent to me by my dear friend Laura Recinos just recently, but it explains in
detail how it was done. The following link provides even more dramatic examples
of how a professional touches up photos from famous people for magazines. Click
on each thumbnail and then roll the mouse over the enlarged photo to see how it
was before and then roll out to see the after again.
http://glennferon.com/portfolio1/index.html
As you can see, all wrinkles are gone, boobs are made larger and with more cleavage
and every little imperfection is taken care of to present a perfect image. This is the
perfect image we all seek and strive for but, as the Dove commercial, in the link
below, clearly states, it is an unrealistic and unattainable beauty standard since it is
produced electronically. Yes, every gorgeous girl with a perfect body, face and hair
we see in all sorts of magazine adds is not as perfect as she seems to be. Having a
good raw material to start with makes the task easier but the photos they show us
are idealizations achieved through the manipulation of photos of beautiful subjects
that are close but not quite there and, in some cases, not even close to perfection, on
their own. Every woman, and I count here TGirls too, would like to have the figure
of a Barbie Doll or Jessica Rabbit but we know that their extremely slim waists and
exaggerated proportions can only be produced in plastic or drawing and lately, with
Photoshop. Our ideal of beauty has become, thanks to photo editing, quite
unrealistic. Take a look at the Dove commercial now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibyAJOSW8U
A Justification… or Not.
Where does reality end and deception begin? In the case of cross‐dressers it is very
hard to define since we are already being deceitful by presenting an image that is
opposite to our real gender. Wigs, makeup, breast forms, hip padding, corsets,
lashes, nails, etc. are the physical tools we use to create an illusion. What is the
difference then, between that and getting similar results with digital photo‐
manipulation?
If gorgeous models, actresses and singers have their already outstanding beauty
electronically enhanced why shouldn’t us, ugly men trying to look like beautiful
women, do it too? After all, we need it a lot more than they do. Don’t you agree?
If you ask me, I think we are entitled to do it; but how far should we go with it? In