Hello 
I'm Siobhan Curran/Kisa Naumova, and this is my weblog. I tend to write about stuff like crossdressing, Macs, code, cats, wine and Second Life, but in general it's just an ongoing conversation about all sorts of stuff. If you'd like to know a little bit more about what this all is, I recommend starting on this page which has a little bit of info on who I am, and what I'm trying to do — or you could dive into my five years worth of archives if you like.
Otherwise, feel free to close this box and explore...
Transcending gender, RL and SL boundaries
link secondlife gender transgender
"One of the draws of the center is that it serves as a site to meet others who may be having similar life experiences with issues such as gender identity" — (PixelPulse Magazine) Damm, they had a meeting last night. I wish I'd known. I'll have to pop along at some point today and have a peek
Side-Whacked
Ever put an old CF card from an old camera into your computer, and been presented with an entire bunch of photographs from when your Ex went on holiday to Orkney with her mother? 
Look, I'm a DORNSUH
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguide/columnists/story/0,,1982666,00.html
I had to read that first sentence twice. I read "Channel No 5" rather than "Chanel No 5" I was left slightly confused
And, what is a "DORNSUH"?
Dornush: gawd knows and there is nothing like been timely and that whinge in the guardian is about what 3 or 4 years late.
the ad is a bit shit but hey it's not as bad as the bloody argos ones were.
Nice piccy btw 
Erm....Ballet Dornsuh? Disco Dornsuh?
Next we know she'll be on Strictly Come Dornsung.
You're just showing off with these boy->girl->boy pictures now aren't you?
Nicole
Yes. No. Maybe
I'm saving the good ones BTW
very good pic!
Sorry — I don't like this one. Had to be said.
Estuans.... Now that is Something Else
Interesting. Why?
Call me old fashioned, but I don't really like the androgeny pics. I still think you look ok as a man — fantastic as a woman. And we can argue till the cows (or bulls in drag) come home about whether we need to "pass" or not, but, I found this photo disturbing, dark, and a little "clockwork orange".
I fancied the pants off Estuans.
Hmm, see, ironically — despite my little diatribes against attempting to pass in public — in the photographs I take/upload, I am trying to pass I guess. One of the reasons I rant against it IRL is that I don't believe we can successfully pass ourselves off in our 'disguise'.
But in photographs, you control almost every element of the scene — so you can dive in, manipulate, and tweak until all the tell-tale giveaways are either eliminated, or blown out into the peripheries.
Having said that, that one above isn't a passing pic. It's a little self-pisstake — a moment of "Ha, look at me pretending to be Nicole Kidman" in the middle of a much more serious shoot 
(And Jane, yes, absolutely. It did rather seem strange that the Hard Sell were writing about an advert that's — what? — three years old)
"Androgeny" though, isn't the word I'd use. Ironically (2) — aside from any personal fetishes of mine — me taking a picture of myself dressed as a woman dressed as a man has always been a bit of a personal challenge. Clothes act as signifiers — clues if you like — to gender, and the cut/style of certain outfits are designed specifically to emphasise particular differences between genders.
So it's a bit of a test, for me, to be able to (almost) convincingly portray a 'feminine' appearance, despite all the sartorial evidence.
For example, see this one? I don't think that's too bad (apart from my ongoing issues with my nose being too big and pointy — but hey ). But the minute I did the tie up, the very pointy masculine (ie. phallic) shape of the black line going right up to my chin counteracted what I'd done to my face with make-up and the pose I was making, and it just didn't work.
But yeah, point taken. That one was suposed to be a little "dark".
Or maybe not dark — maybe "cheeky" is what I was going for
I spent three months in SL as a girl. And it was brilliant, I made friends, bought stuff, made some money. Was even looking at getting a job. But then I ran into some really freaky, unpleasant people, one of whom made it their business to try and drive me out. Just for fun.
The problem is the whole gamers love of no rules/laws...a kind of free market Wild West. There's some really interesting stuff going on there — me and my friends hung out in a studio that had been used to broadcast on Radio 4 and met the guy who ran it, I remember, and loads of other cool stuff. But there's this other really horrible seedy side to it. If SL was a city it would be Bangkok, with Ridley Scott as Mayor using Bladerunner as the template. It needn't go that way, but I fear it will.
After a bit I gave all my stuff to a good friend (she still has it in case I come back), and left. I complained to Linden about the nutcase who was wrecking SL for me — and got no reply at all.
I was there last night, but didn't realise that it had been advertised in pixelpulse. I met Jani last week, she hosts the meetings and is very welcoming.
The centre has recently changed venue and has quite a few resources. It would appear that things are in their infancy , but the fact that it exists is good.
I have never spent so long enfemme as I have since I discovered SL, at times I feel the boundaries are fuzzy (or maybe thats me sitting up until 3am! — you should see my red eyes -lol).
It allows me to be as vain and girly as I like, shopping for clothes and new hairstlyles — I even got new eyes (well virtual ones!)
I celebrate the opening of the centre and look forward to more opportunities to meet up with other Tgirls in SL (not brave enough in RL yet)
Misty
http://www.flickr.com/photos/misty_luna/