Needles and Pins

I did not post yesterday as I have been on pins and needles regarding a new career opportunity. I am fairly certain that things will pan out but we have yet to ink a deal due to various issues. There is a definite air of inevitability and overall today I am positive.

The on again off again talks were driving me mad, causing manic joy and depression in equal measure. Pounding away on the tread mill with the iPod super loud was all that was keeping me sane.

The reason for my hyper emotional state is that my current position precludes any thought of transition. A smooth at work transition is not guaranteed by any potential new opportunity but I will now have a fighting chance.

The ability to begin the planning process for transition is so exciting the thought that by the end of the year….sorry getting ahead of myself.

I will of course share more as soon as I find out.

Snowpocalypse this morning, lots of shoveling and very painful fingers (I had gotten frost bite in my finger tips in Sudbury years ago and they are extremely sensitive to the cold and can be quite painful).

The major highways were a parking lot and the side streets slushy and slippery. The Toronado’s fwd and weight pulled her through with poise and I was one of the few cars going the speed limit.

Of course today’s cut is Needles and Pins, I thought I would post the hit version by the Searchers, or maybe the Ramones, even Del Shannon did a cool version. I am partial to Jackie De Shannon’s:



Since I missed yesterday here is a bonus track, Jackie again with the rocker, It’s Love Baby:

Hugs,

April

Snow Leopard

Met girlfriend Marissa for coffee last night, it ad been a while and it was good to catch up. Our usual hangout closed up early at 11:00 so we finished off our discussion at her place then home to bed….too late as usual

Saturday night was a dinner party with friends but in male mode and with wife “J”, as three of us were fellow travelers or “sisters” as it were it was rather an unusual but not unpleasant experience.

Spent Christmas money on a “snow leopard” jacket, it was on sale at the Bay. I love it, so soft and warm. A little flashy with a bright pink lining but it does match the black and white interior of my Eldorado (if I ever get her on the road). I have a sneaking suspicion that it may be faux snow leopard.

The horrible cold weather keeps reminding me of that black day in early February 1959. A little early for the predictable annular remembrance, his music should be enjoyed all the time.

Here is a spirited version of Oh Boy by the Stray Cats:



Hugs,

April

Sweet Soul Music

Been burning the candle at both ends again and am totally beat today. Emergency trip to Starbucks was called for as I felt myself nodding off on the way to work. Not good as I no longer have a death wish.

If seems if my last music pick to click caused some controversy. Time to mellow out with some obscure but smokin' vintage 1965 soul from Marjorie Black, "One More Hurt".

Ms. Black if that is her real name is lost in the mists of time with this amazing single being her only known recording.

Visions of mid sixties Detroit, Cadillacs.....

Hat tip to http://dereksdaily45.blogspot.com/ where you can sign up for an e-mailed daily dose of the same kind hard to find 45s.

The photo is of the lovely Jayne Mansfield behind the wheel of a 59 Cadillac Eldorado. There are also photos of her driving a 59 series 62 convertible Cadillac (a personal favorite of mine....my second car).

Hugs,

April

Rose of England

I have since my teens considered my spiritual home the United States. It was the first place my parents and I set foot in the New World. Getting off a ship in New York like countless immigrants before them. I studied American history at university, follow US politics closely and have made my pilgrimage to the battlefields of the Civil War.

As a child we would take long driving vacations across the American west (where we would drive and drive, then drive some more….sorry an inside family joke). I loved those trips and fell in love with the history and the land.

I grew up in Canada (where I still live and am thankful I do) and spent a number of years at school in England, the land of my birth. I believe I can even claim to be a true Cockney, having been born within the sound of Bow Bells. At school my “accent” marked me as a Yank and by default I was often called upon to defend American foreign policy. So just as in matters of gender, I was equally confused as to my nationality.

It is a difficult time for the West as the impermeable Cold War world of my youth continues to change and mutate. The freedoms we enjoy are constantly under threat from within and without. As a history buff we would do well to remember where we come from and the rich traditions that made both nations the light and envy of the world.

In that spirit let me share some personal British ancestral history, both examples involving some fancy foot work.

One Madame Sismondi, ballet mistress and co-founder of the original Tiller Girls in the 1890s. The Tiller girls were a famous high kicking dance troupe that was in existence until the eighties also a big influence on the Rockettes.

Dutch Sam and Young Dutch Sam. A member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, Dutch Sam (1775 – 1816) came from the Whitechapel area of London. Nicknamed “The Star of the East” as well as the less politically correct, “The Terrible Jew”, what he liked bacon sandwiches?

Inventor of the uppercut with a history of approximately 100 bouts, losing only twice, at the time most boxers fought 20-25 matches in a career. His power was legendary and he was considered one of the hardest hitters of all time.

His son, Young Dutch Sam, was also a good puncher and very exciting fighter, had a noteworthy career in the 1820s.

My brother brought this tune to my attention, Resistance 77 with Spirit of St. George. I love it, makes me want to buy a Jensen Interceptor and drive down the high street to get some fish & chips.




Hugs,

April

City in Ruins

I have not written much about cars lately and all two of you must be wondering what the heck is going on. The cold weather prevents much pottering and limits one to necessary repairs only.

The Toronado keeps soldering on as it has four the past four winters. The really freezing weather prior to Christmas resulted in a jammed driver’s door. Turned out it was the lock cylinder. Hope to replace it this weekend (weather permitting) might also take the chance to put on the “new” driver’s side door handle I have been hording. The Toronado had unique blade style door pulls and after thirty plus years the pot metal internals wear and become all floppy.

Also need to change the front pads soon…pray for a warm spell.

Detroit in Ruins: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/jan/02/detroit-ruins-marchand-meffre-photographs-ohagan

These guys are a little late to the party as other people have documented the city’s plight much better. Check out the Detroit Blog, http://www.detroitblog.org/?p=113

Nevertheless amazing photos. I want to alternately cry or scream when I see these images. Naturally I was always fascinated with the city and have visited many times, even as April.

It seems as if we must currently live in a dystopian alternate reality, in the "real word" Detroit has a population of four million and is building sixteen cylinder Cadillacs.

Here is my proof:

http://deansgarage.com/2010/wayne-kady/

Hugs,

April

First photo is a shot from the Detroit: City on the Move promotional movie, a failed bid for the gain the Olympic games for Motown. Looks like a custom 63 Eldorado at Cobo Hall (?)and no that is not me, how old do you think I am?

You can watch the film here:

http://www.archive.org/details/DetroitC1965

It’s 2011, Choose Your Path

I really want 2011 to be the year! The job hurdle has to be overcome but I feel that I cannot wait any longer, that there is a timetable not of my making. I jealously guard any steps forward and am loath to back track even when it may make sense.

Friends and family remind me that I have made great progress. I know it is true but I still feel stuck. To use a common metaphor, when your bell has rung, now cannot be too soon. To have the veil lifted from your eyes after a lifetime demands an immediate response






Reading A Writer at War: Vasily Grossman with the Red Army. A Christmas present from mom! He was a Soviet era war correspondent but wrote amazingly openly. The reports from Treblinka and the subsequent Russian occupation of Germany are heartbreaking.

http://www.sovlit.com/bios/grossman.html

Felt myself becoming rather depressed last night but managed to keep the black dogs at bay with a search for local head hunters and then an hour on the tread mill.

Jeez all this serious stuff sounding rather Russian myself.

Ok here is a totally guilty pleasure, too bad there isn't a punk version, Oh those Russians....

Hugs,


April

Hair Today...

Got out for coffee with Ashley on Saturday night. Very nice to be out and catch up. No, didn’t get my ears pierced yet, but I will, I promise.

I did however make it to the salon on Thursday after work. It was a near thing as a postponed meeting got in the way and I had to fight traffic and it seemed every red traffic light to get there on time.

Compared to my last attempt to visit to a salon this was one was a great success. The stylist, who was recommended by Ashley, was very nice and open. I showed her some photos and she understood what I wanted to end up with.

I just had a light trim as I am still growing out my hair. On Saturday as I was getting ready I seriously contemplated foregoing the wig. The cut looks more feminine but I feel the longer hair still helps mask male characteristics both physical and subconscious. I am also cursed with pin straight hair that makes it quite hard to disguise a male hairline.

It will be liberating to eventually abandon wigs. I don’t know how long I can continue to grow my hair as potential job interviews may force a no nonsense Don Draper cut if I can’t make my hair look sufficiently neat and masculine.

It was Ashley who showed up without any tonsorial enhancement and she looked great! Very feminine and very natural. Jealous of course but in a good way.

I did make one small advancement in presenting a more natural me, hormones and a flattering bra meant that for the first time I was able to venture out as April without breast forms. I am not quite ready to give them up yet but it does help with my overall confidence.

A little music to dance around like a loony to… while I was out on Saturday I caught the tail end of a Rockabilly radio show on satellite radio. “J” has Sirius in her Chrysler, while I have only the latest in 8-track technology in my Toronado. Anyway despite my vast and excellent musical knowledge I had never heard Kirby St. Romain’s cover of Chuck’s Oh Baby Doll.

Enjoy:




Hugs,

April