Animal friends

Many of us have our first exposure to animals as children.
We may be taken to see ponies, to a working farm or even a zoo - in my case we had school trips to the Zoo most years actually that we went on a charted bus on together with our sandwiches and pop.
Still more of us had our own animals such as rabbits, cats and dogs that we shared our time with and maybe it was the first taste of responsibility we had taking the dog for it's daily work, feeding the rabbit carrots or sorting out the litter try of your cat.
In fact I had all three although not at once although the dog went a bit funny in the brain department and sadly had to go.
I think our having exposure to animals is a force for good, don't you? 

Childhood co-operation

 When I think back to my days at Junior School, it is images like this that go through my mind, the time we spent out of doors not just playing although that was fun but also of our trips out to various places where we went to learn things although our teachers cared enough to build in some play time and treats to keep our interests up.
Inevitably we were in teams usually one boy paired up to a girl having to co-operate as the reality of those days was and in many still is of rigid gender lines not so much by school design but more from within the classes you were in themselves so we did learn more about each other and while we lack the language for it, each others assumed gender roles and identity.
I passionately believe in the idea that boys and girls need to value each other and their own identities in a more co-operative and less gender denying way than the tendency to make it very much girls versus boys every time.
That as a transgendered child and now adult  I feel would be in our best interests too.

Beatles Capitol Albums Vol:2

Released this week, the second installment of Capitol's Beatles The Capitol Albums series came out although initial copies had incorrect mono mixes on the mono portion of Beatles VI and Rubber Soul. 
As a set I'm so looking forward to it comprising of the albums I had from childhood.

Starting with The Early Years, this comprises of 11 of the 14 tracks from the UK Please Please Me album some tracks such as Twist and Shout and Boys were rebalanced compared to the UK versions. This had been issued in 1964 under another title by Vee Jay Records of Chicago but upon acquiring the rights, re-released in March 1965.

The track I Saw Her Standing There being the 'B' side of the (US) single I Want To Hold Your Hand is on Meet The Beatles. Misery and There's A Place were not issued on a Capitol album in the US until 1980's Rarities.

Beatles VI is a fine selection draw from the Beatles For Sale and Help sessions taking in the #1 smash 45 Eight Days A Week, Dizzy Miss Lizzie and the Buddy Holly cover Words Of Love.It is a personal favourite of mine from my youth and a big reason for getting this box set

Help! Is actually the Soundtrack album with the seven film songs plus Ken Thorne's instrumentals featured in the film.

The current UK CD of this title was extensively re-mixed by George Martin OBE and has digital echo as well where this issue is his original 1965 mix which most of us grew up with.

Rubber Soul:

This was the first album issued in the US to bear the same title as it's UK counterpart but is different in that It kicks of with I've Just Seen A Face and also features It's Only Love which came out in the UK on the Help! Album.

The US version has more of a folk-rock feel to it and is actually preferred in some circles to the UK for that and I sure do.

As with Help the UK current CD was remixed but this goes back to the original mixes and from that point of view is valuable even if you keep your UK CD for Drive My Car, Nowhere Man, What Goes On and If I needed Someone as they were on 1966's Yesterday and Today, currently unreleased on cd.

Progress one day at a time

Things can be difficult and the closer to home that scene can be sometimes the harder it can get because of all the emotional baggage that goes with i, not least you your parents specifically want a boy or a girl and things don't seem to be working quite as they'd planned.

It can be a long time in the making that can complicate matters but we are getting there just several years late.

 

My Mommy is a good mommy although she finds all this hard for not having had to deal with anything beyond boys being boys and girls being girls.

She wants me in pretty girlie panties and girls socks and tights from now on and all the old stuff is to go while we work through handling our relatives and have set aside girl time to talk about and through our feelings as we work our way through all of this.

I'm increasingly wearing more girls attire when groan up activity doesn't get in the way cos with me it's more of a littles thing and that brings its own awkwardness with some sorts, even in trans communities.

I'd just rather hang out with others who are more child-like too.