Views from a BrewTown Sista (aka The Chronicles of Kayleah H. Madison)

It's September 18, 2016. first time I've done a blog in 4 months. Summer 2016 will come to a conclusion sometime Thursday morning and officially bring in the autumn weather. Well, not yet at least. The weather is actually quite nice in the mid-70's to low 80's right now. Native American summer, perhaps?  Maybe so. I digress. The only thing this country is probably dreading is an obvious one: What asshole will replace Barack Obama in the White House? We're in for some serious shit, no matter who wins in November.  My birth month of October is only several weeks away, and I start to get a bit giddy at my age. With last year's addition of my legally becoming Kayleah, I now have THREE things to celebrate in October. So, what the hell can you do to commemorate an occasion like starting life with a new identity? Friday, October 7 will mark the ONE-YEAR anniversary of my name change. I try to contemplate this question as I gobble up a few pieces of Wisconsin-made

So, a month has passed since my last blog on this thing. The new place is going fine, even with a few bumps on the road, including having the hot water cut off thanks to an overdue gas bill. I actually saved up enough dough to actually purchase a new laptop. With all these things going for me, it's obvious there's one thing missing: my own ride, and I don't mean having a cab take me everywhere. It's been over 5 years since I drove around Rockford in my own car. That drought will end in 2015. Do I know how much will I have saved up at the time I see the ride I want? Do I even know what kind of damn car I want? Since I've been driving minivans for the longest time, let alone the vehicle I mainly use to transport folks across this dump, chances can be good I'll stick with that. Over the years I have driven cars, minivans, cubed vans, cargo vans, yet no trucks. I drove an SUV for a grand total of five minutes. No big whoop there. The goal is to save up enough dough

Since February I have mainly taken sort of a sabbatical from attending Spring Creek UCC. Mind you, there is nothing wrong with the church. I just figured the congregation would be both racially mixed and younger to appeal  to the LGBT community. Neither has happened in the time there. I know there is a small LGBT posse here in the Rockford area, and yes there are a good number of folks of color here, too. There are a good number of people  making a sort-of new start from Chicago. Some of my taxi passengers have started referring to the Forest City as "Little Chicago". I can agree on that presumption. I still tell those folks that my first glimpse of this town reminded me of Jackson,MS, where my aunt, uncle & cousin call home. Too many damn roads filled with potholes, dilapidated buildings and hopeless dispair. And yours truly has called it home for nearly 18 years. Where the fuck could I relocate to at my age? Texas? California? Back to Milwaukee, where it seems times hav

It's been two years this month since I decided to go full-time as a transwoman of color. I don't have any regrets about the process I went through in becoming Kayleah H. Madison then or now. Any transwoman, regardless of what their age was at the time of their transition, will have a journey that may later be shared with others. Geez, this my first blog since late December, and many things have happened since the bulletins of the last blog. Shit. I wonder if the lessons I've tried to learn as Kayleah will make me a better person. One main thing I haven't yet done since transitioning was... trying to love myself. It's so much easier when you have loved ones around you consistently. Chances may be good I spoke of this same shit in a previous blog. The hormones are slowly taking its course, knowing my doctor has a loathing for needles and prescribed me the estrogen in pills. Not in the having a greater rack category; for those results I should've transitioned