Okay I'm over Ignoramus. It didn't take me long to see the light in that situation. I was going over my Yahoo site tweaking my page when I ran across the horoscope section.

I see a tall, dark, and handsome man coming to your rescue... and he's got money and tons of unconditional love!

It said. lol. No it didn't say that but that'd be nice!!!

I'm all gaga over divine intervention these days. What would it mean if I were to find a thousand dollars in a purse or wallet these days??? I certainly need the money and would have two fierce Tyrenes on my shoulders as I contemplated on keeping it!!! Or if by some miracle I was at the casino and through the hazy smokey ambiance my knight in shining armor would lock eyes with me!

Okay my life's fruition is much more meaningful than landing a man or material things :-P

I KNOW ALL!

I'd like to get moving on my path to success. Success means personal best to myself. That's how I'd like to sum up the word. For reasons unknown I've been having a helluva time doing it! Maybe I'm just picking the wrong horoscopes to read or my Divine chauffeur is on strike.

I don't know.

My father and mother grew up speaking English as a second language and are now both graduates of higher learning. I see that as inspiration to try my best. I also have nieces and nephews who I want to dazzle and motivate! I'm still working on getting to my Union site. Things have come up such as needing to own a vehicle and financial roadblocks. I'm seeing these things as pains-in-the-asses and try to take them in stride. I completed my Iron Working program but actually being able to get to work has been difficult for me. I live a four and a half hour drive from my Union headquarters and times are hard!

I even wrote my Districts Senate rep for help! It may sound ludicrous but desperate times call for desperate measures!

Anyway.

I don't know about them fortune tellers anymore but wonder if they had roadblocks on their path to success. So I wonder if anyone out there may have some suggestions for me. And looting or pillaging is not an option here!!! Nor is pawning my ruby encrusted Spud Wrench!!!

Hmmmm.....

Ignoramus

These are the "dog days of summer!" It's been somewhat hot here on Dine-land. For people who are not Navajo- Dine is how we identify ourselves. Anyway it hasn't been extremely hot but is uncomfortable enough to keep our A/C on quite a bit. I just got off a newsletter website geared toward people who reside within earshot of a certain New Mexico town and am dismayed. I don't like to become too "emo' about things but there are certain times when I cannot keep my mouth shut! I had every intention of posting an update on me but "selective ignorance" on the part of some chuckle-head compels me to write and post my thoughts.

As you may or may not know there was a segment about life on the Dine Reservation from Morgan Spurlock on his show "30 Days." The segment from what I saw was about some of the current state of affairs here on the reservation. It may also have just touched upon a minuscule amount of deep seated emotions for non-Navajo people and also hit some situations right on the proverbial "head!"

I mean how many things can you fit into an hour-long segment??!!!

Anyway this guy on the forum said that he's tired of reverse discrimination and must have felt overly sensitive because he felt the show was lambasting anyone non-Navajo. I have to admit I was pissed that people still thought this way. I simmered a bit and felt the need to respond to this guy. I felt like responding with all kinds of crap!

I just reminded myself that Tyrene was somewhat "edu-macated" and SO not an IGNORAMUS!

I'm over being mad and am actually quite amused that this guy feels the way he does. It's amusing because anyone with a sufficient amount of intellect and education would have worded his thoughts more eloquently. He just basically said, "I'm tired of everything in Gallup being about Navajo people and how bad they're treated!" Anyone could have said that and goes to show how much thought he put into this! He did not even cite any reason or give any valid points to back up his "two cents!" From what I saw of the show it was just a show touching upon some concerns that Dine people face "day-in-and-out." There was no "finger pointing" or even audacious "calling out!" All it did was present the living situations we deal with and Morgans experiences with them.

That's all it was plain and simple.

If anyone gets offended by that they need to go move somewhere else! I'm sorry but LOL this is for anyone who doesn't know- the Navajo Nation is bigger than a couple of states and isn't going anywhere! Nor are the people who live here! For your information Dine people aren't living with "silver spoons" in their mouths! I'm struggling like all hell just to make it now. Okay enough wasted energy!

Anyway on to my favorite subject- ME!!! lol Just playing :-P

I'm doing extremely well and just thought I'd vent a little. Sorry if I made anyone uncomfortable. Ta ta for now :-) Time to go raise hell and share my thoughts with people.

Pics of School :-)

Here are two pics of Ironworking School.

Here we are in downtown Chicago! This was taken near the NBC studios. It was a nice day because we got away from boring classroom work and got to check downtown out! The first couple of weeks was very classroom oriented and BORING!!! Almost everyone struggled to stay awake for the eight hours we were in class! Doing "hands-on" stuff is WAY better than sitting on your keester for the whole day!

Here is part of my group, The Blue Hats, putting together stairs. For those of you unfamiliar with Ironworking it is a profession divided into specialty areas. Putting together stairs falls into Ornamental work. I'm not too crazy about the hard physical work (and getting all bacon face and sweaty!!!) but am growing to appreciate the benefits. Increased strength, agility, and stamina! So in other words it keeps one in shape!

I am going to post a link here for people who read this and am interested in the program. It's a great stepping stone for Native Americans like myself who are in desperate need of money and just can't afford higher education yet! This is the link Ironworking School for Native Americans The site has changed from the last time I looked at it. So if you have any questions please ask me. I have other info but am sorta in a rush right now. Have a great day guys!

Oh! I really would love to work on a blog about Natives in the Iron Working field this summer when I get the time so keep an eye out for that one!!!

Bye :-)

Staying in Shape for Werk :-P

So here I am back home and done with class. I'm really enjoying the freedom of not having to wake up at 5 in the morning and spend all day with "Snout!"

I'll elaborate on that one later :-)

I have my letter of completion and an order to report to the Union at which I am designated soon!!! I'm very happy that I'm finished and am going to start finally making some money! For those of you who do not know the conditions on the reservation it's like living on Mars with dial-up internet!

lol. No! It's not that bad but the job opportunities here are deplorable. Anyway I'm straying from my title- ever since I got worked over by steel at school I lost some weight where I needed to! I gained muscle instead and lost the "pouch." The "pouch" is that stubborn little area of fat that lay on my abdomen.

I really want to keep that off!!!

So in an attempt to stay in shape I've asked my relatives if they need any kind of help to ask me. Seriously I could barely cut through one length of wire with a wire cutter when I first started tying rebar. By the end of school I could cut through three with one hand!

Hell yeah :-)

So my dad has a ceremony going on this week and I was asked to help with patching up the ceremonial hogan (which was in bad bad shape) so he could have it there. Of course now that my relatives know that I finished school and am heading to Union they asked me! It's all good considering for it's my Dad and family. I did it, with some help, from my two brothers. I know absolutely nothing about Masonry but learned quickly! Believe me hauling containers of cement and sand is hard. I did hear something by a female Ironworker about how "it doesn't always have to be about muscle." She said "you have to be smart about your work!"

She was right. So my "gray matter" helped me beat a sprained back and much pain. Well I still was sore but it felt good but not in a twisted way lol. I don't play that stuff!

Now I have to hunt for money for "start up." "Start up" is the money I'll need to secure a place to stay, traveling expenses, and my Union dues. The school I was in will pay $175 towards the dues but I need at least 100 dollars more. This will secure my payments for the rest of the year. I basically have to hunt for resources now that, God willing, will help me get to where I need to go and begin work. I am secured a job but the thing is "starting up" funds as I am at twenty dollars right now!

So I'm going to log off now and enjoy some of the spare time I have. I have to make a phone call to the guy who helped get me into the school and see if he has any ideas. I may add some pictures of the work I did soon. I also took major pictures in Chicago but I have not taken the film out yet from ***-Mart! Sorry ***-Mart your name does not get mentioned here unless you help me out with "start up" funds :-P

Have an awesome day guys :-)

Finally Graduated :-)

I once caught a glimpse of a tough girl- she stood resplendent in her hardhat and a spudwrench in her hand. No fear in her at all she stared at me from the mirror as I got ready for the day. I wasn't the least bit shocked it just seemed like another day. It happened in a dream I had as the day drew near for my foray into Ironworking School. It was a far stretch from anything I've done and almost seemed like a death wish.

Go ahead and laugh :-P

I was always the kind of girl who was the epitome of a bookworm. She constantly read when she could get her dainty little hands on the latest Archie comic. All through school I got decent grades but nothing spectacular. I almost had a rebellion of types going through my formative years because I just wanted to fit in so! Being a nerd was nothing to feel so good about! Up until this point nothing seemed terribly exciting as far as a career went.

I know.

Some of you are saying she's a flakey little "Rez Girl." Yes ladies and gents. She's gone through all kinds of jobs- from McDonalds (triple ERK!) to doing her Nursing Assistant work. Those jobs were both good and bad. I truly did love the hospital work but nothing ever did come out of that. I could have went further in my Nursing but became disenchanted by politics and the constant pleas by Nurses who plead me not to become one. Too much politics they'd tell me! Somewhere between here and there my path led me to consider going to this school in Chicago for such "butch" work! OMG no fucking way! I thought to myself as I heard my brother tell me to apply. His thing was "Hey you're not doing anything anyway! Just go!" Thoughts of North Country and the toppling of Porta-Potties went through my head.

Really!

Queenie Tyrene would just not know what to do if that ever happened to her! Granted we didn't have Porta-Potties at my school but I was the only Transgirl there. Oh I almost forgot to mention that I couldn't even wear makeup to school.

Horrors!

What happened was that it would without fail melt off my face due to the stifling humidity and hard work.

Unh unh.

So much sacrifice for a shot at some sort of decent income. It's a little scary but I am almost a member of a union. I did finish that Ironworking school and got my letter of completion. All I have to do now is go to my assigned union, pay my union dues, and start working. I got some last minute things to do before I report for work, say a thousand prayers, and just do it! Right now I'm enjoying the free time I have at home and yet I'm anxious to get my own place and begin something- uh well anything! So that leaves me here with a need to find that tough girl I saw in that mirror and bring that bitch out again. What do you guys do to pump yourself up? I need a few pointers in this department. Are any of my trans readers in a "butch" job? How do you deal with it? I got a whole month to pump myself up and "woman" up for my job. I'll be a makin-a-sure I check my mail real soon!

Ciao :-)