Happy Birthday Gabby!

While watching the various news programs on MSNBC discovered today was the 41st birthday of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords  (D-AZ).  Considering what she went through just a few short months ago it's a miracle that she's still here to celebrate it.

She's rehabbing here in H-Town and according to the doctors charged with her care is making fantastic progress, but she still has a long hard road of rehab to go

Happy birthday Gabby!   May you have many more!

Happy Birthday Sass*!

It actually happened yesterday on her side of the International Date Line, but today is her birthday on my side of it.   

I'm going to take a moment to wish my transpinay sister Sass Rogando Sasot a very happy birthday!   She's the founder of the now 9 year old STRAP, a highly respected international trans leader in the Philippines and abroad and one of the people the TransGriot looks up to for inspiration.

Hope your birthday was a peaceful, blessed and low stress one and may you have many more!.

Happy Birthday Kim Coco!

Had to take a moment and give a birthday shout out to one of our pioneering transwomen, former Hawaii State Board of Education member Kim Coco Iwamoto.

She was reelected to a second four year term in the 2010 election cycle, but Hawaii voters approved a change that gives the governor the power to appoint the state Board of Education, and Governor Neil Abercrombie appointed 9 new members.


I have much love and respect for her and looking forward to the day I finally meet her.

Kim, thanks for all you have done and will continue to do for the people of the trans community and the citizens of the state of Hawaii.  

Oh yeah, happy birthday!    May you have many more!
 

Happy Birthday Patti!

Today is the birthday of iconic Grammy winning singer and actress Patti LaBelle, who in 1944 was born on this date in Philadelphia, PA.

The career of the 'Godmother of Soul' spans several decades and she is an iconic presence in the African American community.

She's especially loved in the rainbow African American one.    Back during the 80's and early 90's the two most popular people my FI friends used to emulate were Diana Ross and Patti LaBelle.    She's also loved in the African American TBLG community for her advocacy work that earned her a GLAAD Media Award in 2007. 

She's not only an Apollo Legends Hall of Famer, she was listed by Rolling Stone magazine as one of 'The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time'.  Her voice is the one that Oprah used for her show's theme song from 1996-1998



And those of us who were (and still are) fans of the groundbreaking  television series A Different World can't forget her recurring role performances as Dwayne Wayne's mother Adele Wayne.

Happy birthday Patti!   May you have many more!

It's Mr. T's 59th Birthday, Fool

You loyal TransGriot readers know I couldn't let this day pass without giving a shout out to the Shut Up Fool! Awards inspirational mascot Mr.T.   He was born on this date in Chicago 59 years ago.

That's a scary thought for someone who used to tune into The A-Team on a regular basis back in the day.   he was (and still is) a very popular commercial pitch man thanks to his tough guy image.

 






Mr T. never fails to remind us in the reality based world that fools are everywhere, and it seems like there's a never ending supply of them in the conservafool movement.   
.

Anyway, happy birthday Mr. T.    May you have many more!

Happy Birthday Mayor Parker!

No wonder I like her, she's a Taurus too!

Needed to take a moment to wish the mayor of my hometown Annise D. Parker a very happy birthday.   She's been doing a wonderful job as our city's second female mayor under some trying circumstances, and recently kicked off her reelection campaign.

She had a police scandal thrown at her, budget cuts, and a contentious redistricting but she's still handling her s and the city's business.

So far no major challengers have stepped up to oppose her.   That's a  good sign as she seeks the second of three allowable two year terms under our term limits (yuck) ordinance.

Happy birthday Mayor Parker!  May you have many more..

Happy Birthday Kim Fields!

Today is the birthday of my fellow Taurus Kim Victoria Fields.   If you don't know who this award winning actress and director is, do the words 'Regine Hunter' and Living Single ring a bell?

I've loved watching whatever project she's involved in over the years and love the fact I share the same birthday as her son.    She is also one bad sister.

In honor of Kim's birthday, I'm posting the video of her appearance on Def Poetry Slam a few years ago reciting her poem entitled 'How Come'.

Moni's Birthday Wishes

Since it's my birthday today, time to find a cake with candles on it and blow them out.

So what did I wish for?   

A gift certificate to Zappos.com?
A winning Powerball or Megamillions ticket?
Season 2-6 of A Different World and Living Single released on DVD?
R&B and rock music to come back to the kick ass heights it was at in the 60s, 70's and 80's/.
The 2012 reelection of President Obama?
The end of conservative political control of Texas?
A major sports championship for one of my Houston based pro teams?
Speak in front of a major trans convention?  

While those are nice to think about, the one thing I'd most like to see happen for my birthday is for trans civil rights laws with teeth to get passed at the federal level

I'll probably have better odds of seeing seasons 2-6 of A Different World released on DVD and on store shelves before that happens, but I and the trans community will continue working our asses off to make that dream a reality.

Moni's Celebrating Cuatro De Mayo Again!

Feliz Compleanos to me.   Today is my favorite day on the calendar next to Christmas and payday.  It's the day I arrived on the planet inside the borders of the great state of Texas.

Speaking of inside the borders of the Great State of Texas, this is the first one I've celebrated inside the Houston city limits since 2001.

I happen to share May 4 with more than a few famous Taurons,   Singer Oleta Adams and I are born in the same year.  Katherine and Jackie Jackson (yep of the Jackson family) , Kimora Lee Simmons, Pia Zadora, Lance Bass, Randy Travis, Nickolas Ashford (of Ashford and Simpson), Robin Cook, Audrey Hepburn, George Will, murder victim Laci Peterson, ESPN reporter Erin Andrews. and San Antonio Spurs baller George Hill.

I also share it with Singapore based activist Leona Lo.    Happy birthday, sis!

Historical peeps that were born on this day include Horace Mann , former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, French king Henri I and Vladimir Lenin.

And oh yeah, every few years the Kentucky Derby (or the Kentucky Oaks) happens on my birthday.   The last time it did it happened to be the first one that occurred while I was living in Da Ville in 2002, and it was a milestone birthday to boot.. 


Thanks to everyone who has (or soon will be) calling or sending me birthday greetings on my day.   Am waiting to see what a certain Canadian will come up with for her annual birthday post this year.  Know that all greetings, however I receive them are deeply appreciated.   Thanks for continuing to visit my cyberhome and my Facebook page. 

If you feel moved to pin a birthday dollar on me long distance, you can hit up my tip jar in the left margin of the blog as well.

Now where's the Blue Bell ice cream I'll need to go with the cake Mom's making me?