August 4, 2016 - Kirby Park in Wilkes Barre!

Coming to you from Kirby Park in Wilkes Barre

They're doing work on my building... and that means noise. Lots of noise. I decided, since it's such a nice day, and I need to get out of the apartment, why not set up shop in Kirby Park in Wilkes Barre? Brilliant!

In this week's vlog post I talk about my latest article for NEPA Scene, featuring Sarah McBride, the first transgender woman to speak at the Democratic National Convention. Or, well, any major political convention. It's kind of a big deal.

As mentioned in the video, I had some basic knowledge of who Sarah McBride was, based on what I'd read about her, but it still didn't dawn on me just who she was and how important she was to history and to the transgender community. We have certainly come a long way! And yet, we still have so far to go. It seems like the more progress we make, the more we get pushed back.

Also mentioned in the video is my latest "guitar noodle" video, "Chasing Comets," which was NOT filmed at Kirby Park. Alas, that's just how things go. They weren't working on my building when I recorded that one, so there was no need to head out for a quieter space. I'm definitely looking forward to making more of these. I'm also thinking of getting into other creative outlets, such as painting. It just depends on my level of motivation and whether I can manage to create something I like enough to share. It's been so long since I painted! Like, 10 years, or so. Until I decide otherwise, enjoy the guitar videos.

I also really need to get back into experimental electronic music. There's a lot of setup that goes into it, and to be honest, it's just so much faster and easier to grab a guitar and string a few chords together. And I can't exactly bring my entire setup to Kirby Park; although, I suppose I could just play around with Ableton Live, some headphones and a keyboard controller.

Anyway, enjoy the videos, let me know what you think. If you have any comments or questions, put them in the usual place and I'll get back to you. This is Dee, signing off from Kirby Park in Wilkes Barre. Take it easy!

Guitar Noodle #1

As mentioned in my last video, it's been a while since I've done much of anything with music. About 2 and a half years ago, I was writing music like crazy. Well, I got a little burned out on that and decided to take an extended hiatus. And now, I'm back!

I was looking for ideas for new videos and a friend encouraged me to upload some of my "guitar ramblings," as I called them. These aren't really songs or structured in any specific way, it's just me goofing around for a bit, strumming out whatever chords seem to sound good together. I try not to spend more than 20 minutes on the whole writing process, otherwise, I get bored.

As such, I hope everyone likes it. I'm going to keep doing these until I get bored or too busy to waste my time with them, any longer.

Now, I know I have about 320 subscribers on my YouTube channel, and I love the attention I've been getting on my experimental electronic music -- especially the Tascam 4-track Cassette Tape Loop Drone in A/Am - using the Yamaha PSS-130 video. I mean, that video has been viewed nearly 57,000 times! I guess I really need to get back on that... But I'm kinda just enjoying this, for now.

Like I said, I don't really have anything planned for these videos, I just love playing the guitar, and haven't done it in forever. I might even decide to go back and dig up some of the songs I wrote when I was doing the whole singer/songwriter thing about 10 years ago. I wrote a lot of songs that I really liked, and I'd hate to think that no one will ever hear them, again. It would be nice to know they're out there, somewhere, somehow, and that people actually like them.

At any rate, please enjoy! There's going to be lot more, coming very soon!

July 28, 2016 - Coming Out as a Transgender Vlogger on YouTube

My name is Dee, and I am a transgender vlogger.

I'm not going to go into the details... I've told this story dozens of times, again and again. But I never told YouTube.

I've been uploading videos of my music and live performances for the last several years I built up a sizable following and got a lot of attention for it. And then, one day, I just stopped. Why?

Well, for starters, I moved into my own apartment in 2014. For whatever reason, experimental electronic music just fell off the radar, for me. I didn't enjoy it as much as I used to, and the effort wasn't worth it, any longer. No one was really listening, no one was buying my CDs, and I couldn't find a label that wanted to put out a cassette release from me. In short, I got burned out and gave it up.

By then, the gender dysphoria I felt had been bubbling up inside of me for decades. I hid myself from my family, my friends and my employer. I was too embarrassed and ashamed to tell the truth about who I really was; until, one day, I couldn't hide it anymore. I had to tell someone; I had to come out. I needed to transition.

The rest of the story is history. I decided to transition from a male appearance to a female appearance. I stopped living a lie and started living my truth. My family and friends loved me, my boss was totally ok with it, and my life began to improve 150%.

Since then, I decided it was time to get back into making music and uploading videos. I decided I wanted to join my fellow transgender vloggers, too. I started recording my thoughts, talking about my life as a transgender vlogger, and spreading the word to bring a little more attention to my life and my art. Please enjoy the video above, and thank you!