Neo Sol Librarian

Hello all, My name is Zuri Davenport. I've been in the MLIS program at UNCG for a year and a half. I'm originally from Greenville, SC and have lived in Winston Salem since graduating in 2009. Currently I work as the Adult Services Librarian at Rural Hall Public Library in Forsyth County. I'm pretty new there (just started this summer) and so far I'm really am enjoying it. As far as my knowledge of Web 2.0 it is pretty basic knowledge. I figure I have as much knowledge of Web 2.0 as anybody that uses the web and social networks on a daily bases. I'm excited about the increase in knowledge from this course. Hope it continues to be a great semester.

Because so much has happened in the past month, I'm going to borrow my dear friend/homie/sis/MY DUDE Lindsay Barber's style and list a couple of new events that have occurred. 1) I am working full time as a Librarian now. Never thought I would be in a position like this so quickly but it's pretty awesome. This has opened up a lot of doors for us. Things such as a) Paying bills b) Paying bills c) Paying bills d) Going to Durham for a weekend get away (spontaneity is a plus to me ) 2) A big part of working full time is that I get to start testosterone a lot sooner than what I expected. So soon, in fact, that I get my first T shot on this coming Friday. So with this in mind throughout the week I keep a) looking at the calendar b) paranoid my testosterone and syringes will not be at the Rite Aid when I get there on Friday. c) thinking that going to bed early will rush the week d) keeping busy so that Friday will hurry up and come. 3) Throughout the past couple of m...

Religion has been at the forefront of daily life. Not in a bad way, like we are deciding whether or not we are going to hell, but much discussion has happened around religion between me and Meicka, Terry...well...I guess that isn't a lot of people. It has been at the forefront my mind then. I'm reading this book called "Living a Year Biblically". It's about a man that has taken the rules and laws of the Bible and is living out all the rules. This includes no lying and stealing, but also the more obsure ones like no shaving, stoning (with pebbles on peoples shoes), wearing white. Oh yeah, and a beard to boot. But the book has got me thinking about why are all the rules in the Bible. Why would God want us to cut off the hand of a woman that grabs the private parts of thier husbands in a brawl? (No lie, it's in there. Deuteronomy 25:11) Do these rules make us more connected with the higher being? Will we go to hell if we don't follow these rules? Or are all ...

I get told this all the time. "You are so sweet", "You have a sweet spirit"  Not that I'm bragging or anything. Sometimes I wish I could look "hard". And look "hard" at the library. LIKE THE LIBRARY G THAT I AM!!! But I don't. I can't help it. I have a sweet spirit. But let me be honest, I do at times equate "sweet" to being an 8 year old girl. That I can't deny and it frustrates the piss out of me. It's not like I want to be an asshole, but I don't want to be seen as an 8 year old little girl either. But I had an interaction with a man today that changed how I look at this. And what's even better, we have the same birthday. SCORPIOS IN THE HOUSE!!!! WHAT?! The guy was from an extended stay mental hospital. I was helping him find an author in the collection on the computer. Gave him the location of the material and sent him on his way. He came back up to the desk and said, "I found those books" and...

It always surprises me who comes to stand beside you in your time of transition, change, awakening, etc. People you haven't spoken to you in a while or even people that you didn't really speak to before your revelation in your life. And vise versa, you'd be surprise at the amount of people that back away from you during your time of change. The people that you believe, wished, hoped, prayed would change with you stay where they are and you, don't necessarily move on but look at the world through a different lens. I don't like saying that people move above and beyond another person's thinking. I think we change lens just like we change glasses. The glasses are no better or no worse, but the correct prescription for the individual to see in front of them. And like glasses we can't force our glasses on anyone else saying they are better. Anyway, I was having a conversation with my big sis from Salem College. (Salem College has a big sis/lil sis t...

Life is changing for me. In a wild and crazy way. I guess I am just realizing how much my life will change through my transition. Everything is so uncertian right now. I don't know who is going to still be here at the end of this process. Will I be able to find a job as a librarian? Will my parents want to see the end result?Will my chosen family still be here? How will I walk into a funeral of a family member? I've been contemplating this and doing some self reflection around this matter. Then I realize that even if I had the best librarian job, my parents became accepting of the fact that I once before identified as a lesbian, that I could not offend anyone that came in contact with me, would I really be happy? Basically what I am asking is, can I go back? Can I go back to being a stud. Can I be a masculine woman and come to terms with that? Through my process, I have not only worked towards transitioning my body, but also my mind as well. Self revelation is a mutha*****. Es...

Between masculinity and femininity. The differences between the two are not very definite. I started to realize this at the library. At work, I don't usually get called any pronouns. I guess most people don't know what I am until I start talking But if they do, it is usually ma'am or her. And I usually get called ma'am usually about 5-8 times a day working with the public. (I'm not anal for knowing this number. I'm conducting an experience surrounding pronouns). Anyways, I usually leave the top button of my button downs open, but that day I decided to button it up. Not once did I get called ma'am or her. People didn't use any pronouns with me. Now I'm not saying that because I buttoned up my top button that it changed people's perception of me as appearing female, but it did get me thinking about the differences between masculinity and femininity. The line between the two is very thin and fragile. Think about it. Women, go get some men's clot...

I had a long conversation with my Dad last night. This is unusual. My Dad and I don't really communicate all that much. I haven't told my parents about my transition, but ever since I came out as being gay in college, conversation for each other has been limited. And it's been limited for me and my Mom too. It's like if it doesn't concern school or work, they don't care to ask about it. I do a lot more than school and work these days (at least I try to). School and work are only a portion of who and what I am involved in. And because they either are not interested/ don't care to know/ or are waiting for me to tell them, conversation with them both is limited. Anyway, after listening to my Dad talk to me and the way he thinks of me now (his baby girl) and how much his world is going to change when I come out as Trans. I think about his mental stability and how I may affect whether or not he may teeter back and forth of being mentally stable and off kilter. I ...

But I have been lately. To-date I've spoken on two panels in the past 2 weeks with my partner. The first was about relationships and of course we were the odd people out (the only queer couple out of two other hetro couples). So that was awkward. We gave great advice. Told our story about our experiences being with one another, but I don't think they could get past the trans thing with me. The other panel we spoke on was one on spirituality and reconciling that with our sexuality. Once again, couldn't get past the trans identity on my side. I'm not really sure where to stand on this. I want to educate people about trans identified people but in the right forum. The spirituality peace I feel like I didn't speak on anything concerning my spirituality and how that has affected my sexuality and vise versa. It doesn't help that I am shy in front of a lot of people (which is another reason why it is strange that I am in front of all these people). One piece of advice ...

Really excited about this one. In April I will be attending my first Men's Conference. Infinity Diamond Club out of Durham, NC have hosted a Woman's Conference for I think 4 years now. This year will be the first Men's Conference that will be happening along side the Woman's Conference the same weekend. While I will be attending a little bit of both the conferences, I'm really excited to be included with the men this year. As I stated in my intro, I am trans. I have just recently began to embrace this identity, but just because you embrace, doesn't mean others will. I'm not sure how I will be received. While the LGBT community is ostracized from the rest of the community, the T in this acronym is often times ostracized from the LG community (the B gets it too, as quiet as that is kept). Either way, I am excited to be registered for the Men's conference. It is very much a feeling of belonging. While I really do like the Women's conference and was will...