On the show today I sat down with local photographer Joshua Foo! Prior to this interview I had never met Joshua in person. I saw some of the his photos on Facebook and instantly fell in love with his work
so I decided to send him a friend request. Considering we had so many friends in common I hoped he would accept my request and he did! I also liked his photography page on facebook so I could stay up to date with his work.
He has a crazy awesome imagination and has created some amazing images that are whimsical and fun!
But what really had me take notice was when he started posting photos of people with a front and a side view of each person. The people are not smiling and appeared to be randomly plucked off the street. I watched as he posted them one after another and I started to notice something. Each of them were amazing and alluring. I wanted to learn more about the people he was posting as well as about the man who was capturing these incredible images!
A Photo Series by Joshua FooInstagram: @joshfoolovesyouFacebook: Joshua Foo Photography
So we sat down on the back patio at Caffeine Dreams, which is where he discovered the backdrop that would become a key element in his series! I was even honored to have my photo taken that day!
So here it is the full interview with Joshua Foo, my new and amazing friend! How many times does a person get to have their very first conversation with a person be recorded for all to hear and to live on forever right here on Speaking Of Happy! Thank you Joshua Foo!
We hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did, and if you don’t that’s ok, we at least hope you learn something new!
If you can’t see the player above click HERE and listen to the show on PodOMatic.
Joshua is not only an amazing photographer but a human being extraordinaire and we talked about his photo series As You Were along with what inspires him and why he chose to become a photograper. Josh is a compassionate and amazing human being and I am so very grateful to now be able to consider him my friend.
This is the last day of the year. The last time in 2015 that I can say, I accomplished X or I did Y in 2015. What does that mean really? Well for me this year brought with it a great deal of firsts and a whole lot of transition. Transition in how I view myself along with who I choose to share with the world! Today I choose to share the real me authentically, but it took many years to get to this point. Many ups and downs. Much heartache and pain as well as triumphs. When I look back on the last 50 some odd years of my life I can honestly say I have accomplished more than I ever believed imaginable.
The greatest accomplishment is surrounding myself with people who are willing to love me unconditionally for me. To accept the me that I am sharing with them and to help me learn to love myself unconditionally too. Believe me, this has not come easy. I have had friends say some of the meanest things to me, needless to say, they are no longer my friends. And I have had complete strangers want to tear me down for sharing myself authentically with the world. But I am here to say that did not and will NEVER stop me from sharing me. From telling my story or from sharing the stories of other local LGBTQIA heroes I know.
Today marks a day I can sit back and reflect on with great pride. In the past year, I have accomplished more than I could have ever imagined to include this website. Creating a space where I get to share so many wonderful things about our world, things that make me happy but I am finding they make other people happy too! This website would not have been possible without the love and support of so many wonderful people to include the incredible love of my life Kira! The woman who has stood quietly by my side and supported my journey without hesitation. She has not only helped teach me to love and accept me for me, but to also shine a bright light into the darkest parts of myself in order to find true peace and appreciation for who I am and what I have to offer this world.
She was a stand that I stop saying mean things to myself. And she would call me on it at every turn. Eventually I began to see that how I treated myself and the things I said when I thought no one else could hear were hurtful. You see no one could ever hurt me more than I had been hurting myself. As I slowly began to peel away the rough exterior layers of the person I had become I started to realize and acknowledge the truly wonderful things about myself. I could no longer allow the things I disliked about me to stop me from telling my story or from sharing my journey! And as those things began to fall away I started to realize the me, that is truly me. And acknowledging it out loud and proud to the people in my life has made all the difference in the world for me. Her love is the fuel for my fire and knowing she is by my side and loves and accepts me for exactly who I am helps give me the courage to continue on this journey.
The other person I need to thank as I reflect on this year is my dear friend Alyssa. Once I began to share my transition with the world and introduced myself as Eli, she reached out to me and asked how she could help me realize my dreams. She asked me what I wanted to accomplish in sharing my transition with people and I told her. And then she did the most amazing thing. She said, I would like to coach you! No one has ever offered me such a gift and together we put a plan in place that helped me over the roadblocks in my way in creating Speaking Of Happy the website, the blog, and the radio show! With her guidance I put a plan in place that inspired me to accomplish tasks one at a time and before I knew it the website was created and I was publishing content I am proud of consistently and having a GREAT time doing it!
In three months I fully launched the website, produced, recorded, and edited 11 episodes of the radio show, produced shot and edited 3 videos (one that shared some personal stories of my life which has yet to be published to the page), wrote 3 blogs as well as had one guest blogger, and produced a One of A Kind comedy show and fundraiser that premiered my video 1976, my stand up comedy, plus I had more than 50 pieces of my photo art on display and for sale!
donated their time and talents and sang their hearts out at the show too so please go and support them and their music! And certainly last but not least I took some of the biggest steps on my journey to having my outsides express the man that I believe I have always been. I began my hormone treatments which has opened me up to a world that has been truly amazing and at times a little scary as I navigate these waters. On December 21, 2015 and with the amazing support of Kira, I ventured on the next step in my journey and had top surgery. As I type this I have an amazing freedom today. I look in the mirror and I see the me that had been there all along. A friend asked me, “what is it like, do you miss them?” I said, “My breasts?” He nods yes. I respond, “I don’t miss them at all, you see this is what I have always felt was me. I feel free and alive in a way that I have never experienced in the Fifty years of my life and I am awake and ready for the next 50!”
Also, if accomplishing the above wasn’t enough, with the love and support of many wonderful friends, I am also writing a book. I have finally found my voice and believe me, I will continue to shout with pride from the roof tops today and every day! I may not be the most prolific writer, comedian, blogger, or videographer in the world but I tell you this much, I am on the court of life, playing with everything I have to give and when I go to bed at night I sleep more soundly than I have all my life and awake and greet every new day with inspiration and determination to continue to do what I can to make a difference in our world!
I am truly blown away at what I have accomplished and fully believe 2016 will be one of my greatest years yet! My dear friends. If you take anything from what I have written here please know that allowing yourself and those around you be who they are and share their gifts with you, we all get to be GREAT together. So go, sing, dance, write, produce, support, and applaud yourself/others and all our successes! Let’s all have an amazing 2016!
I will be making my photo art available very soon so stay tuned!
Today on the show we sit down with Brody Ray, Kearney, NE native, who is working hard to make his dreams become a reality! He recently released his first EP Detour worldwide! He has an upbeat alternative rock sound that is full of life and energy! On this episode we talk about how Brody became a musician along with some wonderful stories about his growing up knowing he was different.
Brody’s life started out different from most. Brody, born female, new that his body didn’t match what he felt on the inside, as young as a toddler. Brody’s mother remembers him kicking the back of her seat in the McDonald’s Drive Thru until he got the boy toy in his happy meal, and jumping around in diapers and cowboy boots with a guitar singing at the top of his lungs.
I happen to think Brody is an incredible talent as well as being an amazing human being! He has a heart of gold and a deep desire to make a difference in the world with his music and I believe he is well on his way! He has performed at numerous Pride’s around the US along with performing right here in Omaha for Heartland Pride! Be sure to check out his website at www.brodyray.com and BUY HIS MUSIC which is also available on iTunes.
Brody also sang live in the studio for us and we shot a little video footage for your viewing pleasure!
If you can’t see the player above click HERE and listen to the show on PodOMatic.
I am a HUGE fan of The Voice. I love it for so many reasons but the main reason is the blinds. To get on the show you audition with the judges only hearing you. They don’t see you until they push their buttons and they don’t push their buttons until they hear something so incredible they can not help but push the button.
This season, started the same as all the others but the main difference being one performer who even blew me away from the moment he first opened his mouth. His name is Jordan Smith. His blind audition song was “Chandelier” by Sia. Here is the performance if you missed it.
Jordan is not your typical pretty boy. Although I personally think he is incredibly handsome. He is a bigger guy and has more than likely been shamed more than once for his appearance. And not only is he a bigger guy, he can hit notes that many women couldn’t even hit if they tried. And again, something tells me he has felt the sting of his peers teasing him for having the voice he has.
What many of them may have missed is that Jordan has the voice of an angel. And he has the compassion, love, generosity, and humble nature to go with this angelic voice. He inspires me to love myself for me. Last night on the Voice he sang “Who You Are” by Jessie J. The lyrics to the song are so powerful. Here is his performance
The song is an anthem to loving yourself for exactly as you are, to follow your heart and be true to who you are. I am so very happy Jordan has made it as far as he has on The Voice and in my humble opinion I believe he will win this season! And if he doesn’t it will be a crying shame but he will have an amazing career in music and I will forever be a fan. I can’t wait to see him perform live! Good luck Jordan with all you do although I do not believe you will need luck with your Voice of an Angel.
Update December 10, 2015
Jordan AMAZED me once again! His semi-final performance of “Somebody To Love” was truly sublime. So heartfelt so real so passionate! Freddy Mercury was applauding from above no doubt! I must admit that every week I wonder if he can pull it off again and he just keeps getting bigger and bigger!!! Thank you Jordan for sharing your gift with us! VOTE JORDAN SMITH!!! Finals are next week and I can hardly wait for it. If you missed the performance here it is for you! ENJOY!!!
And just because I LOVE this song so very much I had to also post my other most fabulous performance of the song from Happy Feet performed by Brittany Murphy.
Update December 14, 2015
I keep thinking there is absolutely no way he can bring me to tears again and then he does this:
And needless to say I am swimming in a puddle of tears and so incredibly grateful that he found his way to The Voice tryouts and the judges recognized his incredible talent! In my mind he won this competition from the beginning! He is pure talent and he is humble and sweet and I believe he deserves to take this thing all the way! We will find out soon if he is going to be our next winner and regardless of what happens he will always be a winner to me and I will forever be a fan! Thank you Jordan Smith for sharing your gift.
Singing with Usher
Update December 16, 2015
Jordan Smith WINS The Voice!!! That is right my guy went all the way and pulled off the win of the year! I have been awed by him all season and apparently so have a huge number of other people! He did it and I couldn’t be more proud! Way to go Jordan!!! Congrats!!!
On the show today I sat down with Dr. Amanda Duffy Randall. Omaha Therapist, Associate Professor, and the Director of the Grace Abbott School of Social Work at UNO. She shares some insights into her personal journey into becoming a therapist and how she started working with the LGBTQ Community. Dr. Randall is an amazing compassionate no nonsense human being who has a refreshing matter of fact way of approaching things. My favorite quote from our conversation is:
“Reaction is often times not long term adjustment, especially for a trans person, this has been something they have struggled with for a very long time. And when they tell their families they have about 30 seconds of reaction time. And often those reactions aren’t elegant, and aren’t pretty. But long term adjustments a very different process for families.” Dr. Randall
I LOVED our chat and I hope you will enjoy it too! I also hope you might learn something useful you can pass on to others. Please feel free to share this post with anyone you feel might benefit from it.
If you do not see the player click HERE to listen to the show on our Pod-O-Matic channel. The link will open a new window so you can still enjoy looking at other posts on our site! Also be sure to listen to previous episodes of the show!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, be sure to check out my video on transition and how it doesn’t just affect the person who is transitioning but everyone he or she knows.
We couldn’t be happier to have today’s podcast go live! We sat down with Ferial Pearson who is an educator, activist, public speaker, human being extraordinaire and she shared how The Secret Kindness Agents became a reality!
Taken from their facebook page:
Moved by the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, Ferial Pearson wondered if a simple act of kindness could change a life. She thought of the school where she taught and the students she guided every day and wondered, what would happen if we started secretly carrying out small acts of kindness in school? Could a modest act of compassion really change the course of a life? She posed the question to her students. They didn’t have the answers but they were willing to find out. And so they became the Secret Kindness Agents. They not only changed the lives of those they met, they changed their own. Their hope, their hearts, and their hunger for happiness will inspire you to change your small corner of the world, in your own way, for the better. Let them show you how they did it, and how you can do the same.
Ferial Pearson, a native of Nairobi, Kenya, is a national award-winning high school teacher and college instructor. For her dedicated work in education and human rights, she has earned the National Education Association’s Virginia Uribe Award for Creative Leadership in Human Rights in 2012, and the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network’s Educator of the Year Respect Award in 2011. She is an Instructor and Instructional Coach in the Teacher Education Department at the University of Nebraska Omaha.
Buy a copy of Secret Kindness Agents by clicking here. Follow the Secret Kindness Agents on Facebook by clicking here.
If you don’t see the player you can click here and listen to the podcast on Pod-o-matic! Thank you for listening!
Today on the podcast we are talking with JohnCarl Denkovich who is the Chairperson of the Board of Directors for GLSEN and his primary role is to serve as the local chapters Director of Policy and Legislative advocacy. He also sits on the National Advisory Council for GLSENs National Board.
GLSEN Omaha is a Chapter of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. The mission of GLSEN Omaha is to assure that each member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. They primarily serve the Omaha metropolitan area, including Council Bluffs, IA but provide services across Nebraska. They strive to protect students from bullying and harassment, to advance comprehensive safe schools laws and policies, to empower principals to make their schools safer, and to build the skills of educators to teach respect for all people. They work closely with the national staff of GLSEN to implement programs and affect positive change in school communities.
If you don’t see the player you can click here and listen to the podcast on Pod-o-matic! Thank you for listening!
This video was created from a spoken word piece written by Eli for his significant other at the time. When he first realized he was transgender and he shared with his life partner there was some struggle. Transition isn’t just about the person who is transitioning, it is about everyone near and dear to that person as well. This video is for anyone who is either transitioning or is close to someone who is. Please be gentle with yourselves in this process and be sure to surround yourself with people who love you and support you and will listen to you when you need to speak. I am very fortunate to have a life partner who is willing to look within and challenge herself to see the world in new and wonderful ways. She is choosing to walk this path with me and I am so very grateful for her. She is my rock, my salvation, the place I can go to find true comfort and love. There are amazing people in this world, if you are willing to let them in, they may surprise you with how they will respond! Much love and blessings to you today! I hope you enjoy this video.
