Officially "normal."

I got my lab results back from some blood tests checking my testosterone levels. The tests were done the day before my shot, so the levels reflected are at the "trough", or low point, of where my levels would conceivably be at any point during my two-week cycle, as it were. I got 355 ng/dl, whatever that measurement means. Point being, average male testosterone levels are 350-1200 ng/dl, according to the internet, so I'm officially out of the Androgyne Zone (forgive me, I've been reading The Cardboard Universe) by five whole points--and that's just at my "trough" level!

Somehow reading this, along with my doctor's comments ("these levels are EXCELLENT for this early in your transition"; literally, all caps EXCELLENT), gave me a strange confidence. Looking in the mirror I see my face as a man's face [/transsexual cliche]. Assigning a number to my physical masculinization doesn't change it at all, but there's something a bit delicious and satisfying about quantitative assessment of progress. But maybe that's the testosterone talking.

I'm playing a show tonight at Stonehenge, and in practicing yesterday I realized that I'm going to need to start changing the keys of my songs asap. It's kind of frightening, and a bit bittersweet.