Skirting Round My Life 2021 My Year On The Blog

As I look back on the events of 2021 I have to say that it wasn’t the year I or anyone hoped or expected it would be. These past 12 months have been a difficult year for us all and this continues to be reflected in Skirting Round My Life as it has in every blog, journal , magazine or other news outlets.

On looking at the statistics, this year has seen Skirting Round My Life on a bit of downward trajectory which I think was to be expected given the circumstances. Hopefully this will change in the next 12 months. Though that will, to a certain extent at least, depend on things opening up a bit post Covid and providing me with more opportunities to enjoy myself and post about my exciting experiences.

The first thing to say that Skirtingroundmylife gained 2, 507 views in 2020. This represented an drop of 16% from it’s 2020 total of 3,018. Though disappointed with the drop I am not in the least bit surprised as continued uncertainty from Covid19 played havoc with our lives and restrictions on what we could and couldn’t do meant opportunities for growth were very severely limited.

This lack of opportunity resulted in a very dramatic drop in the number of posts in the last twelve months as they fell by almost half from 98 to 50. It can also be said that the number of both visitors to the site and comments on posts are both down with the later dropping from 28 to 16 and likes falling by more than 60% from 83 to 36

Topics covered in the last twelve months included Acceptance, Age, Bisexuality, Childhood, Christmas, Coming Out, Ceilidhs, Concerts, Covid19, Crossdressers, Dancing , Dating, Death, Discrimination, Equality, Faith, Fashion,  Friendship, Grandparents, Holidays, Lockdown, Love, Memories, Mental Health, Poetry, Relationships, Secrets, Sensuality, Sex, Sexism,  Sexuality, Stereotypes,  Transition, Transphobia, Visibility, Women,

2021 again saw a slight dip in my global reach as visiting nations were slightly down from 31 in 2020 to 27 last year. The top five countries were UK , USA, Ireland, Germany and Finland, with Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Guernsey, and Sweden. making up the top ten. There were also readers from countries including France, Croatia The Philippines, Denmark, Colombia, Peru, Norway, India, and Poland amongst other nations who paid this a visit

As all the statistics have now properly evaluated it is time to bring this review to its conclusion but before I do so I just want thank all my readers. Whether you subscribe to the site or read the posts on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter it doesn’t really matter, the main thing is that you read them and find them entertaining, enjoyable , thought provoking and maybe in some cases challenging. I really hope you’ll continue to do so as that’s what makes blogging so enjoyable for those us who put our opinions out there on the blogosphere for you to read. So all that remains is for me to wish you A Happy, Successful, and Peaceful New Year and I hope you’ll keep skirting round my life throughout 2022 and beyond .

Till next time

Gayle X

Naughty And Nice (For Madonna)

In my latest poem I pay tribute to the first lady of music the one and only Madonna. It’s a kind of love letter to the woman who shaped my identity to a far greater extent than she’ll ever know. I’ve given it the title Naughty And Nice. I think you’ll find a lot of familiar references in this one. I hope you enjoy the read

Naughty And Nice

Dear Madonna

Thanks for your teaching in the ways of the world
in how to dream like a girl
and behave like a woman
for showing me the way to express myself
sing lullabies in Spainish
take my imagination to places
beyond my comprehension
be my own amazing invention
who could do whatever I liked
styling fishnet tights
with office girl chic
so women who had never thought of dating a transwoman
would take a chance on me
and do things
I never knew were possible

thank you for making me an unstoppable force
beyond the constraints
of chains I’ll never wear
for being there in the conservative years
when those like me were demonised
by taunts and lies
for showing me my inner thigh
is a very sensual place
I love that you kept a smile on my face
when I didn’t want to smile
and let me see
who I am and why I will be
the one who doesn’t do repression

they say confession is good for the soul
though not as powerful as authenticity
you showed that material girls can feel like virgins
if their partners treat them with respect
it wasn’t just about sex
though a bit of hanky panky can be nice
if you cherish me enough stop at the borderline
I remember the night I decided to open my heart and let you in
the mortal sins I must have committed
on the first night I wore a basque
would be no laughing matter
to the papa you told not to preach
I think I got away with it
as I danced on the beach
when I went on an unexpected holiday
your passion for equality inspired
me to aim higher
and not to make a liar of myself
embrace my bisexual attraction
and enjoy the pleasures guilt free

Thank you Madonna for giving me
anthems which endured through the ages
for taking stages by storm and showing girls we can be both naughty and nice
and letting us know Princess Diana
wasn’t the only role model available
thanks for leaving a necklace of attainable dreams
to be worn by girls like me
the ones who though we might never
be lingerie models
still want to aspire to something higher
than our mum’s generation
who could be our own sensation
leading our man or women in to temptation
beyond their wildest fantasies
as we explored our sexuality
in ways never mentioned in prayers

© Gayle Smith 2020.

Skirting Round My Life 2019 My Year On The Blog

As I look back on the events of 2019 it’s fair to say that my second annual review has seen Skirting Round My Life find it’s place in the blogosphere. There has been progress in certain aress whilst others have been quieter but overall I would say that the statistics represented in this report are a good indicator of a blog which is developing a good core readership.

The first thing to note that Skirtingroundmylife gained 3,262 views in 2019. This represented an increase of six views from it’s 2018 total of 3,256. So with no massive increase or dramatic decline in post views and an average of eight views a day for the second successive year this has been a year of stability rather than growth. This I think was due to the fact I never promoted certain blogs and especially certainly poems anywhere near as much as I should and this is something I will work towards improving in 2020.

That said there is one area where has been noticeable growth is in the number of posts published which rose from 78 to 88 in the last twelve months. In contrast the number of both visitors to the site and comments on posts are both down with the later halving from 16 to 8, though there is better news when it came post likes which more than doubled from 36 to 74. This year also saw a new record for post views with Something Old Something New, a fashion post I wrote for LGBT Mardi Gla attracting 296 views.

Topics covered in the last twelve months included Bespoke Chocolates (yes they are a thing) Bisexuality, Bullying, Christmas, Coming Out, Concerts, Dancing , Dating, Death, Disability, Discrimination, Disruption (A topic on which co-wrote my first ever collaborative poem with my friend Emma Mooney), Equality, Family, Faith, Fashion, Kindness, Love, Letter Writing , Lesbian Weddings, Lingerie, Memories, Mental Health, Relationships, Role Models, Stereotypes, The Broga Frois, Taxation, Transition, Transhopia, Transport, Visibility, and last but not least Football,

This deserves a more detailed explanation than the other topics I’ve posted on in last year as I’ve covered both the men’s and women’s game. Though I think it has to be said that women’s football has taken over this blog in the later half of last year. This can be evidenced by the fact that there were poems not only for the Scotland team during and after the World Cup but also for the Under 19’s during their European Championships which we hosted , on individual games and for three Scotland players Erin Cuthbert, Lee Alexander, and Carly Girasoli , though Lee’s poem poem was written after a particularly memorable display for her club Glasgow City when her brilliance helped them qualify for the quarter finals of the UFEA Champions League for only the second time in their history.

2019 saw a slight dip in my global reach as visiting nations were slightly down from 38 in 2018 to 34 last year. The top five countries were UK , USA, Canada, Australia, and Ireland. With Spain, Hong Kong , Germany, France, and India, making up the top ten. There were also readers from countries including South Africa, The Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Brazil, New Zealand, Japan, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Austria, Turkey, Oman, Kenya , Algeria, and believe it or not The Bahamas. Yes readers my words reach glamorous places.

As all the statistics have now properly evaluated it is time to brimg this review to it’s conclusion but before I do so I just want thank all my readers. Whether you subscribe to the site or read the posts on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter it doesn’t really matter, the main thing is that you read them and find them enjoyable stimulating, thought provoking and maybe in some cases challenging. I really hope you’ll continue to do so as that’s what makes blogging so enjoyable for those us who put our opinions out there on the blogosphere for you to read. So all that remains is for me to wish you A Happy, Successful, and Peaceful New Year and I hope you’ll keep skirting round my life throughout 2020 and beyond .

Till next time

Gayle X

Wonder Woman Lives

In this poem I look at the world of superheroes and I ask why there so few female icons in the world of cartoon and comic book creations. The answer is as we all know, because men or should I say boys controlled and to a large extent still control the narrative of these genres and they conform to the view that boys are active and girls are passive. This of course is nonsense and it is in protest at these gender based stereotypes I have given it the title Wonder Woman Lives I hope you enjoy the read.

Wonder Woman Lives

Batman and Superman
get all the glory
as boys narrate the story
of heroic all action figures
nobody sniggers
when those tough crime fighters
make headlines
arresting jokers and riddlers
putting criminals in their place
yet nobody spares a thought
for feisty freedom fighters
but believe me I know
Wonder Woman Lives
just like Josie and the Pussycats

© Gayle Smith 2019