I started crossdressing and going out publicly in 1988. I joined the Renaissance group in the Philadelphia area that year and later became chapter leader for two years in the '90s.
I always enjoyed writing and wrote for the Renaissance newsletter and magazine throughout my membership years. I've been writing for TGForum for several years now. I also contributed items to LadyLike magazine and other TG publications before the advent of the internet.
My hobby-within-a-hobby is singing live as my alter-ego Dina Sinatra and I have had the opportunity to do that with several accommodating performers and in a number of venues over the years since the mid-1990s.
In the Diner column items here, I try to relate crossdressing or transgender themes (and my own pet peeves and fetishes) to the larger world -- and vice versa.
Dina Amberle picked up Chris Burrows’ first book, City of Angels. Well, she read it on her computer screen if you want to be technical. We bring you her review of Burrows’ first effort in his series of books set in exotic foreign lands. Ladyboys, sexual encounters, crossdressing. All are featured. See what Dina thought in this review.
Dina Amberle brings us a steaming potpourri of tidbits and delicacies she has found in the news. From pop stars embracing weight gain to men growing breasts when they don’t want them, to androgynous male models who model women’s clothing on the runway, Dina cooks it, stirs it and serves it in Dina’s Diner.
Britney Spears, a woman who some thought would never make it to 30, has reached that milestone birthday. Dina Amberle was moved to provide a Dina’s Diner Special about the big event.
In consideration of others seated near you as well as our international broadcast audience, please refrain from blowing your vuvuzelas during this month’s issue of Dina’s Diner. GLEN OR GLENDA, IN OR OUTTA THE OFFICE The syndicated Dear Abby advice column is still appearing in newspapers around the country. On June 6, 2010, Abby (now […]
Apparently the Obama Administration solicited artistic contributions for the Christmas tree decorations in its first yuletide season in the White House. One of the contributions included decoupaged Christmas balls with images of Chairman Mao and semi-famous drag personage Hedda Lettuce. The professional Obama haters saw this as yet another signal of national descent into the […]
Come on in and take a seat at Dina’s Diner. This week the hostess with the mostest has very affordable Pink Plate Special (it used to be blue but you know how the Diner rolls) and she’s serving up extra big slices of pie for dessert. She covers it all from Jennifer Boylan’s op-ed in […]
I didn’t think of it at the time, but January 2009 marked my 20th year of active crossdressing. By active I mean going out to meetings, clubs, events, etc. The first time I ever went out was to attend the January 1989 meeting of the Renaissance TG Association. My association with Renaissance and some of […]
Dina’s Diner serves up a healthy selection of organic vegatables, free range chicken and “green” grown coffee — along with interesting items from the news spiced up with Dina Amberle’s cutting commentary. This month she’s got several items on the menu and they’re all sure to please. Take a booth, order a cup of java […]
I was really at loose ends to deliver this edition of the Diner and asked Angela for some extra time. I was even thinking of just throwing in the towel on the whole thing. But then… I had a strange re-awakening after a dream. That sounds like a cliché literary device but it turns out […]
I guess the Olympics put me in a sporting frame of mind because all of the items have to do with “women in sport.†Which is not far down the list after “women in bed,†“women in low-cut blouses,†and “women in garter belts, stockings and high heels.â€
Dina Amberle has been reading the newspaper again…and you know what that means. She’s taken the stories that spoke to her in the loudest voices and run them into the Diner’s kitchen where she sliced, diced, spices and stewed them all into this week’s edition of Dina’s Diner. Everyone will find the latest dish at […]
This week’s Special at Dina’s Diner is a spicy stew of many tasty ingrediants cooked to perfection and brought to your table with a smile and a “How ya doin’ hon? More coffee?” from your hostess, cook and waitress Miss Dina Amberle. Before you get to the stew, a tasty treat served with saucy Turkish […]
Dina’s Diner has a couple of blue plate specials this week. Check out the Elizabeth Berkley, it’s steamy. And then your waitress will tell you all about what she thinks of women in politics, discuss her favortie Russ Meyer actresses and a whole lot more. It’s all in this edition of Dina’s Diner.
These Ads are Fabulous! Michelle Moore, the TG History columnist here at TGF (and a long-time friend) suggested this item for The Diner. She forwarded an article that appeared in Radar Magazine’s February edition about commercial ads by large well-known companies that are either directly or subtly targeted to the gay audience. And at least […]
Welcome to Dina’s Diner! Your hostess, Dina Amberle, dishes up a heady cuisine that goes well beyond average diner fare. There’s no place on Dina’s menu for unappetizing dishes that don’t satisfy. And she always adds that secret sauce of her’s! Wait till you hear what she has dug up on little Richie Petrie. It’s […]
In this installment of Dina’s Digital Diner Dina covers two items that cover the polar extremes of femininity—and good taste.
This month the Digital Diner gets serious. Is crossdressing addictive? Is it possible to give it up? Would you want to give it up? Is it a compulsion? And where can a crossdresser get a good tuna salad sandwich? OK, not the last one but Dina Amberle takes on the rest of these questions in […]
I saw an interesting article about women’s breasts (find me an uninteresting article about women’s breasts – I dare you) on the London Daily Mail website. According to scientific fact, women’s breasts are growing larger from generation to generation. And the sweet thing about the article was that they showed three generations of female family […]
You’re not the only Guy in Drag with Photos, Look at these Taliban Warriors! The folks at Slate.com ran a pictorial in August 2007 of Taliban member sin Afghanistan. The photos were discovered in Kabul and were believed to be taken in early 2003, before the American bombardment and invasion after the 9/11 tragedy.
Our LadyLike columist Dina Amberle has filed another edition of her Digital Diner. In my last post, I had a short piece about a Bolivian beauty pageant for traditionally costumed women. In my search for additional information about the pageant–where the winner was disqualified for wearing un-traditional hair extensions–I came across an even stranger tidbit […]
The New York Times ran an ariticle about gynecomastia, the condition of enlarged male breasts. The article appeared in the June 14 2007 edition of the Times and included some surprising statistics about the prevalence of young men who are having breast reduction surgery to correct the affliction of “Man boobs.”
Aside from the wisdom I impart here at TGForum.com, I also write a column that appears in and in LL#69 (on newsstands now!) I wrote a couple of pieces that have a life beyond even my own indelible ink. I did a piece on a Pakistani woman who has her own TV talk show in […]
MSNBC.com had an article on cosmetics for men—and I don’t mean women’s cosmetics for transgendered men—in the April 19, 2007 edition. The article was written by Lauren Sherman. Her lead sentence began thusly: “Hey, men: Don’t be surprised if very soon your toiletry kit contains not only shaving cream, deodorant and toothpaste, but concealer, oil-absorbing […]
Perhaps the only other people capable of as much shameless self-promotion as Donald Trump are presidential candidates. In order to be the leader of the free world, a candidate must constantly remind the great unwashed of how smart, forward-thinking, and generally awesome they are. Sometime before he became a presidential candidate, Rudolph Giuliani did a […]
In a land far away well, maybe not so far away there is a place where feminized males are treated with respect and play an important part in the region’s culture and commerce. No, it isn’t San Francisco or Greenwich Village. It is in a remote part of southern Mexico, the land of machismo. Down […]
Dina’s Diner 3/17/14
Dina’s Diner is serving up a heaping helping of Dina Amberle’s thoughts and rumination on items she sees in the ordinary press of this great land. She carefully plucks the items out, washes them and adds her own spices and secret sauces, transforming them into nutritious dishes for the Diner menu. See what she’s serving up today.
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