Why hire a dour, dull, dotty old cleaning lady when you can hire a vibrant, honest, hardworking and spectacular transgendered woman? And LOOK... I even post my rates right up front!
Yes, for a mere $25 per hour I clean anything but pet messes and stuff that leaks out of people. Nope, no complicated list of things I will and won't do, or things I will do once, or things I do for a special fee... if you want heavy cleaning done, I do it; if you want your garage cleaned, I do it; likewise: homes, offices, basements, light cleaning, windows... I'll even clean your car, sorry, dirty minds are out of my jurisdiction.
And, for any client interested in a regular weekly cleaning wench, I offer 2 full hours FREE FREE FREE with the purchase of 2 hours... that's FOUR full hours for the price of two! This is a one-time offer only.
For any clients requiring longer than a 30 minute drive I charge for one additional hour, and I charge $10 per cleaning if I have to bring my own supplies.
Contact me, I have FANTASTIC references! barefoot.justine@gmail.com
I work in a spirit of gratitude and with an attitude of play and respect... now, let's get to work!
Barefoot Justine
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Some Pics
A Little Bio
In fourth grade I announced that I was either going to be a comic book artist or a dolphin trainer, and much to my parents' chagrin I went with the artist bit... a fate they had not at all prepared themselves for; having wanted a nice banker or drugstore clerk. A lot of stuff happened in between, but eventually after a long crawl and years of mentoring under professionals like Val Mayerik and P. Craig Russell, I eventually made it, not only creating my own comic (Mara), but working for DC Comics and actually getting to ink such characters as Superman, The Flash, Green Lantern, and Swamp Thing. That dream was short-lived and I ended up moving sideways into the gaming industry where I worked on the core Dungeons and Dragons books as well as on many Dragonlance projects for WOTC. All of that ultimately led me to a dream I dared not dream, I actually became "Lucasfilm approved" and got to work on several Star Wars pieces.
Unfortunately, no one told me in fourth grade that the pay for this kind of work was relatively low... that combined with the stress of having to constatnly dig up new work and clients eventually burned me out. So, what does one do after their life dream collapses? Well, I tried to run away with the carnival, spending part of a season traveling around and working Renaissance festivals, but that too ended in a flurry of lost bills. It was then my ex suggested we pack it all in and move to Russia to teach English, I suggested South Korea... after all, I sorta looked at this whole decision as the decision to exile myself, and South Korea seemed like the perfect place to live as an exile. But it all turned out more magically than that.
I experienced a lot in South Korea, everything from the rigors and horrors of cancer to the bliss of dining with Buddhist monks in the mountains of Seoul. And something new happened... money! I had money, so I used that money to make the lifedreams the poverty induced by attaining my lifedream of being an artist had made impossible, I got my SCUBA diving license and swam with a dolphin (those among you who are paying attention will recall my fourth grade announcement), and visited Thailand and the Philippines (repeatedly). Additionally, just after the cancer, just after the death of a good friend back home, just after being robbed in the Philippines, one of the videos I had made for fun got the attention of Paul McCartney, who spoke enthusiastically about seeing my video in Brittains TV guide, "Radio Times."
From there we spent a hellish 4 months working as illegal immigrants in Chile, a long story better left told over coffee (if you really want in on all the details). We returned home and I was fatigued, deeply, it took six months to recover. And I found myself angry, STILL bitter over the collapse of my dream of being an artist, drinking whiskey, and wallowing in self-loathing... but I was still not able to accept what it was I really wanted... HELL... needed!
And then, along that road I started to pay attention to something that had long been part of me, a part of me since I was aware enough to develop memories, a part of me that I had dealt with vicariously through drawing my Mara comics (I wanted to BE Mara, not possess Mara), a part of me that really woke up years before when my hero and mentor Jeffrey (Catherine) Jones had sexual reassignment surgery. I could no longer shove down the fact that I was NEVER comfortable as a man... I could not live that miserable drunken life any longer.
I let go!
I opened up, explored, and found freedom from years of self-loathing, found a comfort in my body, a sense of purpose, and a serious contentment that transcended the transience of mere happiness. I became Justine Mara Andersen, or "Barefoot Justine." Two weeks into accepting this fact and I noticed that I had simply stopped drinking, and within about a year I had returned to vegetarianism, had begun exercising and eating organic food, and found that I was healthier and happier than I had ever been.
Then the ugly truth: how does a barefoot transwoman make a living? The barefoot thing bears a little explaining: that part of me runs deep, deeper than the gender stuff... I was obsessed (pleasantly) with bare feet since I was a child. I don't want to go on too long about this, but I soon learned that there is a community of likeminded people whe feel it's their right to live a barefoot lifestyle... after all, between consenting adults (even when that is only one adult) it's nobody's business if I do! And moreso, I discovered that all that nonsense about it being against health codes and Osha codes was simple bullshit... it's NOT even illegal to drive barefoot! Not only that, but it's not dangerous, it's very clean (I guarantee my feet are cleaner than the bottom of your shoes), and safe! I watch where I walk and what I do, and I am proud to join the ranks of liberated women like Olga Gavva (a spectacular woman, a dancer in Russia who lives barefoot and educates people about the lifestyle. And, to top it all off, my feet are always presented well, elegant, and are a core expression of who I am and a stout statement about taking "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" very seriously. But enough of that.
I founded my own cleaning service, figuring I would be my own boss, since the rest of the world is not ready to hire transgendered people. I found that, so far as my work went, some of my clients were surprised to see me show up barefoot, but being liberal and open-minded enough to hire a transwoman, once they saw how dilligently I worked and how easy I was to get along with in their homes, they all welcomed me to be true to myself. One day with me on the job and everyone I have ever worked for has been convinced that not only did they not make a mistake in hiring a transwoman, not only were my bare feet NOT an issue, but that no one in any community was going to give them better service than what I gave. I feel I owe it to anyone kind enough to hire me to do the very best job I can, and I always work in a spirit of grattide.
And, I believe in the Zen ideal that all work should be done in a spirit of play.
But, now I've found that life in Akron Ohio is not for me. I need to get up and get out, move to a place with more open-minded individuals, a vibrant arts community, and opportunity for self-actualized "indviduated" people like me.
And right now, that is where I'm at!
Unfortunately, no one told me in fourth grade that the pay for this kind of work was relatively low... that combined with the stress of having to constatnly dig up new work and clients eventually burned me out. So, what does one do after their life dream collapses? Well, I tried to run away with the carnival, spending part of a season traveling around and working Renaissance festivals, but that too ended in a flurry of lost bills. It was then my ex suggested we pack it all in and move to Russia to teach English, I suggested South Korea... after all, I sorta looked at this whole decision as the decision to exile myself, and South Korea seemed like the perfect place to live as an exile. But it all turned out more magically than that.
I experienced a lot in South Korea, everything from the rigors and horrors of cancer to the bliss of dining with Buddhist monks in the mountains of Seoul. And something new happened... money! I had money, so I used that money to make the lifedreams the poverty induced by attaining my lifedream of being an artist had made impossible, I got my SCUBA diving license and swam with a dolphin (those among you who are paying attention will recall my fourth grade announcement), and visited Thailand and the Philippines (repeatedly). Additionally, just after the cancer, just after the death of a good friend back home, just after being robbed in the Philippines, one of the videos I had made for fun got the attention of Paul McCartney, who spoke enthusiastically about seeing my video in Brittains TV guide, "Radio Times."
From there we spent a hellish 4 months working as illegal immigrants in Chile, a long story better left told over coffee (if you really want in on all the details). We returned home and I was fatigued, deeply, it took six months to recover. And I found myself angry, STILL bitter over the collapse of my dream of being an artist, drinking whiskey, and wallowing in self-loathing... but I was still not able to accept what it was I really wanted... HELL... needed!
And then, along that road I started to pay attention to something that had long been part of me, a part of me since I was aware enough to develop memories, a part of me that I had dealt with vicariously through drawing my Mara comics (I wanted to BE Mara, not possess Mara), a part of me that really woke up years before when my hero and mentor Jeffrey (Catherine) Jones had sexual reassignment surgery. I could no longer shove down the fact that I was NEVER comfortable as a man... I could not live that miserable drunken life any longer.
I let go!
I opened up, explored, and found freedom from years of self-loathing, found a comfort in my body, a sense of purpose, and a serious contentment that transcended the transience of mere happiness. I became Justine Mara Andersen, or "Barefoot Justine." Two weeks into accepting this fact and I noticed that I had simply stopped drinking, and within about a year I had returned to vegetarianism, had begun exercising and eating organic food, and found that I was healthier and happier than I had ever been.
Then the ugly truth: how does a barefoot transwoman make a living? The barefoot thing bears a little explaining: that part of me runs deep, deeper than the gender stuff... I was obsessed (pleasantly) with bare feet since I was a child. I don't want to go on too long about this, but I soon learned that there is a community of likeminded people whe feel it's their right to live a barefoot lifestyle... after all, between consenting adults (even when that is only one adult) it's nobody's business if I do! And moreso, I discovered that all that nonsense about it being against health codes and Osha codes was simple bullshit... it's NOT even illegal to drive barefoot! Not only that, but it's not dangerous, it's very clean (I guarantee my feet are cleaner than the bottom of your shoes), and safe! I watch where I walk and what I do, and I am proud to join the ranks of liberated women like Olga Gavva (a spectacular woman, a dancer in Russia who lives barefoot and educates people about the lifestyle. And, to top it all off, my feet are always presented well, elegant, and are a core expression of who I am and a stout statement about taking "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" very seriously. But enough of that.
I founded my own cleaning service, figuring I would be my own boss, since the rest of the world is not ready to hire transgendered people. I found that, so far as my work went, some of my clients were surprised to see me show up barefoot, but being liberal and open-minded enough to hire a transwoman, once they saw how dilligently I worked and how easy I was to get along with in their homes, they all welcomed me to be true to myself. One day with me on the job and everyone I have ever worked for has been convinced that not only did they not make a mistake in hiring a transwoman, not only were my bare feet NOT an issue, but that no one in any community was going to give them better service than what I gave. I feel I owe it to anyone kind enough to hire me to do the very best job I can, and I always work in a spirit of grattide.
And, I believe in the Zen ideal that all work should be done in a spirit of play.
But, now I've found that life in Akron Ohio is not for me. I need to get up and get out, move to a place with more open-minded individuals, a vibrant arts community, and opportunity for self-actualized "indviduated" people like me.
And right now, that is where I'm at!
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