iOS 5 Upgrade Problems?

Ok, so I was updating my iPhone 4 to iOS 5 yesterday and it got partially through and then alternated between several different errors and just getting hung up. Here’s the #1 fix that I always forget on my annual/semi-annual iOS software upgrades, followed by some other possible help:

• USB Connection: PLUG THE PHONE’S USB CORD DIRECTLY INTO THE COMPUTER. If it’s plugged into a USB hub or the USB port on your keyboard, it can possibly cause the process to get stuck.
• Software Conflict: If you have the Cydia app “WiFi Sync” installed on your Mac, I’ve heard it can cause iOS updates to stall, so try uninstalling it (uninstall WiFi Sync utility HERE)
• Won’t Finish Download in iTunes: Try the direct-download links below (they’re hosted on Apple’s servers), then open iTunes, select your phone under “DEVICES”, and alt-click “UPDATE” or “RESTORE” to open the “secret” navigation menu. Then, go to where you manually downloaded the IPSW (iOS software package) file and select it for installation on your phone.

• iPhone 3GS
• iPhone 4 GSM
• iPhone 4 CDMA
• iPhone 4,1 (4S?)
• iPad
• iPad 2 WiFi
• iPad 2,2 – GSM
• iPad 2,3 – CDMA
• iPod touch 3G
• iPod touch 4G
• Apple TV2

This first iOS 5′s build number is 9A334, and these files are hosted on Apple’s servers. Right-click or alt-click to download, and remember where you’re saving them.

Hey Cal-pals! My friend Patrick Wolf has released his latest album, Lupercalia, today on iTunes UK. I don’t recommend music very often here on my blog… I listen to a lot of popular stuff that everyone already knows about, or stuff that’s so personal that I don’t expect others to go for it like I do. Patrick’s music is the best of those two worlds.

If you know me at all, you can probably guess why I took to his music immediately: Patrick plays a mind-boggling array of acoustic instruments like violin, viola, piano and harp. He has a rich, gorgeous and sexy singing voice. And he writes his own music, about his own life and things that matter to him.

Just give his songs a listen and I’m sure you’ll find something you like. As a lifelong slave in the cult of Kate Bush and a fan of Tori Amos, The Cure, Nick Cave, balladeers, troubadours, Jane Siberry, Suzanne Vega, Amanda Palmer and others, I took to Patrick’s music right away and I hope you will, too.

Hear Patrick Wolf on iTunes

Visit Patrick’s Website

Here’s one of his older songs, showing off his ability to play the violin/viola like a harp:

You might want to check my Calendar link above, and some especially fun dates are listed below. Come see me! Give me a hug! (or a shot) *or a dollar

6/10 (Fri) – Katie’s Corner live
improv comedy w/ Alexandra
Billings

6/11 (Sat) – “Stunning Show” live
Dance/Jazz/Burlesque/Drag
premieres Selene Luna’s
“Callin’ It Out” Music Video

6/18 (Sat) – “Stunning Show”

6/25 Sat – “Stunning Show”

6/26 (Sun) – “Legendary Bingo” hosting
for charity with Celeb Guest Hosts

7/2 (Sat) – “Stunning Show”

7/9 (Sat) – “Freedom Fest” – Calpernia onstage
at MASSIVE music festival (10’s of thousands expected)

7/10 (Sun) – “Legendary Bingo” hosting for charity w/ Celeb Guests

7/11 (Mon) – See Calpernia in the movie “Womans Picture” at the DGA

7/16 (Sat) – See Calpernia in the movie “Womans Picture” at the DGA
7/16 (Sat) – “Stunning Show”
7/30 (Sat) – “Stunning Show”
8/1-8 – Calpernia in London (Venue to be announced)

As anyone knows who is searching for such things, I transitioned beginning back in the 1990′s after a lifelong struggle with gender identity issues.

In my information-poor youth, I assumed that I must be “gay” because of my feminine nature, empathy with girls and attraction to men, coupled with a seemingly normal body being gendered as “male”. Living in the world as a girl or a woman was as impossible as living in the world as a unicorn, or so I thought, so I didn’t allow myself to pursue that avenue of fantasy even in my most hidden thoughts.

After a stint in the Navy as a combat medic (NEC 8404), I had marshaled enough independence to begin defining my own identity more clearly. After finishing my four year obligation, I got out and it took only a year or so in the freedom of Nashville’s gay culture to discover that living as a gay male was not where my heart and soul belonged. Although I have never forgotten the welcoming embrace of the gay community, I knew that my personal truth was living authentically as a woman. Thankfully, entertainers like Cher, Bette Midler, Lady Gaga, Cindy Lauper and countless others paved the way for heterosexual women to have a symbiotic relationship with the GLBT community. It has remained a fun and supportive retreat from the overwhelming rejection and cruelty I experience from my own community of heterosexual women and men. Of course, I could just shut up about having transitioned, but that’s another blog post.

Not to say that I don’t have heterosexual supporters! I certainly do, and they are vital to me! Unfortunately, they are a small and elite band of enlightened folks who stand as the exception, rather than the rule, among the rank and file heterosexual, gender-normative communities. That makes them all the more special, though!

But “Calpernia Addams as a man”? Well, there are certainly bits of information, photos and recordings of my life pre-transition. But as I mention in my (in)famous “Bad Questions” video, when you look at those photos, you’re looking at snapshots of me in my unhappiest moments… my most awkward moments… in the moments of my greatest struggle, self doubt and self hatred. It’s pretty sick to look at me now and think, “I wish I could see her when she was less happy!”, but that’s never stopped the internet before, ha ha.

So do what you gotta do… my information is out there just like everyone else’s. I can’t say it doesn’t hurt my feelings a little when people try to break down my current happiness with that information, but in doing so they join the ranks of every other boring, awful demon I’ve met in my life. And as my history shows, I just keep marching right past them and doing my thing. See ya!