Prop 8: The Musical?

I found this gem on Dark Musings

thrifting

I forgot that on Saturday Dana and I went thrifting and had some pretty damn good luck. Store number one didn't have much, but there were a couple of books, and a copy of The Secret Garden on VHS. I have to say, I'm starting to get a little nostalgic for tapes, because you can get used movies for so cheap at thrift stores, and they have been in pretty fair condition so far. We really bonded over the movie last night. I really love Mary Lennox's transformation from an angry, fearful girl into a warm and smiling young woman. I laugh at how she ruffles Mrs. Medlock's feathers, and storms into Colin's room calling him selfish! She herself enters the story behaving very selfishly, but finally she learns that she doesn't have to be afraid of being abandoned anymore, and learns to freely love herself and others. I was inspired by the incredibly good acting of the children in this movie and the directing is fantastic, having been made by one of Francis Ford Coppola's companies.

We also located a copy of Mr. Edward Greenblatt's "Suddenly Single: A Survival Kit for the Single Man" which includes 30 simple recipes (enough for one month!) and 50 kids activities (for your kids when they are in your custody, or perhaps for the children of people you date?). That will probably be my next book review.

The treat of the next store was a cache of old lesbian music tapes! Here's the list

Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Etheridge
Yes I Am
Brave and Crazy
your little secret

k.d. lang
Angel With a Lariat
all you can eat

Sheryl Crow's title album (not lesbian, just 90's!)

and, tadaha pure moods II

Our final stop lead to a deposit of the contents of my trunk (which have been awaiting the goodwill donation center for many moons) and the purchase of a bookshelf, a tea pot and tea kettle, and some fancy plates (which I looked up online and they are in fact very good fakes). *Squee!*

fingers, ugh.

Dana cut her right index finger. Sad! And it's her good hand, too! There was an accident with the meat slicer at work, and the first thing I asked when I got there to drive her to the walk in clinic was, "did you cut it off or just cut it? She assured me that it was just a flap. I won't lie, it's a pretty bad cut that required four stitches and a tetanus shot, but luckily her uninsured self is indeed insured by worker's compensation law. thank god. the doctor who stitched her up could have been queer, but there wasn't any hard evidence. thankfully everything was free, including the script for pain meds -- which means... We got free darvocet! Hah! Not that I would ever break the law and take someone else's prescription. *wink*

We went to see the local vaudeville/burlesque show Saturday night, which was pretty great. It was a little too zombie-centric and I'm really not into the living dead so I was disappointed by that. But there were lots of cute girls in bras and underwear and lots and lots of lesbians. woo! I should say, though, the drinks at this particular club are awful. If you're not getting a shot or a beer, don't even waste your money. Worst cosmopolitan I've ever had, with the exception of the one time the old man behind the bar though a cosmopolitan was vodka and grenadine. Nope! Try again.

There was even one who was about the size, shape and age of Crave and it made me miss her a little bit. I'm ever so fond of her girl-boyness. Crave and I are spirits that speaks the same language, sometimes we chance to meet in a forest clearing where the sun shines down and we share precious few words together. I don't think even we know why or by what means we are so drawn to each other. Strangers.

It was nice to have a date with Dana, to be out and about in public. In the morning I have sooo much homework to do, and I am not looking forward to it. Whoever decided that college should be so much work? Am I just a slacker? I mean. I only work 35 hours a week, but I still feel overwhelmed by all the homework. Blegh. Of course it is women's studies - notorious for tons and tons of mostly redundant, although very interesting, articles and books. We shall see.

Miss you all dearly! Love and kissies!

as butch as a hunk of machinery!

I just finished watching "Before Stonewall" on netflix (you can watch it streaming online if you have a subscription at any level) and I do believe that I met myself in 50 years. "Lisa Ben" or Edith Eyde. My hero. She sings with a spanish guitar, and parodied this song

The Girl That I Marry
The girl that I marry will have to be
as soft and as pink as a nursery.
The girl that I call my own
will wear satins and laces and smell of cologne.
Her nails will be polished and in her hair
she'll wear a gardenia and I'll be there
'Stead of flittin' I'll be sittin' next to her
and she'll purr like a kitten.
A doll I can carry the girl that I marry must be.

But instead -- and I must tell you that I stopped the movie and went back so I could write it down -- she sang:

The Girl That I Marry
The girl that I marry will probably be
as butch as a hunk of machinery.
The girl I idolize ... will wear slacks with flat fronts*,
tailored shirts and bow ties
She'll walk with a swagger and wear short hair
And keep me entranced with her tomboy air
Instead of cruisin I'll be using
Her shoulder to lean on while snoozin
A faint hearted fairy, the girl I marry won't be!

clearly, an ode to butches. do you see how she's my hero? dana watched her singing so sweetly and said, "honey it's you!" we had a good laugh about it.

*flat fronts? I'm not sure about that, I had some trouble discernign that line.

Apparently I'm also channeling bell hooks because as I was introducing myself to my class (Literature by Women of Color in the Diaspora), my professor - the distinguished Dr. Gary Lemons, author of "Black. Male. Outsider" - said that as he was watching me speak, watching this white woman speak, he felt as though he was listening to bell hooks. She was actually his dissertation adviser as a Ph.D. student at (i think) NYU.

[edit] Originally I had written that it was ms Audre Lorde, but HussyRed is right in the comments, I had forgotten she passed away when I was just a wee lass. bell hooks will be visiting, though, and I'll be interested to see the comparison.

Happy Freaking Pride!

Happy Freaking Pride, y'all!

Dana and I got up at an ungodly hour (9 a.m.) to drive across the bridge to the neighboring city where our metro area PRIDE is held. I'm a notorious pen stealer, especially when they're being offered for free (think, dentist, doctor, work, etc.) so we grabbed a healthy stack of them. Hmmm. Fresh pens! We also visited a wine tasting booth, listened to a gal named Julie Schurr (t-shirt, autograph, album, picture for Dana) and walked around simultaneously window shopping and trying to keep me away from the ATM.

Fun times, let me tell you! We're off to dinner at a Turkish restaurant downtown, fighting off a thunderstorm.

P.S. Dana was drooling over the cute little babies and I was melting over sexy "older" lesbians. Omg. The dyke uniform. It's the standard for a reason. I'm melting again just thinking about it!

P.P.S. We also bumped into Marian a couple times. Girl's made some progress but she's still chasing around girls who aren't interested in her. Terribly tragic.

queer culture films available on netflix

I couldn't find my previous post about the documentary "The Aggressives" but I wanted to let everybody know that I signed up for Netflix the other day (in leu of getting cable television) and I saw that they have many very important films on queer history and culture. The films may be rather difficult to obtain, or view and this is a chance to watch them without money or scarcity standing in the way.

The Aggressives: Director Daniel Peddle spent five years recording the lives of six "aggressives" -- lesbians who strive to be as masculine as possible in lifestyle and appearance. The result is a portrait both enlightening and endearing as we watch each woman come up with her own inventive ways of expressing her identity. From prison to the underground ball scene, where lesbians compete for lead "AG" status, this film reveals a largely hidden subculture.

The Celluloid Closet: Narrated by Lily Tomlin, this acclaimed documentary takes its name from Vito Russo's groundbreaking book. The filmmakers examine the subtext of more than 100 Hollywood movies -- including Spartacus, Rope and Thelma and Louise -- and chart the cinematic journey of lesbian and gay characters. Film clips are paired with director, producer and actor interviews featuring, among others, Gore Vidal, Tom Hanks and Whoopi Goldberg.

Before Stonewall: Life was very different before the 1969 Stonewall riots put the issue of gay rights front and center in America. Using archival films and interviews with gays and lesbians who were forced to hide their sexuality for fear of reprisals, this documentary by Robert Rosenberg, Greta Schiller and John Scagliotti sheds light on American gay life from the 1920s to the 1960s and the sociopolitical climate that finally led to profound change.

After Stonewall: Melissa Etheridge narrates this documentary that explores the progress and challenges of the post-Stonewall lesbian/gay rights movement through archival footage and interviews with leaders such as Barbara Gittings, Armistead Maupin, Jewelle Gomez and Dorothy Allison. The film chronicles key events from 1970 to the end of the 20th century, including sexual liberation, conflicts with the feminist movement, AIDS and political organization.

If you have a credit card, you can get a two week free trial wherein you can watch all of these videos online without having to deal with sending dvd's back in the mail.

my anniversary came and went without a whisper!

As I was reading over Sinclair's anniversary post (Happy 2 years!), I realized that mine was April 26, Saturday, and I totally missed it... I was so busy sleeping and running errands this weekend that I forgot that My blog anniversary was on April 26! I had copied over some of the filtered posts from my old blog to get started, and then wrote my first blog entry.

This blog has been all about handling layers. I have been learning to flip through the pages of our culture, of queer culture, and of the sexualities that we have taken underground, discovering anew the rich history and family that is built around shared secrets. I feel like I joined a secret guild of queer and sex writers who are taking back their sexualities and writing the stories back into the public eye. Keep doing that, and I'll keep working alongside you all. I said:

i shall never lack for conquests, suitors, and worshipers.

but it isn't the lack I fear. It's the abundance. I just want one that I can trust.

one pair of eyes to gaze into, in which to lose myself, wandering. one pair of lips for kissing, for communicating, for caring. one pair of hands for touching, for holding, for safety.

hands that hold me tightly - but not too tightly. hands and arms that wrap around me, assuring me of rest and security. and the breast, the tenderness, compressed against mine, the hope, the health, the future adventures, the trust and companionship. the faith and the forgiveness.

i want it. i want it all. the hands and everything that comes with them. the eyes and everything i see in them. the hips that balance right-and-wrong, new-and-old, truth-and-disguise.

my hands are sun hands.
hands know words that lips can only dream of.

A year later, and at least for now I have found that pair of hands, and everything that comes with them, and we're continuing to discover how our hands fit together. Holding each other's hands, we are learning to walk in one even stride.

I really need to say, too, that the people who have consistently followed my adventures, and encouraged me to write, reveal and divulge have been truly invaluable. I am a different person today, a freer, healthier person because I am telling my story. If you're not telling yours yet, start now.

Day of Silence

Today is the Day of Silence, a day when students don’t speak in order to address issues of harassment and bullying in schools. It is not neccessarily specific to the protection of LGBT students, except that of course LGBT and gender variant students tend to be the target of most of the harassment.

From NCTE:

At NCTE, we believe passionately in the rights of all children and young people to go to school and be free from bullying and harassment. Learning needs to take place in an environment where children are safe — physically as well as emotionally — and can express their identities as they grow and develop. Transgender children and teens deserve these rights as much as every other student in our schools.

This year’s Day of Silence is dedicated to Lawrence King.

More info at link in the sidebar, and see also: en|Gender

Finding H. F.

Sunday Single Girl's Guide will be back next week when I find the book - I just moved into my new apartment and Dana has been amazingly helpful. I really blessed to find someone who matches my intellect, appetite, and interests. It's that "we just fit" thing that Sinclair has talked about sometimes...

My dearest Jennie has prepared a review of Julia Watts' Finding H.F.. I am definitely going to try to obtain a copy as soon as I can, because it sounds awesome!

In Finding H.F. 16-year-old Heavenly Faith Simms copes with living in a small Kentucky town as closeted lesbian. After her mother abandoned her at birth, H.F. (as she is known by her peers) grows up with her well meaning but extremely religious grandmother. H.F. survives being tormented and ignored by her classmates through her friendship with Bo, her gay male friend. However, when H.F. discovers letters from her mother in her grandmother’s drawer she embarks on a secret cross country journey with Bo. On this trip, Bo and H.F. discover a world outside of their narrow minded community. They are welcomed to Atlanta by other gay teens and warmly accepted into a more inclusive church group. In Florida H.F. is disappointed by her mother’s cruel and selfish attitude, but she returns to Kentucky feeling confident in her identity, her friendships and a relationship with a female classmate.

Watts provides and accurate and entertaining view of gay teenage life in a conservative town. Her use of slang expressions and extensive dialogue adds a sense of realism to H.F.’s narration. Also Watt’s covers issues facing homosexual teens including isolation from family, loss of identity, and homophobia. Watt’s also covers the vicious and sometimes violent reactions treatment of gay teens in school.

As a person who was also raised by my grandmother I related deeply to H.F.’s need to seek out her birth mother. I was ultimately inspired by H.F.’s ability to define herself apart from her dysfunctional parent and find a way to be happy even under oppressive circumstances. Finding H.F. is an excellent choice for GLBTQ teens, as it offers a variety of options. For instance H.F. is extremely distrusting of religion until she finds an inclusive church service. However, other teens in the story are not able to reconcile their orientation with a religious affiliation. My only complaint is certain situations in the novel are coincidental to the point of absurdity. When H.F. and Bo arrive in Atlanta they immediately meet a wandering band of kind gay teenagers with rich older friends. Although this situation drives the plot forward it seems highly unlikely to occur.

Lesbian Blog of the Year - LAST DAY TO NOMINATE

It's the last day for TLL's Lesbian Blog of the Year award! Only the top five nominees get voted on, so go do it! There are plenty of worthy blogs up for the award, so go give someone, anyone, the recognition they deserve!

GO NOMINATE!

Even though I'm nominated, I'm voting for lesbiandad.net!

Vogue

By the way, for a fabulous overview of the "House Ball Scene" that appears regionally in the subculture of some queer peoples of color, please listen to the tenth episode of "Oh God, I'm Gay" - a podcast by Alicia Ross. She interviews trans-woman Angelika Torres, whose "house father" gave her her name.