Excuse Me Sir

I just found this great video on Youtube about butches that addresses some of the stereotypes. I really like it. What do you think?

Leadership, Obama Style...by Drew Westen

This article is long, but worth the read. My friend Scott posted it on his Facebook and I thought I'd throw it up here. Emory University Professor Drew Westen, a contributor at the Huffinton Post, makes some well-constructed, well-thought arguments about Obama's first year in office. Have a look. It's makes you think.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/drew-westen/leadership-obama-style-an_b_398813.html

Dipstick's Dipsomania

My GF subscribes to a "Word of the Day" feature on her Google homepage. She had to share today's word with me because it I seem to be struck with this condition lately:

Dipsomania: an insatiable periodic craving for alcohol
But I know I'm not the only one with cravings. I thought I'd make up a few words of my own:

Lipsomania: an insatiable periodic craving to go shopping

Tripsomania: an insatiable periodic craving to go on a a lesbian cruise

Slipsomania: an insatiable periodic craving to dress in lingerie

Ripsomania: an insatiable periodic craving to workout your abs

Hipsomania: an insatiable periodic craving to belly dance.

Happy Holidays Everyone from Lipstick & Dipstick

Merry Christmas from Lipstick & Dipstick

Merry Christmas from Us

My Mom sent this to me this morning. Her local paper asked for people to send in their favorite Christmas memories and she sent this in. It was published today in the Syracuse Post Standard. I wanted to share it with you, because I thought it was sweet. This is my oldest brother.

Whenever I look at this photo that my husband took 53 years ago, I can still hear our son Matt’s “oh, no!”

We are of Austrian and German tradition, which means you may bring the Christmas tree into the house before Christmas, but it waits until Santa comes to decorate it.
The photo shows Matt’s first look at the tree, all lit up and decorated. He ran out of the room, ran back, shouted “oh, no!” again and once more ran into the kitchen. The third time he did quiet down and let us show him what Santa brought him. His reaction made all those late hours fussing with lights and putting garages and trikes and wagons together well worth the lost sleep.
Betty K. Belge
Syracuse

Have a Courageous Conversation

This holiday season, the Courage Campaign is encouraging us to talk to our family, friends and neighbors about marriage equality. Sit com stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Eric McCormack made a few PSAs to help us get the conversation started. They're kind of hokey, but worth sharing.

She Bop

Attention all Portland lezzies: there is a new sex shop in town! SHE BOP.

Longtime friends Evy Cowan and Jeneen Doumitt opened the shop on the now-gentrified-uber-trendy Mississippi district. This women-owned sex toy boutique specializing in body safe products and will soon feature workshops and education resources, which women need. Lipstick & Dipstick love sex-positive people!

If you live in Portland or are just visiting, drop by:

SHE BOP
909 N. Beech St
Portland, OR 97227
503-473-8018

For shits and giggles, I've embedded Cyndi Lauper's "She Bop" video below. I love Cyndi!

Kate McKinnon in "Best Actress" Tomorrow Night

Hello New York!

Have you seen Kate McKinnon on the Big Gay Sketch Show? If not, you must have your gay head in the sand (that or you don't have cable).

Well, lucky New Yorkers, Kate is doing a one woman show tomorrow night called "Best Actress" at the Uptight Citizens Brigade Theater and it's sure to be fantabulous! I wish I didn't live 3000 miles away.

DETAILS
Wednesday December 23, 2009
9:30 pm
Uptight Citizens Brigade Theater
307 W. 26th Street
New York, NY 10001 (212) 366-9176
$5 (how can you beat that price?!)
Make a reservation

If you're in New York City, go support our friend Kate! It's sure to be one hellova show.



If you're not familiar with Kate, watch the video below from Season 1 of The Big Gay Sketch Show on Logo.

Christmas with the Obamas

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know that I volunteered for the Obama campaign and was very excited when he got elected. But since January, I've been pretty disappointed.


I know what you're thinking. Not enough healthcare reform. He could have ended the ban on gays in the military. He could have done a lot more for gay and lesbian immigration reform. Well, yes, I'm disappointed in all those things, but really, I just can't believe after the 10 hours of work I put into his campaign, that Barack and Michelle haven't invited me to the White House.

Somehow, when he held the reception for gay and lesbian activist leaders, my name wasn't on the invite list. Trust me, I thought of crashing the party long before the Salahi's ever did.

But finally, today, some redemption. No, not an invite, but at least a Holiday card. Signed by Barack and Michelle themselves. Personally, I don't like their choice of card. I would have picked a nice snow scene. But I feel special now, finally. I'll try not to pay too much attention to the fine print on the back that says, _{"Paid for by the Democratic National Committee. This communcation is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee."}

Correction

For some reason, I am usually drawn to the "corrections" that appear in my daily paper. Usually someone's name is spelled wrong, or someone was misidentified in a photo. Today's correction made me laugh, though. Here it is:

In a review of HBO's "Every...Day of My Life" in Monday's How We Live Section, the means of attack on Aaron Maldonado was misidentified. He was bludgeoned with a hammer and a pole ax.

Where Do Lesbians Find Undercover Lovers?

Dip and I are working on our next column for Curve Magazine and we need your help!

Please take chime in (poll on the left sidebar) about where lesbians most often cheat.

We want to know what you think!

Is it...

- At the Office?

- On the Road?

- On the Internet?

- At School?

- At the Bar?

- In the World of Past Lovers?

Results will be published in Curve this spring...

Coyote Escapes Death

This is such a crazy story and if there weren't photos to prove it, I'd think it was a fish story. Here is the story (not in my words):

Meet the wiliest of all coyotes: Hit by a car at 75mph, embedded in the fender, rode for 600 miles - and SURVIVED!

When a brother and sister struck a coyote at 75mph they assumed they had killed the animal and drove on. They didn't realize this was the toughest creature ever to survive a hit-and-run. Eight hours, two fuel stops, and 600 miles later they found the wild animal embedded in their front fender - and very much alive.

Daniel and Tevyn East were driving at night along Interstate 80 near the Nevada-Utah border when they noticed a pack of coyotes near the roadside on October 12. When one of the animals ran in front of the car, the impact sounded fatal so the siblings thought there no point in stopping.

'Right off the bat, we knew it was bad,' Daniel explained. 'We thought the story was over.' After the incident around 1am, they continued their 600 mile drive to North San Juan - even stopping for fuel at least twice. But it was only when they finally reached their destination at 9am did they take time to examine what damage they may have sustained.

At first it looked as though it was going to be quite gruesome. '[Daniel] saw fur and the body inside the grill,' Tevyn East said. 'I was trying to keep some distance. Our assumption was it was part of the coyote - it didn't register it was the whole animal.' Daniel East got a broom to try and pry the remains out of the bumper and got the shock of his life. 'It flinched,' Tevyn East said. 'It was a huge surprise - he got a little freaked out.'

UPDATE: I don't know any updates of the survivor, but I trust he was just fine.

Stocking Stuffer Alert :: How to Sew a Button

Are you girls starting to scramble around looking for gifts? Making lists and checking them twice? Can't find anything for Aunt Alice, your cousin who just graduated from college or your best friend from work? I've got a great idea for you: Erin Bried's book How to Sew a Button comes out this week and it's a must have! On December 15th, people will be lining up all over America to pick up a hot copy. Get yours pre-ordered today or head out later this week to your local bookstore to score a copy.

To read more about the book, click here.

Also, check out all the great "How To" videos she has online on her channel "Nifty Button." Today, she'll teach you how to make a Manhattan! Cheers~

Another one of my favorite's is (of course): How to Wear Red Lipstick

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Is all of North America in a deep freeze right now or what?

It's colder than a witch's tit up here in Vancouver, BC and I hear it's equally as chilly down in Portland, where the Dipster is. The news is also littered with stories of woe about the deep freeze that's happend across America.

Nothing, however, compares the cold that is found "whistling" at the top of Whistler Mountain. (Side note: Whistler is named after the hoary marmot, which whistles.)

I braved the slopes on Sunday with two good friends, Jill and Jess, and we had to stop after two runs to thaw in the powder house.

On the mountain, there were ominous signs warning of cold effects and frost bite (that can happen when you simply take your glove off to check your blackberry on the ski lift). I had every inch of skin covered and a subzero ski jacket and ski pants (that's me in the red coat), but it wasn't enough. Next time, instead of being a shredder, I may just hang at the cabin with Patty (the smart one), who stayed behind with Jill + Jess' adorable baby girl, Harper.


Stay warm~

Lip

Hanging Out with Butches

Even though I am clearly butch-identified and even write from the butch perspective for a living, I'm sad to admit that I don't have a lot of butch friends in my day-to-day life. Most of my butch gals live elsewhere. Sure, we text each other when the Stanford women play basketball and meet up in SF every year for the dyke march, but really, it's not enough.

So I was super excited when my old pal Evan decided to start the "Butch Crew" after attending the Butch Voices conference in Oakland this summer. The Butch Crew is a monthly meeting of butches to talk about gender and identity and situations butches encounter, like bathroom problems or dating other butches. And it's awesome!

I missed the first meeting because I was on some lesbian cruise, but was able to meet up with the gals this past weekend. And I'm looking forward to many more gatherings. If you're in Portland and are a female-identified butch, please join us:

Sunday, January 10

Butch Crew PDX Meet up

Time:3:00PM Sunday, January 10th

Location:Flying Cat Coffee Co., 3041 SE Division St. Portland.

That's What She Said

Lipstick & I saw some amazing talent on the Sweet Cruise. One of my favorites That's What She Said. That’s What She Said is a mad musical bouquet of imaginative, comic songs about lesbians. My favorite, was the U-Haul Song.

Their show is a benefit for Jeff Bader who needs help to finance in-home care as he lives with ALS.

Saturday, December 12, 2009
Time:	8:00pm - 11:00pm
Location:	Q Center
Street:	4115 N mississippi Ave

Whistler Wishes for Meredith

Greetings from sunny Whistler! Dip's right. I had intended to write about Meredith Baxter to give her a holler and a "woot woo!" for coming out before I left town, but ran out of time.

By now, it's quite old news, but it was funny how we learned Meredith was on the boat. We were sitting at the pool when I first heard rumblings about her. Laying on my back reading a novel, I heard a dyke a few chairs down say "MB alert" to her friends. In gay unison, they all sat up, pulled down their sunglasses and looked in one direction. Curious, I, too, followed their gaze, assuming that they were alerting about some ex-girlfriend who'd been stalking one of them or about a hot woman they'd all had their eye on and intended to encircle on the dance floor that night. Nothing stood out, so I pried: "What does MB alert mean?"

"Meredith Baxter is coming our way."

"Who?" I asked, looking toward the woman. Super surprised, I saw the mom from Family Ties headed in our direction. (Of course, I thought she was still Meredith Baxter Birney.)

"Huh," I said to my girlfriend, "I didn't know Alex Keaton's mom was a lesbian."

And then the firestorm of media attention after we got home and her big proclamation on the Today Show, which was extremely brave. It's hard enough to come out on your living room couch, let alone on national morning TV.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Curve Magazine's Heather Robinson did a great job covering the story, so if you want to read more, check it out online. Congrats Meredith!

All that Hollywood stuff aside, we're here in Whistler celebrating my birthday this weekend. We've been having such a nice time and it's simply amazing how "Olympic-ized" Whistler (and Vancouver for that matter) are becoming. To illustrate my point, I've included the photo below of Patty and I having a sample of the "Triple Lutz," a martini shooter saluting the famous figure skating jump yesterday at the Mallard Lounge (our favorite place to warm the tootsies apres ski and start an evening off right). Thanks to bartender Lisa Marie!

The Fairmont Chateau Whistler has a whole list of special drinks for Olympic enthusiasts and athletes, who dare throw a few back while in Canada for the 2010 Winter Olympics (which is February12-28, 2010).

Alcohol aside, so many other things are changing around here. The roads are wider, the traffic patterns have changed, some of the golf links are being turned into parking lots, huge nordic centers and bobsled tracks have been erected, buildings are popping up, new restaurants are putting up signs, and parking lots are filling with trailers for temporary housing. It will be pretty amazing to be up here for the Olympics, but I think we will all be happy when the torch is passed to the next city.

I'll try and take some more shots this weekend of things in Whistler Village that drive home my point.

Go Portia

The big news this week is that Meredith Baxter came out, after being on the Sweet Cruise that Lipstick & I were both on. Lipstick saw Meredith a couple of times on the ship and promised to write about it, but I know she's a little busy this week.

While we wait for that report, our friend Portia was on The View this morning talking about her relationship with Ellen and why the word marriage is so important. She really impressed me with how clearly she made her point. Go Portia!

Go SU!

Gotta love my alma mater. This is from the student paper, that I used to write for "The Daily Orange."

Michelle Deferio arrived on Waverly Avenue outside of Newhouse I around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday wearing a long corduroy skirt and holding a sign that read, "Homosexuality is a sin, Christ can set you free."

In response, Chris Pesto, a junior acting major who is gay, made a sign that read "Corduroy skirts are a sin, homosexuals can help you," and stood next to Deferio in protest.

The article then describes how a student protest spontaneously broke out.

Makes me miss home...

Pink Glove Dance

A friend sent me this video. It was made in Portland and word is that once one million people view it, the glove company will make a donation to the hospital's cancer center.

So many people I know are affected by breast cancer. This made me think of my friend Kristy, who I lost to the disease six years ago. She would have loved it. I'm sure she's dancing along somewhere.

Resurrection!

We're alive! Sorry for the black outs during the last couple weeks. Dip and I were on the boat (with very limited internet access) and then needed to take care of ourselves and play catch up.

What an adventure the Sweet Cruise was! A warm THANK YOU to Shannon Wentworth, Jen Rainin, Daddy (aka Frances Stevens), and Sara Jane for inviting Dipstick and I to come along, as well as all the "Sweeties" on board who made our cruise a success. Congrats to you! Here's to many more Sweet adventures. Also, a shout out to all those we met on the high seas! Thanks for coming to our events and coming up to say hello!

If you missed the cruise, you can sign up for other upcoming trips they've got in the works: Sweet's Kenyan Safari (February 7-16, 2010). Don't want to travel so far? How about joining Sweet on their Salmon River Rafting this summer (August 16-21, 2010)?

RE: recap of the cruise, I'm not sure where to start, so instead of explaining, I'll let the photos do the talking.

Enjoy...

Sweeeet!

Lipstick and I both had an amazing time on the Sweet Cruise. We survived the hurricane, but both of us came down with the flu or a cold, so we don't have the energy to write much yet. But here is a little video about the volunteer part of the cruise, which we participated in. It was awesome!

More to come about our adventure later...

Curve Magazine - November Column

Best Lesbian Jokes

While Dip and I are on the Sweet Cruise, I thought I'd drop this list of the best lesbians jokes of all time to keep you amused. Some of them I'd never heard and are pretty damn funny. Enjoy! We'll do our best to blog a time or two while on the boat.

1. What do you call a pantry full of lesbians?

A: A licker cabinet.

2. What do you call an Eskimo lesbian?

A: A Klondyke.

3. What do you call 100 lesbians with guns?

A: Militia Etheridge.

4. Why can't lesbians diet and wear make-up at the same time?

A: Because they can't eat Jenny Craig with Mary Kay on their face.

5. What do you call two lesbians in a canoe?

A: Fur Traders

6. What is a lesbian dinosaur called?

A: Lickalotapuss

7. What do you call a lesbian with long fingers?

A: Well Hung

8. Did you hear that Ellen DeGeneres drowned?

A: She was found face down in Ricki Lake

9. How can you tell a tough lesbian bar?

A: Even the pool table doesn't have balls

10. What do you call lesbian twins?

A: Lick-a-likes

11. What's the definition of confusion?

A: Twenty blind lesbians in a fish market

12. What's the difference between a Ritz cracker and a lesbian?

A: One's a snack cracker, the other's a crack snacker

13. What do you have when you've got 50 lesbians and 50 Government workers?

A: 100 people that don't do dick

Oh Ida!

We're in New Orleans, getting ready to set sail on Sweet's Inaugural cruise and who has decided to poke her head in our business? Hurricane Ida! Right now, she's probably reeking havoc on Roatan, Honduras--the fourth port stop in our Caribbean cruise.

I was just watching the Weather Network and they said Ida could strengthen and her projected path was right up our alley. The weather peeps also mentioned that Carnival Cruise line just rerouted one of their ships to avoid her. Haven't heard anything from Sweet yet, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Ida will just mind her own business.

Wish us luck if we have to sail through the eye of the storm! If so, in the pictures, I'll be the one with the barf bag in my hand and the glazed over look in my eyes, thumbing my way in my Dramamine stupor.

I joke, of course. I think things will be just fine, as we all have a collective good karma which will see us through.

Keep your eye on her! And I'll see you on the other side!

Lip

How to Sew a Button by Erin Bried

Girls, you've got to pick up Erin Bried's new book "How to Sew a Button" out next month from Random House!

It makes for an AMAZING stocking stuffer!

About the author: Erin Bried is not only a fellow queer sister, but is also a senior staff writer at Self Magazine, where she's penned nearly 200 stories, including 60 cover stories. Part of her job (poor Erin) is interviewing and profiling celebrities such as Angelina Jolie, Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Aniston and Sheryl Crow.

Pre-order it today!

As an offshoot of the forthcoming book, Erin is also doing an online series or "How To's" called Nifty Button. I embedded one--in honor of Thanksgiving--below:




More about the Book:

“Waste not, want not” with this guide to saving money, taking heart, and enjoying the simple pleasures of life.

Nowadays, many of us “outsource” basic tasks. Food is instant, ready-made, and processed with unhealthy additives. Dry cleaners press shirts, delivery guys bring pizza, gardeners tend flowers, and, yes, tailors sew on those pesky buttons. But life can be much simpler, sweeter, and richer–and a lot more fun, too! As your grandmother might say, now is not the time to be careless with your money, and it actually pays to learn how to do things yourself!

Practical and empowering, How to Sew a Button collects the treasured wisdom of nanas, bubbies, and grandmas from all across the country–as well as modern-day experts–and shares more than one hundred step-by-step essential tips for cooking, cleaning, gardening, and entertaining, including how to

• polish your image by shining your own shoes
• grow your own vegetables (and stash your bounty for the winter)
• sweeten your day by making your own jam
• use baking soda and vinegar to clean your house without toxic chemicals
• feel beautiful by perfecting your posture
• roll your own piecrust and find a slice of heaven
• fold a fitted sheet to crisp perfection
• waltz without stepping on any toes

Complete with helpful illustrations and brimming with nostalgic charm, How to Sew a Button provides calm and comfort in uncertain times. By doing things yourself, with care and attention, you and your loved ones will feel the pleasing rewards of a job well done.

Ashleigh Flynn Shows Cancelled!

Hey everyone

Sadly, Ashleigh has had to cancel her shows this week. Her blanket email said:

Very sorry to any who planned to come out to our shows!

Flynn got in a bike wreck and has a separated shoulder....cant play the guitar for awhile which has her singing only the blues, and acapella at that...

Hurry and get better Ashleigh!!!!!!

The Best Halloween Costume 2009

So, I've decided to give the award this year to a group of people my parents spotted in Whitefish, Montana (which, oddly enough has been voted on of the best places to go for Halloween). On main street, they have several big bars that hold huge costume contests that bring people from all over the country.

The winner this year at the Bulldog was irresistibly and grossly original.

They were [wait for it]........

A PILE OF SHIT.

From left to right:

Bullshit

Shit Hits the Fan

Hot Shit

Holy Shit

"Peace" of Shit

*Thanks, Mom, for the photo. You see where Lipstick gets her sick sense of humor.

Ashleigh Flynn Concerts in San Francisco, Ashland and Eugene this Week!

Ashleigh Flynn will be in Eugene, San Francisco and Ashland this week, touring with our favorite bears: Sneakin' Out. If you're in any of these places this week, clear your schedule and go check them out! They're sure to put on a great show!

DETAILS
Nov 4th - Sam Bonds Garage - Eugene OR
Nov 5th -Hotel Utah for Heather Combs Songwriter Night - San Francisco
Nov 6th - Dolores Park Cafe - San Francisco
Nov 7th - The Tease Restaurant and Bar - Ashland OR

Ashleigh just finished a sweet little tour with the Wood Brothers (who we saw and were also great) and is hittin' the road again.

TO read a review from the Vancouver Woods Brothers show, go here:
http://www.discovervancouver.com/music/wood-brothers


TO see pics from the Vancouver Woods Brothers show, go here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/telemov/sets/72157622664248568/

* Photo credit: Telemov Photovideo (Flickr)

Amazing Video: Elephant Birth

This is such an awesome video, taken at the Elephant Safari Park + Lodge in Bali, of a female elephant giving birth to a baby. The footage is pretty graphic, so head's up. If you're like me, however, and are constantly sucked into Animal Planet and National Geographic, you'll love this video:

Happy Halloween!

We homos love Halloween--especially the queens. Give us a reason to celebrate and decorate our bars to the hilt and we're there.

Dipstick and I are sending our best to you this Halloween. If you dress up this weekend, send us a photo of you and we'll post them here! ask@lipstickdipstick.com

PS: Don't try and emulate the one my Nana sent me below (this isn't her by the way--she just has a great sense of humor) or do!

A Walk Down Halloween Memory Lane...

Lipstick LOVES Halloween. Down in the garage, there are two huge boxes of costumes I've collected through the years. Also, as a former sorority girl, I seemed to have doubled my collection during my college years. Greeks are always finding a reason to dress up (and drink).

Here are some old photos of Lipstick through her formative years on Halloween.

Really Mom and Dad, you had no idea I was gay--even when I dressed up like a punker dyke and entered that contest?

Oh yeah, and as a football player? What straight girl dresses up as a quarterback?

In these photos, are some my oldest friends. If you look carefully, you might be able to pair them with their mug shot from the trouble we got into last summer.

Believe it or not, the sweet little witchy costumed girl sitting next to "Chief Lipstick" in preschool is actually "Tatum" in the mugshot. We're not sure how she got from sweet little preschooler to rocking rambler.

Ashleigh Flynn in Vancouver

After we heard Sarah Waters speak, Patty and I headed out on the town to hear our friend Ashleigh Flynn perform at The Media Club. She opened for the Wood Brothers, who were also really great. Think Jackson Brown meets Neil Young with a double base.

It was fun to see Ashleigh in our hood and we had way too much fun. I *was* able to video at the Media Room, so I thought you'd all enjoy her song "American Dream," which is the title of her latest CD. If you don't have it, go get her music! She's awesome!

* I didn't have Flynn in a fierce neck hold here--she could breathe, I promise--but a loving hug.

Sweeeeeet!

There isn't much time, but rest assured, there still *is* time to plan on joining Lipstick & Dipstick on the high seas! Check out Sweet's website for more information!

I'm counting the hours, the minutes, the seconds until I've got my flipflops back on, my girl by my side in her bikini and the sun against my face. (It's currently 36 degrees outside my window!)

Come along!!!!!

www.discoversweet.com

Lipstick & Dipstick :: Sweet Ad
by LipstickDipstickShow

Sarah Waters

The Vancouver International Writer's & Readers Festival was in town last week and I was lucky enough to get to sit in on a conversation with Sarah Waters. If you don't know Sarah Waters by name, you've surely seen or heard of her lezzie novels--Tipping the Velvet (her debut) and Fingersmith--which were beautifully adapted to the screen by the BBC.

The British period fiction master was in town for the festival and she spoke to Bill Richardson in front of a crowd of about 300, most of whom like tipping the velvet themselves. The event was called "Still Waters," but, Waters joked to the crowd, has been to many of these and they've always got creative titles: Troubled Waters, Steamy Water, Muddy Waters.

After Waters was done talking about her new novel, The Little Stranger--a story full of ghosts, gothic horror, poltergeists, female hysteria--they opened it up to the crowd. I stood and asked Waters a question about something I'm personally struggling with as a writer. I'm beginning my second novel (more on my first novel soon), so I asked her: How do you decide on POV (point of view)?

It was an amazing answer which pretty much boiled down to: it's an organic process and you must follow your intuition. Waters said she just begins a story and it becomes obvious to her who needs to be telling it.

There was no videoing allowed so I was only able to capture still shots. I did find a video online of an interview she did at the Brighton Festival below. She was a great inspiration and very gracious and sweet. Go buy her books! Support our fellow sisters!

Photoshoot for Curve

I was in Portland last week and we did a photoshoot for Curve. It's always so great to see our photographer, Maggie Parker, who has been with us from the beginning.

I snapped this photo (I have an amazing disjointed, telescopic arm) before we dispersed. I think Mags captured some great shots for Curve. You'll have to wait until the spring to see the photos (as they're slated for March and April): Dipstick & I with wedding rings and us offering up "The Lesbian Handbook."

In case you never saw our expose on the great photography that plays off our words in Curve, be sure to check it out below in the webisode "Butch Femme Lens."

Dipstick Setting Sail

You might not be hearing from me for a while. That's because I'm about to get on a ship with 1,200 other lesbians and sail into the warm Caribbean. With sunny skies, warm beaches and tan lesbians, I don't think I'm going to want to log onto my computer.

This is my first Cruise ever and my first trip with Olivia, the lesbian vacation company that has been bringing women together for 20 years. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and blog about the trip when I get home.

Happy sailing!

Great Live Music This Weekend in Portland, Seattle + Vancouver, BC

It's a great weekend for music in Cascadia! First, you Seattle-ites will enjoy this little treat: Christine Havrilla is back! She will be performing on Friday night in Seattle at the Sunset Tavern with Camille Bloom.

Saturday night, she and Bloom zip down to Portland for a gig at the Alberta Street Pub. Here are the details:

Fri 10/23 7:00 pm
Sunset Tavern
5433 Ballard Ave NW
Seattle, WA

206.784.4880

Tune in online at http://www.synclive.com/

Sat 10/24 7:00 pm
Alberta Street Public House

1036 NE Alberta St. Portland, OR
503.284.7665

Next, for you Canadians: Ashleigh Flynn will be opening for the Wood Brothers in Vancouver on Saturday!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Media Club

695 Cambie St

Vancouver, BC

(604) 608-2871

COME OUT AND SUPPORT THESE FANTASTIC CHICKS WITH PICKS!

Fight Inequality in Maine, Washington and Michigan

It's an off year election this year, but that doesn't mean there aren't some really important issues that will be decided this November.

In Maine, the state legislature passed a gay marriage bill and the governor signed it in May. Gay couples should be lining up at the altar right now, instead they're fight a "Prop 8" style battle because the antis gathered enough signatures to put gay marriage up for a popular vote in Maine. The battle is REALLY close. Last I check 48% for, 48% against. It is so important that we win this battle. We must show the anti-gay haters that they can't bully us at the ballot box every time our legislatures pass a law in our favor. There's many ways you can get involved from donating money to volunteering your time. The National Center for Lesbian Rights has all the details you need to get involved.

Even more scary than Maine, is the battle going on in Washington State. Washington passed a comprehensive domestic partnership bill that grants gay and lesbian couples many of the same rights as married straight people. Those bastards on the other side SAID they didn't care if we had rights, just so long as we didn't call it marriage. We knew they were lying and it's evident in their mean-spirited attempt to take domestic partnerships away from not only gay and lesbian couples, but for people over 62 years old who need the protections as well. Find out how to help out in Washington.

Kalmazoo, Michigan recently passed an anti-discrimination law, preventing gay people from getting fired from their jobs and denied housing on account of their sexual orientation. Bigots are trying to repeal that law as well through the ballot box. You can help out in Michigan too.

Won't you consider making a donation to one (or all) of these campaigns. I did!

8

Check it out, a new documentary coming soon.

http://www.mormonproposition.com/

That's Gay :: No Homo

Have ya'll heard about the new pop culture phrase "no homo." Like me, have you been confused by it?

Thanks to Bryan Safi and his show "That's Gay," a weekly television show infoMania that explores gay issues/stereotypes portrayed by the "clueless media," there is no more confusion.

He's a funny guy and his show is great. No homo. Errr wait, yes homo. No hetero.

Win a Sweet Cruise

I've never been on a cruise in my life and in the next few weeks I'm going to be on two lesbian cruises. How did my life get to be so cool!?

On October 25th, you can join me and Curve Executive Editor Diane Anderson-Minshall on Olivia's Halloween Cruise to the Caribbean. I'm excited about the stops in Key West, Guatemala and Cozumel, but mostly can't wait to meet Leisha Hailey on board.

Plus, Diane and I will be hosting a sexy Curve party with interactive games and prizes. Ahh, I can't wait to feel the ocean breezes on my face, dip my toes in the warm sea and explore places I never thought I'd see.

Then, just a few weeks later, Lipstick and I will then be setting said with Sweet, on their inaugural Caribbean cruise November 7-15th.

If you want to join us, but haven't got the cash, be sure to check out the contest running over at SheWired. Enter by October 25th to win a trip on the Sweet Cruise.