SF Pride Day 2 + 3

Wow! Dip and I had the greatest time this weekend, playing and working here in San Francisco. After a relatively mellow Saturday at the CURVE booth and then kicking it at Dolores Park with 50,000 other dykes (see photo of Dip and I, and the one of our Daddy, CURVE publisher Frances Stevens--you can click on image to enlarge), Dip and I got to bed relatively early to rest of our big day emceeing the main stage at the SF Pride Festival.

The day at the main stage was packed with excitement, not the least of which was meeting Margaret Cho, Peter Paige, Gus Van Sant and Leslie Jordan from Will and Grace. The emcee gig went off without a hitch, despite the fact that Cyndi Lauper was a no show (I thought we'd get hot dogs and warm beer thrown at us) and Charo bailed at the last minute, too. No cuchi cuchi for us.

Enjoy the photos and videos!

You can click on the images to make them bigger.

We had a blast.

SF Pride Day 1

Greetings from smoky San Francisco! What a great first day we had in the city by the bay.

Fortunately, the fires have subsided here in the Bay Area, but that doesn't mean there wasn't smoke coming from the myriad lezzie parties that went down last night. We started the night at CURVE's Welcome Reception at the Hotel Kabuki. I'm not sure about the story behind this chicken feather coat Dipstick is wearing below, but I'm sure glad I got this picture of her showing it off.

After dinner and drinks, we headed to Lollipop, an all-girls party right on the water outside the Mission. At this party, in the "cage", we met and chatted with the L Word's Rose Rollins, who is a giant fan of CURVE's. She was super sweet--even though she was being mobbed (seriously) by lezbots with their cell cams and digital cams. Her boyfriend was sweet, too, although I didn't catch his name. He snapped this pic of us. He and Rose had just done a tequila shooter minutes before this shot. On our way out, in typical pride drama fashion, a fist fight broke out in line between two dykes. If I hadn't had one foot in the cab, I would've gone over with my bullwhip and given those lame labias a piece of Lipstick's mind.

We ended the night with three straight guys (I know, kinda weird), who we met in our hotel elevator. On the sidewalk, Pattycake and I ended up having a really interesting conversation (once we convinced him we really were rug munchers) with him about how he and his lezzie sister aren't close and how he can mend their relationship. And just when I thought I could put my lipstick and bullwhip away... He was a really nice guy and I hope he really does reach out to his sister to let her know how much he cares and how who she is is okay.

Come see us at the CURVE booth today at the Pride festival. We'll be there from 1-4pm.

Join Us Tomorrow Night in San Francisco!

Ladies and homos: Dipstick and I will be hosting a "Welcome to SF Pride" reception tomorrow night at the Hotel Kabuki with CURVE. There is no cover charge and it will be low key with cocktails, good music and lots o' lesbians.

Come play!

Hotel Kabuki
1625 Post Street
San Francisco, CA
7pm - 9pm

Reason #188 Why I Love Portland :: Car Free Roads

What would happen if you closed six miles of road to all cars and motor vehicles for a half a day? You'd get out, meet your neighbors, get some exercise and have a whole lot of fun. That's exactly what happened in my neighborhood on Sunday. 

Thousands of people from all over the city came to take part in Sunday Parkways. It's modeled after Bogota, Columbia, where they close 70 miles of streets EVERY Sunday. How fun does this look? 

We only had one day, and people took advantage of it. The roads were packed for hours with thousands of bikers, walker, joggers, skate boarders and roller-bladers. People sat out on their porches and watched us stream by. Some offered cool drinks. Others held garage sales. 

And the parks along the path were mini-parties in themselves. Reggae bands, juggling lessons, hula-hoop stations and an all-girl mini-bike dance team. 

It was so fun. So Portland. Wouldn't it be cool if every city did this? Wouldn't it be cool we did it every Sunday? Portland rocks. You can move here, but leave your car at home. 

San Fran Pride Here We Come!

Happy Pride Season!

Dipstick and I are so excited! We've been asked to emcee the main stage for San Francisco Pride on Sunday. This means we not only get to be Lipstick & Dipstick in front of tens of thousands of people (maybe hundreds of thousands), but we get to introduce a stellar line up of people. First, HELLO Cyndi Lauper. And Margaret Cho will come out with the grand marshals and make everyone piddle. (I just peed a little
thinking about it.) Charo--the woman who is famous for her cuchi cuchi and fabously flamboyant ways--will entertain you before we get to celebrate Pride with Gavin Newsom, the mayor of San Francisco who is oh-so-dreamy Gavin Newsom and others.

The pic below was take from our from last year when we met him. See blog.

If you've got next weekend free and you live in the Bay Area, get your ass down to the city for Pride. Details are below. If you don't live in the area and have frequent flyer miles or have a few hundred dollars to burn, book a flight and get your ass on a flight!

Here is a run down of where we'll be this weekend:

Friday, June 27th
7pm-9pm
Welcome Party at Hotel Kabuki (CURVE's host hotel for SF Pride 08)

Saturday, June 28th
1pm-4pm
CURVE Booth
Signing books and greeting readers

Sunday, June 29th
12pm-2pm
Main Stage Emceeing
Performers include: Cyndi Lauper, Margaret Cho + Gavin Newsom

2:30pm-4pm
CURVE Booth
Signing books and greeting readers

Please come by the CURVE booth and say hello to us!


* photo of Margaret Cho courtesy of margaretcho.com
* photo of Cyndi Lauper courtesty of Pride

Portland Gay Pride 2008

It was so strange to be at Pride this year without Lipstick and no Curve booth. For reasons beyond our control, Curve was not able to have a booth this year at Portland Pride. That left me with an open agenda for the weekend.

I started Saturday off meeting up with my friend Dionne at the Black Pride barbeque. A low-key family-friendly event at my favorite bar Crush. It was probably one of the friendliest events I’ve been to in a while. Saw our big fan Elita and then hug out a bit with Amanda, host of Amanda’s Jams on KBOO and her long-distance girlfriend. I met Shelley, an acupuncturist from Lake Oswego and Red, who Floyd mistook for a guy and tried to pick up. She gets it all the time, she says. No doubt, I can see both the boys and girls finding her attractive. Alissa cooked up some veggie dogs I just couldn’t stay away from and the bartenders at Crush made some tasty mojitos. We were having so much fun, we never made it to the Dyke March.


But we did head over to the Out Like That party at the Jupiter Hotel, which was a crazy scene! Check out the girl dressed in nothing more than black and white paint. Maggie couldn’t take her eyes off her. I was in the back hawking Curve magazines, but I did get out for a dance or two with my girl Alice. Dawn was trolling for women. I didn’t see her leave, so maybe she got lucky. Dionne and Tracy eventually made their way over from Black Pride and the party immediately livened up. As I headed home to around 12:30am, the girls were still lined around the block waiting to get in.

Sunday I woke up bright and gay (I stopped drinking after two mojitos--Dionne take note) and rode down to the Pride Parade with my camera on my back. I saw many friends and even ran into a bunch of the gay children I helped raise, one who told me he’d been waiting for years to tell me that I probably saved his life. And all these years I wished I could have done more for him. You just never know the impact you’re having on someone’s life.

The parade was a blast. For photos go here. It was a perfect Portland day. The sun always comes out for Pride. I meandered the waterfront, shopping for sun glasses and running into friends. How did we ever find each other in the days before text messaging?

Here I impress the girlies with my strength by ringing the bell. (Actually, I think the girls were more turned on, as was I, by the hot roller derby player who rang just before me. Yow!) And I ran into one of my favorite gay boys and writers, Marc Acito. Check out his cool blog.


All in all, 2008 was a fantastic pride. Hopefully Curve will be back with a booth next year. As good a time as I had, I did miss saying hello to all the friendly visitors who come by the booth each year.

Soaking up the Sun with Lipstick & Dipstick

Are you headed on vacation this summer? If so, be sure to pick up Lipstick & Dipstick's Essential Guide to Lesbian Relationships before you head to the airport just like reader Heather Knight did. She sent us this great pic of her reading our book in the Bahamas.

It's a great way to out yourself to other lezbots on vacation and pick up chicks on the beach. Give it a try and send us your picks.

Pride Recap Part I

What a crazy week! Dipstick will be posting about the Pride festivities from the weekend and I'll touch on the great events we had early in the Pride hullabaloo.

Broadway Books Reading
A big thank you to all those dedicated dykes (and two dudes!) who came to hear Dipstick and I read at lesbian-owned Broadway Books. Sally was kind enough to ask us to come read and we're so glad we decided to wrap it up in rainbow colors for the week of Pride. For all you Portland, Oregonians, if you've never been to the adorable Broadway Books, be sure to check it out next time you're in Northeast Portland.

QLiterati!
This was the first installment of the new monthly queer reading held every second Wednesday at Portland's Q Center. There was a great turnout that inspired some wonderful readings. After Diane Anderson-Minshall welcomed the crowd, it was kicked off with Sossity Chiricuzio, who read some of her dirty poetry. She is the host of Dirty Queer, a monthly x-rated open mic, where people cum out and read all sorts of sexy, slutty things. Other readers included Jason, who read a short piece combining his two great loves: culinary arts and men. Heather Knight read a surprisingly provocative piece about--of all things to turn you on--Powell's Book Store! It was called Ode to Powell's Books. Marc Acito (photo) and his humorous and colorful writing/performing took the mic next and delivered a wildly entertaining reading from his new book: Attack of the Theater People. Jacob Anderson Minshall also read from contribution to Men Speak Out. Dipstick and I closed the show with a reading from our book and everyone enjoyed Diane's homemade (kinda) cookies when they asked a question during the Q & A.

The most exciting piece of info of the night was the announcement from Kendall, the center's Executive Director, about a $200,000 grant donated to the center that day. The catch, however, is that the center has to match the donation (in fundraising) in order to get it. So, if you feel inspired to give this summer (they have three months to raise the funds), consider this worthy cause!

My Favorite Time of Year :: Gay Pride

How can you not love a day when people dress like this and strut right down Main Street? It's Pride Weekend in Portland and finally the sun has come out. This is the first year Lipstick and I won't be at the Curve booth and I feel a little lost. Especially since there are so many events to choose from this year! I'm not sure where to go.

I know I'll be watching the parade on Sunday and I know I'll be Out Like That after the Dyke March. Other than that, I just don't know where I'll be. But one thing is for sure, I'll have my Pride On!  Make sure you check out at least one of these great events:

Saturday June 14th (4:00pm)
My friend Dionne invited me to check out the Black Pride Block Party and BBQ with her. 
Portland Black Pride is closing down the streets in front of Crush bar (Crush. 1421 SE Morrison) to throw the biggest block party of the year and it's open to everyone. Come on down for the DJ's performers, BBQ and beer Garden and break-dance performances and 
musical performance by Brooklyn's KIN4life. At 10:00pm the party moves
into crush for more DJ's and dancing!

Dyke March (7:00 PM)
After hanging at Black Pride for a while, we'll head downtown for DykeMarch 2008. Step off  is at North Park Blocks (NW 9th and Davis) around 7pm. Gather at 6pm with loud signs and
louder voices!
The Dyke March is open to all women, biological or otherwise - no sign-up or registration required. Just come out with your banners, signs, noisemakers, and beautiful dyke selves, and join in the march. Allies are encouraged to support the Dyke March from the sidelines.

TransMarch 2008 (7:00pm)
The SECOND annual Portland Trans March will kick off from the NW park
blocks (9th and Davis) at 7PM on Saturday, June 14th. The Trans March
will happen at the same time and in the same place as the annual
Portland Dyke March, however, these are two separate marches, creating
solidarity and community between the groups.

Out Like That (7pm-2AM)
After marching our little feet off, we'll head over for some great Mexican Food and margaritas at Out Like That at the Jupiter Hotel. Vicci Martinez, an incredible singer-song writer who has opened for Annie Lennox and Sting will perform. And our favorite, sweet, yet hot the Rose City Sirens Burlesque Troupe will perform. The party is sponsored by Tribe, Dingos, Olivia.com and Curve magazine, so you know it's going to be great! Plus, if you've never been to the Jupiter Hotel, that in itself is something to see. 

Sunday June 15th (11am)
The main event!  Portland's Pride Parade. With over a hundred different diverse groups marching, this parade is guaranteed to be a blast! The Parade will take place on Sunday June 15th On the North Park Blocks. The Parade steps off at 11:00am.

Our Portland Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, Queer Parade is your
opportunity to march down the streets of downtown Portland showing your pride! With a crowd of over 50,000, Portland Pride is Oregon's
third largest parade. We will march through the streets of Portland
Sunday morning and end up at Waterfront Park for a big celebration! I will be watching somewhere near Pioneer Square. 

Really, Really Free Market

The weather has been so cold and crappy this Spring, it’s hard sometimes to remember all the good things about Portland. But as I was walking my dog in the park, I saw a poster advertising a “Really, Really Free Market.” Come check it out, the sign invited.

“Why not?” I thought. “I’ve got this bag of clothes I’ve been meaning to bring to the Goodwill anyway.” I wasn’t sure what to expect as I made my way to the park. A bunch of twenty-somethings with dyed black hair and Salvation Army clothes milled around eating from a pile of over-ripe produce, stale bagels and expired hummus. I dumped my clothes on the heap and took a look around.

It was kind of like a big community garage sale with “free” signs on everything. As a matter of fact, it was obvious that some things were leftovers from someone’s garage sale because there were still price stickers on the items. Someone was offering FREE HAIRCUTS. I contemplated for a moment, until I saw she was cutting with what looked like blunt-nosed child scissors and there was not disinfecting solution in sight.

People offered free bike repair, free face paintings, a free tarot card readings. A sloppy girl with dirty hair had a sign around her neck offering free hugs. I didn’t take her up on it. My favorite was the woman her brought her pet rabbit and offered “Free Bunny Kisses.”

As I left the park, with a few stuffed animals I intended to give to my dog to destroy, I was reminded of the bumper sticker I’ve seen around town. “Keep Portland Weird.” I don’t think we need to worry about that too much.

Q Literati Tonight!

Portland Peeps---come out to the first installment of Q Literati! tonight at Portland's Queer Center.

Featured writers included Sossity, Jason Zenobia, Jacob Anderson-Minshall, Lipstick & Dipstick and literary superstar Marc Acito.

DETAILS
Portland's Queer Center
69 SE Taylor
Portland, OR

Sandy Hula Hoops Against Bush

My friend Sandy stopped by the other day to show me her new Hula Hoop and explain how it's helping get Bush out of office.

Reading this Tuesday for Pride

Portlanders, Lipstick & Dipstick will be reading from their new book--Lipstick & Dipstick's Essential Guide to Lesbian Relationships--this Tuesday at Broadway Books. It's in celebration of Pride week.

Come on out and be proud!

DETAILS
7pm
Broadway Books
1714 NE Broadway
Portland, OR

Introducing Q Literari

In partnership with the Portland, Oregon Queer Center, CURVE is annoucing the first QLiterati! The innaguaral monthly LGBTQ reading series will be held next Wednesday at 7pm. Details below. QLiterati! is a monthly LGBTQ reading series, that will feature established, emerging and underground writers and spoken word artists. QLiterati! events will offer an open mic, gourmet snacks, raffle prizes, multiple readings, audience Q&A’s and the occasional literary superstar to draw a crowd.

Held every second Wednesday and launching June 11th, 7-9 pm at the Q Center, the first QLiterati! will feature our friend Marc Acito, the “occasional literary superstar” author of Attack of the Theater People and also How I Paid for College. Yours truly, along with Dipstick, will join him, reading from our first book Lipstick & Dipstick's Essential Guide to Lesbian Relationships. And co-host Jacob Anderson-Minshall will offer his trans perspective to an essay from Men Speak Out. This first meeting of Q Literati! is sure to be a memorable one, so mark your calendars!

They’re also encouraging emerging authors to sign up for the open mic--which they can do so in advance or at the event. Their first open mic features writers from Dirty Queer and Write Around Portland. It's not necessary for authors to address gender or sexuality in their work; but they do specifically want to encourage the participation of LGBTQ-identified writers.

If you miss Q Literati! this month, stop by the Q Center booth at Portland Pride to get more info on it and on CURVE Magazine. And mark your calendars for every second Wednesday for Q Literati.

For more information contact the Q Center at info@pdxqcenter.org, or the hosts at jake@quirkyguys.com.

DETAILS
Wednesday, June 11th, 2008
7:00-9:00pm
Q Center
69 SE Taylor Ave at SE Water Ave, Portland
FREE
More info: http://www.pdxqcenter.org/

Someone Named Their Bunnies After Us!

Google is pretty cool. I signed up for this thing called Google Alerts and I get an email every time the words "Lipstick & Dipstick" are posted in a blog or on a website. It's a great way for us to read reviews of our book, find a mention of us on someone's website or see who is linking to us.

But sometimes the alert has nothing to do with Lipstick & Dipstick, advice columnists. Sometimes it's a guy being nasty about, well, you can imagine how the words "lipstick" and "dipstick" can be used  in a pornographic posting.

One thing I never expected was a post about bunnies, though. Someone named their bunnies Lipstick and Dipstick and they did what bunnies do, they made more bunnies. Then the owners posted pictures of them on the web.

See our bunnies here!

Silky Suede :: The Perfect Date

Lipstick and I often say that if you want to keep your relationship healthy and strong, you need to take your sweetie out on romantic dates. Whether it's a picnic, a movie or a concert, you've got to get out and do something fun and different. Make sure you hold hands some time during the date and make-out at the end of the night. Well, if you're scratching your head, trying to figure out where to go on your next date, we've got the answer. Take her to see Suede in concert.

Suede's music is quintessential date music. She's one of the most popular acts on Olivia Cruises and Dipstick swoons every time she pulls out her trumpet. Here's what others have to say about her:

This musical maven doesn't just sing to you, she sings for you. Her voice takes you to the places you've always wanted to go. Ethereal, moonlit places. She can tickle the ivories, bring it to you on guitar, or rally the troops with her trumpet. But it's her voice, with its unmistakable harmony and spectral melody, that is guaranteed to give you goose bumps the size of cherries. And this girl has fans, honey. We're talking Grateful Dead, red-eye flight, 900-mile road trip fans."

-WOMO, Washington, DC

" Voices like hers come along maybe once in a generation!"

-New York Post

"Her voice is like peppermints dipped in honey"

-CHTV (Christchurch, New Zealand)

Suede Concert Dates

Friday, June 6 - Seattle, WA
Triple Door, 8pm
216 Union St

Saturday, June 7 - Portland, OR
The Aladdin Theater, 8pm
3017 SE Milwaukie Ave

Sunday, June 8 - San Francisco, CA
The Rrazz room at Hotel Nikko, 7pm
222 Mason St.

Wed., June 11 - Santa Cruz, CA
don Quixote's, 7:00
6275 hwy 9, Felton, CA

Friday, June 13 - Santa Monica, CA
McCabe's, 8pm
3101 Pico Blvd

Even if you don't live in one of the cities Suede will be performing in, you can buy her new sexy, romantic CD Dangerous Mood. Because stay at home dates are fun too!
For more Suede dates, check out Suedewave.com

_{Photo by brad fowler}

Laying Kyle to Rest

Goodbye Sergeant John Kyle Daggett.

He passed away on May 15th from injuries sustained while fighting the war in Iraq. My family and I are here in Washington DC for my cousin Kyle's burial service at Arlington Cemetery. It was a beautiful day and his graveside ceremony was really powerful. He is now laid to rest where he wanted to be--here at Arlington Cemetery.

A long string of black limos picked us up at the hotel (where family and friends from all over the country have taken 30 rooms) at 8:15am. After a beautiful speech by a decorated General about what an extraordinary soldier
Kyle was, the General presented Jack and Colleen (Kyle's parents) with not only the purple heart medal (which is given to soldiers wounded in war), but also the bronze star medal (awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service).

The below videos show his casket being removed from the hearse and the 21 gun salute, as well as part of Taps. The music: Tim McGraw's If You're Reading This

It was a very emotional day, but it was beautiful and I hope everyone--somehow--will now begin to heal.

Goodbye Kyle. We love you. God speed.