ThrilLITERATE

I've been spending some time up here in Vancouver and Patty and I went to a fundraiser on Saturday night. It was an evening of poetry, storytelling and of recognizing literacy as a basic human right. At the event, seven celebrated queer women authors read to raise funds for the women's literacy program in the Downtown Eastside. They inlcuded: Mette Bach, Cathleen With, Afuwa Granger, Michelle Miller, Shana Myara, Amber Dawn and Mimi Mahovlich.

We went with some new friends Jill and Jess (pictured here). They're super fun and they met at Curve Magazine (they were both working there) ten years ago. Our publisher, Frances Stevens, introduced us and now we're super happy they're in our lives. Two other friends joined us, Jenny and Cara, and we love them, too. It was so nice just kicking it in a cozy booth with friends and wine and not having to get up and read. The cafe--Rhizome--is lesbian-owned and served some good grub. If you're ever in Vancouver and looking for the local scene, this place is a great stop.

Chi-town Dykes Listen Up : Queer Porn-ucopia!

This is steaming hot! If you're into porn and you live in Chicago...

Sex writer Amy Andre and Early To Bed present Queer Porn-ucopia, a red-hot evening of the sexiest scenes of queer lust ever caught on film. They’ll be screening clips from independent dyke/queer made porn and having a blast at the Leather Archives! It should be a great event, so go check it out if you're in the Chicago area.

DETAILS
July 24th at 7pm (doors open)
Leather Archives & Museum
6418 N. Greenview Ave
Chicago, IL

Tickets are available at the door, or in advance at Early To Bed, 5232 N. Sheridan, for a suggested donation of $8 - $10, (no one turned away for lack of funds).

This event open to all adults 21 years & older.

Proceeds benefit the Leather Archives & Museum.

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!

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

East Coast Tour :: New York, New York II

LIPSTICK: Greetings again from the Big Apple! Dipstick and I spent the day like nomads, doing our own thing. In the morning, I went for a long run, which took me over the Brooklyn Bridge and along the waterfront by the piers.

DIPSTICK: I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge on foot, too, headed to see my friend Furman for lunch.

LIPSTICK: Near the end of my run, I stopped at a hot dog stand and ate a sizzling weiner for breakfast. It was one of the best dogs I've had in a long time!

DIPSTICK: Furman is this amazing guy who runs a school, Generation School that is a new model of education. I met him at his office and we got food at a deli and walked around Brooklyn Heights, a very cool neighborhood.



LIPSTICK: I headed to our subway stop here in the Financial District and took the W train to Times Square to hang out and write in the afternoon. So much crazy energy in that place!

DIPSTICK: I went to the About.com offices in the West Village to meet some of my colleagues.

LIPSTICK: I met Dipstick and Ramon for pedicures late in the afternoon. It was Dipstick's first pedicure ever. Can you believe that? I snapped this picture of her (and her hairy legs) getting a clear coat in her polka dot flipflops. Classic.

DIPSTICK: I don't think I'll get a pedicure again. I don't see the appeal. Our reading last night at Oscar Wilde was a big success. The below pic is the only one that turned out, unfortunately. Many friends came last, including Kevin Fletcher (Double D's uncle), friends from About.com, Lipstick's literary agent Holly and her girl Erin, Editor Don Weise, Furman and many others.

LIPSTICK: After the reading, we headed to the Cowgirl Hall of Fame in the West Village for margaritas and mexican food.

DIPSTICK: Whose idea was it to buy a pitcher of margaritas? We're both a bit groggy this morning. Today after visiting our publisher Alyson Books, we're heading to Boston for an event at PURE tomorrow night, 75 Warrenton St. 10pm.

East Coast Tour :: Syracuse, NY

DIPSTICK: What a time we had in Syracuse! After spending several days with my family, Lipstick and I finally had our reading here in Syracuse. Here is a picture of one of the owners, John, introducing us.

LIPSTICK: In all, we guessed about 25 people showed up at the Lavender Inkwell, which is an adorable queer book shop thats in an old Victorian house. Those that showed for the reading included one of Dipstick's old college roommates who she hadn't seen in 15 years and Dipstick's old track coach, who she used to taunt because she was a lesbian. Funny how things come around full circle, eh?

DIPSTICK: Well, we didn't actually taunt her. We just used to sing "I love you, you love me, homosexuality. People think we're just friends, but we're really lesbians."

LIPSTICK: Ahh, that sounds like taunting to me.

DIPSTICK: Whatever, we were young, thought we were straight (ha) and no harm was done. She came to the reading and bought a book, right?

LIPSTICK: True. Hanging out with Dipstick's family here in Syracuse was such a rich learning experience. I was privilege to two family dinners. One at her folks house where her mom made her signature shrimp curry. Went back for seconds. The last night we were in town, her brother, Tom, and sister in law Karen, hosted a BBQ. The weather didn't cooperate, but the burger and leg of lamb sure tasted good. Here is a picture of me with those from Dipstick's family who came to the reading. Her parents are in the back and her mom made the whole room cry when she talked about how much she loves her lesbian daughter and how she came to terms with it being a religious woman.

More to come.....

East Coast Tour :: Buffalo, NY

Hello from Buffalo!

Dip and I arrived at the crack of dawn (well at least it was in the Pacific Northwest—we took a red eye) in Buffalo, New York yesterday and rented a car. We loaded up our little tin can (the heap with no automatic anything was all Hertz had at the time even though we wanted something bigger) and had to play Tetris to get all our luggage in. (Side note: Butches travel with as much stuff as the femmes, maybe more because of their hair products. Like Dipstick always says: all a butch has in her hair.)

We went to Dipstick’s friends Adjoa and Christy's house (pictured here with their adorably old and blind Ruby) and dumped our stuff before heading off to Niagara Falls. And wow, what waterworks! Odjua snapped this shot of Dip and I. Supah cool, but the tourist area was surprisingly sleepy.

Before Niagara (and I know I’m talking out of sequence, but I’m still a bit touched by the lack of sleep—roll with me), we stopped for lunch at the original buffalo wing restaurant called the Anchor Bar. Apparently, it’s where those little fried fuckers dipped in blue cheese got their start. The Story. Hence the name “Buffalo” wings. For those of you also touched by lack of sleep or otherwise, it’s not actually buffalo meat they fry, but chicken. I have to say they *were* some of the best wings I’ve ever had. Check out the drumstick hat Dip bought. She ended up wearing it to dinner that night, too. I told her it looked kind of funny, but that butch just didn’t care. She’s still wearing it today. Her head hardly fit into the car...

Anyway, after we both stole naps, we headed to Talking Leaves, the big queer bookstore in town and met the owner John. We weren’t sure if anyone would show—I mean we’re 3000 miles from home for christsakes—but DAMN did the dykes of Buffalo show Lipstick & Dipstick some love. It was packed! And the crowd laughed in all the right places (it’s kinda awkward when people don’t think we’re funny) and we had a really spirited Q & A afterwards.

A very BIG thanks to all the ladies who came out to support us in Buffalo. We really appreciated it!

Our next reading is tomorrow night (Friday) in Rochester. Spread the word!

April 25th
7pm
Equal Grounds Coffee House
750 South Avenue, Rochester NY 14620

Other Upcoming East Coast Readings:

April 26
1pm
Lavender Inkwell
304 North McBride Street
Syracuse, NY

April 27
4-8pm (show at 6pm)
Doubles II
29 Church St.
Catskill, NY

April 30
7pm
Oscar Wilde Bookstore
15 Christopher Street
New York, NY

May 2
10pm
PURE
75 Warrenton ST
Boston, MA

May 3
1:45pm-1:55pm
North Hampton Pride
North Hampton, MA

May 4
1pm
Pride & Joy Books
20 Crafts Avenue
North Hampton, MA

Come Out Come Out Wherever You Are!

Lipstick & Dipstick are going to be in the Castro reading tonight at A Different Light Bookstore. Come say hello!

A Different Light Bookstore
489 Castro Street
San Francisco, CA
7:30pm

It will be fun and interactive and there will be prizes....

Bay Area Here We Come!

We headed to the Santa Cruz this Sunday for the begining of our Bay Area Tour. We will be stopping in Santa Cruz at the Santa Cruz Bookshop on March 9th and then headed to UC Santa Cruz on March 10th. From there, we mozy over to Oakland, where we'll be reading at Laurel Books and then hosting an after party at Velvet. We save the best for last: the good ol' Castro. A Different Light Bookstore smack dab in the middle of it all, will be hosting the butch and femme on Thursday night. The CURVE girrrls will be on hand and we're planning on whooping it up afterwards. If you're in the Bay Area, come check out one of the events!

The Lowdown:

Sunday, March 9th
7:30pm
Bookshop Santa Cruz*
1520 Pacific Ave
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
(831) 423-0900

Monday, March 10th
7pm
UC Santa Cruz
Open to the Public

Wednesday, March 12th
7pm
Laurel Bookstore
4100 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland.
510.531.2073

After Party: Velvet Night Club
9pm
3411 MacArthur Blvd.

Thursday, March 13th
7:30pm
A Different Light Bookstore
Castro

*Lipstick's brother--aka The Swami--and sistah-in-law will be in attendance.

An Evening with Lipstick & Dipstick in Whistler

This just in: a lovely man named Nathanial Christopher filmed this clip of Dipstick and I doing our reading at the Solarice Spa in Whistler, BC earlier this month. He just uploaded it to YouTube and we thought we'd share it with you.