My Old Friend Terese Genecco

I was at the gym the other day reading my Advocate magazine. Right up front was a tiny article about a powerful big band lead singer/cabaret performer. I thought, “Hey, that girl looks familiar.” We went to college together.

So I got home, googled her and sent her off an email. I heard back within hours. Not only did she remember me, she attached some photos from when we were hanging out in her apartment back in the day. I won’t say how long ago this was, but notice, I’m putting on an album.


It turns out Terese is now living in San Francisco and I was on my way there. Terese Genecco leads a little big band that is one of the hottest shows in San Francisco. She’s won all kinds of awards, including “Entertainer of the Year” in San Francisco.


She came to see us at the Curve/Dani Campbell party. We didn’t have a lot of time to talk, but it sure was fun to hook up with an old friend. Unfortunately, I had to leave before I got to see her show. But you can bet it’s on my agenda for the next time I’m in SF.

Be sure to check out Terese.
Terese Genecco and her little big band are currently starring in "LAST CALL!" on Saturday nights at 10:30 PM in The Rrazz at Hotel Nikko in downtown San Francisco.

Join us Tomorrow Night in San Fran

Dipstick and I headed down to San Francisco tomorrow for a big issue release party with MTV's Dani Campbell! The details are below. Come out and party with Dani, Dipstick and I, as well as DJ Chelsea Starr and rocker Jennifer Corday.

The party will be at Hotel Kabuki and is sure to be off the hook. It's starts a 9pm and we'll be dancing until 1am. Beyond emceeing, Dipstick and I will also be signing our book and having a good 'ole time, too.

CURVE's cover girl this month--Dani Campbell--is from MTV's "A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila" and will be signing her issue and maybe--if you're lucky--bumpin' and grindin' on the dance floor.

Also making an appearance is San Francisco's own Pin Up Girls, the sexy burlesque troup that is sure to blow your socks off. So you can get your mojo on, there will be drink specials and great dance music.

Come play with us.

DETAILS
March 28th
9pm-1am
Hotel Kabuki (1625 Post Street)
Tickets just went on sale. Get them here.
18+

What Should We Write About Next?

As Lipstick & I are basking in the success of our first book, we're getting ready to write our next one. We're just not sure what the topic should be. What do you think? Which topic do you think our next book should be about?

What Should we Write About Next?
	A Lesbian Dating Guide
	A Lesbian Break-Up Guide
	A Coming Out Guide
	Something Else
View Results

Free poll from Free Website Polls

Paris Coming to the L Word

Did you all hear that Paris will be on next season's L Word? It's true. Read this article in Parade Magazine and see for yourself. Apparently, she not only loves lesbians (maybe not in the way we want her to), but she also plays ice hockey???

* photo courtesy of perezhilton.com

Lesbian Easter Eggs

I’m sure you all have them. The friends you can count on to throw a really good party. It doesn’t matter what the occasion. Whether it’s a Superbowl bash or card night, you know when you go to these gals’ house, you’re going to have a good time. In my group, those friends are Dionne and Tracy.

So, when I got an invite to an Easter Egg Decorating Party, something I normally would never do, I accepted. Tracy spent hours gluing sequins and cotton balls to make a Ladybug Egg. Dawn decorated an egg for everyone who would be at her L Word party tonight. Dionne tie-dyed half a dozen ova. And Andrea proved that she had years of experience with nieces and nephews putting the color on the egg.

As sometimes happens at parties, things got ugly as the night wore on and the drink flowed. There was a controversial incident when Tracy reached for the glue and “accidentally” knocked over Robin’s dog egg. A full crime scene investigation ensued, complete with chalk outline. We’re still waiting the detective’s report.


_{Photos by D. Fox}

It all Begins this weekend

This weekend is the start of the Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament. I’ll be in front of the TV all weekend checking out the early round games. I can’t tell you how excited I was on our book tour earlier this month, that I got to see Stanford play in the Pac 10 tournament. Here’s a video of them warming up.

I would love to see Rutgers go all the way this year. I just started to read Coach C. Vivian Stringer’s memoir Standing Tall. That woman has been through so much and has done so much for so many young women. She’s a modern-day hero. And I’m not even mentioning the whole Don Imus thing. That had me sick for days.


Any other basketball freaks out there? Who are your favorite teams? Favorite players?
I’ve always been a Tennessee fan, but they won last year, so now it’s someone else’s turn. But not Connecticut. I did mention I was a Tennessee fan, right?

I want Rutgers to go all the way. But I also like LSU and of course, Stanford. But tournament time is crazy time. You never know what might happen. What are your predictions?

Lipstick & Dipstick's Secret Club

We love our publicist Deborah Brosseau of Spinner PR. One of the things she's been able to do for us is to break into mainstream straight media. Here's the latest example of that. We did an interview with The Staten Island Advance. The straight press is so fun, because you never know what kind of things they're going to focus on.  In this interview, she was kind of freaked out by the "The Out of Town rule."  She rolled with it, though. 

"Lipstick" and "Dipstick" offer lesbians advice
Columnists release their first book on relationship issues gay women specifically face

Tuesday, March 18, 2008
By ELISE McINTOSH
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- When Gina Daggett shed her identity as a heterosexual to lead a homosexual lifestyle, there was a lot for her to learn about the lesbian community.

"It's like a secret club you have to break into," she said, noting it took her some time to do so.
"We do have a culture uniquely our own," agreed Kathy Belge. "From the inside jokes down to the cultural events we attend," it's a terrain "the outside world doesn't know about."

Their new book, "Lipstick & Dipstick's Essential Guide To Lesbian Relationships" (Alyson Books, 2007), offers a glimpse into this world. Intended to help gay women navigate the relationship issues that often crop up, from first date to lifelong commitment, the book grew out of the women's punchy "Lipstick & Dipstick" column, which appears in Curve magazine...

"Sometimes it's harder to have successful [lesbian] relationships," Ms. Belge said, noting some roadblocks are unique to the gay community -- with a big one being, the marriage issue.

"That we can't get married does affect our relationships," she said, noting many lesbians -- and gay men -- do not feel motivated to stay together for the long haul when making the "'til death do us part" vow is not a legal option for them in most states.

"Since we can't get married, it gives us more freedom on how we can be in our relationships," Ms. Belge said, adding, "We make up our own rules."

One of those rules, as described in the book, is the "out-of-town rule" in which some couples agree they can hook up with other women when traveling separately. But, Ms. Belge stressed, this open approach is not for everyone.

read the full interview here

Biting the Apple: Lucy Jane Bledsoe

This is one of Dipstick's favorite writers. Any of you Portland peeps who are in town on Thursday, please come and see this amazing lesbian writer read from her latest novel. The book was just announced as a finalist for the Lambda Book Awards.

Broadway Books
Thursday, March 20, 7:00 p.m.
1714 N.E. Broadway
Portland, 97232
503-284-1726

One woman's authentic search to discover what matters."
-- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"With its appealing cast of strong, unusual women characters and its sophisticated sense of humor (a life coach who is a kleptomaniac is just one of many delicious ironies), Bledsoe’s fourth novel is a deftly written take on the search for authenticity."
-- Booklist

“A haunting and profoundly satisfying novel.” -- Lambda Book Report

"Bledsoe's sleek fourth novel, packed with complex female characters...is an intelligent, introspective, and smartly sarcastic story about the shackles of the past, the pressures of a present built on falsehoods, and the promise of reinvention and renewal in the future." -- Bookmarks 10 Best Books of the Year

"There's a glow about [Eve Glass] that none of the other characters in Bledsoe's brilliant new novel seem able to resist.... What is finally so magical about Biting the Apple is Bledsoe's analysis of expectations.... In stunning prose Bledsoe captures the difficulty of letting go of these expectations--and the promising quiet that follows." --AfterEllen.com

Here's a previous post I wrote about her last time in town.

I Left My Heart...

San Francisco was a treat! My good friend KC had the day off and I made her take me to Fisherman's Wharf, because I had never been there. We ate some good crab and found my new fishing boat. (see photo) We also visited a very cool museum with old coin-operated toys and exhibits from the 40s and 50s. 
Later Lipstick and I met up with our editor Diane and Ondine from Curve magazine for a drink at Mix, a great little dive bar in the Castro. Then we met up with friends KC, Janet and Barbara for a great Indian dinner at Bombay Indian Restaurant on Market Street.

Then it was onto the main event. Our reading at A Different Light Bookstore. What a great crowd on hand. There were plenty of lesbians in the seats and a few guys mingling around in the back, listening in, but pretending they really didn't care about lesbian relationship advice. I saw one of two crack smiles, though. And I can't forget Seth, the sweet boy who works there, dressed comando in a skirt. You've gotta love the Castro.

We finished the night off with a few drinks at Harvey's with current and former Curve magazine staffers. We're so glad to be part of the Curve family.

I had to catch an early flight home the next day, but I'm happy that we'll be returning to SF soon for the Curve Issue Release Party with Dani Campbell

on March 28th. Please join us!

What it's All About

For the last week, you've been hearing all about our book tour in the Bay Area. We've talked about each reading and event and shared photos of the many wonderful people we've met. What you haven't had too much of--save Dipstick's Seen and Heard in Santa Cruz--is what's happening behind-the-scenes.

When we were in Santa Cruz, we stayed with my brother (aka The Swami in our book) and his family: his wife Lanie and their son/my godson Calvin. If you've been reading our blog for awhile, you know who Calvin the Clairvoyant is because he is one of my most PRIZED possessions. While the time we spent together was short--just three days--Calvin and I bonded in a way we haven't before, in a way that nearly brought me to my knees when we had to say goodbye.

You see, Calvin isn't like other kids. He is the oldest soul I've ever seen trapped in a three-year-old's body. While we were visiting, Calvin got a haircut, he and I opened a "custom monster truck shop," we went for a hike, hung out in downtown Santa Cruz, went to the toy shop, had Thai food, had Hawaiian food, drank wine (well, he had Martinelli's), took baths (that was him) and we laughed A LOT. Here are some shots of our time together...

Ellen Calls Homophobe on Her Show

Many of you have probably already heard about Oklahoma Republican state Senator Sally Kern's anti-gay rant, but leave it to Ellen to call the politician during her show this week. Check it out. When did Ellen become so political? We're proud of you Ellen!

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....

Our Time in Oakland

Thank you Laurel Books and all the lesbos (and one guy!) who came out to our reading last night. Luan and her partner, Emily, hosted the event and they had quite a spread for the enthusiastic crowd. Wine, cookies and an explosion of fruits. After the reading, we went to Velvet Nightclub, one of the Bay Area's only exclusive dyke bars (The Lexington is the other).

We met lots of lovely people, including MJ, Carol, Lamb Chop, Jude, Teri, Alison (who interviewed us for THIS piece) and fellow author Lucy Jane Bledsoe, who we'll also go see in Portland next week. She'll be reading from her new book Biting the Apple. We snapped a picture with her below.

Seen and Heard in Santa Cruz

a.) 1,000 year old redwood trees

b.) A child in a stroller saying, "Organic mama."

c.) Dolphins playing in the surf

d.) A deserted boardwalk


e.) Hot girl surfers

f.) Man in a "Born Again Pagan" t-shirt blaring "Bad Blood" from his car stereo

g.) Three bedroom house for sale for $2.5 million

h.) Yellow banana slug--found only in Santa Cruz

Slug Love to UCSC

The mascot for UC Santa Cruz is the Banana Slug. I'm not sure how that came to be, but I can tell you those queer kids at the Cantu Queer Center are no slugs! Last night Lipstick & I put on an interactive workshop called "The Pitfalls of Lesbian Dating" for the many lesbians and handful of guys who hang out at Cantu, one of the coolest LGBT centers we have ever visited.


Julia Schwab, did an amazing job of organizing the event. Julia started LIPZ this Fall when she realized that while there was plenty of support groups for women and lesbians on campus, there was no fun social group. Seeing a void, she decided to fill it. Our talk was the kick off event for this quarter.

Like most lesbians, we learned that the queer girls at UCSC struggle with how to deal with ex-lovers--especially in a small community. A few exes were sitting across the room from one another.  

And we discovered that college age dykes, like us seasoned lesbians, are often quick to jump to the L Word. Saying, "I love you," much too soon. 

But most of all, we shared and laughed and  learned a lot from one another. Thanks UCSC for inviting Lipstick & Dipstick to your campus. 

Santa Cruz Lezbots Rock

Thanks Santa Cruz for showing us the love last night by coming out to our reading at Bookshop Santa Cruz in California. What a great turnout (about 30 peeps) and the Q & A was the longest one we've had with some really great questions (you anarchists, you).

A special shout out to George with the Bookshop and her partner of 21 years (we told them they should write the next relationship guide!) Ellen. Also, Diana and her sexy, sassy bitches (all pictured with our book) for coming out even though our reading interfered with the L Word (note to self: BAD PLANNING on our part). Despite the run-in with Shane, Bette and Ilene Chaiken, the crowd was great.

Two very special guests were in the audience: My brother--aka The Swami in the book--and his wife, Lanie. We're staying with them while we're here in Santa Cruz and I think the reading was very eye-opening for my brother. While he laughed a lot (we are have the same sense of humor and even though we were born 3.5 years apart, we are convinced we are twins), he probably learned more about his little sister than he ever wanted to know. We read the chapter: Dip Me in Honey and Throw Me to the Lesbians.

That said, he is always such a great sport and Lanie, too, is such an ally. In their wedding years ago, there were more lesbians standing up on her side as bridesmaids than breeders!

Straight allies are the best!

I love you, B + L!

PS: We went to this great place in downtown Santa Cruz after for dinner and wine. Check it out: Soif

One More Season for the L Word

This article, just published by Reuters, says that the L Word was renewed for one more final season. Read it here.

* photo courtesy of Showtime.

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.

Why I Love Living in Portland

Yesterday was a regular day for me. I was on my way from a haircut to the gym when suddenly traffic stopped. When it didn’t move for a while, I peeked around the biodiesel van that was in front of me and saw there was a parade going on. Or a protest march, I’m not sure.

What I did see was lots of paper mache puppets making their way down Salmon Street toward Naito Parkway. Unlike most of the anti-war marches, this one was very quiet. And I’m not even sure what they were marching for, but I’m sure it’s something I support.

The only chanting I heard was “Books not Bars. Books not Bars” over and over. But I still don’t know what they were getting at. Are they saying read and don’t drink? Or did they mean put money into libraries instead of jails? Who knows, but it was a protest! And they were earnest!

Lipstick snapped this picture from the balcony of her condo. I missed the polar bear, but I did see fish, George, Dick and Condoleezza in prison garb and some pirates. Hmm. Does anyone know what this was all about? Or even if you don’t, best guess wins a t-shirt.

Is Ellen Page a Lesbian?

I guess I'm behind on the rumor mill. Apparently there's been lots of speculation about the sexual orientation of the cute star of Juno. You can always count on Saturday Night Live to be on the pulse. I laughed my ass off at this skit.

Who Likes Lesbian Erotica?

Lipstick does. And so does Dipstick. Our sexy friend, Shanna Germain, an oh-so-talented-writer will be reading from the new Best Lesbian Erotica this Thursday at Powell's on Hawthorne. The book journeys into the world of lesbian sex with uncommon, edgy stories that push lesbian lust and desire to new heights.

I've been to Shanna's erotica readings before and they're always smoking hot. Grab a wet washcloth, a bag of ice and get your asses down to Powell's Thursday night. Join Dip and I as we celebrate lesbian erotica! Yahooo.

Her story, "Native Tongue," is a tale of language, long-term relationships, affairs, hope and, of course, hot lesbian sex! She'll also be signing books, as well as answering questions about writing, erotica, reading and anything else that you can think of to throw at her!




DETAILS
Thursday, March 6th @ 7:30pm
Powell's Books on Hawthorne
3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd. (800) 878-7323

In Other Words

Lipstick & I have been so busy, I didn't have time to recap one of the highlights of our book release so far. Last Thursday we read at In Other Words the only non-profit feminist bookstore left in this country. We love In Other Words and support it every chance we get, but what made this reading extra special was that we were joined by three other amazing queer writers.

Gabrielle Goldsby is a local lesbian romance writer who I met that night. She read from Such a Pretty Face one of her six books.

Diane Anderson-Minshall, our editor at Curve magazine, read from Blind Curves a lesbian murder-mystery she co-wrote with her transgender husband Jake.

Jake read from a hot new anthology that he's been published in called Men Speak Out: Views on Gender, Sex, and Power. Jake's essay, “The Enemy Within: On Becoming a Straight White Guy,” was a powerful look at the personal and political implications of transitioning from lesbian feminist to straight white man.

Afterward we had a great interaction with the audience, answering some really great questions: like what do we do when we get a question we just can't answer and what our writing process is like.

This was a really fun event and we look forward to more joint readings with other queer writers.

Thanks Seattle!

Dipstick and I have decided that Hot Flash Dance Parties are our favorite events to sell books at. Those damn flashdancing dykes sure love to read and sure love them some Lipstick & Dipstick! We sold a bunch of books.

A big shout out to all the wonderful women we met in Seattle this weekend at Neighbors. To name a few: Ginny (picture here as Lip + Dip freak her), Donna, Karen (we met her in Whistler), Ziggy (the photographer), Kelley (a fellow author) and many others.

Special thanks go out to Pauline Miriam, the promoter who we adore, and her photographer, Ziggy Robideaux. She took the one of us in the light after we'd just thrown some t-shirts. (Should Lipstick be thanking Heineken, too, and Dipstick Stella Artois?)

And lastly, a HUGE thank you to Kimpton Hotels for putting
us up at their beautifully renovated Alexis Hotel. Kimpton rocks!

Ellen Gets Political

Normally, Ellen steers pretty clear of gay issues, but she took time out of her show to talk about a young boy who was murdered for being gay by a fellow eighth grader. Check out her touching, heartfelt message.

Go Ellen!