A new multimedia exhibit at CMU explores women's empowerment through the clothing we wear. Its called Trappings: Stories of Women, Power and Clothing and its the work of two artists (one local, one not so much) - Renee Piechocki and Tiffany Ludwig, who collaborate under the sobriquet Two Girls Working.
This public art piece grew out of the ultimate old-school icon of American woman -- the Tupperware party format .... the artists worked with a host who invited friends, thus ensuring a wide range of women sharing their power stories.
Among the 50 or so interviewed locally:
Jan Gallaway, a member of the Pittsburgh Puffins recreational hockey team, feels powerful in her uniform -- and also when she takes off her helmet to reveal the 40-something mom underneath to the shocked boys at the ice rink.
Cecile Springer, retired head of her own consulting firm, feels it wearing a gold pin that was a gift from her late mother-in-law, the well-known union activist Maida Springer-Kemp.
Heather Arnet, executive director of The Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania, feels it in the purple cape she bought with her own earnings at age 16. The cut reminds her of the purple sash worn by suffragists like her great-grandmother, not to mention Wonder Woman, her childhood heroine.
Teen-ager Dana Jacobs of Philadelphia, interviewed at YouthWorks Inc., feels it in slacks and a sweater because in them, "I'm ready for anything, you know, for job interviews and if you go in a store, ain't nobody going to watch you."
Rebecca Newlin, posing with a hammer, feels it in her Habitat for Humanity T-shirt because "women can put up a drywall and that's what really gives me a lot of motivation."
And Valerie Archier feels it in the blue suit her mother bought her for job interviews because "it totally transforms me when I put it on."
I'm not sure if I feel powerful in any clothing. Probably something I wear to work, but I'm usually pretty self-conscious and disengage from feeling any connection with the clothes I wear. Ask Ledcat who shakes her head in dismay as I whirl around the house bemoaning all the negative aspects of my assorted items of clothing. Wow ... I really cannot think of something that makes me feel powerful. Now that's something to chew upon.
Trappings: Stories of Women, Power and Clothing
Where: Miller Gallery, Purnell Center, Carnegie Mellon University
When: 11:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday-Sunday, or by appointment.
The date for the next monthly queer women dinner has been set -- Monday, July 24, 2006 at the Gypsy Cafe!
What, you ask, exactly is a queer women dinner? Click here and learn all about it!
The next "Queers: They're What's For Dinner!" is on Monday, July 24th at 7:00 - 10:00 p.m. at the Gypsy Cafe (1330 Bingham St., Pittsburgh, PA; http://gypsycafe.net/gypsy.html).
It's a rollicking good time! Women and transfolk welcome (and their babies, too!)
We have the place to ourselves! When you arrive there'll be some munchies to snack on, and then dinner will be buffet-style (with veg options). It's $15/person (includes soft drinks/coffee, but desserts are extra), including gratuity and tax. It's also BYOB, and there's a $2 corkage fee per drinker. PLEASE BRING CASH since it's one big bill, and that's the easiest way to go.
ALSO, Rebecca will be on hand for awesome tarot readings - $15 for 15 minutes, or $25 for a half-hour. She's amazing!
We had our inaguaral dip in the city pools this weekend. Our pool of choice is Riverview Park up in Observatory Hill. Its a really nice pool and rarely crowded. Most of the time there are less than 25 other people there.
You can buy family pool passes for $60.00 that are good all season and in the winter at Oliver Bath House. And YES they recognize domestic partnerships.
We went all last summer and it was great. Just run home from work, change and in 10 minutes we are there. Zip. Nothing to it. I can't imagine dealing with the hassle of getting my own pool when I can do this.
Most of the life guard staff are teachers and crossing guards so they are especially good at dealing with kids.
Last week, we crossed a bridge and went through a tunnel to see a little show. A final little show at The Square Cafe which serves delicious waffles and hummus. Not that I would suggest them as a combination. The hummus comes with veggies, not pita which greatly saddened the Correspondents.
So this was a special little show because it was the final edition. We must note further sadness at losing a performance venue that is both smoke free and hummus friendly. Without pita.
The show was hosted by a recent acquaintance, Gab Bonesso, and someone named Neil Rosenblat from SOA. I don't know what SOA is b/c during the introductions I was distracted by ordering some decaf. But he seems like a genial enough fellow and he was cute in a sort of blond sensitive guy kind of way. He actually looked like Riley from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But I digress ...
So Gab did her stand-up thing and was a riot. She was WAAAYYY more edgy than the first time I saw her. Ledcat thought she was dead on. I admit I had my politically correct sensibilities in a little knot. I mean it was definitely funny, but she nailed me and that was a little "bleaahhhh" but in a good way. I kept thinking "I can't laugh at this" even while I did.
So that was a nice little journey down Liberal Guilt Trip lane. :-)
Next up was Bill Eberle, aspiring folk singer and poet. He was a pretty fierce guy. I admit that at first I thought "oh here's another white guy poeting about being one with the minorities" What a dismissive bitch was I! Because mere moments later, he did this excellent piece talking to the other white guys who think they are one with the minorities ....second time I was on the hot seat that night. He sang my favorite line of the night: "You are a creature of God, but they are the ones who are heaven sent." (I might be paraphrasing b/c I was scrambling to find a pen without spilling my coffee). So I really liked him. He was accessible and sweet and fierce. And he said he was a feminist. He should do more poety b/c he was very good and he said it was his first time.
Then, the funny guy got on. Jason Kirsch. Waiter, actor and aspiring comedian. Oh my God, he was funny and never once did I feel guilty for laughing. He covered the whole angst of growing up gay where you mix up He-Man with My Little Pony. In my favorite riff of the night, he was talking about white women buying babies from China and the annoying bourgeoisie moms in Target. So with you there brother.
And that proves how much of a hypocrite I am ... I can laugh without compunction at the foibles of suburban yuppie moms and homosexuals, but not deaf people or people with developmental disabilities. Because they are special and I am a PC idiot. LOL. <NOTE: I came back to delete this twice because I feel guilty even writing about feeling guilty about laughing at this ...>
Last up was local singer-songwriter Autumn Ayers. I'm going to let Ledcat do this review to give Autumn due justice b/c I am a music no-nothing and Ledcat has 14,000 cd's or something like that. I can tell you that I really liked her singing and she's very charming. She reminds me of the big girls who used to babysit me back in the 70's ... like she could be the cool sister on the show "Family" with Kristy McNichol that I used to love. Which is kind of a weird sensation because I am probably 10 years older than her. But you know what I mean ....This apparently is the paragraph of endless prepositional phrases.
Go visit Autum's myspace page to hear a few songs from her album. Her song "Drunk Again" is especially moving.
So that's the end of the Variety Show. It was nice and I would go again if it existed. What I really liked (beyond the lack of smoke) was how supportive the entertainers were of each other -- they seem like a little family and that translated nicely into the performances. We may have been the only outsiders there, but you wouldn't have noticed because they even took the time to include us!
Hopefully, we'll get word of where these various and sundy performers will be performing in the future.
The Correspondents concur that all of these performers should be at PrideFest next year, gays and gay-friendlies alike.
What could be more cool than a monthly dinner for queer women? For the past 12 months or so, I've said that every single time I received an invite from organizer Ehrrin and then promptly didn't go. Why? Oh the usual reasons -- work, family, pets, blogging, blah blah blah.
But as part of our mission to infiltrate the queers we made a point to head for last night's gathering at the Gypsy Cafe and ended up being one of the last to leave.
Reasons why this event ain't your typical lesbo potluck ...
1. People mingled. There was still a hint of yinzeritis at the tables, but most notably the hostess for the evening got up and worked her way around the room. And not just to collect the $$. I've been to many a potluck here in da 'burgh where the hostess takes your food and you never see her again because she's catching up with her 16 best friends while you stand in the corner feeling like a complete moron. But I'm not bitter ...
2. Variety was the spice. There were some moms there with very cute babies (shout out to Lola!). There were couples, singletons, older women, younger, women from Shadyside and from Greensburg, even a sweet jezebel. Your basic dyke variety.
3. Let's give them something to talk about. Everything from Ted Nugent (we do NOT have any of his CD's) to PrideFest, from police misconduct to feminist deconstruction of the porn industry, from raising children to Scrabble .... and that was just our table. For a conversation junkie like me, it was basically a giant verbal orgasm. With pita.
5. Continuity. They do this often. Kat has done a groovy job keeping the Lesbian Potluck going at the GLCC. This just builds on that lovely dynamic. Maybe because neither takes place in someone's home? Is it a hospitality issue? I don't know.
To be honest, I know I won't make it monthly just b/c well ... because. But knowing it happens regularly, I'll get myself there semi-frequently. You should, too.
ps: pip pip for the very considerate smokers ... :-)
From their myspace bulletin board, comes word that the Square Cafe will no longer be featuring performances of any kind. This Friday's variety show will be the last performance for the summer.
You know this probably sucks for a bunch of other people waaaayyy more than me, but I am majorly bummed. And tonight I was just talking about this whole thing with a bunch of cool dykes. Ah well ....I'm still going on Friday. And I'll be back for waffles ...
This morning, I dragged my ass out of bed at 7 AM and discovered that we had neither milk nor orange juice. Since we did have coffee, I was cool, but I knew that herself would want to be fed eventually. So I suggested we dine out for breakfast. I admit I was thinking Eat'NPark. But she had the brilliant idea of going to the Square Cafe in Regent Square.
We had been there before to catch the luminous Eve Goodman perform, but only sampled some of the hummus and beverages. So anyway, I called to determine their breakfast serving hours (all day) and lo and behold, guess who answers the phone? Gab Bonesso, the comedy chick we met the other day when we went to see John McIntire perform at the Funny Bone.
Its obviously a cool place to work because Gab, Autumn Ayers and a few other friendly employees all took turns waiting on us (and making us laugh). Let me just tell you that the waffles have this secret ingredient (orange juice) that make them taste like something right out of an episode of The Waltons. Before Grandma had her stroke and she made huge country breakfasts for the entire clan in her tidy little homemade dress ... I bet she put some of The Recipe in those waffles. All we ever had as chez Kerr were the Eggo kind, actually the generic version of Eggos. My grandmother was more of a Shredded Wheat and prune juice for breakfast kind of gal. Since she's 90 now and never had a stroke like Grandma Walton, I guess there's something to be said for Shredded Wheat. But I digress ...
Anyway, being waited on by creative artisty people is much more fun than your typical slack jawed yinzerette with a permanent cigarette droop to her lip and a snarl that makes you think twice before asking for something on the side. Like the chick at Soho last week (PrideFest nonetheless) who accidentally threw honey mustard all over Ledcat and MY PURSE. It was an accident, but it took 13 minutes for her to get us a wet cloth. In the meantime, I unrolled 13 sets of silverware from 5 surrounding tables to use the cloth napkins. Which seemed to displease her. I hope she delivered a baby in that 13 minutes because I cannot imagine what would be more important than removing honey mustard from your customers. So like a good lesbian, I spoke to the manager but to my credit I left her a really big tip b/c I know it was HIS fault for her being harried. But I digress again ....its like 99 degrees up here in the Correspondents computer lair so forgive me.
Anyway, next Friday at the Square Cafe you have the opportunity to catch both Gab and Autumn performing LIVE. and you can have some of the delish hummus. Or a real meal which is what we plan to do ...possibly you can have OJ infused waffles. But I'm not making any promises since i don't actually work there. I am fairly sure you can make it through the evening without being dipped in honey mustard, but then again you might like that so ...
You must, however, promise to laugh at the abortion jokes.
Well the Correspondents are off in pursuit of sno-cones from Gus and Yaya ...
8 PM Friday June 30 Square Cafe --- A Homo-Affirming Business ... be there and be square ... god I sound like McIntire now .... it really is the heat ... or maybe they infused my waffles with mimosas ...
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell speaks to the crowd at the beginning of the Pride Awareness March on Saturday, June 17, 2006. Click on the image to see other photos from PrideFest posted on the Gay & Lesbian Community Center website.
For those of you with great suggestions on how to improve PrideFest, you can find information on joining the PrideFest Committee. That would be the most effective way to actually make Pride more queer-friendly, more political, more-woman friendly, more youth-friendly, more vegetarian friendly, more low income friendly, recruit more pride merchandise venders, diversify the entertainment, increase the activities ... and the whole host of other things I have heard people complain about over the past weeks.
Or you can continue to complain and be part of the problem.
Reminder that the deadline for submitting nominations is July 1, 2006.
It is that time of the year again when the Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project (PUMP) accepts nominations for Pittsburgh's "40 Under 40" which honors 40 young leaders for their commitment to shaping our region.
In years past, there have been some gay nominees including folks from the Gay & LesbianCommunity Center and GLENDA among others as well as some fabulous gay friendly nominees.
Last year, however, there were no eye catching queers on the list. I ran the list past several local queers who didn't recognize a single name. Maybe we are out of touch? (Not at all suggesting this was intentional -- I suspect there just weren't enough gay nominations flooding the PUMP offices).
Now I know there are some FAB-U-LOUS homosexuals here in Pittsburgh doing all sorts of great things .... in the arts, business, non-profit sector, sports, and so forth.
This is an opportunity to put a gay face on what's happening here in Pittsburgh. We *are* making the community better for everyone, gay and straight alike. So grab your pen and nominate your favorite queer under 40 (yes, you can nominate yourself). Let's make sure PUMP knows all about the great accomplishments the young LGBT adults are, well, accomplishing here in Pittsburgh.
Why should we let the heteros get all the fun? Plus, there's a photo shoot in Pittsburgh Magazine (I wore my LGBT for Kerry button) as well as a swanky party. That's a cool kind of advocacy.
In all seriousness, this is a good opportunity to put a positive face on our community.
Last night, Ledcat and I picked up a Political Junkie and headed down to the Funny Bone for some good ole fashioned political humor at a fundraiser for the Allegheny County Young Democrats. Now we should be honest -- we went to see the comedians. The YDAC aren't a very impressive lot from the get go --- check out their "latest issues" webpage for a classic example of what I mean. And it was somewhat obvious after about oh ten minutes that they come across as the stuffy non-progressive quasi-Republican Democrats. You know what I mean--- white affluent people dressed in power clothes who don't laugh at abortion jokes.
But I still gave them a donation b/c maybe just maybe they don't hate homos. Whatever.
Anyway, the talent is why we went and talent is what we got. Our good friend and staunch supporter John McIntire was there and in really good form -- he was very funny last night. I think it was that he went beyond political commentary (at which he excels) and did some self-deprecating stuff that came off really well. And that man can do some wicked ass funny impressions. Granted we are completely biased on the issue but I the laughter of the other 26 people seemed genuine. (Yes 26 people turned out --- how's that for a base?)
Gene Collier of the Post-Gazette was there. First time we've seen him and we found him funny as well in a more droll, observational way. Maybe its because we aren't such Young Democrats and caught most of his cultural references? Who knows. I'd go see him again.
And, the true delight of the evening .... comedian Gab Bonesso. All we've been hearing from McIntire of late has been "Gab this, Gab that, Gab is funny" blah blah blah. So our expectations were super-high and she did not disappoint. She is this wicked smart, razor sharp woman who had us in tears about marijuana and babysitting. Yes, she is the one who told the abortion jokes which went over very well with the Correspondents but not so much the Young Republicans, er Democrats. They did go over with the older hippie retreads in the crowd come to think of it. Go to her website and catch her upcoming performances.
Overall big fun. Plus, we got to sit with City Councilman Bill Peduto. I'm just enough of a geek to think that is really cool and be nervous about what to say to him. After all he is THE progressive man. And I don't want to look like some fawning sycophant. Which I totally did, but I'm sure he's used to it.
And I discovered that some of the people there are reading my blog. Which made my night. And mitigated the fact that it cost me $14.00 damn dollars for two pepsis. No more Funnybone for us. We'll stick with the Square Cafe.
Jan Gallaway, a member of the Pittsburgh Puffins recreational hockey team, feels powerful in her uniform -- and also when she takes off her helmet to reveal the 40-something mom underneath to the shocked boys at the ice rink.
This morning, I dragged my ass out of bed at 7 AM and discovered that we had neither milk nor orange juice. Since we did have coffee, I was cool, but I knew that herself would want to be fed eventually. So I suggested we dine out for breakfast. I admit I was thinking Eat'NPark. But she had the brilliant idea of going to the
