Gay in the Bay | Vol. 2023, Issue 20

Queer Intro

Welcome to the Gay in the Bay Blog! I am Josie, a queer writer and videographer that loves to document what I see around me. This started out as a writing blog but has grown to include events that more people should know about.

This post is for the week of May 14 — 20.

Do you have a live event that needs filming? I’m a videographer! Please check out the Sweeney Media on your way to the About > Contact page. I look forward to working with you.

Writing

For the past several weeks, I’ve decided to focus on the spookier side of myths and legends. This is all research used for Project Madison Flame. Right after this will be more women’s bar names.

Spearfinger

Gather ‘round the campfire, kids! It’s spooky time!

This one I was not familiar with at all. The name may sound silly if you haven’t heard of this one. And I don’t blame you, because I did the same thing. But this is the only thing that’s funny about Spearfinger.

She is someone who has claws or knives for fingers. My view are the blade-like protrusions you see in certain horror movies these days. They are usually creatures that attack the protagonist, showing off the blades as they do so. Those kinds of knives. And she goes after children. She puts them under a false sense of security, eventually… unaliving them with her spear finger.

Something I’ve noticed about horror. The less details you get, the more people thing it’s silly; bordering into absurdity. But when enough details are added, the humor that arises disappears like a wisp of smoke or fog. Depending of what you say, things can get creepy fast.

Spearfinger has started haunting my daydreams lately. It’s because she’s in Project Madison, so it all makes sense. But having children protagonists that fall under what Spearfinger looks for is a bit unnerving. If you’d like a bit more details, and then-some, follow the links below…

Folklore

For next week, we ponder the sounds people hear at night. It’s not homework, but if you want even more to read, here is what I plan on talking about.

Bar Names

Bum Bum Bar — NYC

La Gata — Frankfurt, Germany; This bar, at the time of writing this, is open, and has been since 1971.

Chez Moune — Paris, France

New Moon — Paris France

The Owl and Pussycat — London; this bar, at the time of writing, is open.

History

I aim to get these posts out on Sundays, but I partied a little too hard. So it will need to come out a little late. I appreciate your patience with that.

Poetry Slime

Poetry Slime is a free form poetry slam, but without the competition. It’s a wonderful event that respects the mic, the vibes, and especially the readers. Meeting every third Saturday of the month at Milk SF, host Leland strives to create a creative space that doesn’t require alcohol.

Technically, this is history. It happened the day before the Bay to Breakers event, which happened the next day. And boy-howdy was the city of San Francisco crazy in their preparations.

Since I partied after Slime, I had to recover on Sunday. While I missed what was likely a great event, I’m glad I took the time to take care of myself. And this gets to my main point:

Drink your water.

Put on your sunscreen.

Take time for yourself.

The Presidio

So the here is where I’ll share some photos from a visit at the Presidio. Look, we all geek out about something. This day (which was very sunny, seriously don’t forget your sunscreen when in SF) I had helped repair an analog camera (DM if interested) and decided to visit the Presidio. I had looked for a Yoda Statue at the LucasArts Art School. And wow, is it a secretive statue! It’s out of the way, so it’s an interesting challenge to find it. Afterward, I took some photos of a couple of other landscapes.

All photos are attributions belong to me, Josie Sweeney.

Harriet the Spy

The New Yorker has this amazing article on the queer feminist author of Harriet the Spy. This has me wanting to read the books (never got the chance as a kid) and rewatch the movie. Link in headline.

Reel Oakland Student Film Festival

I’m volunteering for a couple of film festivals!

I used to volunteer for the Indie Memphis Film Festival. Since I’m no longer in Memphis, I cannot help them out anymore. I’ve lived here for a year now, and have begun asking around for film festivals to volunteer for; with great results.

The first one is the Reel Oakland Student Film Festival 2023. I will be in charge of presenting everything folks see on the silver screen. The presentation points, volume, films, everything was considered and discussed. And I will be in charge of it all. The next festival won’t be ready for another few months.

If you would like to help support this non-profit, you can find the link in the headline.

National News

Supreme Court Kicks the Can

In an article by Reuters, we learn that SCOTUS had received a lawsuit against Google (this was about the practice of their video-sharing). They must have decided it wasn’t worth their time, because they aren’t going to make a decision on it. They have kicked the proverbial can down the road by stating that this can be decided on a state level.

Pop Culture

Each week I include media that I’ve enjoyed. If you’re a creator of any kind, please email me to be included in this list. I love discovering new artists; from singer-songwriters to upcoming directors, and beyond.

Last Thing Last

I didn’t have a good place to put these, but still wanted to share.

I’ve started a new hobby! I’m looking at cameras that have issues or are very dirty. The Canon camera was brought to a beach and needed a good deep clean. The Nikon has an autofocus issue, and the customer has chosen me to help with that. And the last one? Well, I have a new shirt for PRIDE, and happened to match Milk SF at Poetry Slime.

Gay in the Bay | Vol. 2023, Issue 19

Queer Intro

Welcome to the Gay in the Bay Blog! I am Josie, a queer writer and videographer that loves to document what I see around me. This started out as a writing blog but has grown to include events that more people should know about.

This post is for the week of May 7 - 13.

Do you have a live event that needs filming? I’m a videographer! Please check out the Sweeney Media on your way to the About > Contact page. I look forward to working with you.

Writing

The Ladybug

Last week I listed off many bars, without getting into any of the histories. Many of them, unfortunately, are lost to history. I hope to correct that where possible. This week we will look at The Ladybug in Chicago; not to be confused with the similarly titled tavern in Toronto.

These days, bars are remembered by the personal stories that occur within the alcohol-covered walls of the establishment. There is one such story about The Ladybug on the story I linked above. So while I don’t have enough information to describe how The Ladybug impacted the neighborhood and the kinds of people that patronized the place, I’m lucky enough to find anything at all.

Lesbian bars have all but disappeared. They have largely evolved to sports bars, from my own personal experience. Many of them have grown to include Non-Binary folx and even gay men. It’s easy to bemoan this if you want to find someone similar to you in a safe space. But it’s important to understand the troubling times that were as we fight for a better today and tomorrow.

This bar, though light on information, will be a huge influence on my superhero book, Project Ladybug Tavern. It’s actually where the project name came from. This fictionalized bar in the fictional city New London uses codenames to protect their patrons. This is a bit of creative license to the real-life use of aliases. If you were cruising at a gay/women’s bar and afraid of getting arrested, or living your life as the woman or man that you are at a trans bar, there were numerous reasons to not use your legal name.

In the book, there is a bartender at the fictional Ladybug Tavern that decides to use the name of her favorite character from her most adored cartoon show, The PowerPuff Girls. Not very usual. But this becomes an unwitting catalyst to the naming convention for the meta-humans in New London.

Rougarou

Have you ever heard of the Rougarou? I hadn’t either, until I began researching for the spooky side of Project Madison Flame (see Vol. 2023, Issue 18 for more details). Deep in the southern part of Louisiana lives the cryptid known as the Rougarou. This is the next part of my Cryptid Mythology Tour.

The etymology comes from the French word “loup-garou,” which is a werewolf. Since Louisiana is also home to many Cajuns, the word evolved phonetically to become Rougarou, keeping its meaning for the most part.

I was a bit confused at first, because the first couple of sites I found did their best to distinguish this cryptid from werewolves entirely. To be clear, it is an evolution of the creature. The word werewolf comes from the Proto-European languages that all mean “Man” and “Wolf.” But the more the mythology expanded, the further the reach, and the deeper the meaning. So the Rougarou is, indeed, a werewolf, but it’s the southern Louisiana Werewolf. And that deserves a spotlight.

The Rougarou is also important because of its inclusion in saving the swamplands of Louisiana. It is used as the mascot, to save both land and creature. There’s also a Rougarou festival every year.

Queer Herstory

Druid Heights

Do you feel anxiety from the current events going on? Do you, like me, need a break from all those crazy folks doing terrible things? Then you’re in the right place. Here is a video (link in headline) about Druid Heights, located in the North Bay.

Druid Heights was an artists compound nestled in the Muir National Monument woods. It’s not exactly open to the public, as there are still people living there. But it is nostalgic and a great look at Muir National Monument redwoods.

Money, Success, Fame, Glamor — Music

It’s been a while since I last heard this song, but it was mentioned on Ru Paul’s Drag Race as part of a mix up of Voguing. This got me wanting to know more about the song. And this was where I fell down the rabbit hole.

This is admittedly not a great “history” segment. Instead, it is more a look inside my ADHD mind. Nonetheless, it was a delight to listen to the song again.

I missed the names that she mentioned, and immediately became confused with all the different names involved with this one song. It’s been so long since Party Monster (2003). And the internet database has become more confusing than helpful with finding out the original composer. Or maybe I just get confused very easily. Regardless, that was a fun rabbit hole to fall down.

The following folks came up during my research:

Felix da Housecat

The Pop Tarts Band

Dan De Leon

Nina Flowers

Fenton Fox Bailey

Randy Barbato

Pop Culture

Each week I include media that I’ve enjoyed. If you’re a creator of any kind, please email me to be included in this list. I love discovering new artists; from singer-songwriters to upcoming directors, and beyond.