Gay in the Bay | Vol. 2023, Issue 25

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 June 18 — 24.

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

Much of my week has been spent in preparation of a photo-related project, but I was able to write. Well, until Friday, but check out below to see what I mean.

Writing has been slow-going this month, but only to celebrate being who I am. Which seems all the more important with all the hateful legislation going on. But in terms of writing, I’m paying more attention to two characters in particular: Billy and Johnny.

They are two young men who are part of the ragtag team of misfits hunting cryptids in my fictional city of New London. In the late 80s/early 90s, they face something even scarier than the vampires and ghosts that they hunt: homophobic parents in the midst of them falling in love.

The places they explore are up against the backdrop of the AIDS epidemic. Controversy still ran rampant in the United States, even in NL. Billy and Johnny find themselves in a largely accepting city, but begin to find the underbelly. They look for monsters to see if they are real, and find the human kind hiding in their parents.

This is really becoming a love story wrapped in the cloak of a horror story, filled with quips and pop culture references galore!

I goofed up and stopped talking about monsters for a couple of weeks. It’s time to get back on track. Who doesn’t like a good spook?

Mothman!

The cryptid known as Mothman is nearly as mysterious as, say, aliens. It’s a creature that seems to appear out of nowhere. And it is an Appalachian creature.

Now, I didn’t grow up knowing that last part. I was never told where exactly it was. And when I hear Ohio, I don’t think of the Appalachian Mountains. Hell, when I heard about Mothman on an episode of Timesuck (275 - Appalachian Cryptids, if you want to check the full episode out), I had to doublecheck the information!

With too much history to go into here, this is truly a humanoid creature that’s gone beyond spooky campfire stories. Whether or not you believe in such creatures, it is well worth your time to check them out. Link to the Wikipedia article in the title above.

Pride Month!

While it wasn’t mentioned the past couple of weeks, it is PRIDE Month! I didn’t do as much as I did last year, which was five full days of rainbows and small business booths. But this year several things happened within a week.

This should’ve been covered in last week’s blog, but I was busy losing sleep over a really cool person. But things will still get covered, even if every single week of June has been a blur and difficult to keep up with.

Poetry Slime occurred June 17th, while the Trans March event occurred the 23rd.

Poetry Slime

Poetry Slime meets at Milk SF. I frequently advertised it for the first couple of months, alongside Queer Bedtime Stories. But I realized that I had fallen into a pattern: one that mostly consisted of going to and hanging out with friends between those events. These two have become great ways to catch up with those I already know, and to meet new people.

And I did meet someone new at the gayest of all Poetry Slime events. I find myself in the middle of a meet-cute. We both saw each other recite poetry, and then he got to hang out with the rest of the group at a bar afterward. This is where we both got to meet each other. We played Jenga (a game I’m obsessed with) for quite a while. He beat me in the end. It didn’t occur to me how amazing I thought they were until I was safely at home. We are currently planning on hanging out again.

Volunteer Photographer

Saturday, on the 23rd of June, I got to volunteer for the Trans March non-profit. From 3-6pm I got to take pictures of every sponsor present. There were probably a couple dozen, and some of them were so crowded the entire time that I would have to speak to them later.

My objective: take booth pictures of each sponsor for a collage they wanted to prepare next year.

It was so much fun to connect with new people in this way. I can’t wait for another opportunity to arise where I can help a group out. Even though it was socially and physically draining, it is easily one of my favorite events of the year.

Camera Repair

On a final note: I’m branching out into camera repair! It has been an interest of mine since working at Lens Rentals. Analog and digital, I will not discriminate. The focus right now is to tell everyone I know in the Bay Area so I can get as much experience as possible, then branch out from there. This is a hobby. I have no current plans or expectations for this to become anything more than that. With that being said, I would love to be in a position where I can offer this service to anyone in need of a good CLA (clean, lube, adjust).

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.

Gay in the Bay | Vol. 2023, Issue 16

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 April 16 - 22.

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.

The Power of Naming

What’s in a name? Names have power. For many people in the LGBT community, there is power in finding a preferred name, a drag name, even a stage name. There is also something about going to a safe space with a catchy name. It can (and hopefully should) give people a sense of community. Wether it’s a cafe, bookstore, or bar, there should always be something in a name that gives someone the power to be themselves.

There are so many places that I describe in my first book, located in the fictional city called New London, CA. Here, there is a vast rap sheet of characters that all know each other in one way or another. It’s almost like this big city is like a small town. They visit many of the same places (examples listed above). Because this is a love letter to the LGBT Community in many ways, I decided to use bar names. So I’ve started collecting historical lesbian and women bar names.

News

First and foremost, I applied for a job and was asked to join the team! I’m also moving soon, so writing might be limited. Organizing and managing everything is going to be especially tricky. But I’m in the middle of a story in Project Madison Flame, so I think writing that will help keep the frustrating times at bay.

Montana Won’t Let a Representative Speak

Republican leader silences Representative Zooey Zephyr, the first transgender woman elected to the legislature. Read more in Erin’s article; link in headline.

Broke Millennials

There’s a lot to be said about us Millennials and our financial stability (or instability). I often hate reading about anything that criticizes my own generation. The Atlantic generally produces novel-length articles that is blocked behind paywalls. But I was able to read the introduction this time. Email me if you’re able to afford to read the rest. Maybe I can after my first paycheck comes through.

Historical Rosie

Let’s stop looking at current events and look back at the past. Rosie the Riveter is one of the most interesting historical figures I’ve ever known, and I always like reading into Rosie. Link in headline.

German artist Boris Eldagsen

A German photographer declines an international award by Sony, and to make a point.

Disney v DeSantis

Disney has been duking it out against Florida’s totalitarianist governor Ron DeSantis for a little while now. Recently, Disney announced that they will have a Pride event in June. Around the same time, proud boy Ron has threatened (really jokingly stated, but it’s a terrible joke) to sell the land all around Disney so that another amusement park could be built or even a prison.

It’s incredibly tone-deaf to even joke about building a prison next to a public place for children of all ages. He’s one of those governors that claim they're protecting children, and here they are joking about putting them in danger. Very strange…

RIP Queer Film Theory

This week (for me) has been light on news. So I’ll bookend this post by giving a last bit of news. I had a podcast for quite some time. It was called Queer Film Theory and its main purpose was to watch movies from Black Lodge Video; a film library and event center in Memphis, TN.

After moving out to California, I did my best to keep up with it. But the numbers have consistently shown that nothing I did worked well enough. It’s not to say it hasn’t been fun. However, I am not a one-person show that is able to keep a consistent and enthusiastic demeanor while on the mic. And all attempts to have guests on (with one exception) has been thwarted by the evil “Different Industry Schedules.”

So as much fun as I had, I am shelving that project indefinitely. It had a good run (at least in my head), and I’m glad I started it. If you’re interested at all, you can check it out on Spotify.

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.

  • A friend shared this video to me. As someone who’s enjoyed Alice in Wonderland for years, this is an amazing rendition by Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway.

  • C.B. Lee — I’m currently listening to Not Your Villain, a YA sequel to Not Your Sidekick. It’s a good way to spend your Sunday afternoon, either resting and relaxing or getting things done around the house.

  • This Instagram post has lived rent free since finding it early last week.

  • The IG post above is a reference to Marina. Love!

  • Vana is another random find.

  • Honey Revenge — I feel like I find every new band through either Instagram or friends. There’s no in between.

  • EMMY has this interesting song called Stupid Big Teeth.

Gay in the Bay | Vol. 2023, Issue 12

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 March 19 - 25.

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 & Editing & Filming

Outlining is still trudging along with my novel. I’m running into the same issues as I did the first go-round with this book: figuring out the fun little details that lead to the ending. But I’m doing something very different this time around: I’m being patient with myself. I’ve written one novel in its entirety, and it was off/on for five months. And it’s being completely rewritten. This is my second novel that I’m writing to its completion.

I’m preparing to take some tests this week. No, I’m not going back to school. Blackmagic Design hosts a training program called Train the Trainer (aka T3). This certification will give me more opportunities as an editor teacher. I feel woefully unprepared. But maybe that’s just nerves. I’ll have more to update on that later on.

I helped out with Reel Oakland on a student-run film set. It ran all afternoon, we were exhausted by the end of it. But it felt great to help out again and be on set.

There was a lighting issue at some point; we wanted to light the background as a killer drags his victim through a hallway. But the light was seen in the background of the shot! I was asked to move the light closer to the camera, and I did. The light being in the foreground ended up looking even better and more sinister.

News

SF Floods are different from Memphis floods…

Flooding continued to hit the Bay Area last week. There were gusts of wind, torrents of rain, and blocks and blocks of SF and Oakland without power. And when Atmospheric River Bob was bored enough to leave, there was much rejoicing.

A friend of mine came in from Memphis, TN to attend the Game Designers Conference. We hung out on Tuesday when the rain decided to hit us all. When attempting to show him a comic shop, we looked up to realize how dark parts of the city was. It was strange. And a reminder that we as humans don’t pay enough attention sometimes.

Queer Bedtime Stories musician

In the March edition of Queer Bedtime Stories, we had a musician grace our presence with a guitar and some sweet, sweet vocals. They go by Penny’s Luck on Spotify, links here and down below. Their music is as pleasant and delightful as a nice cup of tea. Which is very refreshing, not the least because we’re all addicted to over-priced coffee out here in the West.

Comedian in a Dress

This comedian had a comedy show in Nashville last week. In solidarity, he wore a dress. He joked that he might get arrested, bringing attention to the reality that many will and already have gotten arrested for the exact same thing. I don’t generally like it when a comedian makes topical jokes like this; the difference here is that he must have thought his points through and didn’t really punch down on anyone (except the folks who wrote the anti-trans bills).

International Day of Trans Visibility

March 31, 2023 is an important day, now more than ever. There are people trying to eradicate the existence of trans/non-binary people across the United States. If you’re reading this and think I’m exaggerating, you haven’t read the bills carefully enough and buy propaganda way too easily.

Montana Bill

This article (linked in the title) focuses on a therapist stating that nobody under her care has ever regretted transitioning; with her staying in contact with her patients.

This disproves the 80% myth and claim and even forced a Republican to concede to the point. More details in the article. I do not know author Erin Reed but I do encourage support in her efforts in covering the current anti-trans bills popping up all over.

The unfortunate reality is that there are a lot of people that claim many regret transitioning without any proof. This is why properly researched papers and statistics are important, and why quoting statistics from decades ago can be dangerous regardless of the subject.

Lil Nas X and Apologies

Lil Nas X said something that the Trans Community found offensive, and he ended up retracting his apology on Twitter. In the video above, Cody Bordone covers some conflict resolution tactics that I honestly needed a refresher on. It was nice to see what could be done about real world issues.

I took a Conflict Resolution class in college, many moons ago. If I remember correctly, many of the examples felt made up and exaggerated to fit the module for that week. Something about that didn’t make the class feel all that important.

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.

  • Brian Falduto has debuted a new album called Gay Country. I found it funny at times, even though this might be a serious album. My understanding of most country albums are that they take themselves seriously. Let me know what you think! Check it out on Spotify.

  • People still do playlists, right? I hope so, because I’ve started a super-specific playlist for my queer superhero book. It’s only a few songs right now, but I’m always on the lookout for more. This isn’t character specific like Casey McQuiston.

  • McKenna Grace landed on my suggested page on Spotify. The album Bittersweet 16 was off-putting and confusing to me. But once I got into the pop/rock music, I really enjoyed it. Sometimes it’s the weird album art that really captures my attention. Grace’s music is a real bop! Check her out on Spotify.

  • I found Olive Klug via the embedded Instagram post above. It was touching, though unfortunately it’s not on Spotify. Here is her Spotify page and her site.

  • Penny’s Luck is a local artist in the San Francisco Bay Area. I mention them above, so here’s their Spotify page.