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 9 - 15.

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.

San Francisco Sunsets

At the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, April 14, Friday night. I was with friends, eating food, when I saw the sunset happening. I ran to the best spot as the sun finally set over the horizon.

Writing

This past week I took a break from my superhero book (Project Ladybug Tavern) and picked up another book (Project Madison Flame). This one is set before the events of all the meta human shenanigans. It’s a fairly poetic, multi-perspective story that introduces the reader to a portion of the residents of the city of New London. No, not the ones in Connecticut or Minnesota, but a fictional one in California.

New London has been a pet project of mine; a conglomeration of other cities that’s formed its own weird little melting pot of culture. Each perspective is dealing with something. From a traumatic break up, to a comic store manager trying her best to expand the store, to two brothers writing a play together. More on these stories in the following weeks.

Film

Beta Test: Death and Taxes

Over the weekend I got the opportunity to film a live show. It was the second one that Beta Test Burlesque has put on, and the folx who put this on are a joy to work with. Seven performers, six acts, two kittens to sweep up money, one videographer, a hard-working stage manager, and one badass host. And there was a theme this time: Death and Taxes.

Beta Test puts on display new acts that are being performed for the first time. They are acted out with the caveat that there may be things that need working out. That’s what is perfect about this show; the imperfections. The space to show what you’ve worked on and see what works, and what still needs work. And I’m here to provide that feedback later on.

Saturday night was a whirlwind. A quick setup before the audience arrived; that’s about all I remember before the show began. I got a glimpse of about three acts, while making sure my camera was set up properly. Lighting was really fun; one of my LED lights stopped working halfway through the show. Thank the gods for intermissions and extension cords.

I’ve never seen so much confetti at a live show before! There were two acts with confetti. One such act had a triple canon. I wish I was able to show that part of the show (that remains to be seen because of privacy reasons). Everyone brought such a different energy that it’s difficult to keep up with it all.

If you are interested in attending or even joining, please contact me and I will pass along the proper information for the next show in August.

Aspect Ratio Sizes 2023

Are you a photographer or videographer trying to share your work? Does your platform of choice force you to crop your beautiful photo/video? Well, wonder no more! Below is a cheat sheet for each platform, so you don’t have to worry about unneeded cropping.

For the sake of transparency, I’ve used a blog post from Hoot Suite for reference.

* The Cover number for LinkedIn does not comply with the numbers I have researched. Ultimately, LinkedIn wants your Banner to be a 1.91:1 ratio. This blog post by LinkedIn should clear up any further confusion.

News

Some SF History

California is known for many things. Serial killers are but one subject of this state’s complicated history. Broke Ass Stuart recently wrote about a darker side of Daly City. I’m not sharing this to glorify this killer’s actions, like some podcasts and television shows will do. This is being shared because it’s a piece of history that is close to my doorstep. And that is always worth digging up the old newspapers to get a glimpse of the past.

Influencing is Pretty Difficult, It Turns Out

As time moves on, starting your career as an influencer becomes more difficult. Influencing seems like you can keep your own hours and do what you want. But that will bleed into your private and social lives. It’s difficult enough just being on social media, but to be chained by advertisers makes things like 1000% worse.

This NYT article follows Lee From America and others as they change their business lives to a 9 - 5 work life. I don’t know that I completely understand their enthusiasm to work at a desk job, but it certainly brings some anxieties to light. Link in headline.

Danger List: New Zealand Street Lamps

Let’s take a break from all the batshit crazy news this week and appreciate the weirder news. This and the next articles are pretty high up in the “Get this” news at the watering hole. As always, links are in the headlines.

Radioactive Theme Park

This one needs a bit of a caveat, though the humor is still there. This nuclear power plant was never opened and used as an actual power plant. Please read the rest of the article for all the chuckles.

New Jersey News

This was missed from last week, and still worth bringing up. New Jersey has become a Trans Healthcare sanctuary.

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.

Sunsets are great (see above picture).
This week has been busy, and I’ve missed naps.
Therapy? During that sunset, my friends and I discussed favorite punctuation marks. That evolved into favorite bands with punctuation marks. This appeared alongside other more mainstream bands.
Tina Bell — see how a female POC walked so Grunge could run.

Queer Intro

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

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Olive Klug (Olivia Klugman) (@oliveklug)

Olive Klug strummin’ along.

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.