Upon return from Montreal Outgames:
1. Join Amnesty International
2. Join N.O.W. (the National Organization for Women)
3. Research ILGA North American (International Lesbian and Gay Association...champion of GLBT rights worldwide, but specifically focused on gaining access to the United Nations for LGBT associations).
4. Remind everyone I know that AIDS is not over...it is on the tip of everyone's tongue outside North America and Western Europe.
P.S. Martina has 14 dogs, 6 turtles and a host of cats, all of which she takes with her in a giant RV when she travels to tournaments in North America.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Monday, July 24, 2006
YVO news
Hi Folks,
I am copying a post I did for the YVO blog, but since many of the people who read my blog follow Liv's work with YVO and because this is exciting news, I wanted to publish it on my blog too. Yipee..... Canada here we come!
Hey Canada folks,
Hang on to your hats, I just got some amazing news. As Liv has probably told you, I am a board member of the Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association, the association behind the Outgames and the Conference you are attending this week (yikes...it's here already). Anyway, I did some snooping around and got you all a meeting with Martina Navratilova for Friday, July 28th.
You guys, she's a superstar. If you aren't familiar with her acheivements, I would really encourage you to do some research before you meet her. She is from the Czech Republic (but is now a U.S. citizen) and is one of the best, if not THE best, woman's tennis player of all time.
She is also a trailblazer for GLBT human rights and for combatting homophobia in sports...she was one of the first out lesbian professional athletes.
You may remember seeing her in one of the videos you watched early on. She's very committed to helping queer youth through the coming out stages, and advocating for education around the subject.
You will probably also meet Mark Tewksbury,
who is a superstar Canadian swimmer who won a gold medal in the Barcelona Olympics.
So, not to freak you out, but this is a BIG deal. I have seen Martina's schedule and she is meeting with VERY few groups while in Montreal (she's only there for a few days). Please take the time to read about her work and think in advance about any questions you might have for her about her work with GLBT youth (or anything else for that matter).
For those of you not going to Montreal, I for one will miss you, but we'll take lots of pictures and remember, this is just the BEGINNING, you'll get your turns at the next great thing (hopefully something like Sundance!).
Thanks again to you all for letting me tag along!
Julie
I am copying a post I did for the YVO blog, but since many of the people who read my blog follow Liv's work with YVO and because this is exciting news, I wanted to publish it on my blog too. Yipee..... Canada here we come!
Hey Canada folks,
Hang on to your hats, I just got some amazing news. As Liv has probably told you, I am a board member of the Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association, the association behind the Outgames and the Conference you are attending this week (yikes...it's here already). Anyway, I did some snooping around and got you all a meeting with Martina Navratilova for Friday, July 28th.
You guys, she's a superstar. If you aren't familiar with her acheivements, I would really encourage you to do some research before you meet her. She is from the Czech Republic (but is now a U.S. citizen) and is one of the best, if not THE best, woman's tennis player of all time.
She is also a trailblazer for GLBT human rights and for combatting homophobia in sports...she was one of the first out lesbian professional athletes.
You may remember seeing her in one of the videos you watched early on. She's very committed to helping queer youth through the coming out stages, and advocating for education around the subject.
You will probably also meet Mark Tewksbury,
who is a superstar Canadian swimmer who won a gold medal in the Barcelona Olympics. 
So, not to freak you out, but this is a BIG deal. I have seen Martina's schedule and she is meeting with VERY few groups while in Montreal (she's only there for a few days). Please take the time to read about her work and think in advance about any questions you might have for her about her work with GLBT youth (or anything else for that matter).
For those of you not going to Montreal, I for one will miss you, but we'll take lots of pictures and remember, this is just the BEGINNING, you'll get your turns at the next great thing (hopefully something like Sundance!).
Thanks again to you all for letting me tag along!
Julie
Friday, July 21, 2006
Serena and Myskina
My Grandma was a tennis player when she was growing up in Southern California. She played all through her youth and early adulthood and when we lived with her in the mid 80's, she paid for lessons for me to play.
I loved it at the time and made the High School tennis team; it was one of three Varsity sports I played my freshman year...tennis, basketball and track. I moved to Cincinnati after my freshman year and for some reason abandonned tennis for cross country (though my real love was soccer).
I joined the swim team that same year as a way to bridge the off season between cross country and track. I had no aspirations for the pool whatsoever, I couldn't even do a flip turn when I joined the team, but, I was fast and I kept getting faster in the pool and at some point my coach suggested I give up running to focus on swimming. It made sense to me, so I went full force into the swimming world, where I stayed for the remainder of high school and my first two years of college.
College swimming is all consuming. Think 30 hours a week of training, plus study tables, full time classes and all of your social activites linked to the team. I loved it at first, but as I watched the rest that college has to offer elude me, I ditched the pool for left wing politics, djing and explorations of my sexuality.
By the time I was a senior, I had my first girlfriend, a job at the record store, new best friends and the freedom to return to tennis. I spent a summer after graduation in Athens and played daily with my girlfriend and my housemate. Our evening routine went like so: two hours of tennis, home cooked food and a night on the couch watching the Real World on MTV or highlights of Wimbledon. I broke my elbow playing tennis that summer.
That was 13 years ago and somewhere along the way, tennis got shoved into a corner again. Last month I visited my ex-girlfriend and hit the courts again. I immediately remembered how much I love the sport. This week I did something I've wanted to do for years. I went to Cincinnati to watch professional tennis. It was awesome, we lucked out and got to see Serena Williams play one of the other top ranked players in the world. I didn't care who was on the court, I just wanted to see them whack the ball in person. Serena hit a serve 127 miles per hour. Whew.......
I didn't mean to write all of this when I sat down, I was just going to post the video, but I think my relationship to tennis is kind of like my relationship to a favorite pair of shoes. I love the memory of the shoes, I can't get rid of them, I like to know they are still sitting there in the back of the closet, sometimes I like to get them out and wear them again, and everytime I do I wonder why I have neglected them for so long and then I remember why I never got rid of them in the first place.
Speaking of shoes, the ones I have on in the picture are first edition Nike velco tennis shoes. That's me, forever on the tip of the latest fashion trends!
I loved it at the time and made the High School tennis team; it was one of three Varsity sports I played my freshman year...tennis, basketball and track. I moved to Cincinnati after my freshman year and for some reason abandonned tennis for cross country (though my real love was soccer).
I joined the swim team that same year as a way to bridge the off season between cross country and track. I had no aspirations for the pool whatsoever, I couldn't even do a flip turn when I joined the team, but, I was fast and I kept getting faster in the pool and at some point my coach suggested I give up running to focus on swimming. It made sense to me, so I went full force into the swimming world, where I stayed for the remainder of high school and my first two years of college.
College swimming is all consuming. Think 30 hours a week of training, plus study tables, full time classes and all of your social activites linked to the team. I loved it at first, but as I watched the rest that college has to offer elude me, I ditched the pool for left wing politics, djing and explorations of my sexuality.
By the time I was a senior, I had my first girlfriend, a job at the record store, new best friends and the freedom to return to tennis. I spent a summer after graduation in Athens and played daily with my girlfriend and my housemate. Our evening routine went like so: two hours of tennis, home cooked food and a night on the couch watching the Real World on MTV or highlights of Wimbledon. I broke my elbow playing tennis that summer.
That was 13 years ago and somewhere along the way, tennis got shoved into a corner again. Last month I visited my ex-girlfriend and hit the courts again. I immediately remembered how much I love the sport. This week I did something I've wanted to do for years. I went to Cincinnati to watch professional tennis. It was awesome, we lucked out and got to see Serena Williams play one of the other top ranked players in the world. I didn't care who was on the court, I just wanted to see them whack the ball in person. Serena hit a serve 127 miles per hour. Whew.......
I didn't mean to write all of this when I sat down, I was just going to post the video, but I think my relationship to tennis is kind of like my relationship to a favorite pair of shoes. I love the memory of the shoes, I can't get rid of them, I like to know they are still sitting there in the back of the closet, sometimes I like to get them out and wear them again, and everytime I do I wonder why I have neglected them for so long and then I remember why I never got rid of them in the first place.
Speaking of shoes, the ones I have on in the picture are first edition Nike velco tennis shoes. That's me, forever on the tip of the latest fashion trends!
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Incredible
powered by ODEO
To see this woman perform live is absolutely unreal. She has more passion, energy and love for her music and her fans than any performer I have ever seen (Garth Brooks comes a close second).
For three solid hours she had us screaming, laughing, dancing, bawling, you name it. It sounds cliche for my big ole dyke self to be so moved by Melissa Etheridge, but she is superb.
Honestly, what touched me so much about her show was that she shouts all these truths that so many people refuse to acknowledge. She sang about homophobia, 9/11, Matthew Shepard, Breast Cancer, Global Warming, coming out. It made me realize how much heavy shit we, as a society, have been through in the past 10 years.
I wish I could meet her and just say "thanks."
She is one courageous, powerful, inspiring woman.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Ramblin' man.
Sometimes men are gross and they overstep boundaries in the guise of being "friendly."
Elis and I went swimming last week at Sunlite Pool in Cincinnati and encountered one such specimen. He was strolling around the grassy area where people were lounging in the sun and "serenading" bikini clad teenaged girls.
As if his leopard-print draped wanker weren't scary enough, his hideous and repetitive renditions of "Margaritaville" were.
Yikes! Beware of half naked, guitar toting, overaged, ramblin' men.
Elis and I went swimming last week at Sunlite Pool in Cincinnati and encountered one such specimen. He was strolling around the grassy area where people were lounging in the sun and "serenading" bikini clad teenaged girls.
As if his leopard-print draped wanker weren't scary enough, his hideous and repetitive renditions of "Margaritaville" were.
Yikes! Beware of half naked, guitar toting, overaged, ramblin' men.
Monday, July 03, 2006
New pill on the block.
So, in a time of funk, one often discovers the best in friends and family. One such discovery came delivered with a cozy hug and the wry suggestion that I try a new white pill with the best packaging ever.
Who could argue?
P.S. Johnny, you rock.
Who could argue?
P.S. Johnny, you rock.
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