Free-for-all Friday!
/Hello people of computerland! I have some exciting things to share with you! I have been a busy little be...ing lately and want to share some things in case you missed them. If you have already seen all this and are grumbling slightly that I am a total bi...son for repeating myself, then I am so very sorry! Avert your eyes!
1. The 2015 season of Listen To Your Mother is now live on YouTube! You can see all the shows from all the cities! Of course, I'm particularly attached to the Twin Cities show so I'm embedding that one right here for you to watch at your leisure (pronounced léjur because I'm fancy).
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5oPQWgVdsDmMZlX1eOCPatsPxjPLr_-n
2. Some of you may not know that I am now blogging for the Star Tribune right here in the Twin Cities! Today, I wrote about how setting things on fire makes me feel closer to my own childhood! Not really. It's a more thoughtful piece than that. Here is a little teaser:
Thomas C. Wolfe wrote, "You can't go home again." I think of this quote often when I latch onto certain memories of my childhood. A watermelon-flavored Jolly Rancher has never tasted as sweet as it did when I was 8 years old, sitting on the dock with my feet dangling in the lake. The singing of cicadas is not as constant and as comforting as it was during those hot summer days in Kansas when I was just a kid, running through fields of dry grass with my friends. And the fourth of July has not been the same since I moved to Minnesota, leaving behind those languid days sitting in the shade, unraveling Black Cats into a metal Folgers can.
You can find the rest of it at the Star Tribune...Summer memories: Trying to recreate my childhood with my children
3. Next week, I am headed to New York for BlogHer15 where I'll be speaking on a panel about LGBT storytelling. I am passionate about storytelling and could talk about queer things all the livelong day so I'm looking forward to the conversation. (Are you singing I've Been Working on the Railroad now?) Before I left for Kansas City for the 4th of July, I did a podcast with the other panelists (Terésa Dowell-Vest and Mona Darling) and Michelle A. Dowell-Vest of A Gurlz Guide. You can check that out here!
4. Did you watch the Women's World Cup? Wasn't it amazing? Did you see Abby Wambach making out with a fan in celebration after? With fans like that, who needs girlfriends/partners/wives? Spoiler Alert: It wasn't a fan. I wrote about that for VillageQ this week. Here's an excerpt:
After the match, Abby Wambach ran to the stands and kissed her wife, Sarah Huffman. I sat watching with my family, and my son said, “I didn’t know Abby Wambach was a lesbian!” just as the announcer said, “Abby Wambach is celebrating with a fan.” While I am sure that Sarah Huffman is one of Abby Wambach’s biggest fans, she is also her wife. Furthermore, have you ever seen a professional athlete run to the stands and make out with a random? No. Because it doesn’t happen.
I also do some ranting about the media's use of the term "gal pals." You can read it for yourself right here.
5. I feel like I should have a #5 that involves a link to something I've written or produced but I don't have another thing. So, I will tell you a story instead. When we were in Kansas City, we went to the Schlitterbahn Water Park and went down the world's tallest water slide. We climbed 264 stairs so that we could plummet from a height greater than that of Niagra Falls. Fortunately, we were strapped into a boat and not a barrel. I can report that it was very high and the entire structure seemed to sway in the wind. I can also report that we survived (obviously) though our heads bounced around like pinballs and we all had stiff necks the next day. Family fun! Would I do it again? Nope. But the water park was awesome and I could have spent the entire day going around and around on the river rapids. How's that for #5?
And now...I am going to drink some water and pretend that summer is not heating up in Minnesota. Have a great weekend!
FEATURE PHOTO CREDIT KANSASCITY.COM