Great turnout at our Feminist Sex panel in Baltimore a few nights ago. It was fun trying to define what it means to be both feminist and sex-positive with my intelligent, fierce, and funny friends Shira Tarrant & Cara Bruce. Thanks to an exuberant audience and nice organization on the part of Red Emma’s bookstore, we had a lively discussion (in a church, no less!) A gift of apples from a friend make for a nice centerpiece with our books.
Went to see the movie last night, which is based on the Maurice Sendak book–both are great, but being a harDCore kid of the 80s, when I hear the title I can’t help but think of this great Blackout Records compilation. Remember compilations? Do people still do them? One of my students is making a hip hop comp, and asked a classmate if he wanted to be on it, so I guess so. This one brings back memories.
I was very sad to hear of the passing of punk and fellow promoter/writer Brendan Mullen on Tuesday. He founded the Masque club in LA, spawning grounds for numerous bands; he also authored We Got the Neutron Bomb, Lexicon Devil and Live at the Masque. I grew up in DC, highly influenced by 80s hardcore, with my husband a few years younger and very involved in the 90s wave. Two decades older than us, Brendan never gave us any of that “older-school-than-you” attitude when we met him while living in LA. He always treated us as part of the tribe, despite our age and coast-affiliation. Curmudgeonly, funny, and bright, he was a punk rocker through and through. I last saw him in 2007, when I had a gig interviewing people on camera at the Masque reunion show in Los Angeles. His passing reminds me that we are the best documentarians of our own scene, and that we will not live forever. This inspires me to get to work on getting my own punk book out there. I think Brendan would dig that.
Just returned from a fabulous reading in NYC, for the anthology Hos, Hookers, Callgirls and Rentboys. Following are scenes from the Sex Worker Literati reading. It was good to be a in a room full of friends and fellow writers. Pictured below are Audacia Ray, Jennifer Blowdryer, David Sterry & myself. It was my first time reading this piece to an audience and they were very kind. My husband and I spent the next day eating at wonderful vegan restaurants and walking our asses off. Thanks to the Bolt Bus, we just may be able to do this more often!
