Meet JT: Neo-Victorian-Diesel-Steam Punk

by Lewis

JT in steampunk gear

Traveling for work gives me plenty of opportunities to meet colorful people from all over and experience a plethora of delightfully, eclectic experiences. In between gigs, I rest my weary head in the Midwest as it gives me a perspective on work and life experiences;  I can get pretty introspective at times. The energy is refreshingly different and what I’m finding is a strong, queer community beyond what I encounter in major cities like New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, London, etc.  I was brought up as an army brat, so being in different cities is no big deal to me ; it groomed me to be pretty adaptable in fact and I look at it this way:  there is something appealing in every city because at the end of the day, it’s really what you make of it, right?

Courtesy of GCG Studios

When I touch down in Indianapolis to be with my boyfriend, we always find time to spend with JT and Paul, who are also recent transplants to the Midwest – there seems to be more of us every day. We often share stories of what our friends from either coasts will say, often from them just being naive (“Does Fedex go there?”)  or “snarky” (“There are gay people there?”) .  Sigh, we do hear it all.

One evening at dinner, JT mentioned about going to a steampunk event, which had me doing a double take.

Do It Like Jessie J

by Quentin

Lady Gaga is moving aside on my iPod for bisexual British singer and songwriter Jessie J who said, “I’ve never denied it. Whoopie doo guys, yes, I’ve dated girls and I’ve dated boys—get over it.”

I first heard her infectious hip hop track “Do It Like a Dude” in a hip hop class. The beats and lyrics were a blast to dance to… and I thought she was black. “Do It Like a Dude” has definitely inspired some neat combinations by hip hop dancers and choreographers.

A Queerious Gathering at the San Fransisco Int’l Asian American Film Festival

by Kevyn

There was a Queerious gathering at the 29th San Fransisco International Asian American Film Festival and a lot of the writers, contributors and readers were in attendance. It was thrown by the very hospitable, Andreas, who graciously let all of those who are LGBT in the entertainment industry come together and enjoy each other’s stories and presence. It was right in the Castro which has so much history to it. I had such a great time.

I finally got to meet fellow Queerious blogger H.P. Mendoza who was celebrating his sweet 16th birthday weekend the same time as the opening of the festival.  So a quick happy birthday shout-out to H.P.!

Tattoo You: Meet Shadow of San Francisco’s Painted Monkey

by Lewis

I got my first tattoo when I turned twenty-one, telling myself that I would get new ink every five years and/or during a pivotal state of my life  like turning twenty-five or to commemorate the  “freak-out” stage of when I became thirty years old.   I admit, I’m sentimental and have no qualms about embracing and wholeheartedly celebrating traditions both old, new and borrowed.

Frank and Paul, part of my “logical” San Francisco family (to borrow a term from Mrs. Madrigal of the Tales of the City books) have generously opened up their home for me to rest my nappy head.  Its also given me time to get to know their housemate Shadow,  a very sweet soul who I feel has quickly become part of my ‘family,’  who is a tattoo artist who owns a Mission District-based tattoo space named Painted Monkey.  

Dance Speak

by Jason

How do you write this on paper?

We had our first rehearsal yesterday and I have to admit I was anxious. I’m relying on my two choreographers to come up with something that reflects the mood of the story, the intention of the characters and the arc of each scene.  In the script, I have left the description of the dances up to the choreographers to interpret, but yesterday I found out that I was not specific enough with my writing. How specific must one be when describing dance in a script? A sashay here and a grand jete over there might feel contrived if it is misplaced. The characters in this film have minimal dialogue so am I being too bold by relying on my choreographers to give them voices? No, I don’t think so.

Race + Dates

by Alicia

Have you ever heard of the free online dating site, OKCupid?  One of the Harvard math nerds behind it is an acquaintance of mine, so I’ve followed its growth over the years. Recently they started blogging about the data they’ve amassed on people’s dating habits. A post about how your race affects the rate of replies you receive caught my eye. Their initial post was on heterosexuals, but they took a close look at the same-sex numbers as well.

Going Sticky

by Doris

Michelle Krusiec and Lynn Chen in Alice Wu's Saving Face

My friend Quentin invited me to Queerious and explained that the blog could be anything from queer identity to what a lesbian usually eats for breakfast. For my first blog, I thought about my most recent and new experiences in my queer life. It’s been quite a queerious journey since I first opened myself up to the same sex in my early twenties. Since then, I have been happily exploring my limits and tastes in my ever richer sexual identity now well into my early thirties.

Why Am I Queerious?

by Quentin

I came of age intellectually at the explosion of multiculturalism and during the fading heights of Act Up and Queer Nation.

Yes, I’m old. It was Berkeley. 1990. What could have been a better time to be queer and a person of color?