Guz Viewz

Guz Viewz

• Organized Chaos – A Chicago Woman’s Motorcycle Club and so much more
  Tweet TweetThere is a new kid in town.  She is big, beautiful and as bad ass as they come.  She rides on two wheels and is about to change the way Motorcycle Clubs in the state of Illinois look.  Organized Chaos Chicago, founded by Tamale Sepp and Tammy Sciortino, has hit the ground running.   I was lucky enough to catch up with these two incredibly busy women to chat about OC. TLS: Tell me a little about Organized Chaos.   Tammy: We are [...]
• Kaisa Dille – Design with Integrity
  Tweet TweetI know when I first met Kaisa Dille her kind smile, quiet intelligence and generous nature made me like her immediately.  Some of her amazing work caught my attention the other day – and I felt the need to reach out and talk to her about her life and her work at K. Dille Designs.  Using salvaged old-growth and rough-sawn wood from places such as the ReBuilding Exchange and road trips through the countryside “knocking on farmers’ doors,” Dille makes [...]
• The Happiest Song Plays Last / The Fawz and The Goodman
  Tweet TweetI don’t know about you – but I LOVE this woman. There is an air of certainty, peace and confidence that exudes from her. She shares a smile that is quick and generous. Behind those wide eyes is a uniquely creative mind that challenges and engages those who spend time on her side of the room. Fawz Mirza is all that. She is a gift to the Arts in this city – and I had the opportunity to throw a [...]
• She Reminded Me To Dance
  Tweet TweetGuz Viewz – The perspective from our Senior Editor and word wrangler, Kathy Guzman. Every step we take brings us closer to the end of all things that we know. Every glimpse we grab generates new foundations and possible expectations for what is yet to be. We live for today and hope for tomorrow and all the way pray we enjoy this exceptional ride called life. The journey is wild really. We are born into this place pure and perfect and untouched [...]
• Jeanne Bessette – An Artist You Need to Know
  Tweet TweetFaceBook is my friend for many reasons. Keeping in touch with long lost friends, communicating events and promoting my blog are just a few of the wonderful perks of this social media thing. To my great joy it has also helped me find some amazing talents out there in the real world. One of the artists I stumbled across is Jeanne Bessette. But I didn’t just stumble, pick myself up and keep on going. This woman’s work spoke to me [...]
• DOMA and Edie and Me
  Tweet TweetThe headlines and once upon a time bi lines are all telling the same story these days. DOMA on the agenda and Edie Windsor elegantly representing the righteousness of a cause while FaceBook turns red with the marketing genius of HRC billowing the sails. And it got me to wondering about something…. What is it really that keeps so many from recognizing the simple truth? This should not even be a fight or a consideration or a front news story. Our [...]
• Woman’s History Month – The Power of Mentoring
  Tweet TweetAnne came to American on a boat in late 1931. A hazel eyed 16 year old Irish girl leaving a life and family behind to make a better place for herself in a new world she knew very little about. Her strong hands, worn and calloused through time and efforts in the fields of Roscommon, were held together, firm in prayer under her tattered coat as Ellis Island came into focus on the horizon. Guided by faith and resolution of [...]
• St. Baldrick’s, Amy Kelly and a Lot of Hope
  Tweet TweetOnce upon a time there was a boy named Sean – and he had a sister named Amy. The Kelly kids grew up in a big old Irish household in Chicago where they got into some trouble and had a ton of fun. They had an amazing family that centered around the faith and love of their parents – Ed and Laurette. It has become obvious to me that the whole Kelly Clan must have learned very early that kindness [...]
• A Fulfilling Life
  Tweet TweetGuz Viewz – The perspective from our Senior Editor and word wrangler, Kathy Guzman. I have been reading a lot more lately. Filling my head with the words and insights of other people – artists, thinkers, poets and dreamers. Thinking that perhaps I can enlighten myself and understand more certainly what this life is really supposed to be about. Yearning to live a fulfilling life – a full – filling – life…..and wondering out loud and over again – what does [...]
• A Matter of Time
  Tweet TweetGuz Viewz – The perspective from our Senior Editor and word wrangler, Kathy Guzman. I started thinking again. This time on the day of my little girl’s 25 th birthday – I know – I know….hard to believe…..Thinking about time and all it brings to us, takes from us, promises and demands of us. There are no measurements pure enough to capture and evaluate the moments that we are given and how we use them. When days roll into years and [...]
• Guz Viewz on Kindness
  Tweet Tweet “If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.” -Mother [...]
• The Ms Foundation: Focus on Chicago – Celebrating 40 years
  Tweet TweetI had the opportunity to meet with Michelle Clarkin of the Ms Foundation during her visit to Chicago recently. It was an amazing night really. There we were, with Amy Bloom and Maia Benson sitting around a table and creating a think tank of sorts. The first step – the beginning of incorporating Chicago and the women of this town under the established umbrella of New York and all that the Ms Foundation has built over the past four decades. [...]
• Toys for Tots Ride
  Tweet TweetThe first Sunday in December can be brutally cold and miserable; with rain and snow or sleet and ice. Wind chills can cut through your under amour and bite the feeling out of your fingers. But this December 2nd was not a typical winter Sunday in Chicago. It was a balmy 62 degree day and over 45,000 motorcycles hit the pavement for the 35th Annual Toys for Tots Motorcycle Run. I left my house in the ‘burbs bright and early. My [...]
• Melissa Etheridge wants you to come over
  Tweet TweetI remember when I first heard an Etheridge song. It was the late 80’s and I was hanging with friends – tunes blasting in the background – all very non descript background noise. Without warning I found myself leaving the conversation to pay attention to the song on the radio. It could not be ignored. The power of that voice meshed with the virility of her music caught me – somebody bring me some water baby – it caught me [...]
• Get Out and Vote
  Tweet TweetI wrote this piece 4 years ago before walking into the voting booth and putting in my vote for Barrack Obama. I will walk into that polling place today and vote for Barrack Obama – because I still believe that we need this man to continue to champion for equality and human rights for all of us…..more important than any loss on the value of my property – more meaningful than the hard hits to my credit score during these [...]
• Beautiful Mess
  Tweet TweetThere she was – right where I knew I would find her.  Crawling into the depths of my heart again – through that old back door with the broken lock.  She always knew how to break and enter and find a way to stay – as if no crime had ever been committed.  And I always knew how to let it happen. To bury an old relationship deep in the cold hard ground, to walk away all the better for the [...]
• Not One Single Regret
  Tweet Tweet “When she shall die, Take her and cut her out in little stars, And she will make the face of heaven so fine That all the world will be in love with night And pay no worship to the garish sun.” ― William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet   I got the news about an old friend today. A long ago and once upon a time sort of girl – someone I had known before and had not spoken to for years. We shared incredible memories of a [...]
• Comfort Zone
  Tweet TweetComfort in a real, honest, living, evolving, passionate relationship should be an anomaly – but it seems to be a more and more prevalent word used to describe partnerships I see developing all around me. When someone describes their relationship as comfortable I die a bit on the inside. I happen to believe that in an intimate relationship, a partnership or a marriage- being comfy is the last thing I ever want to be. It is a dead end street [...]
• My Harley, the road, and me
  Tweet TweetI headed west out of Chicago on a 900 mile journey to South Dakota on my Harley with a group of amazing women; all the while, I knew there would be some stories to tell when the memory was all I had left. The horizon changes from mile to mile, moment to moment, memory to memory. Blue skies shift to gray blankets of rain and grassy green hills fade into desert- like canyons as temperatures fluctuate without fair weather warning. The [...]
• Miles to Milestones for this Harley Girl
  Tweet TweetI just returned from a week on the road on my 2008 Harley Sportster. The following are simple, and not so simple, thoughts and realizations from that time on the road – solitary moments spent inside my head brought to the surface. The ride is a magical thing – it transforms us if we let it. Here I am in my home again – back from the road again – wondering where to go again. Seems that life just takes me [...]
• A Time to Kill
  Tweet Tweet This past month has brought a rush of unfathomable acts of hate to our front doors. From Texas to Colorado to the heartland of Nebraska, news of the unimaginable penetrates our lives and leaves me wondering, “What could possibly be next?” When two young girls, who happened to be a lesbian couple, had their innocent date night turn into an assault and murder, the world turned for a moment and looked in the direction of that tragedy. We all recognized the [...]
• A Dyke on a Bike and Chicago Pride
  Tweet TweetOnly a year ago I would have stood toe to toe with you and told you in no uncertain terms just how much the word “dyke” offended me. I would have quietly slipped below the radar at work if the conversation led to my personal choices and expectations. I would have written my thoughts in a secret journal rather than blog them out and bare my soul to the world. Funny how a year can change a life. All the times [...]
• 50 Shades of Gray and then some
  Tweet TweetNot sure what is going on exactly – I am feeling a little blocked creatively. Can’t find the words to say the things I have been feeling and going through over the past few weeks. Everyone wants to say it must be the birthday thing – the age thing – and in all reality – it isn’t – but maybe it plays a part. It all started earlier this year when I went to The Dinah in Palm Springs. It was [...]
• Lesbians and their Celebrity Girl Crushes
  Tweet TweetI had a bright idea. I asked my peeps at The L Stop to tell me about their celebrity girl crushes. This has been WAY too much fun. We all get a little giggly and excited just mentioning who it is that turns our way cool selves into walking talking marshmallows. Take a look – have some fun – and when you get to the end – tell us about your fave celebrity girl crush!!! It’s fun to share!!! Lauren picked: Kristen Stewart [...]
• Obama Bravery and Me
  Tweet TweetIt was a moment that we all took pause and thought to ourselves – Holy Shit – the president of the United States just publicly announced he was in favor of gay marriage. The flood of emotions and congratulatory high fives that dominoed themselves across this country were published and broadcast for the rest of the world to see. Take notice. And someone actually said – “President Obama is so brave for saying those words out loud.” Really?? Really?? Brave?? For [...]
• Letter from a Lesbian’s Dad
  Tweet TweetNot so long ago, my father, who is in his late 70’s, was hospitalized with an unexpected surgery. While visiting we spoke about so much, including how things were going with The L Stop. He mentioned that he would like to write an article – and my smile told him how wonderful I thought that would be. My dad is the son of Irish immigrants. His father died when he was two years old, leaving his nineteen year old mother to [...]
• La Niña El Niño El Whatever
  Tweet TweetThe sun is hotter than I remember. The birds are louder and the air is thicker. There are more ants and spiders and bees crisscrossing all over in front of my face. The seasons are not turning as the seasons were meant to turn and my biological clock feels more fucked up than ever. What the hell is going on? There are snow storms raging across portions of the country that have never seen snow before. There are tornadoes ripping through [...]
• Time and Me and Shakespeare too
  Tweet TweetNo matter what we say or what we do – time turns baby – and no matter whom we are or what secret powers we possess – we age each time the sun surrenders to the all encompassing night. The twists and turns of this crazy ass life leave me wanting for more than all my ridiculously simple words can say. Coming upon cross road after cross road and more often than not finding myself wandering down paths I never [...]
• Words to my baby daddy
  Tweet TweetMy heart drops and my stomach twists and it feels like I cannot possibly take a deep enough breath – if only for a moment. When I see that number displayed on my phone my mind becomes a place of disarray and days past and life already lived – why does your voice come back to wreak havoc on my newly found nirvana? Why do I have to listen to your words and the sound of all the irrelevance and [...]
• Choices We Choose
  Tweet TweetWhy fit in when you were born to stick out? Oh Dr. Suess – you said a mouthful. Society wants to strangle us girls. The rules and the regulations that have been put in place by the radical right wingers on the planet that aim to stifle us and hold us in our places are becoming worn and tattered. The hierarchy and religious zealots who have forgotten what love, faith, tolerance and acceptance are really all about need to be reminded [...]
• Is anyone listening
  Tweet TweetI talk to myself – all the time. I sing to myself, with myself and for myself. Yeah I am that chick in the car next to you just wailing on that song like I am live in concert at the Hollywood Bowl. Jamming like there is no tomorrow and fame and fortune are only an encore away. Not a day has gone by in this life of mine that I am not holding a full fledged conversation with my self [...]
• Fight the Good Fight
  Tweet TweetThere is no greater joy than hearing the sound of your baby’s first cry. After months of waddling around, hormonal swings, caffeine and alcohol deprivation, late night ice cream and waffle cravings – the birth of your healthy child is a gift that no words can ever adequately describe. Life will never be the same… In a perfect world – the story only gets better. The time line of your child’s life begins and all the wonderment that you anticipated and [...]
• Old Lady Advice
  Tweet TweetAs I struggle in an out of the fight to fix this body torn and changed by the surgery I had last year – I come to realizations about myself – my strengths and weaknesses and all that jazz. I have epiphanies and light streaming into the darker corners of my mind that force me to see- again and again – that every single trial and tribulation we go through channels us to the place we are truly meant to [...]
• Everyday is VDay Baby
  Tweet TweetValentine’s Day is just around the corner. The whole Hallmark red heart Fannie May dozen red roses buy me something pretty, take me to the Sybaris and do me good mind set that rolls around in mid February has never made any sense to me at all. I am not a hater. I am not a cry baby. I do not have a jealous bone in my body. I am not a single woman whining and bitching because I have no [...]
• Holy Mary Mother of God
  Tweet TweetHoly Mary Mother of God – who let the dogs out – turn down the freaking music – stop talking so loud – should I stay or should I go and why can’t I get my ass out of bed?? Oh – oh – yeah – that’s right. It was a school night and somebody was serving up some low end vodka and this old girl needs a lobotomy…. Not sure exactly when it happened. Between the ages of 35 and [...]
• Why am I single
  Tweet TweetA very young and very beautiful girl leaned up against the bar next to me and touched her elbow to mine. I smiled – she smiled and we did the small talk thing as the music and the room played all around us. We knew each other – not for a long time – and not very well – but well enough. As I turned to her and grinned at her perfect smile she asked me the question of the [...]
• For All Our Amazons
  Tweet Tweet According to the National Cancer Institute: One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. Over 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. When breast cancer is detected early (localized stage), the 5–year survival rate is 98%. Over 30% of women are diagnosed after breast cancer has spread beyond the localized stage. Early detection is a must ladies – be proactive – get to your doctor – make an appointment – do breast self exams – oh hell [...]
• No schedule for gratitude
  Tweet TweetWith the holidays all but a sweet memory – with the tinsel, mistletoe and egg nog lattes safely tucked away until next year – we race back to our ordinary, everyday, non tis the season frame of mind. And with the time of Thanksgiving and gift giving and resolutions all but a distant shadow on yesterday’s horizon – all those jolly, peace on earth and good will thoughts might have been quickly filed away by most of us. But wait [...]
• Who is friending me and why
  Tweet TweetI was innocently meandering through my Facebook today when I noticed 3 new friend requests. I always get an optimistic grin on my face when someone wants to be friends with me – I must have made a damn good impression is what I tell myself. Imagine my surprise and my confusion when I do not even recognize the people friending me – what up wit dat?? I have noticed that immediately after a party or an event I tend to [...]
• Standing in the middle of life
  Tweet TweetI am at that place again. I am in that in between place that comes and gets me every so often in this life of mine. The “should I stay or should I go” place – the “yesterday is gone tomorrow is not certain” place – the place that just feels like I am “treading water in a churning sea” kind of place. I hate this place – but I have been here before and I know it so well. “I’m [...]
• Out of Nowhere
  Tweet TweetMaybe it is all in my imagination – as a matter of fact – I am sure it is. But there was a moment this weekend that caught me by surprise and has my little mind working overtime – did I miss an opportunity??? There was a big ole party at Spyner’s last weekend – birthdays and CMSA hoopla and a new band called The Hot Mess. The place was jamming – wall to wall crowd of women who were out [...]
• Behind The Labels
  Tweet TweetLet’s just say I am easily confused. Easily amused and usually bemused by this life and all the crazy players who live it. All I know is – I am that I am – I have no desire to be something different. I find myself walking blindly around this earth, seeing everything that matters, if only to my own heart. I smile at strangers and speak my truth just hoping to make it to the next day all the while [...]
• The Magic of the Season
  Tweet TweetAs the holiday season rolls full steam ahead and every moment of every week fills with meetings, family parties, work parties, friend’s parties , get togethers, pub crawls and God only knows what else – we may want to stop in our snowy tracks, walk away from the Frango mints, and remember what this season actually means to each of us. What it is that makes this marathon between Turkey Day and Mistletoe special in our eyes. What makes the [...]
• Those silly girl parts
  Tweet TweetHave you seen my uterus????????….. I was born with one. I grew up with one. I made it through puberty, teenage years, young adulthood and most of my adult years with one. And then suddenly one day, when I was unable to stand from the pain that resonated through my lower abdomen, I was in the hospital and by the end of the week someone had taken my uterus………so much fun being a girl. Let me get this out there – I [...]
• Silent Treatment
  Tweet TweetI am not really sure how people do it. How they talk around a subject and insinuate the ridiculous and avoid the truth as it stares them in the face. I am not really sure how so much gets said when words are never spoken. Communication is the root of every problem, every failed plan, every happiness, frustration, and every dream come true – so why are we so bad at it? I sit around the table with people who have [...]
• Holiday Blues
  Tweet TweetUnless you have gone through them yourself – unless you have lived and experienced the real essence of the blues – you may have a hard time being compassionate to those of us who have. Keep your sunny side up and rock that holiday smile baby. And while you are at it make sure you cover the bases for those of us who can’t. Don’t get me wrong – I love the idea of the holidays. And when I was a [...]
• This Place Is About To Blow
  Tweet TweetOnce upon a time there was no ignorance in the world. Once upon a time there were perfect days and peaceful nights when everyone on the planet just got along. There was no hatred and there was no greed. Judgment, entitlement, racism, secularism and exclusion were words that never were…..once upon a time. I met a good friend of mine at a local tavern not too far from my house the other night. Just one of those quick catch ups over [...]
• How Much For Some Motivation
  Tweet TweetLast year at this time I was running half marathons and spending 3 mornings a week practicing yoga.  I was in the best condition of my life and looked the part.  One surgery and one very long recovery later I find myself 30 pounds heavier and right back to square fucking one.  God how I hate having to go back to the start when I was so close to the finish……. Finding the motivation to start from scratch when you have [...]
• Be Part Of Equality
  Tweet TweetPeople come into our lives at just the time they are meant to – for all the reasons that I may never understand. Fate, circumstance and just the damn breeze blowing in a certain direction can change the course of our lives – especially when we are not paying attention. About three years ago I noticed this really cool logo that caught my eye – I don’t remember when or where – but I saw it and I liked it. I [...]
• My Friend Your Friend Our Friend
  Tweet TweetI can remember when I was still in school and I had the best “BFF” in the world. We were like peas in a pod, jelly in a jar, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. The world was right and there was nothing that we couldn’t tackle together – at least that is what I thought. Then out of left field she decides she wants to give our secret password to the new girl in our English class. I just hate [...]
• All The Leaves Are Brown
  Tweet TweetI am starting to get a little nervous. Fall is here and is about to make way for winter and I am not going to take this very well. I am a summer girl through and through and as each passing day and each falling leaf remind me that shorter days and colder nights are inevitable – my sweet little disposition is beginning to sour just a bit. Two hundred and sixty days – give or take – until summer [...]
• Finding The Truth
  Tweet TweetIt’s been over a year and a half since she walked (or was it ran) out of my life. A couple of summers gone by and another New Year on the way. There is no more pain or regret, no worries or desperate texts or aimless days spent wondering what went wrong. There are just fading memories that no longer occupy my ever changing heart. Sometimes looking back is a killer ladies – and sometimes it makes looking forward seem [...]
• Platonic Date Partner in Crime
  Tweet TweetThe best thing ever – for real – out of this world no holds barred Cracker Jack prize of a life time is finding that special someone who is truly without exception and beyond a shadow of a doubt a life saving platonic date friend – no kidding. I am the luckiest person alive. I know I am – most days. We can’t all be lucky or blessed or fortunate enough to have landed in the arms of our one and [...]
• Erase Hate, 13 Years Later
  Tweet TweetOctober 12, 1998 a handsome, well educated young man died quietly in a hospital bed while his parents watched him take his last breath. Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered in an inhumane act of hate by two men who just didn’t like the fact that he was gay. 13 years later a mother’s loss is too great to imagine and too horrific not to share. So share it we must so that perhaps our world might actually magically learn a [...]
• To parent or not to parent
  Tweet TweetThere are so many things that no one ever prepares us for when we venture into the wild unknown called motherhood. My two little ones are not so little anymore and made it to young adult hood with out any major convictions or jail time (that I know about) – so that qualifies me as some sort of know it all mom who can hand out advice – right?? Thought I would share just a few little insights from the [...]
• Steve Jobs, 1955-2011
  Tweet TweetI don’t know much about technology. I really don’t. You can call me Wilma Flintstone if you like – it is the truth – I am running on empty in my tank of knowledge concerning anything in the world of geekdom. I do my best – but if the truth be told – I am lucky I can write this document, save it right the first time and email it to The L Stop editors – where ever they may [...]
• Didn’t Cost Me A Thing
  Tweet TweetJust two days ago I was walking on the soft white Florida sand as the sun set over the Gulf of Mexico while my beautiful daughter leaned her head on my shoulder. It was calm. It was peaceful. It was all a mother could hope for. It was just a simple pleasure really – the moment didn’t cost a dime – and yet the moment was priceless. Sometimes life’s enjoyments and treasures are not those that we send for from a [...]
• Did your dream come true?
  Tweet TweetWhat did you dream for yourself when you were a child? What are you doing with your life? Are you in the place you most want to be? Does your existence reflect the dreams that swam from your heart when you were young and so sure of things? Where are you right this minute and where do you want to be tomorrow? Stop and listen to the answers you might give and follow the direction of your heart – if [...]
• Bike Ride to the Chicago History Museum
  Tweet TweetThis past Saturday a group of chicks who happen to ride motorcycles met at The Parlour on Clark to take a little trip down to the Chicago History Museum. We rode together in honor of the exhibit “Out in Chicago” and it was truly an exceptional adventure. I showed up because all you have to do to a girl like me is to say “RIDE” and I am there. I don’t care if it is a 300 mile day trip or [...]
• The Garden of Eve
  Tweet TweetIt was my first experience at a Garden of Eve event by LCCP of Howard Brown. The venue, the women, the cause, the music, the women, the cocktails, the motion on the dance floor, the women, the silent auction competition, the food and the women made it a night to remember. Did I mention it was a night full of energetic, fun, fascinatingly diverse women??? It was that…and so much more. Friday the 16th of September, Carnivale Restaurant turned into a [...]
• Not Sure Why I Lose Myself From Time to Time
  Tweet TweetA blessing or a curse?….. Not sure why I am the way I am – it is almost starting to piss me off. Why do I smile as I look across a busy street and only see the flowers in the window sills that line the shaded walk when everyone else is cursing at the bumper to bumper metal to metal traffic jam of frustration going on right in front of me. Not sure why I never see the things that [...]
• Tale of a Virgin Camper
  Tweet TweetI had never been camping in my life. That’s what I said – never been camping in my whole life. A friend of mine gasped as these words came out of my mouth and she asked in all her disbelief, “What kind of lesbian are you Guzman?” I took a step back from her pointed question and I told her with a straight face and certainly even a bit of pride – “The kind that stays at the Hyatt”. And [...]
• You Can Run But You Cannot Hide
  Tweet TweetA friend of mine is leaving town. She is just not happy here anymore. She is fed up and disappointed at the story of her life up to this point. She is leaving her job and her family and group of friends behind to begin again in a sunny place. She is outwardly optimistic, excited and ready to get a fresh start on life. But I am worried. Worried for her because the thing I think so many people avoid [...]
• Moments Make The Life
  Tweet TweetIn the past few months I have met some of the most amazing women. I have been a part of some of the most inspirational and life changing events. The influence we all have on one another – the good and the bad – the calm and the knowing – the controlled and frenzied is greater than any of us probably realize. And I am so very grateful for each and every moment. In our day in and day out routine [...]
• I will if you will
  Tweet TweetIt is not all about the public display of affection. We all have our own opinions about that. It’s not even about showing everyone in the room what a mighty fine catch I made. It’s not about possession or control or marking my territory. It’s about doing what I want to do where I want to do it and when I want to do it with the person that I want to do it with – got it?? When I was [...]
• Mean what you say and say what you mean
  Tweet TweetI find as the time goes by I learn more and more about people and tendencies and intentions. There are folks walking around out there that wouldn’t know the truth from a lie if you spelled it out in front of them – and they are ok with the not knowing. They don’t even recognize their imbalance and inconsistencies – as if there is no world but their world. There are others who try so hard to be so perfect [...]
• No day but today….
  Tweet TweetThere are moments in this life that are too impossible to accept. Pain that is too deep to express. Loss that is too great to bear and sorrow that encompasses our hearts like a cold hard truth that burns through all reason. Untimely circumstances that crash through our sunny days and bring us to a place we never thought we’d be – we never imagined we would know. I was standing at a volunteer booth this summer when I saw this [...]
• Needs and Wants
  Tweet TweetI was out doing one of my most favorite things the other day – (not) – when a little girl started screaming at her frazzled mother in the line at the grocery store. “MOM – I WANT IT NOW!!!! BUY THAT FOR ME….I WANT IT!!!!” I gave the little terrorist a side ways glare and told her without words that she was a rotten little punk and if she were my kid she would be digesting a mouthful of Palmolive [...]
• All the good we can do
  Tweet TweetThere is a lot of work to be done ladies. There are a million issues to be recognized and foundations to be supported if we are open to the possibilities. We are a vibrant, young, powerful community and with our consolidated efforts we can make a difference right here in our own back yard. I love to ride. Love love love love love to ride that Harley of mine. One of the coolest benefits that come along with riding is getting [...]
• Don’t I know you???
  Tweet TweetDid you ever get the feeling that you knew someone from the moment that you met? I mean – that you were automatically and unconsciously somehow connected? From the first time your eyes met and mumbled words were spoken there was some sort of a comfort – a knowing – a belonging. It can be both startling and unfamiliarly familiar – if that makes any sense at all. What’s it all about?? Why are we instantly attracted to a person’s smile [...]
• Who’s gonna tell the kids
  Tweet TweetI think most of us have some memory of what it felt like to learn that there was no Santa Claus – there was no Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy. What we believed so surely in suddenly was yanked from our world forever. A part of the magic was gone from our childhood. I imagined this might be the same feeling my children would have when the news of my divorce from their father was inevitable. This was some news [...]
• Something so wrong…
  Tweet TweetWhy do we crave what is so obviously wrong for our well being and happiness?? Why can we not see clearly what everyone else and their mothers see– that girl is just not good for you. I think it is important that we question and challenge ourselves in order to evolve and become all we are supposed to be in this world – it is also therapeutic – to write out all the things in a relationship gone wrong that [...]
• Dogs and their Lesbians
  Tweet TweetWhat is with these chicks and their beloved little pooches?? I mean really – Lesbians LOVE their dogs – love them beyond reason at times. They are their babies and their pals, their companions and their counter parts. No breed out of bounds and in some cases no number too many. They carry them in pouches and coordinate matching bandanas as they walk them through the city streets. They get down face to face and play kissy face and talk [...]
• I don’t want to be friends
  Tweet TweetI don’t want to be your friend.  I don’t want to be your friend….Why do those words stick in my throat and refuse to come spewing out into the world so that they can become real?  What is so hard about just breaking the ties that bind us for good and once and for all?  Somebody get me a drink – bring the whole damn bottle – courage and righteousness and what is best for me really should not be [...]
• PRIDE – more than just a word…
  Tweet TweetThe numbers were staggering really. It was estimated that 750,000 people gathered in the sunny streets of Chicago to celebrate a day of Pride. It got me to thinking – and God knows that can be a dangerous thing – what does pride mean? What does it say to each of us? There are so many definitions and interpretations of certain words and phrases. My favorite description of the word Pride comes from a guy whose life was no easy journey. [...]
• What…so now you like women???
  Tweet TweetGrowing up we all listened to the stories and fairy tales read and told to us by our parents and teachers. We watched the Hollywood interpretation of happily ever after and every -dream- can- come- truisms. Most of us took those visions that saturated our imaginations and we secretly put them into our hearts and tried to live the life that we were obviously suppose to live – after all – the books and the movies couldn’t all be wrong! [...]
• My Way, Your Way, or the Highway
  Tweet TweetVariety Show. Assortment. Smorgasbord. Potpourri. There are as many types of lesbians out there as there are stars in the sky – no freaking doubt about it. Walking around a two day festival in the city this past weekend brought so many fascinating realities to light that my fingers are forced to type. My brain is whacked with conflicting information freely shared with me from a diverse and wonderful array of woman. Oh man – if Clark Street could talk….. Where [...]
• Did you really just break my heart?
  Tweet TweetWe have all been there.  We have known the torment of unrequited love and the solitude of mending our broken heart.  We have been left standing without hope or explanation as our one true love turns her phone to silent and tells us we are not what she wants after all.  Sometimes it feels so devastating that our very breath is all that reminds us that we are still with the living – that we can still be seen by [...]
• What A Girl Wants
  Tweet TweetThere is no magic wand, special recipe or unbroken mold from which women who love women come from.  We are daughters and mothers, sisters and friends.  We are tall, athletic, bold and beautiful.  We are femme, butch, androgynous and nondescript. We are timid, bossy, sarcastic and sophisticated.  We come in all shapes, colors and sizes from every corner of the world and back again.  We are business women and teachers, dreamers and planners.  We are young and old and every [...]
• Is She What I’m Looking For?
  Tweet TweetYou would think that by this stage in my life it would be clear to me.  You would think that having lived this long and having wandered this planet and experienced this world I would know what it was when I saw it.  You might even think that perhaps I should at the very least know what it is that I am looking for.  You just might assume that someone as cool and together as me would have it all [...]
• Older Woman Younger Woman What Up Wit Dat??
  Tweet TweetI have always been young for my age – young at heart that is.  I never feel a day over 23 – not until I catch a glimpse of myself in the storefront window  as I walk by.  Not until that photo on Facebook glares at me and reminds me that indeed I am not a 23 year old.  Where the hell did those laugh lines come from – is that really MY neck??? -  and tell me that my [...]