Diffuse 5 Talks to Lesbiatopia Editor about Paula Brooks Scandal

In case you haven't heard of Diffuse 5, they are an awesome site connecting the queer community by giving you information about the events, people and businesses that support it.  Diffuse 5 is based in Boston, the place I quite happily call home.  I was quite honored when Diffuse 5 CEO Ashley Lucas contacted me for an interview in regards to my personal reactions about the "Paula Brooks"/Bill Graber scandal. 

In case you weren't aware, I was quite intimately involved with "Paula Brooks" for the first couple of years that "she" began blogging.  If you haven't read it already, you can catch up on my personal account of my interactions with "Paula Brooks" here.   After you've caught up on the drama, check my interview, below, with CEO Ashley Lucas...

 Picture this.  You are the founder of a lesbian focused website and you begin to open up your business and your life to a number of content contributors who want to be involved with what you’re building.  You develop relationships, friendships and business partnerships with these people, letting them in to your life and sharing your experiences and life stories with them.
Now imagine that one of those people, whom you trusted and relied on to be an ally, turned out to be lying about their identity throughout the entirety of your relationship.
Renee Gannon, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Lesbiatopia, doesn’t have to leave much to the imagination…
Over the past few weeks, the names Bill Graber and Paula Brooks have been all over the news. Brooks was the editor of lesbian news site Lez Get Real, with the tag­line “A Gay Girl’s View on the World.”  She worked with a number of other sites, sharing content and building relationships that would quickly sour.  Sour because “Paula Brooks” turned out to be Bill Graber, a 58 year old retired Ohio military man and construction worker that had adopted his wife’s identity online.
For years Graber took on an alter ego, convincing people that he was a lesbian dedicated to educating the world and advancing gay-rights, until the Washington Post did some digging and discovered that Brooks was not who she said she was.
Renee Gannon, one of the victims of Graber’s alter ego, was kind enough to talk to us about her business relationship with the 58-year-old and the impact his deception has had on her life and the lesbian blogosphere.

The Interview

Diffuse 5: This fiasco has been pushed out all over the news. When was the exact moment you found out about it and what was your reaction?
Renee Gannon: I was contacted by one of Lesbiatopia’s former writers who shared with me the article on the Washington Post that broke the story that “Paula Brooks” was actually Bill Graber. My initial reaction was of shock, and then of course, I had a million questions running through my head. I began Googling the story which lead me to the discovery that Paula/Bill was directly related to the Gay Girl in Damascus hoax, which I had briefly read about in the news just days before.
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D5: Graber said that he faked his identity in order to be taken seriously within the world of lesbian media. Clearly that didn’t work in the end. What do you think he should have done if he wanted to be a true ally?
RG: I have always loved the saying, “The truth will set you free” and I truly believe it. If Graber had just been himself from the beginning, all of this could’ve been avoided. Unfortunately, through his deceit, he hurt a lot of people in the process. If he really wanted to showcase lesbian rights, he could’ve started a blog as a straight man in support of these rights. Would he have been taken seriously? I think, with the right approach and the right amount of credibility, the lesbian community would’ve listened with open ears if his intentions were truly in the right place.
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D5: How do you think the lesbian community should react to this? Is the current reaction what you expected?
RG: Well, the women who had, over the years, worked with “Paula” in some capacity or another were obviously upset and greatly disappointed. I think the lesbian community should react with a sense of vigilence, first and foremost, especially those of us who engage in online networking on the regular. For me, personally, the reaction was a mixture of anger and sadness. I was angry at being lied to and deceived for years, but also sad for Graber because he clearly needs help.
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Read the rest of the interview from Diffuse 5

Lesbians You Should Know: Kathy King

Kathy King is an independent studio artist in the Atlanta, GA area and she and her assistant Kairo (40 lb. terrier-mix) run the Kathy King Art Studio. She was formerly an Associate Professor at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. Her narrative vessels, tiled furniture and printmaking, either presented individually, or combined in installation, present narratives from a feminist point of view. Her goal is to translate her own experiences dealing with such issues as sexual orientation, reproduction and issues of the body and gender into works of art. Her imagery, reminiscent of an underground comic book style, uses satirical humor, irony and sarcasm to map her journey from pubescence to menopause.

She has had exhibits have included solo shows in galleries, universities and museums across the nation and in Korea. She was featured as both an Emerging Artist in 1999 and a Demonstrator in 2002 at the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts conferences.



Shannon: When did you become interested in art and how did that develop into your specialty of ceramics? Was your mom one of those moms who knew you had a gift and pushed you to go that way? Tell me about that.

Kathy: Oh hell no, Kitty King’s creative outlet has always been finding bargains at Wal-Mart. I was spawned raised by two amazing and open-minded parents outside of Boston. Kitty was a secretary and Tom is still a manager at a semi-truck company. Their message was basically, “Don’t end up like us. Do what you love to do!”

I derived my love of the process of art and craft through my dad. After a full day of work he would disappear into the garage and build hot rods. He has a 1931 Model A Ford Roadster and a 1940 Ford Coupe that are insanely brought back to their original glory after 8-10 years of work - I mean talk about passion! There are so many similarities with what we do: a lot of time alone, standing on concrete, collecting tools to work with the TV on as company. I grew up going to “rod runs” and hot rod shows on the weekends so my aesthetic vocabulary of imagery including cool cars, pin-up girls, dice and flames is not a mystery!

My dream growing up was to be a pin-striper and specialize in flames. I was doing great until around age 14 when I discovered coffee and, later, cigarettes and my steady hand was a thing of the past!

Art was always something that I loved, but coming from a blue-collar existence, a thing that was not practical or reasonable to choose as a career, let alone as a field of study! I was more nervous coming home my sophomore year in college to tell my mom and dad that I was switching majors from English to Fine Arts/Ceramics than I was when I came out! They simply were happy if I was happy. I think I avoided coming out to them for years because I thought after the whole “ceramics thing” they may not be able to take much more. I mean, really, a daughter who is both lesbian and does ceramic art! I was afraid they would immediately stereotype and start picturing me in loose fitting clothing, turquoise jewelry and the rolling, desert hills of Santa Fe in the background of my “side of the road” pottery stand. They were completely cool, though, and are very supportive.

I think I may be trying her patience though at this point. You see, my mom puts up a Christmas stocking for whomever I may be dating and bring home for the holidays. I noticed last year she had started “recycling” the stockings. I noticed there was another name in glitter glue on the opposite site from that which displayed the name of the girl I had brought home. Yikes!

Shannon: You have been a university professor in the past and taught for a number of years at many different schools. What motivated you to want to teach instead of solely focus on your art?

Kathy: Well, I had always wondered about the saying, “Those who do not do, ‘teach’”. I certainly don’t believe that statement but personally, I wasn’t sure if I could “do” and “teach” simultaneously and not go insane. I never dreamed I would be able to teach university level as you can imagine the meager number of ceramics positions there are open nationally each year! I got really lucky after grad school with offers and due to the insistence of the Sallie Mae Student Loan Company that I pay the money back. I took every opportunity I was offered. Teaching is an amazing challenge and I learned so much over the 10 years I taught. The students are the best part and quite a few are some of my best friends today.

I taught at a small private art school, a private liberal arts school as well as a large, urban university. I’ve certainly been around and I know I’m a good teacher. The thing is, I gave so much to it that I started to get a bit burnt out with my exhibition demands and dedicating myself to my teaching. It is truly hard to do both and I’m not sure you can even aspire to ever have it balance out. There were certainly plenty of faculty that I observed over the years “make it work” by simply not coming into school, doing a half-ass job and finagling grad students to do their work for them. I can’t do that; I get too involved in my work and see enough amazing, dedicated teachers doing amazing things in the classroom with little recognition because they may not have the same level of academic ambition.

This past year I left my teaching position and am taking a breather to regroup and decide what I truly want to do with my life. It seemed insane at first but it has been amazing to be able to make art for no one except myself for the first time in ten years. Don’t get me wrong, I feel that I was always true to my artistic vision while teaching but the shows I would accept were sometimes fueled by being able to have one more accomplishment for the academic record than truly questioning if this was the best venue for my work. I took a position as a grant writer at the Feminist Women’s Health Center in Atlanta this year and working among such, amazing, passionate and politically active women has been more inspiring than I can say. I’ve always considered myself a “feminist artist” but actually being involved in a non-profit that works tirelessly towards reproductive justice for women has really reminded me what the label of feminist means - it is not a scary thing, it is empowering.

Shannon: When did you come out and did that have an impact on your art or teaching career?

Kathy: Well, I was a late bloomer who considered herself “bi” until my early 30’s. I wish the Debbie Harry of Blondie posters all over my room in sixth grade had nudged me towards an “alternative” lifestyle a bit earlier. I have one of those typical late bloomer stories whereby I grew up in the Boston area - completely Irish Catholic and repressed sexually but our best girlfriends were really, really, really close friends. We never questioned the role of the “best friend” of our completely butch high school field hockey coach though she still stars in some fantasies of mine to this day! (Shout out to Sue! Call me!) Anyway, it took a few bouts of falling head-over-heels in love and getting my heart dragged behind her parent’s Volvo to get me to start waking up to maybe I was just a big ol’ lezzy.

The thing is the basis of my work is exploring dynamics of human relationships as told through the voice of a contemporary woman. My experience hadn’t always been “gay” so I made art that spoke to female/male dynamics. I always assumed that the art would be about the art, not about me personally as the maker. That was completely naïve because looking at earlier work; people are still surprised that I am a lesbian. For the last five years I’ve seen a change towards keeping my work ambiguous to what the gender of the subject is to a point that it is clearly about relationships between women. I make work about what I know, so that is not surprising. I haven’t felt much of response from the public regarding this but I know the more clearly I “gay it up” the smaller my audience may end up being. I would, of course, hope it will not but I don’t need to water things down at this point in order to sell work and make it buyer friendly. I do want to speak to the largest audience possible but I’ve matured to the point that I, indeed, cannot possibly please everyone.

Shannon: Nobody can. I find it interesting that your art incorporates social statements, not just aesthetics alone. Do most people get what your art is about? If not, what do they think, say or ask about it?

Kathy: Well, my attempt at viewer seduction is mainly through the use of humor. If I can attract a viewer through the graphic-novel style narrative accompanied by one-liner jokes and sarcasm then I’m usually able to present the underlying concept as almost an after-thought. This is certainly not as bad-ass an approach as that used by say, political art, but instead almost comes across as a one-sided conversation of what I think about my place in the world as a human/woman/sexual being/lesbian etc. I find it a really freeing vehicle to bring up conversations and I DO love to talk! It has worked for me as I’ve changed personally over the years and still find it interesting to speak through how I make art.

For instance, I made an installation entitled, “To Reproduce or Not to Reproduce” as a way of representing the conversation of women discussing whether or not they want to have children. The piece doesn’t give a resolution or reflect my personal decision about the subject. It simply reflects the thought process of a woman weighing out all the aspects of it, from the vanity (what it may do to one’s breasts) to the serious (our government’s attempts to control what a woman chooses to do with her body). This type of work doesn’t tend to sell due to the size of the work but in this case a collector did buy the Rocking Chair and one of the cradles as almost a “sampler” of the bigger installation. That type of compromise can be really disappointing but I would rather know that those pieces are with a collector who will care for and respect the work while the rest of it sits in my basement!

I’ve gotten a bit smarter about this over time and started to do installations that are more modular and easier to pack, ship and sell. The most recent example was a wall installation entitled “We Need to Talk” that dealt with what one person in a relationship actually “heard”. What I mean is that often, when overwhelmed with love and lust for another person one can hear what they want to hear. In that piece that dealt with being in love with someone who was in a relationship. This was based on a personal experience and though I can say infidelity is, in my opinion, morally “icky”, still it happened and I was involved. I may not be proud of it but I did need to try and make sense of it without being so naïve as to try and justify my actions. Love is such a powerful thing and that is why a 20/20 perspective later can be so alarming! Love is fascinating.

Overall, the work, for me, is just another form of expression and I am thrilled whenever I see people approach it with laughter and end up in conversation. I get a lot of sharing from the audience with stories of everything from jilted lovers to urinary tract infections. I guess because I don’t seem afraid to be honest, that I expect the same from others. Of course, it freaks some more conservative folks out sometimes but even they have snickered at my showing a piece say, based on masturbation. I mean, even if you don’t feel comfortable about it discussing it, you know you do it!

Shannon: Kathy, when your work is on display, do you ever sit back and sort of listen to what people say about it to gain some perspective?

Kathy: Absolutely, my favorite comment that I overheard about a piece that was sexual in nature was “Wow, she needs to get laid!” At the time, they were completely correct and it was quite an intuitive observation! Overall, I think viewers just read it all as completely autobiographical and close to the “art as therapy” philosophy of making. I agree to a point but honestly I’ve found it takes me about two years to process a life experience to the point that I was to speak about it through work. By that time, I’ve added so many different thoughts and input from others into the subject matter it becomes more of a societal commentary rather than a visual representation of my journal.

Shannon: Tell me about the process of making a piece from the initial concept until it is finished. I am especially interested how you get an idea and in the "carved" aspect. How long does it all take?

Kathy: I basically make tiles, sculpt or throw porcelain clay, which provides a white canvas. When it is somewhat dry, I cover it with a layer of black, liquid clay called slip. I then carved through that layer with a blade revealing the white clay beneath to create the image. This carving is referred to as “graffito” when one wants to sound cool but it is essentially the same idea as carving a wood cut or linoleum cut for printmaking. The work is then allowed to dry, put in a kiln for the first bisque firing and then I’m ready to glaze. I glaze everything with either clear or tinted colored glaze that then goes into higher temperature kiln firing where the liquid glaze turns to a layer of glass. If my panties aren’t knocked off when I get the work out of that firing, I may end up using enamel (aka China Paint) for a third firing to deepen the color or add highlights.

If I actually figured out the time from start to finish I may never do it again so I just keep the work rotating and try not to think about it!

Shannon: What kind of support do you get from the lesbian community? Does your sexuality have any positive or negative impact on your art career?

Kathy: Well, I’ve always felt supported by the lesbian community but again I haven’t made whole bodies of work speaking to only lesbian issues (yet, stay tuned). Right now I’m really interested in ideas of gender identity and how people perceive their own identity. There are so many inspiring writers addressing the issue right now and I think something will definitely come out of that.

The only negative thing I can think of is hearing the fear of perhaps showing up in my work at some point! I must admit I do try and disguise characters in the work to avoid this. On the flip side, using the character of myself in the work allows me to draw myself 25 forever and ever. Hot for prosperity’s sake, that is my goal.

Shannon: Besides me, who do you have a girl crush on?

Kathy: Oh Shannon, what can I say? How can anyone escape your undeniable charm and endless knowledge of Jon Bon Jovi lyrics and music facts? Celebrity-wise, I would say Leisha Hailey (Uh Huh Her), Rhadha Mitchelle and Clea Duvall. Otherwise, I have a couple of little crushes right now but nothing serious. I am currently looking for someone smart, funny and not afraid of possibly being future source of inspiration. I promise I’ll be sweet - maybe.

An Interview with BGSS's Nicol Paone: Part 4 of 5

Part four of Lesbiatopia's exclusive interview series with the Big Gay Sketch Shows Nicol Paone continues today with Nicol talking about being straight on a gay show, movies and David Beckham.....





Missed Part 1, 2 & 3, check it out Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Tags: Big Gay Sketch Show, Nicol Paone, Television, Entertainment, Gay, LGBT

Exclusive! An Interview with BGSS's Nicol Paone: Part 1 of 5

Not too long ago, We were invited to spend an evening with Nicol Paone at her beautiful Hollywood Hills home (not in that way... get your mind out of the gutter) for an exclusive interview.

If you aren't familiar with Nicol Paone, she is the hilarious "straight (but not narrow)" addition to LOGO's Big Gay Sketch Show. And if you have caught the Big Gay Sketch Show, then you have probably seen her imitate such characters as Elaine Stritch, Alice Cramden and Joe from "Facts of Life".

Nicol is probably one of the nicest, funniest, smartest women in the business and I was honored to be able to join her at her home for a great interview.

Nicol covered so many topics with us... We quickly realized that clearly, one day just wasn't going to be enough, so we made this into a five part video interview; which means YOU get 5 days of Nicol Paone.

Today, we are happy to present Part 1... As Nicol Paone talks about Growing up around comedy.




Stay tuned for Part 2...

Nicol posing with the lesbian social group I organize, madfemmeprideLA,
after her stand-up show at the Comedy Central Stage in Hollywood

The Cliks: Everybody Wants Them

The Cliks, a 4 member band from Toronto, Canada is making some big damn waves in musical pools. Besides churning out the hits from their latest CD, Snakehouse, (the videos for “Oh Yeah” and “Complicated” were both at #1 on Logo), The Cliks were also hand-picked by Ian Astbury of The Cult to support them on their recent American and Canadian tours.



Another music icon, Cyndi Lauper, also took notice of them and added them last year as well as this year to the True Colors tour lineup. True Colors is produced in conjunction with HRC and presented by Logo. HRC and this year’s other non-profit partners – CenterLink (the nation’s LGBT community centers) and Parents, Families, Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) National - are joining with the tour to bring together Americans across the country to voice their solidarity for LGBT equality and raise public awareness about the issues that face the LGBT community. The tour kicks off in Boston, MA on May 31. “Part of my mission with the True Colors tour was to provide a platform for some new and exciting acts. A band like The Cliks are all that and more. They are a force to be reckoned with and I am really excited to be sharing the stage with them.” said tour producer and creator, Cyndi Lauper. Lesbiatopia’s special projects editor, Sinnerviewer, recently spoke with Morgan Doctor, drummer for The Cliks:

Shannon: You just finished doing the long Jaegermeister tour opening for one of my favorite bands, The Cult. I read that they hand-picked you to open for them because they loved your sound. I’d love to hear your thoughts about that tour and share any good stories that you have.

Morgan: We sort of did 2 tours with them. One in the states and then, we just got finished doing a Canadian tour. We started in Portland and went all the way across Canada. We went into some really remote places like Grand Prairie. There were some really off the chart places in Canada. It was nice to do the tour with them and then, we went off to do our own thing, and then came back to tour with them again. They are really great guys. We had an amazing time with them. I think what we loved the most was being able to tour with just another rock band whose audience is , well, most of them hadn’t seen us. They didn’t know who we were. To just get up on stage and be received well every night just for our music and our live show - it was really rewarding.

A story? Let’s see… this last tour, there was one. We were in Calgary. We were there for 3 or 4 days because of the Juno’s (awards). We played 2 shows there. The next stop was Edmonton, an 8 hour drive. We were fartin’ around Calgary trying to leave and we were a little bit lost. I got this text from the bass player from The Cult and it said, “Hey, How’s it going? Where are you guys? I’m still in Calgary.” And I was thinking, “Oh, it’s a really nice day to stay in Calgary.” So he calls me up and says, “I missed the bus. I need to get to Edmonton. Can you guys give me a ride?” So he drove with us in the van. The difference between a bus and a van is enormous. It was sort of funny to have this rock star in our van, crashed out and then hanging out with us for the whole day. It was totally fun.

Shannon: You probably won his respect and reminded him of what it used to be like.

Morgan: Yeah, absolutely. I think they all really admired us as players and they really loved the music. We each kind of bonded with one of them. I really got along with the other drummer, Johnny. He played with Helmet and all kinds of incredible bands and people. It was a real honor for me to hear him say “I love your playing”. It was a great experience overall.

Shannon: Cyndi Lauper, she also hand-picked you for her True Colors Tour this year. I thought that was interesting because it shows an obvious pattern here. How does it make you feel to know that you’ve won the respect of all these accomplished musicians?

Morgan: It feels great. It’s really rewarding and it feels like things are happening at the right time. We’re ready for it. What seemed to happen was that Cyndi’s management got a hold of our stuff and really liked it. They played it for her and she really liked it. We were only scheduled to play something like 4 dates on last year’s tour. She had this press time meet-n-greet during the time that we were supposed to play. She moved it to another time so that she could watch us play. She saw us play and that was it! They started changing their schedules and started to move people so that they could add us to more dates on the tour. We seem to really win people over with our live show.

Shannon: That’s pretty impressive to do that. And not just with one person, but with so many people. The True Colors Tour – it’s a special tour. I really see the value of this tour very clearly right now.

I went to see Bon Jovi last week in Atlanta. The thing that struck me was how the band adjusted their pricing structure to their fan base growing older. None of us are 16 year old kids anymore. Most of the audience was suburbian soccer mom-types. Everything from ticket prices to shirts to programs was out of the ballpark when it came to cost. It was disgusting to me how they went from being a Jersey-boy rock band to this huge, corporate entity… a machine. I have to confess, it rubbed me the wrong way.

When I was reading the press release about The True Colors Tour and it’s affiliation with HRC, I learned that the proceeds from the shows will get into the hands of the organizations that work for the rights of all GLBT people. It made me wonder if, besides just promoting your music and expanding your fan base, was there anything that you all hope to accomplish as an act on this tour in that regard?

Morgan: Yeah. Well, I think it’s an honor to be asked to do a tour with such great acts that are on the bill like Cyndi Lauper, the B-52’s, Tegan & Sarah, Joan Jett. To be in that kind of company alone is an honor. I think it makes it even more special to be doing it for such a great cause. The last time we did the tour, it was a really powerful experience at the end of the show during the encore, everyone comes out and we sang “True Colors” together. It was just a very emotional moment when the song would stop and everyone would raise their fists on stage and then they’d shine the light on thousands of people in the audience. It was just this moment of, like, “Oh my God. We’re in this together. You guys are here and we are here on stage. We’re together in all of this.” It was so empowering. It makes it that much more rewarding and takes it out of the realm of being a job… to have a purpose that’s bigger than you.

Shannon: That’s a perfect way to phrase it. One thing that I do know about The Cliks and that is your reputation of having a huge rapport with your fans. You are known for, when your shows are over, to go out there and hang out with your fans. You guys also take an active role in maintaining your MySpace page. You always put up cute little home videos and sending out blog posts and bulletins. It got me wondering: why do you think so many other bands don’t bother to try to make and keep those connections with their fans?

Morgan: Hmmm… it is a lot of work, for one. It can be… when you’re out on the road. That’s pretty exhausting as it is. You’re with all of these other people in the band, you’re traveling all day and you haven’t eaten well. And then to put yourself out there where you have to be social and engaging with people – it can sometimes be a little too much. I don’t know why people don’t do it except for maybe it’s just a lot to manage. I think we’re lucky enough right now where we can sort of manage it. I can see maybe if things continue to grow, we might get to a place where we won’t really get to be out there with our fans as much as we’d like to. It just wouldn’t be possible, you know?

The MySpace is really the best tool to get out and connect to our fans as much as we can. To put up videos and stuff like that…that’s kind of what MySpace is all about – connecting with people. So I don’t know why other bands don’t do those things that help them connect (on a personal level) with their fans. Other than they just might be tired.

(Laughs)

Shannon: You all definitely use that tool well. I am fascinated by the fact that pretty much everybody I know who is a Cliks fan has at least one photo of them with the band.

Morgan: I think we’re also pretty humble people. We’re just down to earth. Maybe it’s just a Canadian thing. It’s just who we are as people. We’re not in it to boost our egos or to be some sort of stars or whatever and I think that when you get off stage and you walk down there and you’re selling your own merchandise, it’s just like, “Here we are. We’re just normal people, too.” I think that it’s just natural for us to engage with people that way.

Shannon: I gotta ask about the song.

Morgan: Okay.

Shannon: Nobody can stop talking about it: the SUV song.

Morgan: Right.

Shannon: I keep hearing about this song and it’s just creating a huge buzz. Can you tell me what’s going on with that?

Morgan: Well, this is a song that Lucas (Silveira, the lead vocalist for The Cliks) wrote for an album of a different incarnation of The Cliks years ago. It was self-titled and put out independently. That song was on there. We decided to just try to play the song again but we totally changed it. It’s a whole other song, basically. Lyrically, it’s the same. Musically, it’s totally new. I think that he wrote that in response to seeing a high-profile band that had done really well and they stopped playing for a while and then they came back to playing and they were riding around in L.A. with their big SUV’s . This is a “socially conscious” band. And he was like, "What's going on here?" - that's how it came about.

Shannon: That one is going to be on the next CD, you think?

Morgan: Yeah, hopefully.

Shannon: Speaking of that next CD (even though I know you all are currently promoting your latest CD, (Snakehouse), when can your fans expect that?

Morgan: Well, if all goes as planned, which often it doesn’t, I can tentatively say that we’re going to try to record it in the fall, which means that it would probably be out in the early spring like February or March.

Shannon: What’s in your iPod, Morgan?

Morgan: What’s in my iPod?

Shannon: Yeah. I always have to know because I’m so interested in what everybody is listening to.

Morgan: I’ve been listening a lot to the new Stars album. A band from Canada. I’m a big Death Cab for Cutie fan. I have some Dave Brubeck stuff… some jazz. The Cocteau Twins, The Pretenders. The Cure.

Shannon: I like The Cure but they’re kind of depressing. Not something you can listen to in the winter.

Morgan: (laughs) Yeah, you don’t want to. It’s dangerous.

Shannon: Tell me about how you got involved with The Canadian Council of Jury for Grants and what kind of work you did there?

Morgan: I was asked to be on the Jury for granting musicians who are professional musicians in the non-classical category. It’s a peer-assessment committee. I’ve gotten a few grants on my own when I went to study in California with my guru and I got another grant to compose my own work. I have a solo album out and it was to compose music for my second album which I am finishing up right now.

They ask people who have gotten grants to be the peers on the assessment committee. They flew me out to Ottawa and it was a great experience. There were just 3 of us and we juried a bunch of applicants who were trying to get some music either to compose or to do travel grants. A lot of them want to go to far away places like India or Mumbai to study more their art form. Usually, it’s in the World Music category so people are studying all kinds of instruments and things that are non-traditional and harder to learn about. You can’t just go to a university for it. I found it really rewarding. I’m also just amazed at the talent that there is in Canada. It’s just really incredible.

Shannon: So was that a one-time deal or do you get invited back later?

Morgan: It was a one-time deal so far but they may ask me to come back. But they try to pick different people for different juries.

Shannon: What a great way to handle that – to leave those decisions in the hands of other professionals who’ve received grants and not in the hands of bureaucrats. (Nice system, Canada.)

You are working on your solo album. What projects are the other members of The Cliks working on right now?

Morgan: I don’t think much, actually. We’ve been really busy focusing mainly on this band. We don’t have time to do much else. Jen plays in a folk band called “August”. Nina, the band that she was playing with, she basically had to drop that so she could play in The Cliks. We haven’t really been home for really a month or two at the longest period of time so it makes it really hard to get into something and then have to leave it. Sometimes, I’ll pick up gigs when I’m in town, but it’s tough to do much else.

Shannon: My girlfriend really wants to know if you and Jen are an item…

Morgan: (Laughs) No.

Shannon: She said, “Well, when I saw them, Jen was playing with Morgan’s hair.

Morgan: (laughs) Jen does that to everybody.

Shannon: Since our readers are mostly lesbians, I’ve got to ask… is there anybody who is single among you Cliks?

Morgan: Nina is single. The rest of us are in pretty long-term relationships.

(Hear that, ladies? Nina is single! Go buy your True Colors tour tickets and introduce yourself!)

Shannon: Who are the chicks that you find smokin’ hot?

Morgan: PJ Harvey & Jennifer Garner.

Shannon: I could not agree more with Jennifer Garner…very nice. The last burning, pressing question that I have for you is what is your favorite junk food?

Morgan: I’m a really healthy eater so even my junk food is sort of healthy.

Shannon: I watched the video on your MySpace page of you all going through your groceries and saw all of that healthy stuff. It is important for everyone who reads this to know what you consider junk food.

Morgan: I’m really into these wheat-free, dairy-free Oreo-type cookies by Newman’s Own. Those are great. I’d have to say that right now, those are my favorite.

Shannon: I shall have to try them. Thanks for your time, Morgan.

The Cliks have been nominated for Logo's New, Now, Next Awards in the "Brink of Fame: Music Artist" category. You can click HERE to cast your vote.

Enjoy Sinnerviewer's favorite Cliks video, Complicated:

Celesbian Interviews: High School Reunion's "Lesbian" Kat Feller

Many television viewers recently watched the show "High School Reunion" on TV Land. The show was a ratings boon for the network. It featured a cast of 15 real high school classmates from JJ Pierce High School (Dallas, Texas) Class of 1987 reuniting in a house in Hawaii for 2 weeks. It followed each of them through seeing each other for the first time in years, revealing crushes on each other, resolving old conflicts and in the case of hot-ass lesbian Kat Feller, experimenting to see if she might enjoy dating men.

Kathryn “Kat” Feller is an animation voice actress born in Rochester, New York and raised in Texas. Although a “proud” Texan at heart, she currently resides in Santa Monica, CA.

Kat Feller’s brilliant voices can be heard in such places as the yet to be released DreamWorks animated feature Madagascar 2 as the voice of the ostrich as well as numerous video games such as Final Fantasy VII, Crash of the Titans, Dead or Alive Extreme 2, and South Park to name a few. Additionally, Kat has voiced several children’s educational DVD’s such as The Adventures of Andy Applebutter as the voice of Andy, Bear Bear and Messer, and the Wowzies. Her Anime credits include Metal Angel Marie and Variable Geo. You can also find Kat "The Lesbian," as a cast member on the hit reality T.V. show High School Reunion that began airing March 5th on the TV Land network.



Since being a cast member on High School Reunion, Kat has delighted fans with numerous press interviews in forums such as The Advocate, After Ellen, Curve Magazine and a live radio interview with Frank DeCaro and Doria Biddle on their Sirius Satellite Radio show “The Frank DeCaro Show.”

Kat was asked to make her first public appearance at the Dinah Shore event in Palm Springs California in April of 2008. She announced various acts and spoke about her appearance on High School Reunion at the fabulous Splish Splash Wyndam hotel pool parties.


SHANNON: Kat, How did you get involved with, and can you describe your experience with, the show High School Reunion?

KAT: I got involved with it through my page on MySpace. They (TV Land) reached out to me because I had JJ Pierce as my high school graduating class on my profile. They were reaching out to a bunch of different schools and then narrowed us down from our stories. They liked mine and that's how I got picked.

It was fun, it was exciting. It was the best time of my life. I would love to be back there doing it again. Two weeks was definitely not enough for me. It was very bonding of all of us. We've all become like a little family. We stay in touch through e-mails and when I go to Dallas, I visit everybody. Whenever they're all together, they call me and make me jealous that I was still in Dallas. (Laughs) Not really, but jealous to be with them. We just had a blast. We became this awesome community.

SHANNON: I happened to actually watch the whole series – it caught my interest from beginning to end. Initially, I was interested because I was also class of 1987 and because there was a cute lesbian on the show. I saw that you were labeled "the lesbian" but I was kind of concerned that you were there to see if men were going to work for you – the whole "Bi-Curious" thing. It made me worry that it would feed into that misconception that some people have where they think that being gay is really a choice. However, when you went out on your date with your hunky classmate, Robbie, you made the statement that you were there to see if you were attracted to the person, not the gender. That made me see how I was judging you. Have you had any other people give you a hard time for batting for the other team on that one date?

KAT: Not so much because of the outcome. (Kat decided than she was, in fact, a full-on lesbian after the date – GO KAT!) I think people need to understand that just because you're a lesbian, it doesn't mean you're not open-minded. I have so many lesbian friends that are still sleeping with guys from time to time. It's not like just because you're a lesbian, you can't be attracted to a guy, too.

(Shannon is thinking here: Uh, yeah! Has anyone seen Jon Bon Jovi lately??? Sweet Jebediah, that man sets me aflame!)

Kat Continues….
There are bisexual tendencies all over the place. For me, being a lesbian was not a choice. I knew that in 6th grade. As I've gotten older, I do appreciate people for who they are and not their genders. I just thought, "Why not give it a try? Open my options a little bit. I'm single now. I'll see what it's like." It just wasn't for me. It was no big deal at least trying. It was just to see – I was just curious.

SHANNON: I think all of those gay women who were watching gave a collective sigh of relief when you realized you were still gay. It was like, "Phew! Thank God she's still a lesbian."
(Laughs)

KAT: It's so funny the community that lesbians have with each other. Its like, "Don't go over to the other side! Don't do it!" I understand that but it's really not that big of a deal. Let the person be who they want to be and everything should be fine. It's not like I'm trying to dis' the lesbian community. I'm just trying to open my options up and just be myself.

SHANNON: Yeah, we do sometimes have this mentality where we say people should be tolerant but then we're not always very tolerant with each other.

KAT: I know!

SHANNON: That was a good lesson, I think. You did a good job of handling that.

KAT: Thanks. I appreciate that.

SHANNON: On the show, you confessed a crush that you had on a classmate, Heather, to her. She seemed cool about it. Have you heard from anybody from high school since the show aired – any classmates that wanted to confess a crush that they had on you?

KAT: Not so much people that had crushes on me. I have had a lot of people that I haven't spoken with in many years that found me on MySpace or the internet and contacted me somehow. Being on the show has brought so many long lost friends back into my world which has been amazing.

SHANNON: You mentioned that after high school was over, you came out of the closet. We do get a lot of readers at www.Lesbiatopia.com that are not out yet. They can sometimes draw some strength from hearing how other lesbians dealt with coming out. Do you have anything that you want to share with them about your coming out experience?

KAT: Sure. It was terrifying for me because I wasn't exactly sure who was going to accept me, including my family. I hadn't ever even met a gay or lesbian until after high school. The way that it happened for me was I was working in a restaurant. There were 2 gay guys who worked there. I befriended them. We were all out one night partying together and I confessed to them that I liked women. They were thinking that I was just drunk and telling me that I didn't really like women. I said, "No, I'm serious. I really do." And then I started crying. As soon as I started crying, they really listened to me and said, "All right, let's talk about this tomorrow when we're all sober." Then I stuck to my word the next day and so they said, "Why don't we take you out to the lesbian bar for your first time?"

I was so beyond scared. Seriously, I didn't know if I could handle it. They took me to the lesbian bar and everything was great. I just felt – well, I was very, very nervous… don't get me wrong. But it just made sense. Then, my family found out and then all my friends started finding out. I came to realize that I didn't need to be so scared because as soon as I told my family – my sister and everybody – as soon as I got their approval, I really didn't care what the rest of the world thought, to be honest with you. But I know that a lot of families don't accept it, so it's different for everybody.
My advice to people who want to come out is to be as strong as you can be. Be true to yourself. People will love you if they're true to you. Just try to be strong even though it's difficult and scary.

SHANNON: Tila Tequila had a show, A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila, where she was looking for love as a bi-sexual woman and trying to decide on men or women. Would you be open to doing a show like that from a total lesbian angle or would something like that just be too over-the-top for you?

KAT: Uh, I've thought about that, actually. I had someone approach me to ask me if I wanted to do a show like that. Tila Tequila is a totally different demographic than I am. She draws a much, much younger "girls gone wild" party crowd. That's what people expect from her.

One of the reasons why I don't think I would want to do something like that is because I'm older. I feel like I've got a career I'm trying to pursue. I want to be respected. I don't want people to judge me because I'm being a fool on TV. I don't want to feel like a scam artist. I want to be a bit more grounded in who I am in life and I just feel like I want to be respected in my industry and I don't really think that I want to sell myself out like that.
If there was a way to do it where it wouldn't be so cheesy and so over the top and so dramatic, maybe I'd consider it. If it could be something more genuine, I would consider it. You know, The Bachelor is kind of classy – something like that I might be willing to do. I'd like to go on real dates and not do the "show me your boobs and let's get the tape measure out" kind of thing.

(Laughs)

Something classy and more mature – it would be great on the Logo Channel. I don't think that a network television station would broadcast something like that, but I think cable would pick it up.

SHANNON: Would your reality show have all Sarah Shahi-types or would you put a few people like Dani (from A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila) just to see if you really are open to the person and not just a type.

KAT: (Laughs) You must have read some of my interviews from my past, haven't you?

SHANNON: Hey, I had to do my research!

KAT: Ahhhh, Sarah Shahi is the epitome of my type. I would definitely be open to throw in some butch-femmes in there. I think Dani is frickin' adorable and I can see her charm. I'm not that closed-minded.

SHANNON: Shane (Kate Moennig's character on The L Word) is hot. You gotta give Shane some kudos, too.

KAT: Shane is very sexy. I would love the whole gamut. I would have the Sarah Shahi types, the Shane types and then the Dani types – it would be great to have all 3 of those kinds of women on there. I am attracted to all of that.

SHANNON: Well, I think you should pursue that. You need to get somebody on the phone at a network and you need to pitch that idea.

KAT: Easier said than done but I'll try to do my research, for sure.

SHANNON: What's in your iPod?

KAT: You know what's funny? I hardly ever use my iPod. However, when I do listen to my iPod, I have stuff like Air, Radiohead, Uncle… just real kind of industry house stuff. Beastie Boys, Cocteau Twins, Jeff Buckley, David Grey. Old school stuff, 80's stuff… Howard Jones, Duran Duran… just all different things.

SHANNON: I saw that you went to the Dinah Shore weekend in Palm Springs for the GirlBar event. You got any crazy stories for us?

KAT: Well, I had a CRAPLOAD of women come up to me screaming. There was this one girl, I swear, I've never lived though anything like that. She was like, "OH!" and her poor friend didn't know who I was but she was just screaming, "Oh my God! It's Kat from High School Reunion!" and just freaking out. That's flattering, it's insane! So many women wanted to take my picture. It felt so good. It was just like… how amazing to be recognized like that! It wasn't, I'm sure, as much as Dani would have been recognized walking around but I definitely did get recognized. I had tons of people take my picture. It felt really good to have my close friends there to witness it. I even had one of the girls who took a picture of us together and that picture is now her MySpace avatar. That's really cute! It was very flattering and it was very well received.
I don't know if my making an appearance had anything to do with it but after I did it and was put on the GirlBar website and the e-mails went out, the ratings (for High School Reunion) went up, up, up after that. Now, I would like to think that I had a little bit of something to do with it because the community supports it when they know a lesbian's going to be on TV and they'll watch. I don't want to take all of the credit because the show was great regardless.

The finale just boomed. The finale was over a million people, the highest ratings ever. It was great.

The people who walk up to me (like at Dinah) or reach out to me on MySpace or my personal website, I just want to embrace it with love. I try to answer all of my e-mails. I've had 2 fan clubs now that have been started for me. I have links to them under my links category on my website. The comments people are leaving – there is so much love out there. They're awesome!

SHANNON: It has to be because of the way that you came across on the show. A lot of times, people go on those reality type shows and they just become train wrecks. They might seem really cool at first, but soon enough, this other dark person comes out. On High School Reunion, your personality was easily the best one as far as you being the most positive, upbeat, fun-loving and well-adjusted. I think people were just naturally drawn to that. I would think that would open some doors for you. I noticed on your website, www.KatFeller.com, that you were doing voiceover work for the animated film Madagascar2. What other projects have come up or will you be working on?

KAT: Just because I was on that show doesn't mean my voiceover career is having any change of pace at all. Voiceover is a totally different industry. I do have my agency. I've been with William Morris for 5 years and they are helping me put together a hosting reel. That's something I would love to do. I would love to host a reality show.

SHANNON: Dani, when she did the Tila Tequila show, she now hosts all kind of events at clubs. If you were offered work like that, would you be open to it?

KAT: I would definitely be open to it. It's almost frustrating in a way because I still keep hearing about how Dani is traveling all over and getting paid for all of these appearances and I wonder, "why can't I be doing that? I have a good heart. I might be older but…" The answer to my own question is that it's because (Tila's) show had such a massive audience because it was on MTV and because of the age group that watch those kinds of shows. The age range that watched High School Reunion was people that were more in my age bracket.

A lot of those people don't have MySpace pages. None of the cast members on the show except for me and Justin had a MySpace page until the show aired. Then they all got them to help them keep in touch with the fan base.

It's not as easy to be recognized and appreciated when you've reached my age.

SHANNON: I don't really think that you wouldn't be able to cross over to a younger crowd because younger people would still be attracted to your fun and laid back personality.

KAT: I'm open to all of it so if I start getting phone calls for stuff like that, count me in!

Rebecca Drysdale: A Celesbian Interview

A few weeks ago it was my very great pleasure to head over to the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, here in the Big Apple, and attend the comedy show of none other then the star and creator of Lesbiatopia’s favorite-featured web-series, The Time Traveling Lesbian, Ms. Rebecca Drysdale.

Beck’s improv show, called "Happy Hour", is a performance by Beck and a group of very witty and talented actors doing some of the funniest shit I've ever seen. They have a few drinks, tell random stories and then make up skits about them. It was a really great show and I laughed my ass off. I can highly recommend that if you live in the area or if you are visiting New York City, pop into the UCB and check out one of these performances.

After the show, I drifted around the theater trying to find her. She's very tiny and hard to spot but I soon found her chatting it up with some of the other performers. I have to say this was my first interview and I was a little nervous, its not everyday that I get the chance to chat with someone whom I consider a comedic genius. But my nerves eased up as soon as I met her, because she was very real and very talkative. We then made out way over to a local pub where I got to talk to this very talented lady over some drinks and an omelete about her Time Traveling Lesbian project, her comedy and some current and future projects she is working on.

Rebecca Drysdale was Born in Akron Ohio, has lived France, Canada, Chicago and now finally New York City and she has been doing comedy since she was sixteen years old. She has preformed at Amsterdam's BOOM Chicago Theater, with The Second City National Touring Company, and at the Second City ETC in Chicago. She has also appeared at IO East and West, UCB East and West, The Magnet Theater, and The PIT.

Ms Drysdale is also the first ever recipient of the Break-Out Performer Award presented at the HBO Comedy Festival in Aspen, and she was named one of the "100 women we love" by GONYC magazine in 2006. Time Magazine called her one of the "Comedy Innovators" of 2006, and Variety said she is one of "Ten To Watch In Comedy". She also writes for one of my favorite comedy shows, LOGO's Big Gay Sketch Show. and it was Drysdale who wrote the "Lesbian Speed Dating" sketch we featured here on Lesbiatopia last week. ( FYI: she if you take a second gander, the girl in black you see in the skit is none other than Ms. Drysdale.)

Beck is a self-proclaimed drama master, sci-fi nerd and dork. She also says of herself, “Basically I am an eight-year-old boy who fucks girls.”

She buys most of her furniture in the children’s department at Ikea, is obsessed with her pets and watches kids movies.

Rebecca Drysdale's My Space page says this about her:

Just your typical 28 year old Jewish lesbo in the city, except that I'm not in a burlesque show and I will never give you a flyer for anything.

I love this town and my apartment and my dog and cat and two rabbits. ( well she used to have two but one died. She told me, "it got involved in gang violence... it was only a matter of time.")

I sleep late, drink iced tea, smoke camel lights, love star wars, legos, and a good PS2 game.

I like to spoil myself and make impossible things possible.

I like to splurge and indulge and play and I am a terrible speller.

I know the greatest people in the world and consider myself lucky to know them and get to watch them do what they do so well.

I like to think that everyone has super powers and are just being really responsible about using them. I like toys and farts and forts and time travel and pretending.

I'm not a big reader and I don't care.

I love Pixar movies and sci-fi and good pop music.

I have recently become very good at saying "I don't know", and find its a good way to learn things.

I find that having heroes is the most important thing, and you should tell them they are your heroes if you are lucky enough to get the chance.

I've been asked many times how I think being a gay woman effects my life in comedy.

I think being gay is like being in an a cappella group. Amazing and awesome, but also retarded and faggy.
A LITTLE SOMETHING I LOVE.

We started our interview with Rebecca telling me how her web-series Time Traveling Lesbian came in to existence. She says, "I was talking to my writing partner Jordan about ideas I was pitching to HBO in the development deal that I was in with them. In talking he said, “Well, why does it have to be anymore complicated than your Time traveling Lesbian.

She explained to me that in her one woman show,One Woman In Several Pieces, she did a lot of things that were personal in nature, but there was this one scene where she dressed up as a time traveler in a gladiator costume. She says, “It was kind of goofy but fun.” Drysdale liked the idea of using this concept to sell to HBO.

So she brought up the idea to her manager and agent.She continues, "they said, Nobody is ever going to buy that, it’s too niche…it’s not going to work.”
Not willing to give up so easily she told them, “Alright, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll work on the project that I’m working on with HBO but in every meeting I have with them I get to mention Time traveling lesbian.”

Her can do attitude paid off. She says, "We had this meeting with HBO in which we were talking about this pilot that I had originally written. We were talking and talking and at one point I said, “ It’s no Time Traveling Lesbian but it will do. There was this woman in the room, her name was Amy, and she was like, “What?” And I was like yeah…Time Traveling Lesbian… and gave a very nutshell version of the idea. And then they decided through their broadband department to buy time traveling lesbian.”

Beck then explains how everything almost fell apart and she had to take matters once again into her own hands. “So, I got a very good deal with them… but while it was happening the whole broadband thing fell apart and they weren’t doing anything with it. So, ultimately we appealed to them and were like, look your not doing anything with it can we just get it out there. And that was only a month and a half ago. It’s just been very recently that HBO has released it to us.”

Drysdale then turned her attention to the creative process behind TTL.

“I think for me it was less about making it funny then it was about making it watch-able. This idea is something that I really love and It’s very goofy…but, Originally I wanted it to be a show, but I got a web deal. So I had to turn this larger idea into three minute little installments. So, I tried to take the larger idea and make each episode be about one aspect of the show. Then, over the course of the eight episodes, you would think, this is what the show would be.”

She goes on to say, “When I watch it I’m like, “Oh My God, this isn’t funny.”… but I was trying to make it so you had to watch the next episode… in the end you have to stay on top of it. That was my goal. And that, I feel like I succeeded in. Even though it may not be the funniest thing you’ve ever seen.”

Then she went onto explain how her favorite television show helped formulate her idea.
“And, of course I owe all of that to Battle Star Galactica, which is the best show on television. In terms of telling a story that you have to watch the next episode to find out what happens. And of course, every episode of Battle Star begins with, “Previously on Battle Star Galactica.”

She continues, “So in the process of making TTL, I was like, I don’t have the luxury of making full episodes, but I can pretend that those episodes existed by putting all that information in recap form. I can tell a whole hour of story in three minutes. That was very much borrowed from Battle Star, which I thank them for. And I do have people say to me, Is it really previously on?” or “Is it really a show?”.. and that was they type of interest that I was hoping to start. I was excited about that…and now it like if I have another go around I can focus on it being funny.”

While we were on the topic of Battle Star, Rebecca explained how her love of science fiction has been a muse for her comedy.

“My writing partner Jordan and I left school together and spent all of our time watching science fiction and writing comedy. Watching the type of sci-fi that we watched, in this way or that, thematically found its way into our comedy. I mean Sci-fi, when it’s good, is satire. You talk about something without talking about it. You use certain themes but set them in a different place and time and I learned a lot about comedy through sci-fi… especially Battle Star Galactica. It is seriously the best show on television, it’s a drama about what is going on in the world now… but being allegorized… like a metaphor for what going on now… I call it “The West Wing in space”. Seriously, It’s so well done and it’s incredible television… I get so many people into that show… it’s pretty brilliant... and beats the shit out of LOST."

"I know I talk about Battle star like it’s the bible… but seriously, you’ll find a new way if you watch it. It very much inspired Time traveling lesbian, along side my love for time travel and my love for women.”

Beck then went on to say that the making of the TTL was really fun. “I had a lot of great people working with me. The girl who played the disco girl was my girlfriend at the time. The girl who plays my girlfriend is my best friend Drea”. Beck also had some performers from LOGO’s Big Gay Sketch Show helped her out and was joined by Nicole Paone who played a Roman queen in one episode and Kate Mckinnon who played the hippie in another. “It was really great having them with me.”

But Beck did say that the shooting schedule was fairly grueling; “ It was a five day shoot. We shot Rome and the whole hippie thing on the same day in the same vicinity. We started at like 5 o’clock in the morning. It was like a bazillion degree below zero. So during the shooting of the Rome segment I was freezing my ass off… everyone was freezing. Every time we changed shots people ran to us with blankets… it was so cold. Whenever I watch that episode I hate seeing how cold I was…I look so terrible… and it was so early”

“Then with episode 8, our last day of shooting started at like 4 o’clock in the morning… so that part where I take the yellow pages thing and pluck it out of the sky… well we had this whole plan to do a green screen thing… but we were fuckin’ exhausted, so I said, “let me just pluck it out of the sky… we don’t have time, we just don’t.” But whole experience making TTL was really great, and really fun.”

As our time together started wind to a close I asked Beck about the future, both hers and that of Time Traveling Lesbian and she told me, “I would love to do another eight episodes, because I would love to find out what happens and we still have a bazillion hours of footage from Time Traveling Lesbian we didn’t use that I would like to do something with. The only issue I have with that is sitting there and going through every fucked up take to find the funny stuff.”

“But with the original TTL we were just trying to pack in cliffhangers at the end of it and now everyone says, “What happens?” and I have to tell them, I don’t know… I just don’t know. But my theory or maybe my issue (with the fist installments) is, if the girlfriend was part of THE LEAK from the get go and Carl is part of THE LEAK from the get go, is THE LEAK even bad? I wanted to leave the TTL viewers with a sense of, “Wait, who are the bad guys? You know, intense drama and that’s what I liked about TTL… you got hooked and you got into watching it.

Beck continued on to say; “The reaction I’ve gotten from you guys and from the folks at AfterEllen is, “We want more episodes.” And that’s what I wanted too. So now I can go back to HBO and say, “Look, people want this to be a show.”

“But there are so many things that I wanna do that are like TTL... or on a spaceship… like an L Word drama in a toy box and make it like my one woman show which was, very political and edgy but still had a cowboy and Indian aspect to it.”

“Then I’m also working on a rap video that is about the L Word. I was working on trying to get a cameo on the L Word, but that never panned out…so I was like ( laughs) fuck it then… I’ll take you down. The song is called 'I’m gunna fuck my way through the L Word cast'… and its about me fucking my way through the l Word cast… yeah I’m trying to get funding for that… I love the L Word… I watch it… everyone does, but yeah trying to work on that.

“I’m also working on another web-series about the last two people who are left at the end of the world… a man and a woman in a post apocalyptic situation and their job is to repopulate the world… but the woman is a lesbian.”

“ And there is one other project that I’m working on… but it’s embryonic at best, it’s about video games… not about video games themselves, but using a lot of video game language and graphics… the show is called Nintendo Mii. I love video games… I don’t play a lot… but the culture is fascinating and the Wii is amazing. I also think its interesting how something that has always been considered reserved for the nerdy 14 year-old boy demographic is no longer confined to that."

But Beck confided to me with the writer’s strike at a stand still, the comedian says she is mostly just trying to do things that make her happy. “It’s hard for me because I support the strike…but I’m also broke.” She jokes, “As you can see I have a very high standard of living to maintain.”

Currently, Rebecca Drysdale says she spends a lot of her time at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York City performing shows on Wednesday and Saturday nights, were she is surround by alumni from Chicago’s second City, which she says has made her transition to NYC a little easier… (She’s only been here for two and a half years but she feels as though now she considers herself a real New Yorker) and she is also lending her time to teach improve to kids.

I would like to thank Beck for taking time out to chat with me. It was my sincere pleasure and a very enjoyable evening. All of us here at Lesbiatopia wish her the best of success (not that she needs it) and we hope to see a lot more from Beck in the future.

So now, without further ado, I present our final installment of Time Traveling Lesbian.


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