Author, A Place of Our Own: Six Spaces That Shaped Queer Women's Culture. Ex-Slate. Newsletter: buttondown.email/WhereAre Back in UK after 40 years in US
Edinburgh, Scotland
Based in Hong Kong
- Tweets 29,633
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And, finally, vacation destinations. Resorts like Provincetown provide a unique opportunity for queer people to experience our culture, aesthetics, and tastes as the default. And the journey from no-frills music festivals to costly cruises? Fascinating!
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Working on the chapter about feminist sex-toy stores was eye-opening. I was reminded of the centrality of sexual liberation to women’s liberation, and also learned about the unfair challenges these businesses face. Oh, and the pioneers—Joani Blank, Dell Williams? Inspiring!
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Ah, lesbian land! I wanted to celebrate landdykes’ sacrifices, struggles, creativity, experimentation, and innovation, as well as confronting what I see as many land groups’ failure to recognize our community’s evolution.
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I had zero first-hand knowledge of lesbian softball before writing this book. I fell in love. The history of lesbian-feminist groups using softball as an organizing and bonding tool is inspiring—and the diamond is still a fantastic place to meet friends and have fun.
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I know writers shouldn’t play favorites, but in the 1980s, feminist bookstores were my happy place—my Google, my Craigslist, my Tinder, and of course my Amazon. There are far fewer today than in the halcyon days, but there has been a renaissance, and they’re still essential.
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There are so many fascinating aspects: Why there have always been very few lesbian bars, why they are often in sketchy neighborhoods, why they look the way they do, and why alternatives to the bars, like coffeehouses and restaurants, were even harder to sustain.
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Of course, I’m hyperconscious of my—and every other queer woman’s—debt to the pioneers. Elaine Romagnoli’s insights into the bar business, which she shared with me back in 2011, stuck with me. I wanted to learn more.
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@WOLCT A bit of a landslide on the walkway near Baxter’s Mill has left things a little precarious for pets and children.
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@WOLCT There seems to have been a bit of a landslide on the walkway near Baxter’s Mill. Seems a bit dangerous for pets and small children.
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On reflection, "things you can suck" was never going to be a Connections category, was it?
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I can't believe this section of this crazy, genius piece is by @heathertwit rather than @dankois. Maybe because he'd put the ideal time earlier in the day? slate.com/human-interest/202…
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Yes, of course, Britain is a perfectly normal, well-adjusted modern country. What are you talking about?
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Word is out! I'm so happy to be working with @sarahsavitt and the stellar team at @ViragoBooks. (UK pub date is June 6. amazon.co.uk/Place-Our-Own-R…)
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As a keen observer of the T List, imagine my surprise to see a bakery from one neighborhood over on this week's roster. (A houseguest braved the line early one morning this summer. They were good!)
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Forty-five years ago today, Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone were murdered in San Francisco's City Hall. Now Dianne Feinstein is gone, too. youtu.be/JQFG8eyyw1w?si=2lzV…
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Once my pal @colm59 pointed out that on National Poetry Day Channel 4's TV listings are all haikus, I can't decide which is best!
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I absolutely love this cover! (Photo by the incomparable JEB.) Very happy to say that A PLACE OF OUR OWN is now available for pre-order: hachettebookgroup.com/titles…
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Those "in 1960, freelance magazine pieces paid [multiple x 2023 rates]" stories? Remember, in 1970 Time commissioned ALICE NEEL to paint a portrait of Kate Millett for the cover!
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I've apparently reached the age when reading about dumb "studies" makes me spitting mad. Physicists used AI to discover something LITERALLY any Brit could tell them. (Also, don't hand-wave class and then give nothing but class-based examples.)
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Hi Mark! You know, I'm not sure I have a slam-dunk general recommendation. I like Paper Tiger and Write Stuff (in Stockbridge). @KakiBot has a video about EDI stationery stores: youtube.com/watch?v=bpkmXg0N…
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The billions of pounds of profits energy companies are making while politicians do bugger all about it suggest this subject line might be ever so slightly inaccurate.
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So much truth in this line, from a lovely consideration of Martin Amis from @mrianleslie's newsletter.
ianleslie.substack.com/p/an-…
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My new favorite koan. Is this a typo or an incredibly clever pun? (It is in reference to COVID, after all.)
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Are you feelin' groovy this weekend? If not, Liberace will show you how it's done: youtube.com/watch?v=Q_rHSTjy… (Thanks to @DorianAwards's John Griffiths for this wonder of a link.)
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This sculpture outside the Edinburgh Council building is called “Everyman,” but is anyone else getting Jerry’s dad vibes?
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So cool to see my latest zine (somehow mine is not “Rebel Dykes”) at the Edinburgh Zine Fest communal table. Open through Sunday evening at the Fruitmarket.
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A really interesting insight from Hanif Kureishi’s Kureishi Chronicles newsletter hanifkureishi.substack.com/p…
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Judging by today’s “In Memoriam” section on Hyperallergic, a career as an artist appears to correlate strongly with a long life.
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Living in Britain is like living inside an episode of Happy Endings in one specific way ... dazeddigital.com/life-cultur…
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I take back any and all disparagement I may have subjected England’s so-called second city to in the past. (From Joe Lycett’s Guardian quiz.)
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If I could only listen to one song forever more, it might be this one: youtube.com/watch?v=JDG2m5hN… Per Wikipedia, "The song was assembled, often manually by splicing tapes with a razor blade, at the Record Plant in Sausalito, California."
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One of these things is not like the other! Come on @bbc, do you think that last sentence is acceptable?
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Hi, @Edinburgh_CC, I think this sign fell from Dean Bridge onto the Water of Leith walkway below. CC @WOLCT
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It’s as if they’ve never watched Midsomer Murders! Family distilleries are up there with comics festivals and re-forming-rock-band accommodations as the most dangerous places on earth!
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Whoever curates the “go ahead, read this while you’re eating” shelf in Edinburgh’s John Lewis restaurant deserves their own imprint. (Or reading library.)
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A very Brooklyn Friday night: Running into @cynthianixon campaigning for @yuhline on Flatbush Avenue. Talk about GOTV!
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After watching this video I switched to the minimal theme, but I'm finding the info at the bottom left of the screen (backlinks, word count, etc.) too small to read. Is that adjustable? (Screenshot attached.)
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The second clause of that first sentence! I can only imagine the internal debate Alyson must have had before using it as a blurb! (It’s for Jean Swallow’s Leave a Light on for Me, 1986.)
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I KNEW IT! Oh, @nwquah, you are a strange but endlessly rich text! (Sign up for his great podcast newsletter to learn about his bonkers movie views! vulture.com/article/nicholas…)
I can’t wait until it’s June and I can officially brush my gay teeth with these gay toothbrushes! #teethisteeth
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Thanks to @dowdyism for pen-ambling me to buy a SMAND, then running a giveaway that gave me something to put on it. Check out the Pen Addict Twitch stream most Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays.
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Found an old DTWOF schlock catalog—and still feeling regret that I never bought a Where’s Mo poster. Do you have any in a dusty cupboard, @alisonbechdel?
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Proof of Manchester’s challenges attracting tourists: Yesterday we put a bunch of travel guides on the stoop. By evening only Bilbao, Moscow, and Manchester were left. Today, just Manchester!
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This interesting @austinkleon blog post about fore-edge painting and indexing austinkleon.com/2022/04/21/f… reminded me of how the Big Yin pre-signed copies of his biography. (Spotted in Edinburgh last fall.)
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Just sitting here, flipping through @davidfolkenflik’s Murdoch book, laughing about Cornish calzones.
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Best going-away cupcakes ever! Thank you, @katie_rayford, @callmenadira, and everyone who spent a Friday evening boozing together.
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Either late shows used to be good or drugs used to be good, but I have been cuh-racking up at this: youtube.com/watch?v=vNQulsBd…
@MaddyDucharme I thought of you when I saw the stamped message on this newsletter as I was flipping through some archives last night!
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What a treat to get an early copy of the book I’m most looking forward to reading in 2022: @parabasis’ THE METHOD!
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