December 2006 Archives

I knew it was a bad sign when I checked Showtime's website for information on The L Word last week and found out that oops, even though the show starts in less than a month The L Word site was completely MIA. Well they've fixed that now but I'm still believing it's a bad omen. I've had a few spoilers come my way, some of them only mildly eye-roll inducing, some of them led me to sprain my left eye cause I rolled it so hard. One spoiler even made me happy, I know hard to believe. Because I'm good to you I'm going to share.

So yeah, um, consider this your spoiler warning.

- Marina the predatory lesbian is coming back for a couple episodes. Rumor has it she's going to screw up Crazy Jenny's love life. Again.
- Carmen will possibly be on for a few episodes but not long term.
- Cybil Shephard is going to appear as a middle aged straight woman who starts questioning her sexuality with Alice.
- A new character named Papi will be a "very hot Latina" who competes with Shane in lots of areas.
- Marlee Matlin joins the cast as a love interest for Bette.

Can you guess which spoilers caused physical injury to me and which one made me happy?

Season 4 premiers Sunday January 7. Check out a promo.

In addition to Season 4 The L Word creators have something else up there sleeve. It seems web 2.0 fever has struck them and they're starting a lesbian social networking site called Ourchart.com.

Like hugely popular social networking sites, such as My Space, Facebook and Bebo, OurChart.com will facilitate connections of all kinds, but is aimed directly at gay women, as well as their friends and family. Although there are many lesbian-centered Web sites, discussion groups, classified listings and news outlets, there has never been an online social space that is strategically and conceptually aligned with a franchise phenomenon like "The L Word."

Um, ok.

Tags: The L Word, Showtime, Marlee Matlin is the spoiler that makes me happy, social networking, lesbians, ourchart.com

I'm in. I'm registered for the conference and I've got a hotel room. Hope to see you there.

As a SXSW newbie I've been advised to just take in the experience and not try to do to much. I'm not very good at that. I've always got a goal or a plan or an angle I'm working and this time is no different. As part of a long term documentary photography project I'm working on I'd like to do some quick interactive shooting with a variety of people from different backgrounds, ages and opinions. SXSW seems like a pretty good place to find such a group of people. Not only such a group of people but a group of people that are typically pretty open to new media and new art experiences and projects.

Basically I'd like to have people give a very brief (ten words or less) written response to a specific fill in the blank question. They'd write this response in big letters on a large piece of paper. I'd then quickly photograph them holding their response. They sign a release (the project may be published) and then they'd be on their merry way. Should take less than 5 minutes per person on average.

SXSW veterans please tell me if there is a good spot outside the convention center to set up such a project. Some place that will see a fair amount of foot traffic but won't impede people getting where they need to go. Some place where I won't get in trouble for setting up. Also please tell me if you'd be willing to participate in my little project.

I'm really excited about the long term project but I also think that doing this component of it at SXSW will be a lot of fun and a great way to meet people. Agree?

Tags: photography, sxsw, sxswi

Don't ever buy generic Q-Tips. You might be tempted to because once you get into college money starts miraculously disappearing from your wallet and your bank account and you might think "the generic Q-Tips are $2 less so I'll get them instead. I mean that's half a vanilla latte." But don't give in to the temptation. Q-Tips are one of those things in life where the generic really is dramatically inferior. There are lots of other products though where the generic is just as good as the name brand product. So don't get caught up in whether something is name brand or not. Try things out and figure out what you like best and what works best for you.

This trial and error method works for people as well. Don't always stick to the kind of people you know you're going to like or that you're going to have a lot in common with. There are too many people and too many kinds of people to not test the waters and see whats at that. Some people will definitely not suit you but some people will that you never imagined and your life will be richer for getting to know them.