Q-Me Con 2007 pics

I know I'm a week late in posting about the fabulous Q-Me Con 2007 weekend, so to mollify the crowds, some pics:

Here I am moderating the writer's panel with Andrew Barrett, Eric Orner & Alex Kondracke (not pictured: Daniel Vaillancourt, Q. Allan Brocka)

Here I am goofing it up with the hottest attendee/panelist at the conference, Michelle Wolff

I renewed old connections and made new ones. As I told some press last year, it's like the filmmakers lounge of a film festival only without the films. Good parties, interesting panels, fun folks.

Can't wait for next year.

Q-Me Con 2007

I had a great time as a panelist @ the inaugural Queer Media Conference in NYC last year. Q-Me Con seems to have followed me to L.A. this year, and so I'll welcome it to the West Coast as a fellow transplant and be a moderator. Come watch/hear/cheer me as I sling questions to well-qualified queer panelists.

See you there...!

From Comic Books to Pitching Scripts: Insider Tips on Creating and Selling Queer Written Work
Saturday, April 14, 2007 - 3:45-5pm
Inside Track  - Davidson/Valentini Theatre
The Village at Ed Gould Plaza
1125 N. McCadden Place
Los Angeles, CA  90038

With
the explosion of original queer content currently hitting the air
waves, the silver screens, the book stores and the broadband pipelines
-- how can queer content creators continue to forge ahead with
exploring the complex lives and experiences of queer characters? Join a
varied panel of noted writers, as they share success stories, delve
into the obstacles content creators face, explore the pressures of
accurate LGBTQ representation and share their thoughts on the future of
original queer content.

Panelists
Andrew Barrett, Staff Writer, Showtime’s "Sleeper Cell"
Q. Allan Brocka, Writer/Director, "Boy Culture" and "Eating Out;" Creator, Logo's "Rick & Steve the Happiest Gay Couple in all the World"
Alex Kondracke, Writer, "The L Word"
Eric Orner, Creator, “The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green”
Dasha Snyder, (moderator) Writer/Producer; Contributor, AfterEllen.com & Velvetpark Magazine
Daniel Vaillancourt, Co-Vice Chair, Gay & Lesbian Writers Committee, WGA America West

Silver Lining

Sitting in the ER in the middle of the night, staring up at the fluorescent lighting of the exam room at this:

Not the storm clouds it felt like at first; they turned into the silver lining of the ordeal.

Hospitals, both animal and human, are not where I want to spend any time with loved ones. I have a complicated and unhappy association with them. I'm usually there for painful reasons. TV commercials would have you believe that everyone walks out of their institution with a new lease on life. Sometimes people do. I've been that lucky person before, but it's not the norm in my experience. Some things about hospitals and their environs seem universal, though:
- They all smell of antiseptic and illness.
- Not known for beauty lighting.
- Magnets for the best and worse human impulses.

I've had the misfortune of being around them a lot lately - for my back, for my cat, and for my sweetie. Some other universalities struck me in this setting:
- The power of touch to comfort.
- The habit of hiding pain from our loved ones.
- The terrifying vulnerability of bodies and emotions.

And lessons that keep on getting learned:
- Kindness is a necessity.
- The "right thing to do" is never so apparent as such.
- Err on the side of Love.

Silver linings aren't cheap or easy by any measure, but they're there...