Every part Of You Is Familiar To Me

Kris Dresen 
108 pages
$12

Kris Dresen's "Every Part of You Is Familiar to Me" is a collection of work in which the artist accomplishes a difficult feat: to reveal the joys and magic of everyday encounters and a rich interior monologue. Whether in single paged or short sequences, Dresen celebrates the beauty of the human body, women's bodies for certain, and the subtleties of the human condition. There is a familiarity about the situations chosen here. You have been here. In my own way I have been here on an occasion or two. As has Dresen as every inner thought of these women seem at once laid open and intimate. What elevates this book is Dresen's keen sense of observation with which she employs to evoke states of grace, desire, and sensuality with allusions to the ineffable. Dialog and narrative text are banished as they would only detract from the experience. This emphasis on the image creates the mood of being a witness, a voyeur if you like, without the unsavory component, rather than simply being a reader.

This image is one page from what may be my favorite section, Travail de Nuit.

Dresen's art style is all about the line and a love of making marks with pen and ink or pencil. Dresen surely enjoyed every moment exploring the gentle, curving lines that give her women life, how the upturn of a mouth teases the hand to touch the hip and breast. There's a desire for drawing decorative patterns and playful textures, especially with hair, either luxurious spills of curls or short spikes, downswept curves, or wavy masses that have rhythmic beat of their own. And her trees which must be both fascination and signature.

To heap on more words in reviewing this book is a disservice I think. A bit like trying to explain "blue" and only having the sky to point at. It was a serendipitous find at Prism's table at C3E2 this past March, and very much a pleasure to take part in later that night. My only regret was not having a glass of wine at hand. Find yourself a good bottle or something else enjoyable to relax with and sit back with this book.

Every part Of You Is Familiar To Me and several others are available for ordering. Please visit Kris Dresen's shop.
http://www.krisdresen.com/shop.htm

K D Lang Born November 2nd

K D (Kathryn Dawn) Lang was born November 2nd. 1961 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. 

Natalie Barney Born October 31st

Natalie Barney was born October 31st, 1876 in Dayton, OH. Her access to her family's wealth afforded her the ability to live the life of a doyenne in Paris where she had her own salon and wrote poetry when she wasn't busy seducing women.

Learn more about Barney here

Houston Mayor Annise Parker - True Lesbian Stories

Anna Ruhling, Lesbian Activist

                                                                  

On October 8th, 1904, German lesbian feminist activist Anna Ruhling gave a speech before the Scientific Humanitarian Committee, a homosexual rights organization founded by  Magnus Hirschfield. She took to task the women's movement for ignoring the plight of lesbians and not working to end their oppression. Her speech was not met with many open minds at all.

Very little is known about Ryhling. You may read more here.

Lewd Behavior In Plymouth Colony

On October 2nd, 1650, the Plymouth Colony Court found Sara Norman guilty of lewd behavior on a bed with Mary Hammon. The court gave Norman a warning and she was ordered to publicly announce her actions. Plymouth Colony's punishment for sex between men was death.


Read Wikipedia's Lesbian American History page.

Daughters Of Bilitis Founded Today

Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, along with three other lesbian couples, form the Daughters of Bilitis on September 21st, 1955. The organization was the first lesbian civil and political rights organization founded in the United States.

Watch a video and read more at the LGBT History Month website and Gerber Hart Library.

The Throwaways Trailer

Trailer for a new lesbian series that can be found at www.tellofilms.com.

Circumstance Trailer

From The San Francisco 49ers: It Gets Better

Radclyffe Hall Born August 12th

Maguerite Radclyffe Hall, or John as she preferred to be called, was born August 12th, 1880 in Bournemouth, Hampshire, England, whose father left her mother before she was even born. Thankfully, at age 21 she inherited an enormous fortune from her paternal grandfather which allowed her the  means to do whatever she wanted. Part of what she wwanted was beautiful women, inclulding Lady Una Troubridge and Evgguenia Souline. In her forties Hall became recognizable by her closely cut hair, tailored jackets, flamboyant tops, wide-brimmed hats, and ties. Hall is best remembered for her novel, The Well of Loneliness, and its undisguised lesbian characters and themes.

Learn more about Radclyffe Hall at GLBTQ.

Liane De Pougy

Liane de Pougy (born Anne-Marie de Chassaigne) was a Parisian high class courtesan, who one day caught the eye of young Natalie Barney who was accompanying her mother as she studied portrait painting at a studio. De Pougy's clients were men though she was a lesbian and took women as lovers. Barney was interrupted from pursuing de Pougy by an unexpected request from her father to return to the US, but she did return to Paris and successfully seduced de Pougy.

Carol Leifer Born July 27th

Comedian and actress Carol Leifer was born July 27th, 1956. Leifer joined the Seinfeld show writing staff during its fifth season, and has been called the "real Elaine", having the character based in part on her.

Visit her website.

Jane Lynch Born July 14th

Best known for her role as Coach Sue Sylvester, Jane Lynch was born July 14th, 1960 in Dolton, IL.  Lynch and Billie Jean King  have created the first of its kind lesbian Super PAC.

The Ladies of Llangollen Born May 11th

Eleanor Charlotte Butler was born May 11th 1739 into one of Ireland's dynatic families. Eleanor was considered to be overly educated by her family and her mother tried to persuade her to join a convent. Eleanor's life changed in 1768 when she met Sarah Ponsonby who, born the same day in 1755, was living with relatives in nearby Woodstock. Eleanor and Sarah became inseparable and began to dream of a life together in a secluded country manor. Ten years later the women decided to act on their dream in 1778 rather than be forced into marriage. Their families' attempts to stop them failed and the women moved into an estate near Llangollen, Wales where they lived together for the rest of their lives.

Learn more about the Ladies of Llangollen at GLBTQ.

Deborah Batts Born May 8th

Deborah Batts was born May 8th, 1947 in Philadelphia, PA. Batts was sworn in as the first openly lesbian, African American US federal judge in Manhattan in 1994.

Read more about Batts at GLBTQ

Lesley Gore Born May 2nd

Lesley Sue Goldstein was born May 2nd, 1946 in New York City and was raised in Tenafly, NJ. Mr Goldstein's wealth from making children's clothes and swimsuits afforded more than enough money to send Lesley to a college prep school. It was during 1963, her junior year, that her song "It's My Party" would launch her singing career. In a 2005 interview Gore publicly stated that she is a lesbian.

Visit Gore's official site and read an interview on After Ellen.

Bessie Smith Born April 15th

Bessie Smith was born on April 15th, 1894 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In her teens, Bessie ran away from a life of poverty and joined a traveling show as a dancer and in 1912 began singing blues in the same show. Smith's real success began with her first record "Down Hearted Blues" in 1923. In 1937 Smith was working on making a comeback and was en route to Mississippi when she and Richard Morgan crashed into a truck that had pulled to the side of an unlit road. she sustained injuries to an arm and sadly died ten hours after hospital admission.

Read much more about Bessie Smith at NNDB and Out History.

Jane Rule Born March 28th

Jane Rule was born March 28th, 1931 in Plainfield, NJ. Rule stated she felt like an outsider for being tall (she reached 6 feet) as well as being dyslexic. After graduating from Mills College, Rule moved to England and became involved with John Hulcoop. During her time at a teachin position with Concord Academy in Massachusetts, Rule met and fell in love with Helen Sonthoff, though she and Hulcoop moved to Vancouver. Their relationship continued and they lived together. Rule decided to publish her novel, Desert of the Heart, after receiving numerous rejection letters. The novel resulted in Rule receiving numerous letters from dejected women. The novel was later adapted into the film Desert Hearts.

I A R Wylie Born On March 16th

Ida Alexa Ross Wylie was born March 1th, 1885 in Melbourne, Australia. The Wylie family moved to London when she was three and her mother died shortly afterwards. After years of being home schooled by her father, she was sent to a Belgian finishing school and moved to the US in 1917. Her novel titled "My Life with George"  was ahead of  its time, in that it honestly depicted a life shared with someone other than a husband; George being another woman: Dr S Josephine Baker, a public health specialist famous for tracking down "Typhoid Mary".

Project Gutenberg has several Wylie novels, not "My Life with George". And then there's Wikipedia.