Karman Kregloe's blog

This week Dara and I talk about some of our biggest pet peeves: things that don't work.

The list is long and includes street sweeping and Sea Monkeys, the hot wax cycle at the car wash and x-ray glasses, getting back together with your ex and so much more.

Do you have a cautionary tale (those don't work either, by the way) about something that doesn't work? Then please share with the group!

This week we share with you our visions of the future. From leaps in gay bar technology and paternity test shockers to the revolutionizing of the Dinah Shore weekend and the re-booting of The L Word, it's going to be a long, strange trip!

What do you think our future will look like?

Watch previous episode of Dara & Karman's Hit List, visit Dara and Karman on Facebook at Facebook.com/karmankregloe and Facebook/daranai, and follow them on Twitter at Twitter.com/karmankregloe and twitter.com/daranai.

This week Bridget welcomes to Brunch one of the stars of Itty Bitty Titty Committee, Deak Evgenikos.

Deak talks about her adventures in competitive figure skating as a kid, being the lesbian Fonzie, her many tattoos, and her new project with director Cheryl Dunye.

Old Hollywood legend Mae West once said "Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before." That's fine when the two evils are equally tempting, but what about when you'd rather not pick either?

This week Dara and I dream up some unpleasant scenarios and force ourselves to choose between them. Cankles or no-neck? Would you rather have a girlfriend who is obsessed with politics or obsessed with religion? Would you rather date a liar or a cheater? And it only gets worse from there.

Which of these evils would you choose if you absolutely had to?

Watch previous episode of Dara & Karman's Hit List, visit Dara and Karman on Facebook at Facebook.com/karmankregloe and Facebook/daranai, and follow them on Twitter at Twitter.com/karmankregloe and twitter.com/daranai.

This week Bridget welcomes to Brunch her fellow stand-up comic, Cathy Lewis.

Cathy talks about her new show at The Comedy Store, "Sheezz Funny," her appearances on Last Comic Standing and The Jenny Jones Show, and what it's like to be a late-blooming lesbian.

Danso Gordon

You may remember that back when The N's South of Nowhere was in its prime, one of its primary cast members, Danso Gordon (who played "Clay Carlin") abruptly quit the show because it "went against my personal Faith and integrity."

The show was one of the few on television that depicted gay teens in a positive way, and, at the time, there was speculation that this was exactly what Gordon found objectionable.

As we reported in February 2007, "The N's editorial director recently (accidentally?) revealed at a youth roundtable that an unnamed actor on the show felt that the positive portrayal of coming out — and the decidedly less positive picture painted by a conservative Christian mom who tries de-gay her dykey daughter — was 'morally wrong,' and asked to leave the show."

The negative publicity surrounding his departure surely put more pressure on the producers of the show, who were already under fire by conservative groups who protested the positive portrayal of queer teens Spencer (Gabrielle Christian) and Ashley (Mandy Musgrave).

South of Nowhere went on without Gordon (whose character was killed off) and ran for a total of three seasons before being canceled in 2008. Since that time, the number of lesbians on television has continued to dwindle.

Today, I received the message below from Gordon that he asked me to share with AfterEllen.com readers:

This week, Dara and I get mythic with a discussion of lesbian archetypes. Specifically, the archetypes we see on display at our favorite watering holes.

Some of these archetypes include The Whats-her-face, The Couple That Time Forgot, The Shark, The Mayor, The Scholar, The Stink Eye, The Chimney, The Old School, The Star, The Hunter, and Texty McSingle.

Look deep into your heart (or your mirror), and you'll find that you know these women. We all know these women.

What archetypes have you discovered in lesbian bar adventures?

Watch previous episode of Dara & Karman's Hit List, visit Dara and Karman on Facebook at Facebook.com/karmankregloe and Facebook/daranai, and follow them on Twitter at Twitter.com/karmankregloe and twitter.com/daranai.

This week Bridget offers a retrospective of some of her favorite episodes, with a focus on music and mayhem.

Canadian actress Lisa Ray, star of The World Unseen, I Can't Think Straight, began blogging this week about her diagnosis with Multiple Myeloma, a rare and incurable cancer of the plasma cells in bone marrow.

Lisa Ray

At first, she wasn't sure if she would go public with the news. She wrote on her blog:

I asked around if I should speak openly about getting diagnosed recently with Multiple Myeloma. Some advised me to keep my "‘condition"’ a secret as it could negatively affect my career. Buh? I’m plumper, redder, more energetic and wily than ever before- Kiss me like I’ve been kidnapped!

Ultimately, she decided to share her story in hopes of raising awareness about (and hopefully funding for) the disease. Ray was diagnosed on June 23, and started her first cycle of treatment for the disease on July 2. She recently wrote:

For me, it was a relief to hear what was wrong. The plasma cells in my bone marrow were rampaging, multiplying, squeezing out the red blood cells and it was time to begin doing something about it. I was also tired of being tired all the time. And you just know when something is not kosher with your body. So when I sat there with Bobcat- my life partner and reservoir of Yellow- and got the news I didn’t react and I didn’t cry. I’m an actress, believe me, I can be dramatic. Not just then though.

This week Dara and I explore one of the most dangerous places you can ever find yourself when it comes to liking a girl. It's called "The Friend Zone." How do you know if she's put you in the dreaded "just friends" category?

A few of the hints we've observed are when she's flirty with you in public but is unavailable for one-on-one time, she brings a "friend" to what you thought was a date, when she tells you her type and it's the opposite of you, and when she hangs out with you without getting dolled up. It's also not a good sign if she asks you to check her teeth after dinner. Only a friend would do that, and not a very good one!

But there is hope. You can get out of the friend zone, sometimes just be making a few simple adjustments to your own behavior (and appearance). We're here for you, and we'll give you some tips on how to get out of that dreaded friendly territory.

How do you identify the friend zone?

Watch previous episode of Dara & Karman's Hit List, visit Dara and Karman on Facebook at Facebook.com/karmankregloe and Facebook/daranai, and follow them on Twitter at Twitter.com/karmankregloe and twitter.com/daranai.

This week Bridget welcomes stand-up comic and actress Fortune Feimster.

The two comedians talk about the mysteries of lesbian "dating," the joy of a $17 haircut, and how Betty White once made Fortune cry.

According to a column in the London Evening Standard, the British public is obsessed with "power lesbians." Standard writer Liz Hoggard notes that all of London is captivated by the romantic proclivities of retail consultant Mary Portas (host of the BBC show Mary Queen of Shops), writer Jeanette Winterson (Written on the Body), and other high-pro

We've all heard of the Kinsey Scale, but as effective as it is for measuring sexuality (or sexual history), it doesn't really address all the variations of gender that we see expressed by people on a daily basis.

Having absolutely no root in science, sociology, or even good sense, this week Dara and I construct our own scale examining all the colors of the butch/femme rainbow that we see in pop culture. On our scale, a "0" might indicate a woman who is butch enough to get "sir-ed" by the clueless at least once a day, and a "10" might indicate a woman so femme that her nail polish is permanently tattooed on her fingers.

We guesstimate where some of our favorite celebrities (some gay, some straight, some ... not), such as Jodie Foster, Clementine Ford and Queen Latifah, might land on our make-believe scale. We also try to place ourselves and each other on the scale, with wildly varying results.

If you were using our scale, where would you land?