A few months ago, Michelle Paradise asked you to submit your best and worst dating stories — and did you ever! There are over a hundred hilariously bad date stories, and Michelle gathered together four of your favorite women — Marnie Alton, Dara Nai, Karman Kregloe and Jill Bennett — to re-enact some of the best ones, with Lori and I "directing" (which in this case, meant zooming the camera in and out, refreshing their drinks, and trying to keep the cats out of the frame).

As you can guess from the photo, much chaos ensued. Some of my favorite moments? Marnie as a "hot RN," Dara as a cop who can't get her handcuffs off her belt buckle, Michelle moonwalking, Karman's puppet love, and Jill overdosing on pharmaceuticals while on a dinner date.

They also award a fantastic prize to one of you unsuspecting AftereEllen.com readers who submitted a story. I don't want to give away the surprise, but you impatient types who want to know what the prize is now can click here. (To find out if you won, you'll just have to watch the vlog!)

The final vlog was pretty long — almost an hour and a half — but since it was too funny to cut out much, I just split it into two videos. And I figure this will keep you busy while AfterEllen.com is on a break next week.

So grab a cup of coffee/can of soda/glass of wine applejuice, sit back, and prepare to be entertained! … continue reading

Michelle Paradise's final episode of her Exes & Ohs vlog is shot on the streets of San Francisco, where she first came up with the idea for the show.

In this vlog, Michelle answers questions like:

• will there be a second season of Exes & Ohs
• why her character's name was changed from Jennifer Baker to Jennifer Butler
• whether she has any hidden talents

She also wants to know what the "less than 3" symbol that keeps appearing in the comments means (she's referring to <3). I love that her guesses are breasts or a CIA code... … continue reading

Michelle Paradise is back and bravely vlogging with a cold about the sixth and final episode of the first season of Exes & Ohs.

In this episode, Michelle gives an update on the status of the worst date/best date stories vlog, talks about a commercial she shot last week in a bathing suit, shows off her new Beever Cafe t-shirt (now available to order), and dubs herself the queen of non-sequiters.

And she answers questions about whether her belly button is really pierced, how to see bloopers, and if Sam's parents were modeled after Dick and Lynn Cheney.

For added fun while watching the vlog, you can drink a shot of something every time Michelle says "1-900-porn-now" or mentions her shirt being too tight (not that I'm complaining about either!)

And if you watch the first few moments carefully, you'll catch a glimpse of her famous yawning cat... … continue reading

Costar Marnie Alton joins Michelle Paradise to discuss episode 5 of Exes & Ohs and heckle Michelle's neighbors, who keep walking by while they're trying to film this vlog (hence the reason it's broken into four parts).

In between dodging noisy neighbors, they answer your questions, discuss Marnie's side career as a singer/songwriter, and in keeping with the trend of making Michelle say things in other languages, they both answer a question in French (but sadly, it's to explain why they can't film the next season in Paris).

Also, Michelle makes Marnie attempt the Xena call. Watch it now! … continue reading

Michelle's back, this time with co-star Megan Cavanagh, who joins her in Mazatlan to talk about Episode 4 and answer your questions about the show.

Along the way, you'll learn:

• Why Michelle can't do Shakespeare, and why she wanted an agent when she was 10
• What role Megan played as a child that got her into acting
• How to mispronounce the name of an Irish band very, very badly

Check it out now... … continue reading

Due to technical difficulties, Michelle was unable to complete her Exes & Ohs video blog this week, so she sent me a written version instead. Don't worry, she's just as cute and rambly when she writes as she is when she talks, but Michelle will be back with her regularly scheduled video blog programming next week.

Greetings
Hi everyone! And greetings from someplace in the Pacific Ocean … I’m writing this episode 3 blog from the Olivia cruise ship. Sadly we’ve had some technical difficulties with the video blogs I filmed and sent in from New York. Normally, they’d be easy to re-send for posting — but there’s that little matter of floating around in the middle of nowhere and relying on satellites to connect me to the Internet … satellites which are slow enough to allow you to eat an entire meal between the time you hit the enter button and the time a page actually finishes loading. You could probably also do the dishes. Fortunately, on a cruise ship, they don’t make you do your own dishes. But you get the point.

The Video Blog You Missed
That said, you’re missing out on what I’m sure was a thrilling 3rd installment. You would have seen me drop my water bottle on a grate in Times Square, answer questions from the comfort of my hotel bed (get your minds out of the gutter; I was fully clothed), and wonder aloud about the purpose of the padded headboard, which was made to look like a Renaissance painting complete with gilded gold frame. Though to be fair, I suppose if I have to wonder about the purpose of a padded headboard designed to look like a Renaissance painting in a gilded gold frame, perhaps I’m not the target audience for such a headboard.

Like I said, I’m sure it was a thrilling video blog...

But instead, you’ll have to make due with a written version. I’ll try to keep the rambling spirit of the originals by promising you, AfterEllen.com’s faithful readers, that I will not do the writerly thing and go back and edit this piece so it sounds more sparkly, interesting, or grammatically correct. And I promise that next week’s installment will actually be a video blog, even if I have to fly back to New York to film it in the AfterEllen.com offices. Knowing my luck, I’d arrive during lunch hour — but I’d persevere.

Okay, all of that said … here we go …

… continue reading

The Episode 3 Story
I’ll start this the way I’ve been starting the video blogs, with a little story about episode 3.

Best date/worst ex stories. Or worst date/best ex stories. We all have them. My first date with Lori involved taking her to see High Art and then dinner at an Indian restaurant that put way too much cilantro in their food. Now that was a bad date. Fortunately, I redeemed myself by surprising her with a picnic on the beach (that was the best date).

Another bad date? Our third one, when Lori showed up at my Dad's house to pick me up (yes, I was living with my parents, but I was only 24 and just out of grad school with no job), and my Dad and stepmother sat her down and asked "what are your intentions with our daughter?" just like they did with my sister's boyfriends. Seriously. They're very protective. I was mortified, but fortunately, Lori thought it was kind of sweet.

But enough about me. Exes & Ohs creator and star (and AfterEllen.com vlogger) Michelle Paradise and I want is your stories.

As Michelle explains in this video, we want you to post your best date/worst ex (or vice versa) stories, or the number-one dating rule you live by, in the comments below, and she'll choose some of the best ones to highlight in one of her upcoming vlogs.

Watch it here now: … continue reading

Writer/director/actor/all around funny lesbian Michelle Paradise is back with the second episode of her weekly Exes & Ohs video blog (watch the first one here).

This time around, Michelle talks about how they cast the dog that appears in the second episode, and answers your questions about why the show was set in Seattle, how it compares to The L Word, whether there are any vlog guestbians in the works, and whether Angela Featherstone was cast because she looks like Lucy Lawless. The short answer to that last one is "no", but Michelle does an imitation of the "Xena call" that made Lori fall off her chair laughing.

Michelle is coming at you this time from a hotel room in Seattle — which means still no guest appearance by her yawning cat. But room service does make an appearance, right in the middle of her filming (don't you hate it when that happens?), so she had to break the video up into two clips: pre and post breakfast arrival. Check 'em out here now: … continue reading

Good news for fans of cute, funny lesbians! Out Exes & Ohs star/creator Michelle Paradise has graciously agreed to do a weekly video blog on AfterEllen.com, every Tuesday after each new episode airs — to answer your questions about the show, tell anecdotes and "making of" stories about the episodes, and just generally ramble on in that charming way she does.

In this first vlog segment, Michelle introduces herself, responds to a few of the comments about the show left by readers in my BLWE column Friday, and explains how much fun it was trying to get a cockatiel with a bad attitude to land on her head in the show's first episode.

I have a few questions for Michelle myself after watching the first episode. First, where did they get those awesome matching blue-knit sweaters Chris and Kris wore near the end of the first episode? I could have sworn my dad and stepmother had a set just like them. Loved it.

Second, where else besides lesbian yacht weddings can you meet a lesbian pediatric surgeon who helps children with rare diseases and looks like an older Summer from The O.C.? Be specific — inquiring minds want to know!

Michelle will answer these and other questions posted in the comments below in next Tuesday's vlog. Meanwhile, watch her first vlog here now: … continue reading