Diane completely sacrifices her personal life to bring you the skinny on the Maryland/ Washington, D.C./ Delaware/ Northern Virginia scene.

So why don't we call this page "On the Towns" or "On the States"? I don't know everything!!!

Anyhoo, if you've got something you think the lesbian community should know about, send it to Diane!

Archives:

August 2001

September 2001

November 2001

Gearing up for the holidays?

Shine your shoes, you know those penny loafers you love so much, wash your jeans, press your shirt . . . remember when we used to actually press our jeans? Crease right down those pant legs so sharp you’d cut your fingertips. Thank goodness for new fabrics, huh!

Decision, Decisions
Have you restyled your hairdo yet, bought that tryout hair color on Friday so no one at the office will see it if you don’t like it? You can always change it back on Sunday night, right?

Maybe you’ve decided to actually paint your fingernails again to look a little more feminine. Or you’ve decided to throw away those old dirty baseball hats. You know, the ones that hide your beautiful hair and those pretty eyes that sparkle when you smile.

I hope you’ve decided to find the real you, the one that is really comfortable with herself. It is time for you now!

Let’s say you’ve decided that life is just too short. Your next trip to the grocery store will be the natural foods shop down the block you’ve been meaning to step into for a very long time.

Whatever your decisions, life is entirely up to you every day. Have you decided to make that telephone call to the one person that is really important in your life and tell her so whether it is a friend or a lover, mother, sister, daughter, or other? Maybe now’s a good time! Have you decided to take better care of yourself and your pet? Today’s definitely a good time for that.

Let's celebrate!
Celebrate our lives the way they are or change them to the way we really want them to be . . . which is it, ladies? The holidays are coming up I want you all to be happier today than you were yesterday, that includes tomorrow! For starters, wink at someone new!

Politics and other thoughts
If you really want to find out what is going on in the world, click onto the United Nations website. It appears to be updated monthly. However, there are sections offering weekly emails and a daily update:
www.un.org

How do you feel about what the United States media is telling us? Do you think it reports what media are being told, or are they being held back from what is going on in Afghanistan? Public radio stations are broadcasting that reporters are being held back from the real front lines by the Afghanistan government (Taliban). I was listening late on Friday evening (October) and those were the facts as I heard them.

Sometimes television stations hold back on stories because the producers or presidents of the networks want a story squashed because someone has gotten to them. The same holds true of newspapers. When Katherine Graham was alive she held onto her own and the Washington Post’s credibility by insisting on two credible sources for confirmation of facts before she would let a story be published. We need to question facts sometimes, as it is a right of every American citizen.

The things that I question are the activities of our state department, and the things it may be overlooking with our new-found friend, China. Are we forgetting about the college students the leaders were mowing down with tanks in Tienenman Square? Some of these students were jailed for what the whole world saw as a peaceful demonstration.

By the way, if you are into reading, I highly recommend Red Azalea by Anchee Min, this national bestseller is a biography of her life during the Mao years. First published in 1994 by Pantheon Press, Red Azalea is now available in paperback.

Condolences
I would like to give my condolences to all who have had a loss on and since 9-11-2001. Our American Dream has duly been changed and hopefully for the better so that we may put the priorities of our lives in some sense a more effective order.

A number of years ago I was delegated to bed rest for 4 months because of an automobile accident. While recuperating I found out who my friends were. They helped me a lot. So while contemplating my life I decided to write a poem. This has been published several times.

Precious Gift
by Diane Knaus

If I could give you the most precious gift in the world I would.
You have truly moved my feelings and my heart,
our friendship has been constantly caring yet rarely demanding.
You can look at me talking and see within me my feelings,
and I can hear your voice on the telephone and know what's in your heart.
The most precious gift in the world is different for everyone.
Yet everyone prizes something as precious.
Maybe it's the sun shining on the changing fall leaves,
or the miracle of birth of a child or even puppies.
Maybe it's the delicate beauty of a butterfly or the miracle of its cocoon.
Did you ever see a squirrel walk upside down on a telephone wire, that's rare.
How about that precious moment when Aunt Matilda fell all 220lbs. of her with just her girdle on into the swamp?
Is precious a material possession, or a good feeling?
Or is it the giving of a gift with loving warmth and seeing the smile of acceptance?
Then there's that feeling of someone close to lean on.
Sharing a feeling of happiness or sadness with someone to hold your hand
even when you feel you might be wrong.
Is precious a feeling of self-respect when you know you're doing your best and say so?
Or could precious possibly be the daily living of life, the ability to feel emotions and sense other living beings with the distinct ability of personal thought control?
You can control your being every day and you have your own wants, needs and desires.
If I could give you the most precious gift in the world I would.
But, first you must discover what it is!

Until next time,

Diane