LQ Current Supporters

The End Result Projects – home renos, furniture, exterior, interior – Janet Weigelt 604-649-9121 (I’ve hired her for renos on my house, and she’s excellent. -editor)

LQ Past and In-Kind Supporters

• Gay and Lesbian Business Association of BC
• Honeysuckle Rose Cottage
• Jett Grrl Bike Studio
• Lesbian Luxury Adventure Vacation
• Sounds and Furies Productions

Tuesdays: Surrey Coffee Group 7PM @ Java Hut @ 64th Ave & 152
1st Wednesday of the Month: Vancouver Outdoor Club Monthly Meetings 7:30 pm, common room of the Sitka Women’s Housing Coop at 1550 Woodland St. Lesbian outdoor activities. Event planning, presentations, socializing & meeting new members. http://www.outdoorwomen.ca/

Wednesdays—Mildred Women’s Volleyball League Women’s volleyball league running from October to February. Games are played on Wed nights in Burnaby. Register in August. 604-684-9872 x2002

Last Thursday of the Month Valley Girls Dinner at Frogstone Grill in Maple Ridge Connect via yahoogroup: http://groups.yahoo.com/valleygrrls

Last Friday of the Month: Queer Women on the Drive 7-9 pm Seniors Lounge of Britannia Community Centre. All ages, including children if supervised by an adult. 604-684-5307

Friday Nights: Fruity Flick Fridays 103-1033 Davie St. for LGTB folks aged 45+. Free movie night hosted by the Centre’s Generations Project.

Some Saturdays—Women’s Dance @ Waldorf— dates vary so check http://flygirlproductions.com/ $5 B4-10 $10 after

Saturdays & Mondays—Not So Strictly Ballroom same-sex dance classes
http://www.gayvancouver.net/nssb

Saturdays—Country Dancing—quarterly hoe-down for same sex dancers who like country music. Get on the mailing list at cnwdance@telus.net

First 3 Sundays of the Month - W-Group – Social group for LBTQ women in the West End info at www.groups.yahoo.com/group/whangdoodle/

First Wednesday of every month – Vancouver Front Runners Women’s Run once a month Women’s Run. Meeting place is the lobby of the Roundhouse Community Centre at the corner of Davie and Pacific Boulevard at 6:30 p.m. http://www.vancouverfrontrunners.org/

In this issue:

• Challenges Together: Rhizome Cafe
• Catherine McNeill (poetry) - let us give thanks
• Lisa (Annuska) van der Pol (business update)- Boogy Woogy in Victoria
• Sophia Kelly – (poetry) You touch
• Ongoing Lesbian Events
• The Lesbian Agenda
• About LQ / LQ Masthead

It’s still the same magazine, and if you prefer to print it and read it offline, it’s designed so you can just print this page to read offline.

Making LQ web-based means it’s faster and less expensive to produce and distribute. Without the need to distribute print copies or find ads to recover printing costs, I can focus my time on creating content.

LQ is a not-for-profit publication that I volunteer my time to maintain when not running my technology and nonprofit consulting practice ( www.sophiakelly.ca )

If women are interested in being part of seeing print versions continue contact me. Pro-lesbian organisations interested in reprinting or distributing content from LQ are invited to contact the editor for permission before proceeding.

It was only a year ago that the couple, together for 10 years this month, took occupancy of the space. It took them three months to set up the space to open the cafe and community space. “We wanted to be here for the long term” says Lenavat. This time period is described by both as hell. “With the construction boom on it was difficult to get tradespeople in, and everything took longer and cost more than expected. It was hard waiting, paying rent and not being able to open.” explains Moore.

A year of preparation and business planning went in before they even found the location. Lenavat, a Canadian, sponsored Moore, an American, to immigrate to Canada. “We didn’t know anyone in Vancouver when we first got here.” says Moore. The couple have come a long way since then. Moore and Lenavat surveyed local folks, and in the process built considerable support for the cafe’s concept of community building and organizing. “As soon as we opened our calendar started to fill up with meetings and crazy projects. We had people tell us ‘I had this idea for a long time for this thing I wanted to do and I never had a place to do it’. ” says Moore. “We haven’t had to look for people, they’ve come to us and if we had they’d be the ones we’d want here. This tells us this cafe was something wanted and needed.”

The name Rhizome refers to a root system that some plants like lilies, orchids, ginger and bamboo use to spread themselves about. A rhizome root system runs parallel to the surface of the ground and the plants send shoots up from the nodes in the rhizome, creating what looks like many separate plants. These seemingly unrelated individuals are actually all connected, through a system that’s not immediately visible to the eye. The name summarizes the philosophy of the cafe, which is held as a place for progressive community groups to meet and hold classes, events, forums and film screenings. They also host performances and show the work of local artists.

They’re not kidding about their calendar being full. In February alone they had 13 different events, plus two art installations, in addition to all the groups meeting privately in the meeting space. One event caught my eye – called ‘Board Games are So Gay!’ it is billed as a queer friendly board games night, which I’m told was a huge success that is likely to be repeated, with fun music from a dj, board games and even twister.

The food is made with fresh ingredients hand selected by Lenavat each day, and includes several vegan and vegetarian options. When asked which menu item is their favourite or specialty, the couple couldn’t pick. Each recipe is attached to a friend or favourite place, and besides, they eat three meals a day at the cafe.

So what’s it like running a cafe as a couple? Says Lenavat “Our relationship in the last 10 years, we go for challenges and that’s what keeps us together.”

More info on the Rhizome is available at www.rhizomecafe.ca

Sophia Kelly, Editor - www.lesbianquarterly.com

her again. i return to her as if for the first time. not seeing clearly.
the sun shines while the rain falls. she was born protected under a
purple marten’s wing. the day lightening struck the water tower
 

the townspeople received running water in their homes, the okanogan
cherry happy sultry summer people cheered on horseback. goodness
would surely follow her all of her days. when she passes “oo la la!”
 

metallic starbodies bump into the moon. she can see into your head.
she gets along with her mother. let us give thanks. in the dream, she
has left her husband. you parent her girls.
 

for crying in the cock-eyed sink, she is just a dream. you have loved
her far too long. now the earth opens up. you feel your foot falling in
kiss her sweet life goodbye   

van der Pol named her business Victoria Boogie Woogie Art Rent Inc. The name derives from a famous painting by Dutch modern art painter Piet Mondriaan. According to Lisa Annuska, the painting “Victory Boogy Woogy” was inspired by the boogie-woogie rhythm and the big-city hustle and bustle in the streets of New York in the latter days of World War 2.

Coming from a background working in museums in Holland, helping businesses connect with Dutch art seems a natural project for Annuska. Good luck! 

More information at www.victoriaboogiewoogie.ca

I found my heart
I found my heart and I
I found my heart, and I am
I found my heart, and I am Not
I found my heart, and I am not wanting–
You.

(c) 1997 Sophia Kelly