They said they wanted a blog...
OK, so the York Lesbian Arts Festival 2005 is programmed and the website is getting 2,500 hits a month and ticket sales are going well. It must be time to set up a blog. People are asking for a blog (well, one person).
First, the disclaimer: I am likely to make silly remarks in this blog but these should be taken as my own silly remarks and not representative of the sensible people on the committee of the York Lesbian Arts Festival.
I will start with some amusing things that have happened to me as festival director.
1. A London woman asked me where York was. She did follow up by asking if it was in Yorkshire but it then became clear that she didn't know where Yorkshire was.
2. I have to say the word 'lesbian' a lot in this job. Every time someone asks me what my job is, I have to say the word 'lesbian' again. So far there have been no serious adverse reactions but there have been some slightly odd ones, especially on the phone to other businesses. People frequently ask me to repeat what I've just said, as if they can't quite believe it. Unfortunately, the name of my street rhymes with a word for female genitalia. So when they ask my address, the whole thing starts over again.
3. At the Mini Festival in May, someone came up to tell me that she has quoted from my erotic novel in her doctoral thesis. On further questioning it became clear that she is a genuine academic from Norway. She has since sent me her splendid thesis in which she claims to have counted how many times I used the verb 'take' in my book in a sexual context. That must have taken a long time and been quite boring for her.
4. ... Can't think of any more.
Bye for now you lovely people,
Helen
York Lesbian Arts Festival website: www.ylaf.org.uk
First, the disclaimer: I am likely to make silly remarks in this blog but these should be taken as my own silly remarks and not representative of the sensible people on the committee of the York Lesbian Arts Festival.
I will start with some amusing things that have happened to me as festival director.
1. A London woman asked me where York was. She did follow up by asking if it was in Yorkshire but it then became clear that she didn't know where Yorkshire was.
2. I have to say the word 'lesbian' a lot in this job. Every time someone asks me what my job is, I have to say the word 'lesbian' again. So far there have been no serious adverse reactions but there have been some slightly odd ones, especially on the phone to other businesses. People frequently ask me to repeat what I've just said, as if they can't quite believe it. Unfortunately, the name of my street rhymes with a word for female genitalia. So when they ask my address, the whole thing starts over again.
3. At the Mini Festival in May, someone came up to tell me that she has quoted from my erotic novel in her doctoral thesis. On further questioning it became clear that she is a genuine academic from Norway. She has since sent me her splendid thesis in which she claims to have counted how many times I used the verb 'take' in my book in a sexual context. That must have taken a long time and been quite boring for her.
4. ... Can't think of any more.
Bye for now you lovely people,
Helen
York Lesbian Arts Festival website: www.ylaf.org.uk
posted by Helen Sandler at Tuesday, June 28, 2005
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