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 Greetings!
Put on your dime store cheater glasses and sit a spell, 'cause Social Notes is so chock full of info this week that it'll take you a while to digest all the social and civic goodness contained herein!
It seems like every ethnic component in Houston has a festival in October. They're not officially gay events, but while you are enjoying Food Items On A Stick, your gaydar is bound to be pinging! And not to be outdone, the gay community does itself prou d in the fall, with Decadent Desserts, National Coming Out Day, and a whole lotta other swell events and parties.
Seriously, if you are sitting at home in the month of October, then you may as well cancel your Social Notes subscription because there is officially No Hope for you! So get out there and festivate, which technically isn't a real word, but it should be!
The articles below provide info about several events I want to highlight, in addition to the typical listings of everything I know of that is going on within the community. As always, click over to the calendar page of the Social Notes website for full details on any event mentioned in the newsletter.
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 | Find Out About Two Great
Houston GLBT Organizations
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 Lesbian Health Initiative (LHI) and The Montrose Counseling Center are both holding social and informational events this week. Whether you are looking for a place to donate your time, a cause to donate your money, or services you need from our community, these Meet and Greet events are a great way to find out more about these two wonderful organizations.
- LHI's event is Tuesday, Oct. 5th at 7:30 pm
- The Montrose Counseling Center's event is Thursday, Oct. 7th at 6 pm.
Both events are being held at the Montrose Counseling Center, 401 Branard.
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| Outreach United Presents
A National Coming Out Day Party
Saturday, October 9th, 3 to 6 pm,
924 Euclid (in the Heights)
|  My dear friends Gary Wood and Bryant Johnson head up Outreach United, and each year they throw a fabulous event to celebrate National Coming Out Day. The party is a fundraiser for a variety of local GLBT charities, and it's a great opportunity to socialize with a quality group of GLBTs. Last year's event had over 300 attendees and raised over $13K (that's a LOT of Ks!)
This year's event will be a social mixer with an open bar, hors d' ourves and of course the Annual Art Auction. They also have some new surprises and special guests this year so please RSVP via Facebook.
This year's charity beneficiaries:
Pride Houston's: Coming Out Guide
Pride Houston's: Scholarship Fund
Montrose Counseling Center Program: SPRY (Seniors Preparing for Rainbow Years)
Montrose Counseling Center Program: Helping Homeless GLBT Youth Fund
General Admission Tickets are $25 and VIP tickets are $50 (VIP bar, meet the artist, models and special guest and more).
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| AssistHers Presents
Decadent Desserts and More...!
Sunday, October 10th, 4 to 8 pm,
at South Beach
|  Decadent Desserts is one of the premier lesbo gatherings each year, and it's one of AssistHers primary fundraising vehicles. How cool that their 10th anniversary will be celebrated on 10/10!
Here's the basic concept: for the modest entry price of $25 ($30 at the door), you get to mix and mingle and sample the scrumptious food offerings of 12 of our city's best bakeries, caterers, and restaurants, who are manning tables throughout the bar. Raffles and entertainment round out a very fun Sunday afternoon. You can buy your tickets by clicking here.
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| Northwest Corner Invites Everyone
To Attend A Wine Tasting
at Rainbow Lodge
Friday, October 15th, 6 to 8 pm,
at Rainbow Lodge, 2011 Ella
|  Join your Northwest Corner friends for a lovely evening of wine, food and fun at one of Houston's most beautiful venues: Rainbow Lodge. You don't need to be a member of Northwest Corner to attend this event!
October is a wonderful time for a tasting at the Lodge, since we'll be able to enjoy the extensive deck, with its view of the beautiful grounds. Guitarist/singer Kenneth Scott will be adding a nice musical note to the evening.
Sip and stroll amongst 4 different stations, each with a special food and wine pairing. You can go back to each station as often as you like. Here's the menu for the evening:
- Assorted Vegetable tossed with Market Greens in Horseradish Dressing
Wine: Tangent, Paragon Vineyard, Sauvignon Blanc
- Classic Coq au Vin, Braised in Red Wine w/ Forest Mushrooms, Pearl Onions & Smoked Bacon
Wine: Baileyana, Grand Firepeak Cuvee, Pinot Noir
- Slow Roasted Pork over Homestead Gristmill White Corn Grits with Smoked Pork Jus
Wine: Robert Hall, Syrah
- Apple and Plum Crumble w/ Old Fashioned Custard Sauce
Wine: Hahn, SLH, Pinot Gris
All of the wineries are SIP Certified (Sustainability in Practice)
Tickets are only $29. To reserve your spot, please call Rainbow Lodge at 713-861-8666. Attendance is limited to 150, so make your reservations today!
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| Upcoming "Don't Miss" Events
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Be sure to check the Calendar page of Social Notes for more details on each of these fine events. You'll find time, dates, location, a description of the event, along with prices and a links where appropriate. Click on over so you'll be In The Know.
- Tuesday, Oct. 5th: LHI Presents A Get Together for Good
- Thursday, Oct. 7th: The Secret's Out - An Evening with Montrose Counseling Center
- Saturday, Oct. 9th: Outreach United Presents A National Coming Out Day Party
- Sunday, Oct. 10th: AssistHer's Decadent Desserts and More!
- Monday, Oct. 11th: GLBT Community Center Presents a National Coming Out Day Celebration
- Tuesday, Oct. 12th: A Night in Napa: A WOW Fundraiser
- Friday, Oct. 15th: Northwest Corner Wine Tasting at Rainbow Lodge - Everyone's invited!
- Monday, Oct. 18th: The start of Early Voting
- Friday and Saturday, Oct. 22nd and 23rd: Barkitecture Houston
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| Weekly/Monthly Recurring Events
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Here's a listing of events which occur regularly - either weekly or monthly. As always, please click over to the Calendar page of Social Notes for all the details about each of these fine events. - Every Tuesday: Steak Night at The Usual
- Every Wednesday: Open Mic Night at The Usual
- Every Thursday: Free C&W dance lessons at BRB
- Third Thursday of Each Month: Book Club
- The 2nd and 4th Fridays of each month: Free C&W dance lessons at BRB
- 2nd Friday of each month: A2 40 Happy Hours
- 1st Saturday of the month: Queer Bingo
- Every Sunday: The Women's Group meets
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| "Save The Date" and purchase your tickets now for these future events!
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 Even though these events may be a few days/weeks down the road,
you need to buy your tickets and/or make your reservations NOW, girlfriend! You can find out all the details, including ticket purchase information, by visiting the Calendar Page of Social Notes
- Thursday, October 7th: The Secret's Out - an Evening with Montrose Counseling Center
- Sunday, October 10th: Decadent Desserts and More
- Friday, October 15th: Northwest Corner Wine Tasting at Rainbow Lodge - everyone is invited!
- Friday and Saturday, October 15th and 16th: Casino Bus to Lake Charles (NOT Lake Jackson, as reported in the last edition of Social Notes!)
- Saturday, October 23rd: Chely Wright in concert
- Sunday, October 24th: Christy Claxton in house concert
- Saturday, November 6th: LHI Health Fair
- Saturday, December 4th: Carol's Holiday Party
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| Professional Pointers |  Professional Pointers is a way for lesbians in our community to share tips and advice - whether it be health, financial, house and yard care...whatever! To submit your article for publication, contact Carol.
Use It or Lose It.....it's TRUE!
We all want the quick fix, the magic pill, the one thing that will give us the body we desire with little or no effort at all. Well, that's just not going to happen and thankfully so. Our bodies are beautiful miracles in motion. We are designed to move, to flex, to bend, and to effortlessly go through our days confident and sure-footed.
Do you find it harder and harder to climb a flight of stairs? Or, how hard is it for you to get in and out of a recliner? These are all easy movements that should be accomplished with little or no effort, regardless of your age. Did anyone see Florence Henderson on Dancing with the stars Monday night? Do you know that she is 76 years old? Now, she is a shining example of what aging should and does look like!
Exercise is a wonderful thing. We loved it as kids. Who didn't like to ride their bike, climb tree or play "King (or Queen) of the Hill"? We loved to move. We would fidget if we were made to sit still for too long. What happened? How did we go from playful little imps to sedentary couch potatoes?
I do know one thing and that is if you don't use those beautiful muscles they will weaken, atrophy and basically go away. We need to use our muscles. Challenge them with weight bearing exercises so they stay strong. We need to work-up a sweat with aerobic activity. Increase our heart rate for a period of time to keep our heart muscle strong and healthy. We need to bend and stretch in order to be limber and flexible.
Most people want to live a long and prosperous life. What will that life look like if you don't have a strong, healthy body? Is assisted living in your future plans? I think not. Nor does
it have to be. Everyone can benefit from physical activity. It is what our bodies want and need. Want to find the Fountain of Youth? Then move your body, exercise those beautiful muscles and you will be amazed at how much younger you will look and feel. You are miracles in motion...now go out and realize it for yourself.
Stay tuned to future editions of Professional Pointers to find out Mary Jean's suggestions for getting yourself more active!
Mary Jean Tiernan
Personal Fitness Trainer
Cell: 832-498-7849
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| The Rant
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Thanks for making it this far through this week's edition of the newsletter. It really is a long one, isn't it!
I'll try to keep the Rant short this time, but given my subject, there are no guarantees!
I am sick sick sick of watching Democrats cower in the face of Republican bullies - refusing to run on our accomplishments. Granted we haven't achieved everything Obama promised, but given the absolutely cataclysmic disaster he inherited, we've got plenty to be proud of.
The Republicans just have amazing message control and discipline. That message may be loopy, disingenuous, full of hatred, and downright contrary to what America needs to move forward, but by God they preach it in lockstep. Once they establish a particular talking point, every conservative talking head appears on Fox to spout it verbatim. The Dems? Not so much.
Look, the polls say that people hate the Dems, sure, but they hate the Republicans MORE! And it turns out that most people are upset about the health care bill, not because it did too much, but because IT DIDN'T DO ENOUGH. Every single Democrat should be preaching this message from the mountain top: Because the Democrats had the courage to tackle health care reform, as of TODAY:No denial of children based on pre-existing conditions No more lifetime benefit limits No canceling policies of very sick and benefit-needy peoplefor
technical errors on their application Coverage of kids up to age 26 on their parent policies No co-pays on some preventive procedures, including
colonoscopies, mammograms and immunizations Allowing those on new plans to keep their own doctors
and to appeal reimbursement decisions to a third party.
Even people who claim to be against "Obamacare" are in favor of these benefits when they are broken out and explained. Why isn't Obama using his "bully pulpit" to preach this message every single day? Along with every single Democrat running for office this November????
In addition to touting the things we HAVE accomplished, every single Dem should also be reminding voters that it was Republican policy, Republican management and Republican malfeasance that got us into this mess in the first place. And that during the worst crisis we have faced since the Great Depression, the Repubs refused to act as responsible participants in the governing of this country. They in effect have gone on strike when our country needed serious leaders the most. Just shameful.
Here's what one of my favorite blogs, No More Mister Nice Blog, recommends that our Democratic leaders should be saying on the campaign trail:
"We screwed up. We took your massive mandate and we came into
power and we thought that we would be able to come into Congress and do what
you asked. We relied on the good faith of the Republican party, its Senators
and its Congressmen to put country ahead of pique. That was a mistake.
In
all the transitions from Republican to Democrat, and Democrat to Republican in
the entire history of this country since we've had parties we have never seen
the minority party simply being willing to burn down the house rather than permit
the majority to do the work of the people.
We came in facing two wars, a
massive housing crash, skyrocketing unemployment, Bush's deficit spending, tax
cuts, years of regulatory neglect of our mines, water, and food supply plus the
looting of the treasury for Bush's TARP program and we thought the Republicans
would actually let us try to fix a few of these problems for you. We were
wrong.
We'll never make that mistake again. Its customary for the party
in power to lose a few seats during a midterm election. That's because people
often think that the government can get along without their input. They stay
home because they are too busy, or they think things are going OK, or they want
to punish the government because things aren't going OK.
Well--if that's why
you are planning to stay home think again. Things are not going OK. If the
Republicans get into power in the House and Senate this country will go down in
flames. We can't afford them. We can't afford their indifference to your
plight, we can't afford their tax gifts to their wealthy friends, we can't
afford their borrow and spend policies, we can't afford to let them repeal the
health care protections you and your children rely on.
We're sorry to have to
ask this, we thought we didn't need your help, but if ever we needed you to
throw your shoulder to the wheel now is it. Come back to the fight with us.
After we win we promise to invite you back to the table. We need you."
Do you think THAT message would inspire some disenchanted Dems to get up off the couch and vote??? I sure do!
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So Long!
 Well, that's all for this week's edition of Social Notes. I sure hope to see all your smilin' faces at some of this month's swell upcoming events!
Sincerely,
Carol Wyatt
Social Notes
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