Dopp Juice Archive

Sooo….. this week, we accidentally launched a startup.

We were quietly going about our business, scheming and building and testing our hearts out, keeping things nicely under wraps… when all of a sudden we ended up on Valleywag. And then CNet News. Um, hai.

So… you want to know what we’re building. That’s a great question. Here’s a hint: it’s a lot less scary and outlandish than the press is making it out to be.  But hey — why take the fun out of things?  Go ahead and keep pretending that we’re out to ruin lives. We think it’s funny.

Oh, and by “we,” I mean there are four of us.

We’ll let you in on the action soon.  Until then, we recommend using your twitter, tumblr, and flickr vision.

Happy boffing!

I heard a rumor that September starts tomorrow.  I’m certain this rumor is false and I fully intend to hunt down and interrogate whatever mischeivous internet prankster is trying to end summer early on us, so don’t worry.  But before I go do that, I just wanted to jot down a quick bulleted list of neat stuff that happened this summer which I would have blogged about if I hadn’t been so busy… you know… doing life.

• I managed the redesign of BlogHer.com (via Cerado and with the help of BlogHer’s awesome staff).  Here’s the before and after.
• I was quoted in the New York Times in an article about blogging.
• I launched QueerOpenMic.com (and I LOVE my new gig there as co-host).
• I secretly started working on an incredibly interesting new startup that I’m not going to tell you about for awhile.
• I joined the BlogHer Reach Out Tour, which will host conferences in six east coast cities in October, and I’ll be facilitating their Geek Lab.
• Genderfork (my androgyny photo blog project) received an excellent review in Coilhouse yesterday.
• I went to Burning Man.
• I’m going to be performing (a hillarious story that I’m not going to share on the Internet) in the Sept 13 show of Working for the Weakened. You should come!

And you already know about my grandmother.  So I guess I had a pretty full summer.  And yeah.  Okay.  I think maybe it’s alright for it to end now.

Hello, Autumn.  Missed you.

I have really exciting news for you (if you haven’t already heard me bragging like crazy about it): I’m the new co-host of San Francisco’s Queer Open Mic!  This is an incredible opportunity for me to give back to something that’s been deeply special in my life for a long time.

The Queer Open Mic has been my creative home for the last year and a half — I go religiously, I love the atmosphere, and I love the people.  Cindy Emch — the open mic’s founder (and the host who’s handing the reigns over to me) — worked her butt off to create a space that felt safe for poets, prose writers, comedians, singer-songwriters, and other artists who fell anywhere along the gender and sexuality spectrums to share their work with one another — even when it wasn’t perfect.  The result was always rich show of ecclectic work that felt deeply personal, creative, inspiring, and generous.

Can you tell I’m in love with this venue?

Oh, and let me tell you about the features!  At every show, there’s a feature performer who takes up about 20 minutes in the middle of the show, and they always knock my socks off. Sometimes it’s a local hero, sometimes it’s a kick-ass artist on tour from another state, and sometimes it’s a bright and shiny Queer Open Mic regular who’s doing their first-ever feature performance.  No matter how you slice it, the show is always intense and beautiful.

But enough of my gushing, let’s jump to the details.  My first show as co-host is next week and I want you to be there.  To make sure you have plenty of reason to clear your calendars, I’ve booked one of my favorite people on earth — a soulful, funny, kinky, creative, and drop-dead adorable singer-songwriter named Fivestar.

Allow me to introduce you.  Fivestar writes…

I’m originally from South Texas and have been making trouble in the Bay Area for 6 years.  When I’m not working with video and the web, you can find me riding my bike, exploring the fabulousness of this city and making music.  Music has been an emotional outlet for me as far back as i can remember.  I’ve been writing music for ten years for the sole purpose of dealing with heartaches and joys.  Aside from a few past public performances, I mostly sing for my friends.  I started performing Queer Open Mic a few months ago and am excited to find more people to share my passion with.   Thank you!

Visit http://www.iamfivestar.com or http://twitter.com/iamfivestar for more.

The show will be followed by a table full ‘o beer at Zeitgeist (an outdoor bar filled with picnic tables and attractive hipsters) to celebrate Fivestar’s performance, my new role as co-host, and the fact that my best friend from high school just moved to San Francisco (it’s about time, girl!). So even if you can’t make it to the show, you should come out and share a pitcher with us there.

Are you in yet?  Here are the details…

What: Queer Open Mic, featuring Fivestar (and Sarah Dopp’s first night as co-host!!)
When: July 11, 8-10pm (sign-ups start at 7:30), followed by beer at Zeitgeist
Where: The Three Dollar Bill Cafe, San Francisco’s LGBT Center (1800 Market St.)

About the Queer Open Mic
Queer Open Mic is a twice monthly gathering of poets, performers, writers and artists of all types to come together and share art. Proto-feminist and genderqueer in scope, QOM aims to combine raunchy enthusiasm, warmth and community, unapologetic queer, radical politics and sweet rhythms to create a space for spoken word, poetry and performance that is multi cultural, multi gendered, completely inclusive and dynamic. QOM is hosted by Sarah Dopp and Mollena Williams. Please show up around 7:30pm to sign up on the open mic list. You’re encouraged to read one piece of work that is five minutes or less. And by encouraged we mean threatened with spankings, shoe throwings and general hilarious tantrums if you don’t follow the rules.