WELCOME & FAQ's

Seattle Announcements WELCOMES

     you to a NewsCalendar and to a blog affectionately called the GayZette intended for an open-minded eclectic *queer and gender fluid audience. I invite you to get comfy and have a look around what this community has to offer its diverse members. 

     Please subscribe to the blog which will send you email updates (or Reader updates via RSS Feed) featuring the GayZette highlighting coming attractions, current events, reflections of attended events mingled with my general life’s musings. I invite you to join us on Facebook and Twitter.  Community resources are listed via the 10 LINKS (above) and on the right sidebar that encompass many aspects of maintaining a healthy happy life that are continuously expanded.  The goal is to provide my beloved readers with ALL the information you need for each event.  I appreciate not having to hunt for details once I find something I want to attend.
     I understand that not every function may be suitable for each person’s likes each time. Also, you will notice that not every event is a queer event but may be an interesting event to attend on it's own accord. My intent is to post a varied enough range of events that you will find something that sparks your interest, tickles your fancy or entices you to get you off your comfy couch to join in and feel a part of the greater community! One of my philosophies is – Embrace and feel enriched by what you enjoy and leave the rest!
     Please take a peek at the FAQ's on this post as you may find the answers to most of your questions there as well as much additional information aimed to answer many a lingering lifelong question (ex., What is a HouseDyke?). I am always happy to have you drop me an email and I will respond to your inquiry, post an event for you or just take the opportunity to say HellOOO. I hope that Seattle Announcements will be your one-stop Entertainment and Resource guide and that you soon will feel like part of our larger FUNctional family.  May social isolation be reduced one event at a time!

Enjoy from the heart! 

How the Seattle Announcements Calendar Works

    Seattle Announcements Calendar is full of cutting edge events that are meant to entice an adult only audience while other events are indeed fabulous to take your diverse family and friends to. You will find all necessary information for each event on the calendar including type of event, cost, time frame, address, web information and phone numbers.  
     The default view is set to Agenda for ease of viewing all events in a day but you may change it to Daily, Weekly and Monthly to suit your personal preference as we are all about preferences (this may have to be done each time you come back to the web or if the page is refreshed). The Print button provides you with many options and is located at the top of the calendar. 

     Depending on how you have your own PC settings will determine whether: when you pause the mouse over the top of the event - the individual event opens and you can see the entire details of the event or you may have to click your mouse once or twice to OPEN the event. The details you see are also determined by the VIEW chosen; Daily, Weekly, Monthly or Agenda.

     Full venue information can be found categorized by type of establishment on the sidebars of the blog under their specific category (ex., WildRose found under Bars). I resource many FREE and low-cost options for entertainment and the calendar is updated constantly!  On a normal month currently there is upwards of 350 [500+ as of 3/1] entertaining, educational, thought provoking and community focused events to choose from.
     While the Seattle Announcements calendar is updated constantly and serves as the placeholder for events the GayZette blog will have the juicy details of what is happening in our greater Seattle community. The GayZette highlights and provides additional details for the calendar and can easily be subscribed to so you can receive emails or content via a RSS feeds to your Reader so you can plan your social life well in advance.  
     You can also receive the calendar on your phone so you can attend events on the spur of the moment (email me for the necessary link)!  On rare occasions you may notice an event mentioned in the GayZette but not find it on the calender.  You can assume that the event is accurate from the GayZette posting and may not have made it to the calendar due to time constraints or a mind that has wandered off.

     Additionally, we are on Twitter so you can have up to the date tidbits and be in the know when you are on the go! I am not a twit when I tweet so don't worry I won't tweet the mundane and make you feel insane.

     If you have an event you would like added to the calendar or you have an announcement, please send it to me and I will be happy to take care of it for you!  Take a moment and introduce yourself to me if we have not met or say 'hello' again if we have.  I feel that I already know so many of you as I find events that you might enjoy reading about or attending.

     Truly, there is no place I would rather live as we have wonderfully compassionate people, a variety of events to choose from, sense of community and good ole naughty fun!  The Emerald City is the place to be -there is no place like home!

     I welcome you to Seattle Announcements and the GayZette from the bottom of my heart,

Ms T

How to add the Seattle Announcements Calendar to your:
PC, Phone, Bookmark it, 
or your own gmail or google calendar

I have made it as EASY as possible for you to have access to the calendar via a HTML link.  If you need a ICAL or XML link, email me and I will send it to you.  I want you to use it, enjoy it and send me any feedback. 

You can access the calendar in the following ways: (do copy and paste the links)

• Click on a GayZette email and follow the link to Seattle Announcements home page
• Directly from this html link (copy and paste this link in your web browser http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=nua8lafr9omu44orkuvp1i3rac%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Los_Angeles), save as a Bookmark for viewing anytime.
• You can save the calendar's email address to your own pc or cell phone and view it at anytime (http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=nua8lafr9omu44orkuvp1i3rac%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Los_Angeles). 
• If you have a gmail or google account you can easily add the calendar to your own calendar views.  Looking at the calendar you will see the google calendar icon,  

click on the icon and you can add it to your own calendars.  You will have to sign into your gmail/google account if you are not signed in.  You can select the Seattle Announcements Calendar to view it, and de-select it when finished viewing it.

• You can save the calendar and view it in your RSS feed (I have to research this one. As with many things I am self taught and pass it onto you once I figure it out but you may already know). 

From the heart,

 FAQ’s

Q:  What is a Real HouseDyke?

     A:  It is my sense of humor in action and I am totally poking fun at the recent wave of reality TV shows capitalizing on drama!  I admit they are just one of my naughty indulgences and I am riveted to the TV like gum is to my Stiletto's. I think humor is very important and we ought to never take ourselves too seriously.  Certainly our community as a whole has a vast and wonderful history of being dramatic and we have our own special brand of 'dykedrama'.
     I would like to find a HouseDyke…and may take applications for the position once I find time to write the description. Who knows...maybe I will make it a community event and run a contest for best written description of a HouseDyke and give away a mullet haircut, flannel shirt or something equally of utmost value to a proper HouseDyke.

Q:  Why don't you specifically mention "lesbians" first in your description of who this list is for?  Isn't this just a lesbian list being called something else?
     A:  First, no this isn't just a list for lesbians but rather is for members of a rich community with a variety of gender fluidity and orientations. I will answer the underlying question more directly.  Lesbians as well (as others) are very welcome if they don't mind sharing space with folks that may identify in other ways. I am happy to recommend resources in our community that tend to draw a more conservative lesbian crowd if one is looking for things to do that are for and with strictly lesbians (women loving women in women only space) if that is more your comfort zone.  We will not take offense as our goal is the comfort of our members.
     I feel my calling is to create space for people that are represented in my life that I love where they could feel included and safe as a result of being accepted.  Seattle Announcements is for folks who self identify on the gender and orientation spectrum in various ways including but not limited by my language descriptors to trans, intersex, genderqueer, two spirit, masculine identified, gender f*#$ers, futches, gay, queer, homoflexible, transman, transwoman, boi and queer ally for those who like me are active in supporting and promoting trans-issues and inclusion.
     As with many queer allies it is deeply personal and we can affect change due to our passion and position.  I am not anti-lesbian, in fact I have dated many over the years that could pass for lesbian (said tongue in cheek).  Please do not misunderstand...those that identify as lesbians are welcome, but this cannot be mistaken as womens' only lesbian space as that would be inaccurate.
     We also have members who do not fit neatly in the X box of 'lesbian'.  They often faced the expectation that they should be happy with the 'L' label but instead were quite uncomfortable with someone else defining their sexuality or feelings for them and then telling them to be happy with it.  At Seattle Announcements you don't have to be anything but who you are.  Some of us may also have an additional identifier that place us in a subcategory within the community.
     Our members may identify in a number of different ways in our queer community (butch, futch, femme, high femme, andro, transensual, bi-sexual, trannyfag, femmedyke, the list goes on.,) and have a broad range of interests (activists, leather, kink, poly, mainstream, sci fiction, crafter, etc.,) that further place them into a subculture within the community.  Certainly some of the differentiations are only known to the members of the groups but are still be deeply important.  Belonging to a subculture within a subculture can sometimes be a bit confusing or misunderstood.  Through connection with each other we gain understanding of the basic human condition and realize on a deeper level that a book cannot be read by the cover.
     You are welcome here regardless of how you identify and will find kindred spirits as you attend events.  If you are not on the queer spectrum I bet you are a very cool open-minded non-judgmental kind of creature that believes that life is best lived with many types of ice cream flavors to choose from and might even enjoy trying different flavors.
     In closing, it doesn't matter to me how YOU identify, just that you allow others the space to be where they need to be.  I am very open-minded and my life has been enriched by being so.  I hope that this blog provides a space for you to walk the path you need to with the only rocky road ahead being ice cream. 
     I have a special place in my heart for each one of you,

Ms T
  What's the difference between the GayZette and Seattle Announcements?

     The names can be interchanged and no one from the Lesbian Mafia will show up at your house and make you read out loud from feminist literature while playing folk music or cut off the pony tail you have been growing. The distinction I make is Seattle Announcements is the umbrella for the entire website, calendar, resource guide and features the GayZette.
     The GayZette is the newsy informational prose that is technically considered the blog that will augment and highlight upcoming calendar listings, may have reflections of past events and contain my satirical viewpoint on a life half spent. The GayZette can be emailed to you (see 'Subscribe to GayZette via email') and you will receive links that will help you access the website so you can peruse back articles and 'how to' information.
 I have a friend I think would like this website, what do I do?

You have a couple options. You are welcome to email me and introduce them to me.  This is particularly a good idea if they are someone who would possibly be a candidate for the original Seattle Announcement Yahoo group.   This way I can send them a personal introduction email with some helpful information about the site and I can offer to add them to our yahoo list if they meet the requirements.  Or, you can give them the website and they can check it out on their own.
     I do appreciate referrals so thank you!   

Do you have a preference to which I do? 
Thank you for asking.  I actually do like to send a welcome note.  Call me old fashioned or just old but sometimes it may be my only opportunity to interact with my cherished member and I appreciate the moment to introduce the site, what we are doing and hopefully give the new member a sense that we are friendly natives.  

     I think there is so much posturing that occurs in our community and yes, I do believe there is a time and place for it, but not here.  I want folks to feel embraced, welcome, get a chuckle or two and want to return.  In time, if they are a loner, they may venture out.  If a people person, perhaps this will become another avenue of adventure for them.

     A letter writer from childhood,

Ms T

 What was the reason behind leaving the yahoo Seattle Announcements and starting a blog? 
     The decision to move to a blog format was a difficult one to begin with because I was well aware we are creatures of habit and change is disruptive. I was concerned I would lose cherished members and I made a personal commitment to take special care with this membership.  I feel very honored to have the privilege of providing service to my community in this way. 

     The main reason was the features I saw available in blogs and the ability to provide a much slicker, graphic enabled display to my membership.  I wanted to have a more 'real time' connection and have the capacity to add pictures, posters and for the posted events to carry over from month to month and year to year.

 Why did you make Seattle Announcements a public blog?
     Basically I wanted to provide better access to resources, view-ability for the calendar and the option to save the events and for you my cherished members to be able to invite others to events using the calendar function. Also doing a pseudo calendar without an actual calendar got to be tedious and I feared mistakes could happen too easily. Now, we have folks that use their cell phones to look at the calendar and we have so many options that our members are not even using yet!
     I am so excited about all the possibilities in our future.  I also had NO idea the amount of work that I was going to have to do to learn things that my brain did not want to absorb.  Hindsight is 20/20 but I have no regrets as this is working so much better in so many ways.
     My initial research showed that I could keep the blog private with invited members only. I ran into a couple major problems.

1) People HAD to have a gmail account or they could only view the site in two week increments and then were kicked off.  I could then send another invitation but would have to do this to about 85 people every 2 weeks.
2) I discovered I could only have 100 readers ever.
3)There was no way to subscribe and receive email updates. You had to physically always come to check the website.  If you did not come for a while, you would have to search for content.
4) I received feedback that it was a pain and it was keeping people from receiving information. THAT was a KICKER! My goal is to build community, create safe space and reduce isolation. If people cannot get on the site and see the calendar and events then it is pointless and frustrating for one and all.
     Of course, folks have to find us and that is not as easy as it sounds.  You pretty much have to have the web address to find the blog currently [this has changed as now articles are being found via internet searched].
     As a public blog I traded a couple things for the good of the group.
1) Members can receive email updates.  Your information is confidential and private.
2) No limit on how many can subscribe.
3) Email plus RSS Feeds are available.
4) No block coming to the site although I did place an adult content warning.
5) The calendar can be viewed online, plus saved AND I can send folks a link so you can save it to your own desktop or personal gmail account if you like.
6) Many other pluses...you will notice them for yourself I bet.

The original Seattle Announcements on occasion dealt with private or delicate information. What is your plan moving forward for dealing with those kinds of situations?

     The good news is that I can still send out private notices to the original Seattle Announcement  members! I will do that via the Yahoo group list that one and all original members still belong to. We really have the best of both worlds because we will maintain our original family group and I will utilize that for private, sensitive or invitations that are not appropriate for a public forum.
     If you have items that you feel match that criteria, please email me and let me know.

 How do you determine what is Private vs Public?

     Any item that can be found on the internet, that is available through any public paper, leaflet or received on a mailing list and is normally considered in the Public Domain I will concur that it is public as well.
     If an event is hosted at a private home, for a select private audience at the request of the attendees or host I can consider it a Private event.
     There are some events that may be listed that may contain information that is only for a private membership. I may exclude certain information such as the address or other identifying information that the members would only know. If there is ever a safety issue or concern, I reserve the right to make decisions on a case by case basis.  If you ever have a concern or information regarding safety, please contact me.

     How to Subscribe to receive the GayZette to the email(s) of your choice:

     *Oh Happy Gay's are here! You can easily subscribe to receive email updates.  This will deliver the portion that is affectionately referred to as the 'GayZette'.

     Simply follow the yellow dotted square in the first left hand column and:

• put your email address in the little box located in the left maroon column titled 'Subscribe to receive the GayZette blog via email'. 
• follow the directions on the verification subscription page which helps prevent spam.
• Log into your email account at the address you provided, 
• locate the email titled 'Time Sensitive' and follow the directions in the email
• follow the link to verify your address and 
• waa la, ka bing you have set up email updates for the GayZette blog!  

     The subscription email expires within 3 days of submitting.  If it has expired and the link no longer works, just resubmit your email address OR email me and I will happily do this for you.

     Now...to be completely honest...you will not receive entire articles to your email unless they are short but instead teasers to whet your appetite.  You can click on the Title of the article or the name of the blog to finish reading the specific article you are interested in.  Visiting our website will have merit and I am not talking boy scouts here as there will always be something different and fun to view by coming back to the web as Ms T loves to change things up for you.

Email and RSS Feeds Explained by a non-techy...

     Explaining email subscriptions and RSS Feeds are a bit like the old Tortoise and the Hare race.  In this case, the Tortoise is email and RSS Readers are the bunnies- both win the race but the bunny really gets to the finish line faster.

     For the real techs, this is far from a real technical description so for those techies out there, unclinch thy buttcheeks and we will all be in for a gas!  This explanation should help the average email user understand enough to be confused - lol.  At least that is what happens when I gain just a little bit of information.  Here we go...one step at a time together.

RSS FEEDS...

     Really, it is easy to think who the $%*# cares, right? Well, the beautiful thing is we don't really need to know how it works on the back end but understanding that it could be useful to us could be enough for us to make an informed choice. Especially if we want to browse through a lot of different content on the web in one consolidated place.  RSS Feeds allows us to do this in a nifty way.  So I will break it down just a little for us. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary.
     Basically, RSS is a way that information is broken down and sent in smaller increments to a READER in our mail program that already exists. You don't even know this is happening behind the scenes. If you have gmail, yahoo, aol, Windows Live, gator, excite and many many more you have a Reader. A Reader is how you will Read the posts and it is glorious! You will fall in love...it will change the way you view the internet and the amount of information you can read and share with others.
     Once you subscribe to a FEED, the FEED will send any update from the website you have subscribed to- to your READER IMMEDIATELY. ***This is the advantage of having a FEED vs an EMAIL subscription. *** You would receive the GayZette as soon as I post it. Unlike email subscriptions that are sent usually 1x a day at a pre-determined time by the writer.

How do you know if you can subscribe to a FEED? If a website has this icon which is the

recognized RSS icon in the http:// bar, that means it can be subscribed to. Simple, huh? If you are familiar with bookmarking, this is a similar concept as you can 'mark' the feed quickly for the websites you want to subscribe to.  You can mark it in the same way as you bookmark a website by clicking on it (it will provide RSS or Atom options, if you click on one of them you will often see the list of posts that are recent.  You then subscribe from that page).  Or follow the directions below.
     How do you subscribe?

1. Simply click on the RSS icon

and it will take you to the Subscribe page.
2. Pick your Reader based on your email account (I LOVE GMAIL but yahoo works fine too).
3. You will need to confirm the subscription in the Reader.
4. You will now receive Posts to the Reader.


1. You can also click on the 'Subscribe in a Reader' in the first column of Seattle Announcements.
2. Pick your Reader based on your email account.
3. You will need to confirm the subscription in your Reader.
4. You will now receive Posts to the Reader.
     How do I find my *#@%$ Reader?

In gmail:

1. Good question.  I like inquiring minds.
2. In gmail, when you are in your email, LOOK at the top of your page and locate: GMAIL CALENDER DOCUMENTS READER WEB MORE.
3. Click on Reader
4. At the very bottom left side: Subscriptions / manage subscriptions
5. You will find the subscription you have subscribed to and can toy with all the settings in a separate window that will open. They are similar to your email settings.
6. You may also see in the right area a request to accept the subscription.  Do so!
7. The right side has a slide scroll up and down that you can move. This is where you will view your subscriptions and can read the posts of your choice. It can be set to: uncheck your articles when you scroll through OR uncheck only if you click on the article.
8. The Reader will recommend other sites for you based on what you read (Recommended Sources).  This is very cool as you will find others items of interest to read.
9. Home/All Items (#) = All unread items for your subscriptions
10. Next to the Search box at the top middle is 'All Items' and is a Drop down box that contains all your subscriptions plus 'All Items, Read Items, Starred Items, Shared, People you follow', etc.
     In Yahoo:

1. Go to 'My Yahoo' http://my.yahoo.com
2. My Main Tab/More Options/
3. CLICK My Yahoo Reader (at top of page) Turn On/OFF
4. Click 'I'm Done'
5. It will take a moment to load & will give you options of other RSS Feeds to add (other news source like our local papers, the Times, USA Today etc). Add what you would enjoy as you can delete what you don't want later.
6. The pages will load.
7. Each item will have an 'Options' tab and you can delete item entirely or make relevant changes. Items can be moved around too.
8. Your email is also on this page but you can also read it by clicking on the Mail icon on the left sidebar.
9. Check back and look for content from the GayZette. Remember it gets posted immediately and if you are subscribed via email AND to a RSS Feed, the Feed will be quicker.  The only downside is occasionally I will post an article and do an 'opps' and immediately find an error and repost it.  My RSS Readers will get 2 will similar posts.  They are so easy to scroll past and delete so it is not too much of a big deal.
     Try both and see what you like...it won't hurt anything. There are so many advantages to the Readers. I just found this link that explains the basics.
     Keep me posted on what you think about all this. I sure have been learning and my brain has not exploded yet.  I am happy to help any of you with the knowledge I have gleaned and will always seek out the answer when I do not know it (that will be often - lol).
     If anyone of you wants to write a tutorial on any of the other Readers I invite you to.  I will gladly publish your 'how to' and provide you with much deserved credit and even a latte on me!
     Enjoy from the heart,
Ms T

Helpful HINTS:

 Is there a way to make the font larger on the screen?  The dryer must have shrunk my computer font size ;~).

     Yes, follow these simple directions to make all the Font appear larger in incremental measures. 
     Hold the ctrl button and the + (plus) down and the screen will get larger each time you tap the + button. 
     Use the ctrl button and tap - (dash), and the screen will get smaller each time you tap the - button in increments backwards.  
     Hold the ctrl button and the 0 (zero) down and the screen will return to normal.
     This works beautifully in other programs also.  So use it when surfing the net or creating documents.  No need to strain those beautiful bedroom eyes!

 The blog seemed to load slow the other day and one of the columns slipped underneath the middle column.  Could my browser Internet Explorer be the issue?

     Yes, that could be the issue as  Internet Explorer has been found to be less compatible with Blogspot.  I understand that Blogger may load and work better using Mozilla Firefox browser rather than IE (Internet Explorer) which has also been my experience. I composed SA in Firefox due to major problems with IE and for the first time since *Al Gore* created the internet I changed my browser. Who said old dogs could not learn new tricks?
    It does not hurt to have another browser to utilize and you may find you like it better for some things (as I have).  I did test this with a couple of Seattle Announcement members who initially had problems viewing the blog with IE and Mozilla Firefox worked like a charm with no issues.  You can always email me and I will do my best to assist you and talk through this or other questions!

 Sometimes only half my page loads and it seems 'stuck', what should I do?

     If you notice that only half of the page loads, use your REFRESH button immediately and RELOAD the page and the problem seems to resolve. I have 'optimized' all the pics so the pages should load as quick as grease on a hot grill.  I also have not been putting many pics or posters on lately until I am sure that it will not slow down the load for all my members taking into consideration the type of connections they have. I am looking into a long term plan to see if I need to host the pics or what is the best option so I can have as much graphics as I want without affecting performance.

 How do I use the +/- columns?(Resource columns on the right side)

     Often I hope!  You will find the +/- (expand/collaspe) labeled  on the sidebars with resources, venue locations and upcoming Auctions.  If you select a heading such as 'Bookstores' you will find a complete address, phone #, program information, times, and other appropriate information  available.   If you CLICK directly on a specific Bookstore listing, you will be taken to that Bookstore's website.  You will need to come back to Seattle Announcements since once you CLICK on the link it takes you directly to the website rather than opening a separate window.
    This area will always be fresh with  new additions and interesting resources/venue information  added to compliment the calendar listings.  In the event that the business, venue or event does not have it's own website you will note that Seattle Announcements web address is used as a place holder.  On occasion there may be an empty category and I will attempt to mark them so you won't open them constantly looking for goodies.  Please visit this area often as you may be surprised at what you find at your fingertips!!     

 Why when I click on certain links do they bring me right back to the post I am reading?   Or when I click on a link I have to scroll to the bottom of the blog to find the post?

     In order to create a link that I can copy and place elsewhere on the website I may place one within the actual post too.  I realize this may be confusing but I have not figured out another way to create the link and save it without posting it in this manner.  I often need the link to use as a reference to point to for other areas of the blog.  I am VERY open to suggestions if someone knows a better way.

     For part 2 of the question, when you click on a link that is referring to a prior post, you have to look in the middle column towards the bottom to find the post you are looking for.  It seems to be the set up.

Ms T