Friday, March 28, 2008

My Weekend Crush

The internet is, let’s be perfectly honest, not necessarily known for its great writing. Bad spelling? Oh, yes. Atrocious grammar? To be sure. Fanatical blowhards? I think it actually spawns them. But you have to really want it to find great writing. So once you find it, it’s like the clouds open. This, this is what I’ve been searching for. Halle-fucking-llujah!

I remember searching, largely in vain, years and years ago for that ever-elusive great writing when I stumbled back upon a website I visited occasionally called AfterEllen. I had read its articles before but this was something different. This writer, this Scribegrrrl, was recapping this new show about lesbians. I was, of course, watching said show and psychoanalyzing its every twist and turn in my own head. And here was this writer who was so funny and so smart and so insightful and so very gay doing the exact same thing. It was, in short, a revelation.

As the season wore on I kept coming back, week after week. The season turned into seasons and I kept coming back, week after week. And week after week, she made me laugh like an idiot. I had to stop reading her recaps in the office because my co-workers kept looking at me funny as I chuckled and chortled myself into a stupor. Meander through her five seasons of L Word archives and practically any page you land on will give you a reason to smile if not outright snort with glee. If anyone ever dares to tell you that lesbians aren’t funny, just point them to Scribe. End of argument. My unabashed writer’s crush would sometimes lapse into full-blown writer’s envy as a particular turn of phrase or exceptionally shrewd insight would send me into fits of both awe and jealousy. Dammit, I wish I’d written that.

Little could I have ever imagined that all these years later not only would I find myself working with Scribe, but -- I’d like to think -- could count her as a friend as well. In our first email exchange, before I was blogging for AfterEllen, Scribe off-handedly said to me “your blog rocks” and I’m pretty sure I actually blushed. It’s rare and wonderful to work for someone whose work you respect so completely.

So her departure from AfterEllen this week (for a fabulous new job) makes me happy for her but terribly sad for me and, really, all of us. Not being able to read her writing day after day seems inconceivable, unbearable even. Do they make a patch for writer withdrawal? Scribe is the reason I first became addicted to AfterEllen. She was, is and will always be the originator of Snark: Lesbian Style. For that, and so much more, I will be eternally grateful. Thanks for the great writing, Scribe. Happy weekend, all.

23 comments:

  1. i concur! scribegrrl rocks!! best of luck to her.

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  2. Anonymous2:56 AM

    That, Ms. Snarker, is probably the classiest thing you've ever written.
    And how appropriate that you should write it in honor of one with such class herself.

    Scribe, we wish you well. May you find someone to light your day as Simone Lahbib did. ;-)

    Ms. Snarker, rock on!

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  3. I've been reading Scribe for a while, a long while, yet I've never commented. Thank you, D, for making me laugh, think and laugh some more. You'll be missed at AF, but I do hope we can stop in here and get some glimmers of the great humor that needs to fill our lives every day.

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  4. I agree completely. I've read her recaps from the beginning of the L Word. And I've read her other articles too.

    I even got up the courage to write her one day. And you know what? She wrote me back. She was so sweet,kind and full of great insight.

    I will miss seeing her writing on AfterEllen.

    Congrats Scribe!

    And thank you to Ms. Snarker for continuing to rock our world with her writing and fabulous Pre-L word caps.

    You are loved too!

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  5. Anonymous4:49 AM

    I'm not a writer, but still envy Scribegrrl's talent and style!

    One of my all time favourites is from L Word recaps. Tina is pregnant and Helena is giving her... attention. Winnie Mann, Helena's ex, shows up and Scribegrrl writes:

    "Turns out the kids were due back with Winnie that morning. Winnie's not happy. That might be because she actually started a family with Helena, and now understands that it would have been smarter to start a family with Michael Jackson."

    Hehhee. Cracks me up every time.

    Actually I found this great blog via Scribe's recaps.

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  6. Scribe will be sorely missed. Such a wonderful, insightful, funny/clever/witty writer! I wish her all of the best in her new, actually fantastic, job, but AE won't be the same for quite sometime without her.
    Thank God we've still got you DS! I love how you fillet Top Chef in your recaps :)

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  7. Anonymous6:17 AM

    I feel the same way DS. I'm not a writter and since english is not my first language I make a ton of mistakes when writting it, but I really really enjoy reading a good, well written blog. So, when I stumbled on Scribegrrrls recaps I was extremely happy. I'll admit im real picky, at the moment I only follow religiously the posts of Scribegrrrl, Dorothy S (of course) and Post No Bills. So i'm really sad I'm losing one of my blog adictions. But I hope everything goes well with her new job. Thanks Dorothy for posting this, it's one of the best Weekend Crushes ever.

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  8. I want Scribegrrl to have my babies. <3<3<3

    DS, well written as usual!

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  9. I will really miss reading scribegrrl on After Ellen. Like reading your blog, Dorothy, it is a delightful experience.

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  10. Anonymous9:25 AM

    Thank you Dorothy for this excellent piece. You made me smile and cry at the same time. I felt the same way, Scribe got me hooked on AfterEllen. This wonderful post is one of the reasons why you're the best lesbian blogger today and you'll always have my vote. ;-)

    And thank you so much, Scribe. Thank you for sharing with us your wisdom, wit, and humor through your exceptional writing everyday. Thank you for making us think, wonder, reason and laugh. Thank you for entertaining us all these years. I really appreciate it and you'll be deeply missed. Good luck and stay cool. :-) -ACF

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  11. Anonymous10:20 AM

    WHAT!!!! I hadn't heard.

    Oh, I AM sad....her writing style is consistently sharp and funny. I will truly miss her on AE.

    I think I started reading her on AE when she was still in college. She mentioned exams in one of her posts.

    Whatever she's moving on to, I hope it involves words :)

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  12. Anonymous1:26 PM

    yes, scribegrrl has also been my favourite since coming to afterellen. Her writing is indeed phenomenal, and a daily reminder of all the grammar rules I had forgotten. (and a minor guilt trip for me and how I never use them) (this comment is case in point) However, the thing I loved most about Scribe and you for that matter, is how we as readers don't know what you look like. It really makes it all about your writing, even if I am dying of curiousity.

    She will be missed.

    p.s. for some reason I don't feel it's right to be made to create an account at afterellen, thus I can never comment there. So this is for karman- your x-files blog today completly redeems your behavior on the WGN blog.

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  14. is it possible to suffer 'virtual' withdrawal symptoms? or to feel 'virtually' heartbroken? because (frankly, mr. shankly - bonus miserabilist points for knowing the reference), scribegrrrl was the reason i kept going back to AfterEllen. her recaps of 'The L Word' made me howl with laughter, all the way over the Atlantic!

    so, best of luck to her - After Ellen will never be the same again!

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  15. Anonymous5:30 PM

    I too have found it wonderful to work with someone whose work I respect so completely. Sometimes I turn so green with Snarker envy, I look just like Mahna Mahna's fuzzy (furry?) shirt thingie.

    Thank you for the overwhelmingly nice tribute -- that goes for both the post and the comments.

    And that is the best screengrab ever.

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  16. Anonymous5:34 PM

    oh, but I meant to also say, in response to dc's comment ... I finished college in 1992. I'm way, way old! :)

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  17. Anonymous11:25 PM

    I don't usually post comments over at AE, but i'll definitely miss Scribe's writing....

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  18. Anonymous6:55 AM

    God I can't believe how much I'll miss reading Scribe's work, she's so extraordinary; both as a writer and as a person. I mean, she was one of the origional 'voices' on afterellen and everything she's covered has given lesbians, bisexuals, straight girls, whoever a perspective and a chance at a community...Scribe, in the quiet words of the virgin mary

    YOU FUCKING ROCK!!!!!

    Best of luck
    xxxxxxx
    Catherine

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  19. Anonymous1:17 PM

    "Scribe is the reason I first became addicted to AfterEllen."

    Me too. I remember how often I found myself waiting for the weekly recap to be posted because I couldn't wait to read the latest pop culture references.

    Scribe's recaps simply added to the whole TLW-watching experience. Like buttah.

    So yeah, there will be a hole in my cyber world where Scribe used to be.

    I was often tempted to email her but I didn't want to sound lame because I was sure she is a cool chick I would want to hang and be friends with.

    So here's to Scribe...and here's to the lesbian snark we will still get to enjoy here and at AE!

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  20. Anonymous12:29 PM

    scribegrrl is great .....her humor and sensibility...

    thanks a lot

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  21. Wow, I actually got a little misty. I, too, will miss Scribegrrl something fierce. I'm not a reader but, her recaps made me want to read. And, I did, every week. And, I laughed... and laughed. And, learned a thing or two along the way.

    Funny how AE led me to you and I am now in love with your writing.

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