Public Notice

Bottom line? Cornerstone Gay & Lesbian Community Center needs help. They have issued an Open Letter to the Community which details (in some cases a little too detailed) fundraising shortfalls over the two years of their existence. For whatever reason, they are in critical need of $60,000 by mid-November. They also need 10 individuals to assume Board of Director positions to serve for one year beginning January 1, 1999. Beyond all of this, what an organization faced with the kinds of challenges like Cornerstone needs now is new ideas, input, and commitment from the community, from all of us. Cornerstone exists for the sole purpose of serving the community. Now is the time for us to show them that we appreciate what they've done and what they represent. 708-1515.

Party ladies, meanwhile, can help Cornerstone immediately by attending this week's Club Skirt, Austin's most popular lesbian watering, errrr, em, hole, as it were. Since Austin has no real lesbo bar, Club Skirt is pretty much it, really, for those on the make, or making the scene, or just making a scene. Whatever. The Skirt hikes up at Fiesta Gardens this Fri, Oct 23. Admission is $10 7-8pm and $15 after that. This month, they ask that you bring a non-perishable -- and they don't mean a date, that's sort of like bringing a sandwich to an all-you-can-eat -- no, they mean a canned food item. They'll distribute the booty over the holidays; you distribute the booty on Friday night. 708-1515, ext. 02.

Filmmaker Dorothy Fadiman will attend a free screening of two of her films. Texas Abortion & Reproductive Rights Action League (TARAL) presents When Abortion Was Illegal and The Fragile Promise of Choice, Wed, Oct 28, 6-8pm, at Women & Their Work, 1701 Lavaca. The first film presents first-person accounts which look back in horror at the toll of back-alley abortions. The second feature brings the story up to date, demonstrating how today's restrictive legislation, cuts in funding, and sieges of harassment and violence make a mockery of reproductive freedom. Any donations you can muster will go right to our ever-lovin' Action League. 462-1661.

Don't put off 'til Spring Cleaning Time what you can de-must today. Your hovel deserves it. Plus, you don't want to be locked away in the cold of winter with your pad all stinky and P.U.ey do ye? So give it away, baby. Don't hang on; let go of all that junque. There's one week left to participate in SafePlace ThriftPlace's October Donation Campaign. The secondhand store formerly known as "Sacks" wants your sacks o' stuff. Bring it on by: Concorde Center, 4631 Airport, Mon-Sat, 10am-6pm. 451-4108.

Who'da thunk we'd be encouraging you to go to your local national chain video rental retailer? Well, mark your calendar, because we're telling you to go to Blockbuster Video in the Eastland Plaza Shopping Center, 1144 Airport, Sat, Oct 24, 9am-9pm and Sun, Oct 25, noon-6pm. Literacy Austin hosts BookFest '98 this weekend. Not only will you be besieged by fun, food, and entertainment, but you'll also have a chance to peruse over 80,000 gently used books and benefit the efforts of our local reading and writing crusade. 478-READ.

The World Music Celebration for the Political Asylum Project of Austin (PAPA), next Thu, Oct 29, 6-9pm, at Miguel's La Bodega, 415 Colorado, will have your planet-wide gluteus maximus much-backin' across the dance floor. No wonder, honey, because these get-down festivities feature the Middle Eastern twang of the Gypsies, the percussive African juju of Tamasha Africana, and the smooth Latin soul of Ta Mère. Watch out for that salsa contest; you might win. And either way, our area's immigrants and refugees will. 478-0546.

Co-housing: It's not a concept for the controlling, the paranoid, or the leave-the-lid-up and hair-in-the-sink types. Actually, maybe it's okay for just about anyone. Co-housing communities are about diversity, after all. Private dwellings remain, but certain shared resources -- like common kitchen, shared guest rooms, workshops, childcare, play areas, pools, library, gardens, laundry, and more -- are maintained for the entire group. A Co-housing Community is being planned for 15-30 families in an area approx. 15 minutes from the "Y" in Oak Hill. Intrigued? Show up to the Intro to Co-Housing, Sun, Oct 25, 2-4pm at Casa de Luz, 1701 Toomey. 444-8070, 462-2647, or 472-4064.