eurOut’s Coming Out Week kicks off today. Talking to Strangers jumps on the bandwagon by dedicating today’s issue to who we were before or around the time we began to come out of our respective closets; when we were kids.

The past two weeks weren’t the most wonderful ones I’ve had. Not only did I need to put Kearney on an airplane and adjust to semi-single life again, I also went through a rather grueling round of job interviews that included getting stranded in a quiet little town with a name that could loosely be translated as 'far away from home’.

by Ley 

It’s December 20th: Scotland's institution of civil partnership is celebrating its third anniversary today. Cheers! I have to say that I'm still not quite sure what it means, but it sounds like cause for celebration.

by Lil'G

One of the reasons I was asked to contribute to this site is that as an Asian I can add another point of view to lesbian life. My roots are in Indonesia, and apart from my mom and my brother all my relatives live there. Once in a while I pay them a visit and catch up with them - like I did last October.

After announcing that the next issue of Talking to Strangers was going to be about being out at work, I received a lot of mail from eurOut’s readers and correspondents about who they are in the place where they make a living. Dear reader, I feel I should warn you. You’re amongst fiercely ambitious women here. We’re either getting a good education or fresh out of college and ready to take charge of our futures; we are raising the next generation to be a more enlightened brand of people; we are steadily working our way up to the top in successful corporations and starting our own businesses. And we do all this, for the most part, while being open about our sexual orientation; unashamed, matter-of-fact, and unwilling to compromise our freedom of personal expression, in spite of society’s pressure – in the form of our bosses and co-workers, who wish we would stop making them so darn uncomfortable.

My friend Anne hosted a small dinner party at her house last Wednesday. She told us she had Great News, which can really only ever mean one thing.  She and her boyfriend – now fiancé – have already picked out the rings. She didn’t exactly need to be pressured into showing them to us. Two gold bands, one with a tiny little stone, engraved with each other’s names. She’s keeping her own, and good for her, too.

In the spirit of the season, I figured I'd give you my favorite horror story.

Imagine being outside on a cold and windy night, a night that seems moonless and especially dark. Shadows appear to be chasing you all the way to your destination. Which is the Halloween costume party that your favorite lesbian hangout is organizing. You’re glad you decided to dress like an old witch for the occasion, mostly because the pointy black hat you’re wearing is keeping your ears from turning into crispy, pink icicles. It’s strangely quiet out, aside from an incessant, somehow morbid sounding creaking some distance behind you. Is it coming closer? Is someone following you?

In last week’s column, Kearney and I were so busy obsessing about the reality of our virtual relationship that we failed to notice that something had changed in the public opinion on meeting people online. Where once a mere mention of making friends with someone you’d never looked in the eye directly was a sure fire way to worry ‘real life’ acquaintances, it seems that nowadays everyone has, as Pixel said, “been there, done that (and I still wear the scars with pride!)” Not only are people taking the possibility of finding love online more seriously – some of them are actually actively seeking it out.

In 1989, I watched Whoopi Goldberg in Jumpin’ Jack Flash, quoted as one of the first movies to feature online communications as a key part of the plot. I was nine years old and thrilled at the possibility of talking to strangers online. I had to wait almost ten years before I got a chance to try it myself, but boy, was it ever worth the wait.

Do you regularly take a transatlantic flight? If so, I may be one of your worst nightmares. I'm The Woman That Tries to Have a Conversation With You. For at least nine hours, you are at my mercy. And short of trips to the bathroom, there's nowhere for you to run.