SAN DIEGO -- Don't miss the next Coffee & Conversation with Cool Women, which will be at 7 pm Tuesday, Oct. 5, at The Center in Hillcrest.

Former teacher, LGBT activist and photographer/videographer Vertez Burks will be in the hot seat and will be interviewed by the host, Tryce Czyczynska, co-founder of 51% -- A Woman’s Place is in Politics.

Over the years, Burks has been active in numerous organizations including Lesbians and Gays of African Descent United (LAGADU), San Diego LGBT Pride, the Names Project, the City Heights Planning Committee and more.

I never pretend to be innocent. I may be naïve in some situations when it comes to the gayborhood but I’m certainly not innocent.

However, after a discussion with one of my favorite woodles (woman poodles), I discovered that my “not so innocent” meter just moved another dial towards scandalous.

Remember those good old days when you couldn’t wait for mom or dad to hand you over the comic section of your local newspaper?

I admit, I still get excited every once in a while when I get a quick glimpse of those few color pages tucked away behind a gray-scale sea of today’s most current news.

I say us gays are pretty lucky.

There is never a shortage of things to do, which keeps people like me who write these gay social-type columns in business. San Diego is no exception to this – in fact, I have been trying to find a weekend to "get away" and visit a good friend of mine in LA, but I just can’t seem to find one.

The first "gay writing" I ever did was for the now-defunct San Diego LGBT newspaper called Update! (those who have been 'around' most likely remember it).