Yes, folks, the time has come: Welcome to the last episode of The Lo-Down (before we go on indefinite hiatus). Sarah Pecora and I have really enjoyed sitting on the couch and talking to you all for the past year. We thought about going out with a star-studded musical episode, but unfortunately due to budget constraints you'll have to settle for our reminiscing over a bottle of champagne.

We also take a trip to San Francisco's women-owned and operated Black and Blue Tattoo, where Sarah is in the process of having her latest tattoo done by the fabulous Anne Williams.

So sit back, relax and enjoy our vlog! And if you miss us in the future, you can always watch previous episodes of The Lo-Down or drop by my website and say hi. We will miss you, and thanks for being the Best. Vlog. Viewers. Ever!

Author Sarah Waters' second novel, Affinity, which involves women in prison, spirits (as in the dead kind) and an ingenious mystery, has been adapted into a TV movie that just had its American television premiere on Logo, AfterEllen.com's parent company, and that movie is now available on DVD. Back in June, when the movie screened at Frameline in San Francisco, I had the opportunity to sit down with Sarah Waters in person. I toted along my trusty camcorder and videotaped our conversation for you to see. (That means don't expect anything too flashy! This is a straight-up interview, vlog-style.)

We talked about the movie version of Affinity, whether she feels pressure to write happy lesbian stories, and what she likes to watch on TV in her spare time. She also gave us a sneak preview of her next book, which she is currently writing. Meanwhile, you can read through lots of our previous coverage of Sarah Waters right here.

This week Sarah Pecora and I deliver a somewhat random Lo-Down, encompassing a whole range of Crock P.O.C. topics including whether chicks who ride motorcycles are by definition hotter than those who don't ride motorcycles, to what you should say when people ask, "What does your tattoo mean?"

Then we turned our attention to the hot topic of ... sports! Yes, it's true, neither Sarah P. nor I are particularly big sports fans, but given my fascination with the Olympics and the fact that we recently attended a sporting event together, we I thought this was a great subject for us to discuss. Plus it gave us a chance to drool over the deliciously tattooed Natasha Kai, the only out soccer player on the U.S. national team and a woman of color.

Speaking of tattoos, we were originally going to include video of Sarah P. getting her latest tattoo, but you're just going to get a sneak peek this time, because she's not quite done with the process (yes, it requires multiple sittings). Hopefully next time we'll have more to show you!

On this week's episode of The Lo-Down I welcome a special guest co-host: Dara Nai, the fabulous writer behind "bad machine" as well as star vlogger from We're Getting Nowhere (not to mention Hottie No. 93). We shot this episode live from the Beverly Hilton, where I spent what felt like 10 years covering the 2008 Television Critics Association press tour.

I like to call this special episode the "All-Asian Episode," since I interviewed Dara (sort of) about what it's like to be a hot Asian lesbian. We also talked about the celebrities we encountered during TCA (yes, they really look that good), the strange swag the networks were handing out, and why stalking is a part of my job.

Next time Sarah Pecora and I will be back with another special Lo-Down that I'll call "The Tattoo Episode," since we record Sarah getting her newest tattoo. We will also take your questions, so keep on sending in your Crock P.O.C. topics!

After our last vlog, you guys submitted so many excellent Crock P.O.C. topics that Sarah P. and I decided to do an entire episode of topics selected by you, dear viewers.

Some of the things that come up: why liking someone is different than having a crush on them; whether Sarah's moving into cougar territory; trophy wives vs. age differences in dating; why Malinda would never date a musician. Hey, I think you guys have one thing on your minds: dating!

We hope you enjoy this episode, and be sure to leave your future Crock P.O.C. topics (non-dating ones also welcome!) in the comments.

In this week's Lo-Down, Sarah P. and I give you our review of the new Angelina Jolie movie Wanted, which just opened last Friday. In the movie, Angie plays a deadly assassin with some fantastic tattoos and extremely large guns. These assassins used to be weavers. Yeah, like people who made carpets.

If you just said "Huh?" then you're right with us. We won't give away the ending of the movie or any of the key plot points, but we do have a lot of fun poking fun at this strange and comedic backstory.

But before we get into the movie, we have an exciting edition of the Crock P.O.C. in which we give advice on whether or not you should go topless at your local Dyke March, among other things. We hope you enjoy it, and please leave your Crock P.O.C. topic suggestions in the comments!

Last Sunday, much fun was had by all who attended the AfterEllen.com Meet-Up in San Francisco. Karman Kregloe, Bridget McManus, Malinda Lo and Sarah Pecora were in attendance, and a guest appearance was made by She Got Me Pregnant vloggers Dana and Helen. Here are some of the pictures from the meet-up to give you a taste of what went on (I'm leaving out photos of what happened after the Jell-O shots arrived!).

Apologies in advance if you were there and you don't see yourself. I tried to include as many different folks as possible but I know I missed a lot of you. Thanks so much for coming out and meeting up!

Sarah, AE reader AJ, and Malinda

Malinda's Asian posse! (non-Asians welcome)

Bridget, an AE reader, and her personalized autographs

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This week on The Lo-Down, Sarah P. and I discuss a serious topic: race. We didn't exactly expect to get into such a heavy discussion, but in retrospect it seems inevitable since we talked about the low number of women of color on the Hot 100, as well as the use of labels in our lesbian community (suggested by Lo-Down viewer Ms. Ghana).

In the second half, we talk about the Australian documentary Searching 4 Sandeep, which follows Poppy Stockwell (a lesbian living in Sydney) and Sandeep Virdi (a closeted lesbian living in England), as they meet online and develop a long-distance relationship. Along the way, Sandeep comes out to her South Asian family, who is not entirely pleased with finding out that their daughter is gay.

I know that most of you probably have not seen the documentary (it has screened at several international film festivals and will be screening at Newfest in New York this Saturday; Poppy Stockwell will be there for a post-screening Q&A), but it raises a lot of issues that you've often asked me and Sarah to talk about. In particular, internet dating, interracial dating and coming out to your families. Sarah, in fact, talks about her own coming-out experience, which again touches on race.

So we hope you'll stick with us through this difficult subject, and please feel free to add your own thoughts on race, the Hot 100, and coming out in a more traditional family. But let's keep it civil and not take things personally — don't make me discipline you! (Unless you want me to ... )

After an unexpectedly long hiatus, Sarah P. and I have returned with a new episode of The Lo-Down. We're a bit rusty with the vlogging these days, but we hope you enjoy this new episode, in which we offer our review of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull just in time for you to hit the theaters this weekend. If that's not enough for you, "Ashley" from Shot at Love 1 makes a guest appearance.

Plus, Sarah has a very special announcement! Thanks to all of you who wrote in and asked when we were coming back — we hope it was worth the wait. (But if not, uh, sorry!)

When we shot this week's week's Lo-Down, Sarah P. and I decided to shake things up. We're retiring our fake news format because, to be honest, we haven't had the time to write up the fake news segments! We may do more fake news in the future, but for now, we're going to focus on the Crock P.O.C. — and, beginning in April, we'll be vlogging about Battlestar Galactica!

But I'm getting ahead of myself. This week we deliver a Special Bookish Episode, in which we talk about how much we love Sarah Waters' novels, as well as our (somewhat geeky) attraction to Victorian historicals. Then in the Crock P.O.C. we ramble on about hip-hop in lesbian clubs, vegetarians, being mistaken for porn stars and other random topics suggested by lyndsaykay, sati_49, Wendy and our own demented minds.

(Also, if you notice a strange humming noise at some points during the vlog, that's because there was construction going on next door. We don't know what machine makes that humming noise, but hopefully it's not too distracting.)

This week, Sarah P. and I bring you a Special Bitchy Edition of The Lo-Down. Struck with a massive amount of orneriness, we decided to channel that into a (hopefully funny) vlog about the art of bitching — because bitching is a close cousin to ranting!

We count down the Top 10 Desirable Qualities in a Bitch, and then dive into the Crock P.O.C. to discuss how to bitch constructively, that horrible BBC show Dawn Goes Lesbian, why Malinda hates voicemail, and many other bitchtastic topics. So if you're having an annoying Monday, join in and bitch about it in the comments!

After taking last week off, Sarah P. and I are back with, um, sort of a disorganized and rambly Lo-Down. We know we promised an "on location" Lo-Down but, as I explain in our apologetic intro, we were too busy eating and napping to, uh, work. Therefore, we bring you this slacker edition of The Lo-Down, in which we didn't have time to come up with any fake news, but do devote almost 40 minutes to the Crock P.O.C. We ramble on about topics such as Tyra vs. Oprah, bisexuals and lesbians' views of them, soap on a rope, and Sidney Tamiia Poitier in Knight Rider, as well as continue to discuss Sarah P.'s irritation with public transit.

Thanks to LilyJadeRose and Wendy for topic suggestions, and keep 'em coming! Next week we'll be back to our usual newsy shenanigans.