Links for Female Friends

I was about to send these links to Brady because they're the feminist type empowering get your act together variety that we love. Then I realized I should blog so everyone knows about them. So some awesome sounding projects I've heard about recently.

The OpEd Project -- Major newspapers accept opeds from women at the same rate as men. But we don't submit them, so we lose in the byline category. And if we're not representing our views, no wonder they're not being expressed. My updated life check list should include submitting an oped (and getting one published? While still being kosher about wanting to get tenure someday? And only being a grad student now? Stop doubting, self, start pushing.)

She Should Run -- OpEd project:news venues :: She Should Run:Public Leadership positions. Both about helping women overcome the barriers that (still) exist to being part of the public voice. Updated life check list also includes asking a woman to run for office.

Practice and Pressure

Ming Mei isn't blogging anymore. So instead of e-mailing her this awesome ad and letting her share it on her blog. I'm putting it here. (And then waiting for her to share it. Not giving up hope that you'll start floating again. :)




I love the way they switch between practice and pressure. The reminder when I'm bored with practice that I'm working towards a goal. Or a reminder for when the going gets tough that I've done similar exercises to prepare myself.

Found through Chase Jarvis' blog

Awe of the everyday

Logged into Twitter and had this message.

High point of the day: finding your cd in the mailbox! Thanks a million! Looking forward to listening to it, a lot.

Made me smile. I started writing back and soon realized my message was too long for Twitter.

I'm always amazed at how the postal service works. You're the second international cd that I know made it this year. For the first one, I started humming (and here I quote my e-mail to another friend).

Glad it made it over the seas and through the city to Someone's* house it goes. The post knows the way to carry the cd through snow and rain and heat...

Umm... I'll stop singing now.

But really. Within a couple of days of me going to the post office, friends in Minnesota and New York were telling me they'd received them. Another week and we're adding Norway and Hong Kong. I know it's everyday, but in some ways I've gotten so used to the exchange of digital information that the movement of physical objects is crazy cool.

All a super-long-winded way of saying, thanks for letting me know the cd made it.

Note to self for next year when I'm wondering about the hours of getting the mailing together. This is why.

Continuing a tradition of overgrown comments

(This started out as a comment on Allison's LJ. Which was a post that had started out as a comment on someone else's LJ. Which this entry is not very related to. But still, I claim that I'm just continuing the tradition.)

Back when I still had birthday parties, so in elementary/middle school, I always got journals for presents and never really knew what to do with them. Because back then I never wrote much. There's the diary from 5th grade somewhere with a few pages, including my first bra shopping expierence. (Only remember it because I had friends over and they read my diary and then there was some sort of strap popping expierence....Oh middle school...) There's another one with ideas for stories, from back when I was going to grow up to be Madeline L'Engle.

I think my current journal really dates back to 8th grade. While I lived with my parents I was more of the irregular writer. Lots of the angsty stuff. But what surprised me was how much I started writing in my journal when I left home. I went from filling out a journal in 4.5 years, to two journals every three years.

Not to say I don't have my spurts, but it really is my place to debrief my day. All the stuff that I used to talk through with mom and dad. I write at bedtime, so there are many posts along the lines of, "So tired. Just want sleep."

I totally go back and read stuff at times, less so now than I used to. But I think the reason I write is less to have the memories and more to get stuff out. Days when I'm already calm, I'm less likely to write, even though there may be some great stories. Still, it's not my therapy, as much as it fills my routine.

It's been almost a year since I started the blog here. I'm less sure now what my purpose here is. I think this one is more for the stories. More for the stuff I don't want to forget. The fact that it keeps anyone else updated on my life is secondary. (As evidenced by the fact that I didn't tell people about this one for ages. And that I'm still keeping news of it pretty quiet.)

Huh, it's gotten late. Ironically, I sat down with the purpose of writing down a post for my other blog, but haven't. Think I'll go to bed and write in my journal instead.

Duly Inspired

I feel like I should have learned about TED before. Talks about Technology, Entertainment, and Design. Great stories, talks. Short and intense. I just watched my first video and think I may have found some sort of substitute for the talks I miss from college. (Because, let's face it, my current location had plenty of cultural experiences, but it's not the high culture and certainly not the intellectually challenging fun that I was devoted to in college.)

I totally subscribed to the podcast of this. (And yes, I know some of the talks from college are available online, but most of them are amazing because you're there and the way I shared them with the people around me. Think of lunch. Think of the notebook. You know what I mean. Not the same watching a video.)

I actually had heard of TED earlier this school year via one blog or another. But I just went to the website and was overwhelmed by the selection, couldn't really figure out what it was. If you need a place to start and you like inspirational stories, watch Bill Strickland's talk. It's the one I started with. (The only one I've finished watching so far....) It gives me hope about what school can be, even in situations like the one here. Inspiration indeed.