My LJ, Let Me Show You It
1. This LJ is a mirror for my main journal. I don't plan to make any LJ-only posts anymore and probably won't make many f-locked posts. So if you'd rather read my journal through your feedreader, you won't miss out on anything here.
2. My friend policy is simple: if you want to friend me, you may do so without asking. I enjoy new friends. I friend many people back, but not all. If that's cool with you, yay! If we've actually met in person or otherwise "know" each other, please introduce yourself on this post. This will help me filter you on my reading lists and also help me remember who you are when your LJ handle comes up again later.
That's all! Enjoy.
Just posted this on Facebook, but I know not everyone is on Facebook (or wants to be) so I’m posting it here as well. Feel free to link to this, tweet, share, tumble or copy the text of this post to your own blog.
You don’t have to RSVP to the Facebook event in order to attend. Just show up :)
You are cordially invited to the Interstitial Arts Foundation’s first monthly salon to be held in New York City on June 26th and every 4th Tuesday thereafter.
What is a Salon?
Literary and artistic salons started back in 17th century France, when inspiring hosts and hostesses gathered “stimulating people of quality” together to refine their taste and increase their knowledge through conversation. Today there may be fewer wealthy patrons willing to host an event in their townhouses, but there is always a need for artists to meet other artists, to explore other circles of creative influence, to cross borders.
Our salon aims to bring together writers, visual artists, musicians, performance artists, crafters, academics and other people of quality in New York City for a relaxed evening of conversation.
Who Are The Hosts?
The Interstitial Arts Foundation is a not–for–profit organization dedicated to the study, support, and promotion of interstitial art: literature, music, visual and performance art found in between categories and genres — art that crosses borders.
IAF members will wear Host badges, so if you have any questions about the salon or the organization or you just need someone to safely begin a conversation with, you can find us easily.
Where & When?
The Vagabond Café @ 7 Cornelia Street, Tuesday June 26, 7pm to 10pm – drop in any time.
Vagabond is the kind of café one would expect to find in the West Village, especially if you’re a writer, student or musician, but rarely seen these days due to the proliferation of Starbucks-like entities. It’s a cozy spot where one can find live music Wednesday – Saturday evenings, beer, wine and mead every evening, and a long list of excellent crepes at all times.
Should I Bring Anything?
Calling cards, business cards, postcards, CDs or other things you can hand people to remind them that they met you and where they can find your work.
If you’re a musician, bring your MP3 player/iPod or a USB key with your music and we’ll play it during the salon.
If you’re a visual artist, bring digital images of your work on a USB key and we’ll add it to the slideshow that plays during the salon.
What If I Can’t Make It This Time?
No worries! We’ll be hosting a salon every month on the 4th Tuesday, usually at Vagabond. To get reminders, please join our Facebook group or subscribe to the IAF Salons in NYC mailing list.
Just an FYI: there will be a POC dinner at WisCon again this year. The reason I haven’t announced it officially yet is that we’re still nailing down a venue. We’re trying to find a place that can accept 50+ people, is close enough to the hotel that people will walk to it, and is inexpensive. Triangulating this has proved very complex :)
However, the general plan is for the event to happen during the sinner space in programming and before the opening ceremonies. We hope to get GOH Andrea Hairston and Mary Anne Mohanraj to attend, even if just for the beginning since they’ll need to leave early.
After the dinner, those of you who do not want to go to the opening ceremonies can join me in the POC Safer Space to talk about how folks can and should use the room during the con.
Lately I’ve been making an effort to read more short fiction since I’ve been on an almost exclusively novel diet for a couple of years. But now that online magazines are making it easy for me to read them on my eReader or phone or tablet, I will do my bit by actually reading them.
Last month I started in earnest, so here’s a list of the stories I read and loved in April.
- An Early Adoption by Rahul Kanakia
- I really enjoyed the descriptions of the impossible, unreal things in the virtual world. I don’t know that I identify with the main character’s reaction to them, but then I’ve always wanted to live in a holodeck.
- The Second Card of the Major Arcana By Thoraiya Dyer
- Interesting interpretation of the Sphinx. I like the clash between ancient and modern and the unrelenting nature of the main character.
- Electric Rains by Kathleen Ann Goonan
- Due to the setting and a sort-of similar theme, this reminded me a lot of The Drowned Cities, except I like it a lot more. Dystopian, post-apocalyptic, very personal and close and sad.
- Mother Ship by Caroline M. Yoachim
- I’m not such a big fan of stories that offer resonance and not a real resolution, but the pull of the character in this one really grabbed me.
- Sunlight Society by Margaret Ronald
- Very interesting read, especially when juxtaposed with the new Avengers movie. It’s not actually about superheroes. Not really…
- My She by Mary Rosenblum
- Really liked this story when I read it in Federations. Quiet and affecting meditation on technology and humanity.
Visit my Favorite Fiction stack to see all the other short stories I’ve liked so far this year.
Also of note: just finished N. K. Jemisin’s The Killing Moon and it’s amazingly good. You’ll love it if you liked her Inheritance trilogy. I also got hooked into E. C. Myers Fair Coin even though I already read that book long ago. Yet somehow it completely sucked me in. I guess this is why io9 called it pure, awesome crack ;)
At last year’s Readercon I participated in a panel called Myth, Midrash, and Misappropriation (actually, I was the leader/moderator) with an interesting group of writers and Claude Lalumière. The panel was supposed to be about the appeals and challenges of creating fiction from a religious source and how to avoid or deal with the dangers of cultural appropriation and/or offending people.
I won’t recap the entire discussion for you, but the major highlight of the panel (for me) was when, in his introduction, Claude announced that the purpose of art is to be offensive or to offend people I can’t remember if he initially said offensive or to offend, but this was definitely the core of his argument. Art should offend! He said more than once until he started to backpedal pretty hard in the middle of the panel.
Not knowing much about Claude before that moment, I was unprepared for the douchewankery he brought to the discussion[1]. He was unprepared for how hard I would not allow him to get away with that statement or how prepared I was to challenge him on it. And he was super unprepared for how much the audience was not on his side when question time came. That’s when the backpedaling started.
We spent a good deal of time on the panel unpacking that initial statement and talking about all the ways in which it’s completely problematic (along with all the other problematic stuff he said such as how it’s okay for him to use any religious or spiritual trappings from any culture because he’s an atheist, anyway, and doesn’t believe in them oh and also he is from French Canada so he understands what it means to come from an oppressed, occupied culture). I believe it was Jack Haringa who, after initially agreeing with his understanding of what Claude meant, actually came around to something more like: artists may hope to offend if their message is aimed at a group or idea that they find offensive. Writing with an eye toward pointing out a horrible injustice, say. The ones perpetrating that injustice may be offended — good.
I sort of agreed with that as well, but still didn’t feel it was quite the right way to think about art. In the many months since I’ve poked at the idea more and more, but still hadn’t come up with a better way to think about what Jack was getting at. Then last month someone else came along and nailed it.
NPR’s Weekend Edition interviewed National Book Award-winning poet Nikki Finney, and toward the end of that interview she said this:
Art is about being provocative; art is also about beauty and if you leave the latter out, the former doesn’t matter.
I immediately thought: YES, THAT. That is what we were reaching for around the 600 pound gorilla of Claude’s initial statement.
There is no beauty in being offensive. Offending someone, especially when you’re coming from a place of privilege and oppression, is not the basis for great art, for beautiful art, even if the beauty you’re reaching for is terrible and tragic and real.
Consider the context in which Finney made this statement:
As a young poet, I grew up in the ’60s and early ’70s, when difficult things were being said and shouted and screamed,” Finney says. “I remember saying to myself, those things are very, very important to hear, but there must be another way to say them so that they will truly be heard. I mean, that’s what art is. Art is about being provocative; art is also about beauty and if you leave the latter out, the former doesn’t matter.
I haven’t read any of this woman’s poetry yet, but I want to. I feel like she can teach me the art of saying difficult things. I am often among those who say and shout and scream because that’s important, too. And I know for a fact that engaging in this mode of discourse does result in being heard, because I often have conversations with people who listened and appreciate it. But I’d also like to be adept at that other way she speaks of.
Footnotes
- Later, when I related the goings on to others, several people said “Oh, you didn’t know? Claude Lalumiere is a total douchecanoe.” No one warned me![↩]
I am once again the WisCon concom liaison and organizer for the POC Safer Space. This year I am joined in organizing and fabulousness by Jayme Goh. Huzzah!
We will once again be in the Solitaire Room since it affords us an out of the way space with no Gawkers. Last year we had the hotel push the conference room up against the wall which made the space a lot more inviting. I will also ask if more comfy chairs can find a way in there. If any locals are willing to donate comfy chairs, please let me know.
Last year we pre-scheduled some break out sessions and alternate panels in the room, but what seemed to work better was spontaneous stuff.I encourage any POC attending WisCon to come to that space if they need to discuss something that went down on a panel, continue a discussion that started at a panel, or if they just need a space to vent and calm down. I actually had some of the most enlightening conversations in that room during after-panel venting and I’m sure that will happen again,
However, if anyone wants to pre-schedule something please feel free. I just suspect mostly it will be spontaneous stuff.
The one thing I would like to schedule is a post Opening Ceremonies trip to the space so that people know where it is and how it will be set up and how they can use the space. This will come on the heels of the POC dinner earlier that evening. And then, of course, it’s party time.
Just as with last year, there will be coffee and tea service in the room throughout the day and a laptop for those who need to check email or Tumblr. Just don’t leave any Tumblr porn on the screen for those of us who are innocent ;)
Any questions, requests, comments, suggestions? Leave them in the comments or ping me via email or on Twitter or Facebook.
WisCon 36 is almost upon us. Here’s where I’ll be!
Parties
Riots of Bloom | Sat, 9:00 pm Room 607
I’m the DJ.
Join us for spicy samosas and wine as we dance the night away to world beats! Riots of Bloom is a party to celebrate the speculative fiction of authors of color who have books and stories releasing this year. (N. K. Jemisin, Neesha Meminger, Kiini Salaam, Ibi Zoboi, Alaya Dawn Johnson) We are especially honored to celebrate WisCon 36 Guest of Honor and Tiptree winner, Andrea Hairston! So put on your most riotous colors and come prepared to boogie on down to the rhythmic beats of reggae, calypso, salsa, bhangra, and other world music!
Unnamed, not on the schedule shenanigans | Friday 11:00 pm room TBD
So there has been talk for a while about doing a party wherein we watch and heavily criticize Jem! and My Little Pony and some other beloved cartoons of our child and adulthood while eating gummi bears soaked in rum, vodka flavored with Skittles, and a number of other ridiculous, not safe for kids foods. Given the nature of the foods in question, it was suggested to me that we NOT make this an official party. So we’re going to find a suitable space and have it semi-privately.
Panels
From Sherlock to Sheldon: Asexuality and Asexual Characters in SF/F
Fri, 4:00–5:15 pm | Senate B
K. Tempest Bradford (mod), Liz Argall, Dawn Ash, L J Geoffrion, Jed Hartman
We’re all familiar by now with the sexual orientations homosexual, heterosexual and bisexual. Much less discussed are asexuals, persons who do not experience sexual attraction. This panel discusses what asexuality is and is not, and proposes ways for authors to explore this overlooked orientation in their characters. Is it enough that a character has no on-page sex life, or should asexuality be more positively portrayed? Asexuality in real-time fandom and asexual characters in fiction and media may also be discussed as time allows.
Feminist Blogging: What Is It and What Role Can It Play in Creating Social Change?
Sat, 10:00–11:15 am | Caucus
K. Tempest Bradford (mod), Brit Mandelo, Andrea Chandler, Michelle Kendall, Rachel Virginia Swirsky
The internet has seen an upsurge in feminist blogs, with those words returning millions of results in search engines. What are feminist blogs? How can feminist blogs help create positive change? In what ways can these spaces model an inclusive, non-hierarchical environment? What are the downsides to feminist blogging? Join us as we discuss new ways the internet can help further the discourse around issues of social and economic justice, feminism, and anti-oppression.
Sipping From the Firehose: Managing Writing and Social Media
Sat, 1:00–2:15 pm | Senate A
K. Tempest Bradford (mod), Barth Anderson, Kimberly Gonzalez, Michael J. “Orange Mike” Lowrey, David J. Schwartz
FaceBook, Google+, LiveJournal, Tumblr, Twitter, blog, traditional website: Does a writer need them all? How do they help with self-promotion? How do they help with the isolation of writing? If you participate in social media, how do you keep it all up-to-date and still find time to write?
Creating Your Own Religion
Sun, 10:00–11:15 pm | Conference 4
K. Tempest Bradford (mod), Ann Leckie, Alex Dally MacFarlane, Deirdre M. Murphy, Larissa N. Niec
Which SF authors create interesting, believable religions, and which get religion wrong? (What does it mean to “get religion wrong” anyway?) Do made-up religions with intervening gods work better than those without? How can we as writers avoid making mistakes when creating and writing about fictional religions?
Not Everyone Lives in the Future
Mon, 10:00–11:15 am | Room 623
Carrie L. Ferguson (mod), K. Tempest Bradford, Ruthanna Emrys, Jesse the K, Na’amen Gobert Tilahun
Technology has an undeniably transformative effect on our lives and it is worth examining who has access to those effects. Geeks are generally very engaged with technology and it is easy to assume that the Internet, cell phones, computers, etc. are a given in everyone’s lives. However, there are large communities where technological access is not at the level that geeks take for granted. How does lack of access to technology impede communities’ ability to prosper? How can geeks help to make technology more available to communities that may benefit from them? Are these transformative effects even desirable? What are good examples of SF that highlight or problematize this issue?
Reading
Title TBA
Sun, 4:00–5:15 pm | Michelangelos
Group reading: K. Tempest Bradford, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Jackie Mierzwa, Larissa N. Niec
Yesterday the Doctor Who crew announced that they’d chosen the new Doctor Who companion that will take over from Karen Gillian and Arthur Darvill: Jenna-Louise Coleman. Moffat has heaped much praise upon Miss Coleman and said that her energy matches and even exceeds that of Matt Smith, so we should all rejoice.
Yet my first thought upon seeing her was: another young, white female? Really? That’s the best we can do?
I know nothing about Coleman and I have no reason to believe she’s not a good actress. So, nothing against her personally and all. This is more about the general banality of choice here. I shouldn’t expect much from Mr. Moffat given his track record — he did choose Matt Smith, after all — but is it so much to ask that a TV show about an 1100 year old time traveling alien be more than just the same old tired stuff all TV is about? Do we really need another young, white cis woman to compliment the young, white cis man at the center of the show?
Say what you will about Russell T. Davies (and I have said plenty in my time), he at least had the balls to change it up a bit when it came to companions. There were two companions of color on his watch, plus an omnisexual man, plus a woman with some years and experience on her.
Given the show’s penchant for picking actors and actresses from past episodes, I can think of 10 really good choices for companion that each bring things to the table we haven’t seen in a while and break the young, white, human female mold in different and interesting ways.
Madame Vastra and Jenny
I’m starting with these two because I know so many people will agree. Moffat introduced them in “A Good Man Goes To War” and I’m pretty sure the entire fandom went nuts for them right away. They’re clearly lesbian, clearly in love, and would clearly bring some welcome snark and spark to the TARDIS. Especially because Vastra is all about not putting up with the Doctor’s bullshit. Yes, Jenny is a young, white female, I know. But this combo works so well. Plus she’s from our past and it’s been a while since the Doctor pulled a companion from sometime other than contemporary Earth. Vastra is non-human; again, something the show used to do and hasn’t yet since it came back. And with the whole lesbian thing we can finally leave behind the whole Girl Moons Over Doctor thing.
Canton Everett Delaware III
Any excuse to allow Mark Sheppard to take up more screen time on my TV is a good one, right? Beyond that, it seemed clear to me that when older Canton shows up in “The Impossible Astronaut” he had been through many more adventures with the Doctor than we saw. Why not add him to the TARDIS crew for a season? Let him bring the man he loves along (a gay black man from the 50’s in space? YES. Call Idris Elba).
Amara Karan
When “The God Complex” first aired I remember a bunch of people said that they wished Rita hadn’t died because she’d make a fantastic companion. I wholeheartedly agreed. Just because Rita is dead doesn’t mean that Amara Karan can’t be a companion. It’s what happened with Freema, after all. She’s such a fantastic actress, just give her another great character and she’d be fabulous. Plus, she’s a woman of color. Honestly, the show needs to prove that Martha wasn’t just a token by being a little less white for no good reason.
Alonso Frame / Russell Tovey
Since we’ve seen Alonso twice now, I think he’s a good candidate to be a companion, but I’m not wedded to the character from “Voyage of the Damned”. Russell has a nice wide range and does crazy flustered really well. Maybe even better than Matt Smith. I don’t think he’d make a good solo companion, but perhaps teamed up with Amara or Lenora in a non-romantic way it could work. He’d also make a great alien with those big ears.
Lenora Crichlow
Ever since I saw Lenora in “Gridlock” I have loved her. I definitely don’t want to see her play the character from that episode as a companion, but someone new. As a Being Human fan it would give me no end of squeezing to see her and Russell Tovey as companions together, but that might just be too Brit-TV incestuous. Pair her up with Canton, maybe? Then you have a nice triad. An older guy to be sort of steady and reasonable, Matt being all muppety, and a younger woman to be the balance between them. Though, honestly, I’d love to see Lenora play someone 180 degrees from the roles I’ve seen her in so far.
Naoko Mori
I’ll say this up front: there’s no good reason why Torchwood’s Toshiko Sato is dead. Though I wouldn’t be down with them bringing that character back for Doctor Who, Naoko Mori should definitely get another chance at the Whoniverse. She’ll be the first Asian companion since the dude in the American movie. My only fear with her is that, once again, the writers will go for the easy stereotypes – shy, good at maths, bad at interpersonal relationships, computer wiz. Ugh. Naoko is so much better than all of that, as the show should be.
Clyde Langer (Daniel Anthony)
Bringing in someone from The Sarah Jane Adventures would tie the Whoniverse together even more. I like Luke, though I don’t think the whole innocent super genius thing would work all that well on Who, especially up against 11. Clyde is a different sort of person, and his personality would compliment Matt’s manicness well, I think. Plus you get the benefit of a person of color and someone who won’t be over-wowed by all the strangeness yet remain grounded.
Dichen Lachman
Dichen slips in as a Whoniverse alum just barely since she had a small part in Torchwood: Miracle Day. However, my recommendation is not based on that. I had to watch every episode of Dollhouse so I could write about it. Despite the absolute torture of such a thing, I did notice that Dichen outdid most of her co-stars on a regular. One of the few good things about Dollhouse was watching her and Enver Gjokaj school everyone on how the whole new character every episode/scene thing was done. Not that most of them learned. I see her as a companion with a lot of mad energy. Or maybe even a Time Lady. Let’s rescue Romana from E-Space and revive her as a mixed-race woman of color!
Gina Torres
This entrant right here is just some wish fulfillment. I’ve watched Gina Torres be a badass awesome lady through many a TV show, both good and bad. I say let’s bring that to the TARDIS’ doorstep and see what comes of it. She’s a woman comfortably above tweenage with some gravitas to her, has the body to do all the running necessary, won’t let the Doctor walk all over her or fall in love with him, and is probably comfortable destroying whole galaxies if you get in her way.
There you go: 10 awesome choices that aren’t the same old banal young, white female we’ve already been there and done.
Who would you add to the list?
From Stop The Wall:
As creative professionals, we experience copyright infringement on a very personal level. Commercial piracy is deeply unfair and pervasive leaks of unreleased films and music regularly interfere with the integrity of our creations. We are grateful for the measures policymakers have enacted to protect our works.
We, along with the rest of society, have benefited immensely from a free and open Internet. It allows us to connect with our fans and reach new audiences. Using social media services like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, we can communicate directly with millions of fans and interact with them in ways that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.
We fear that the broad new enforcement powers provided under SOPA and PIPA could be easily abused against legitimate services like those upon which we depend. These bills would allow entire websites to be blocked without due process, causing collateral damage to the legitimate users of the same services – artists and creators like us who would be censored as a result.
As a writer and creator I wholeheartedly co-sign this statement.
Stop piracy, not freedom.
At CES I saw several really drool-worthy products, but the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga was among the best, no question, no hesitation. When the company demoed it for us the first time I was immediately impressed and also immediately aware that I needed one of my own.
This isn’t the first time I’ve had this reaction to a Lenovo product. And I’ve been burned in the past. I’ve seen some amazing notebooks and tablets teased and promised at CES only to receive news later that they wouldn’t be coming to market, after all. They swear this is not the case for the Yoga; it’s just waiting for Windows 8 before it can ship to customers. I begrudgingly believe them.
After we saw the Yoga, Josh Smith (my colleague at GottaBeMobile) found an old post on the site from 2009 showing off a Lenovo Yoga that looked very different. It was just a concept design back then, but it shared the dual notebook/tablet nature and the hinge that allowed it to fold all the way back. Further delving into tags revealed an even older Yoga design from 2005 — it actually won an award — that looks very similar in design to what we have now.
You can see all the pictures I found over on the Gadget Porn Tumblr. (Yes, that’s also one of mine.)
Seeing that there was a Yoga all the way back in 2005 yet the product didn’t become a solid reality until 2012 makes me feel better about the Lenovo notebooks I’ve loved and lost. Two years in a row Lenovo showed off the IdeaPad U1 Hybrid, a combo tablet and 11-inch notebook that was actually two computers in one. The display bit would detach and become a tablet — first running Linux, then running Android — with its own CPU, memory, battery, and ports. When attached to the keyboard base it switched to Windows, again with separate memory, ports, battery and so forth.
I wanted this thing so bad, my friends. Lenovo never did bring it out in America, though, because they couldn’t get the hinge/connector up to snuff (so I hear). Even I could tell that this was the weakest point of the design. Still, some of the devices I saw this year gave me hope that the company could get over that hurdle if they so desired.
Another product I’ve always mourned is the Lenovo Skylight. This was meant to be a smartbook, back when smartbooks were deemed a viable notebook category. Here’s a primer if you care, but the basics are that they were meant to be inexpensive notebooks running lightweight operating systems like Windows CE, Android, or similar that acted like smartphones. They’d sleep instead of tuning off, resume instantly, and stay thin thanks to the components inside.
Putting aside the smartbookness of it, the Lenovo Skylight was is one of the best looking laptops I’ve ever seen. It’s not just thin and light, but crafted and designed so well that you instantly want it, no matter what it’s running or what the limitations. The company even brought in the guy who designed the original ThinkPads to create this thing of beauty.
The whole smartbook thing didn’t last. In fact, I don’t think any ever came out. It’s a shame because smartbooks are what netbooks were supposed to be before mainstream consumers started giving their opinions. Anyway, back in 2010 I asked a Lenovo exec if the Skylight was truly dead, because I felt that it would be such a shame if so. He told me: Not quite. Somewhere in the bowels of the company someone still cares about the Skylight.
Given what’s going on with the laptop category right now, I suspect that it’ll be reborn as an ultrabook. As of right now it’s too thin to deal with the components (I think…) but perhaps when the next generation of Intel chips comes out the Skylight can live again. I can also see the U1 Hybrid making a reappearance as a Windows 8 tablet hybrid.
Hopefully it won’t be another 5 years before I see these products again. But if they rises from the ashes as amazing as the Yoga is today, I won’t grumble about the wait too much.
Crossposted from K. T. Bradford
All the cool kids are doing it.
1. Write fiction every day.
2. Write a non-work, non-Tumblr blog post every day. I have 10 blogs. I should, like, post on them.
3. Manage my time. At all.
4. Get in better shape by exercising regularly and switching up my daily habits so I move more and spend more time outside (weather permitting).
5. Be strict about my budget.
6. Tackle all of the non-work, non-fiction writing projects I wish to participate in, but one at a time instead of all at once.
7. Read more fiction. I now have the ability to save stories on the web to read later on my eReader. I should, like, do that.
8. Spend more time with friends both virtually and in real life. I should be Google Hanging Out far more than I do, and I should be seeing my friends out in the world far more than I do.
9. Learn a new skill. I’m thinking about something to do with programming/coding. Perhaps I will learn how to make Android apps, or something to do with Linux.
10. Complete my home improvement projects. I want track shelving in the living room and Moroccan-style decor in my bedroom.
ETA: 11. Learn something new every month. A recipe, a nugget of knowledge, a skill, something.
I meant to post this yesterday, but work things got in the way. Then the ever-wonderful Cleolinda posted the long, long post I was going to write and said everything I was going to say. So I’ll keep mine short. I suggest you click over to Cleolinda’s blog for the full story. Seriously.
A few days ago Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith wrote a guest post for the Genreville blog over at Publisher’s Weekly about their experience with an unnamed agent who asked them to make changes to their YA manuscript to erase the fact that a main POV character was gay. At least for the first book in the series. The pair went on to say that they’d heard that this thing with erasing gay characters in YA was something other authors experienced and thus they felt the need to write about it and bring the overall issue to light.
They did not name the agent or agency. They moved on from their specific example to the broader issue. They pointed out that this seemed to come from a concern over market forces rather than labeling anyone Homophobic or Gay Hating. If you don’t believe me, go read the original.
The post sparked a big conversation about the issue and I saw in the comments and on blogs and social networks that several other authors, published and not, talk their stories of having agents and/or editors tell them to remove gay characters from their YA.
Then Joanna Stampfel-Volpe, an agent with Nancy Coffey Literary & Media Representation, posted on Colleen Lindsay’s blog, The Swivet, outing her agency as the one in question (though claims she is not the specific agent in question) and essentially called Rachel and Sherwood liars. Under the guest post part, Colleen added this:
FACT: Both these writers already have their own agents. At least one of those agents reps YA books. So what does it say when the respective agents for both these well-established writers advise them to find a different agent for the book in question because neither of them wanted to rep it themselves?
It tells me that homophobia was most likely not the reason that this book has thus far not found representation.
And that made me see red because that just looks like a personal attack and an attempt to dismiss what Rachel and Sherwood said by saying that their book is no good. Further, on my Facebook page, Colleen claimed that she knew other agents who turned the book down because it had structural issues.
I like and respect Colleen a lot, but I’m calling bullshit on this. Though she says she didn’t mean for the above words to be an attack, that’s what it looks like. And, even if other agents passed on the book for structural reasons, that does not mean that the conversation as represented by Rachel and Sherwood didn’t happen. One does not preclude the other.
Putting that aside, at this point we’ve reached He Said/She Said, and it comes down to which side you believe. Stampfel-Volpe said that at no time did they say they wanted make the character not gay or take away references that he was gay in the book in question[1]. Rachel and Sherwood maintain that this is indeed what was said.
For my part, I believe Rachel and Sherwood. My main criteria being that my interactions with Rachel online and the interactions and friendships she has with people I know and trust do not lead me to believe she would lie in this way. I don’t know Sherwood well, but nothing I have ever heard from her good friends leads me to believe she would perpetuate a hoax for publicity or lie for profit.
Rose Fox of Genreville apparently felt the same way. Colleen mentions something about how the piece wasn’t fact checked, but how was that supposed to happen? The agency wasn’t named. And even though there are claims that the gossip identified the agency, the majority of us wouldn’t know without their self-outing. These are not the kind of “facts” that can be easily checked because the other party can say “That didn’t happen” and they could be lying just as easily as the authors. Rose used her judgment based on what she knows about the two women and, so far, I haven’t seen any reason for her to have doubted that.
Additionally, Stampfel-Volpe’s post is filled with the kind of red flags I see every day as an anti-prejudice activist. The tone is too defensive[2] and unconvincing. Plus, what exactly do you expect the agency to say? “Yes, we did that”? No. Hell no.
Think about it. If they did request the changes Rachel and Sherwood claim and did so because of market forces and such, they wouldn’t admit to it especially if they aren’t homophobic themselves. It’s just like the whole cover controversy with Justine Larbalestier’s Liar. I’m sure that her publishers are not racist people, but they put a non-black person on the cover of her book at first because they assumed that systemic racist attitudes would hurt sales. That is not something you want to admit in public, because it’s gross. It happens, though. We all know it happens. And thanks to #YesGayYA we know that the erasure of gay characters in YA happens, too. And it’s still gross.
No one wants to admit when they give in to prejudiced bullshit.
The other reason I just don’t believe Stampfel-Volpe is that she made this whole thing personal:
One of our agents is being used as a springboard for these authors to gain attention for their project. She is being exploited. But even worse, by basing their entire article on untruths, these authors have exploited the topic.
Someone explain to me how the agent in question is being exploited when he/she wasn’t named. Also, bringing a topic to light is not exploitative. The kind of people I see using language like that are the folks who try to tell me that by bringing up racism or “inventing” it when it’s not there, I am the one being racist. This is a classic defense. It may even be on the BINGO card. When I see people using this kind of language, I immediately distrust what they have to say. I’ve been on the receiving end of this too often to not recognize it.
I suggest you read the original Genreville post and the other excellent links at Cleolinda’s blog before you come down on one side or the other, especially if you don’t know any of the people involved. The readiness of some people to immediate jump to HOAX! based on absolutely nothing but one person’s word would astonish me if I didn’t already have plenty of experience watching people readily dismiss real prejudice that exists right in front of them as not-prejudice. It’s so much more comforting to think that someone is just a lying liar than that there’s a serious problem to tackle.
Tackling problems requires thought, effort, and often sacrifice. Who wants to deal with that?
Footnotes
- Edited to make things clearer. I didn’t read my original sentence a second time and should have. Thanks Helen.[↩]
- Especially the parts added by Colleen, who emphatically claims that the agent is a good friend and not homophobic, even though Rachel and Sherwood didn’t say he/she was. A person might not be personally homophobic, but still perpetuate the idea that mainstream readers are too homophobic to deal with gay charcaters. It’s a systemic problem, and one need not be personally prejudiced in order to bow to the system.[↩]
At Dragon*Con last weekend I went to a panel called Doctor Who: Davies vs. Moffat in the Brit track so as to cover it for the Daily Dragon. The panel discussion was… less than robust, I would say. But then, this topic could have people going on for hours and we only had one. I wrote it up for the DD here, if you care to read.
Coming away from the panel I felt that I’d like to continue the conversation in a venue better suited to deep conversation. And here we are.
The basic idea behind the panel was to examine Doctor Who and debate which “era” of the show — the one headed by Davies or the current one by Moffat — is better overall. Of course, with both showrunners there’s a lot to pick apart and examine and for some there may not be a better overall choice. It’s completely legitimate to point out the areas where either of them excel or falter. And, of course, there will be some pitting the various Doctors against each other.
To back up your arguments, you may mention any episode that’s been aired but don’t reveal any spoilers from unaired stuff. By aired I mean aired in the UK. If you really, really don’t want spoilers for the most recent stuff, you should probably skip this one.
To start the debate, I’ll ask of folks: who do you think is the better plotter? On an episode by episode basis I would have said Moffat until season 5. On an overall arc basis, I’m saying Davies. So far The Silence just makes me roll my eyes, and I wanted to stab the Pandorica thing from the word go. Season 3′s arc was much more satisfying and well constructed… until the Tinkerbell bit.
What say you?
I’m horrible at posting timely con reports, so I’ve given up worrying about it. It’s been a week since Dragon*Con ended, so at least with this one is up faster than my WisCon or ReaderCon reports. No, you didn’t miss them… they aren’t posted yet.
Onward!
This was my first Dragon*Con, and I was slightly worried about feeling overwhelmed. However, I had the chance to work for the at-con newsletter, the Daily Dragon, and that helped me feel less at sea. I had specific things to do and I spent most of my time doing them. Those specific things involved copyediting, being on call in the DD office, covering panels, and interviewing people. Being a journalist is a bunch of fun.
I had a great time talking to Ann and Jeff Vandermeer about steampunk and Alethea Kontis and Leanna Renee Hieber about being pro guests who are also fans. But the absolute highlight of my con was getting to interview Kate Mulgrew, Star Trek: Voyager’s Captain Janeway. I also got to interview Brent Spiner of The Next Generation.
For Kate Mulgrew, I had to chase down her agent, then come sit at her signings three times before he found time in her schedule. William Shatner had just denied a couple of my colleagues an interview, so I was nervous. But Ms. Mulgrew wasn’t as ALL DONE THIS as Bill (and I don’t blame him, he did three solo panels and signed 4 times) so she granted me five minutes.
I’ve met her just once before, and she was just as warm and funny as before. She has this commanding attitude that I adore. It’s not obnoxious — more like a very forceful matriarch. If she tells you to do something, you do it because obviously she thinks it’s best. Plus, you don’t say no to Captain Janeway. Read the interview (Kate says so.)
Talking to her about how there needs to be more women leaders in the Star Trek franchise, I had this awesome idea for a panel at Dragon*Con about female leadership in SF. My dream panel would be Kate Mulgrew, Nana Visitor, Mary McDonnell, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, and Gina Torres. I also think that would make an excellent pop essay book, with the volume split between TV/Movie properties and SF novels. As things ramp up for next year’s D*Con, I’ll see if the panel is possible.
I was in the autographing room on Monday waiting for Brent Spiner to have time when I noticed that Robert Duncan McNeil (Tom Paris, Voyager) had a life-size cutout of himself in character sitting on top of his table. Not next to, on top of. I went over and asked, “How much to take a picture with the cutout?” because pictures with him were $10 and that’s just not my thing. Thankfully he has an excellent sense of humor and joked with me about it and, when I came back to actually take a picture with the cutout in my absolute silliness, decided he needed to be in the pic, too. I let him. You know, to make him feel better.
I also had one other mission during the con, which was to sell fans and raise money for Con or Bust when possible. I didn’t sell many fans, but my roommate, Mary Robinette Kowal, sold TONS. She’s a sales machine and earned Con or Bust a lot of money.
In addition to selling fans, I also asked some actors of color to sign one so we can auction them off. When I get home I’ll post pics. Edward James Olmos (BSG) and Garrett Wang (Harry Kim, Voyager) both signed readily and were very sweet about it. In fact, Garrett misunderstood my request (I’d asked him the night before in the green room) and had a picture he’d planned to give me of Robert Beltran, Robert Picardo and himself in character, signed by all three. It’s really adorbs. I gave him a fan in exchange for the picture and we’ll auction that off, too.
Sidenote: Garrett Wang is awesome. He runs the Trek Track at D*Con and does a fantastic job, does funny as hell spots for Dragon*Con TV, and spends hours and hours in the autograph room so everyone who wants to see him gets a chance. Plus, he’s super sweet, like I said.
That was pretty much my Dragon*Con. I met many awesome fans, hang out with the fabulous Daily Dragon staff, saw fantastic costumes, got to go to panels, met one of my heroines, and had conversations with a host of fabulous people. I’m looking forward to going back next year.
Are best expressed in fiction.
Others have also raised concerns over the ongoing nature of the haitai ritual. Though performing it after the first or second anniversary isn’t unheard of, most clerics don’t recommend it. Wassirian cleric Anes Mshai is an outspoken opponent of further Red Seteshday haitai.
“Bringing closure and allowing family members to say goodbye is healthy. Especially in the case of such a massive disaster. But reliving and recreating the event over and over again every year may be keeping them from moving on.”
Until Forgiveness Comes at Strange Horizons
This was a very long comment on the post from yesterday. However, in writing it I realized that this discussion is separate but related, so I broke it out into its own post. This comment addresses some stuff across multiple comments over there plus some things from this discussion on the anon community.
Just to clarify: For me, my worries over the doubts I had about Kynn and the way I pushed them aside isn’t about whether I should have known she would rape someone. It’s totally separate from that. It’s more about how I shouldn’t have accepted that behavior from a person who very clearly wanted to be allied with my community and me personally. I don’t look back and regret my errors because of what happened to jack specifically. Wanted to clear that up.
While on one hand I agree with the anon that points out that within social justice communities if someone doesn’t speak up and say “hey, I don’t agree with the actions this person is taking” then people may assume that we endorse or, at least, don’t find the behavior problematic. And that can be a problem both within and outside of the community.
On the other hand, I very much agree with Cheryl that I don’t then want us to turn the tone argument on each other or start deciding whose anger is more valid. Plus, I get the feeling that what some critics of social justice want in that instance is a public “I DON’T AGREE” in big letters. I’m not always comfortable with that.
Intra-community discussions of appropriate actions and words should stay inside unless the community decides to open it up to wider discussion.
Examples of this include the recent flare-up surrounding Ashley Judd’s condemnation of hip-hop as sexist. Women in the hip-hop and POC community have been dealing with this issue a lot longer, and many did not appreciate someone from outside the community swanning in to give her ill-formed and unwanted opinion on the matter.
Within a feminist context, women outside of mainstream white western culture are forever dealing with well-meaning feminists trying to tell them how their cultures are evil and should be abandoned. Whereas women inside those cultures and communities are constantly saying “Back off, we got this, we’re working on it from our own cultural framework.”
Those are big picture examples. Those are also more straightforward than what we’re dealing with here.
The dilemma I see is this: how does a community or an individual within a community approach another individual to say I/We think you’re crossing a line? That’s a tough conversation to have. I’ve found myself reluctant to have it the few times it’s come up. And, as I said yesterday, I am not the behavior police nor do I feel I have the right to be.
Still, this situation is making me realize how important it is to discuss this and come up with strategies not only to ensure the mental health of the community at large, but also to achieve our common goals.
As before, thoughts are very much appreciated. And to the anonymice out there — I allow anon comments here, but reserve the right to moderate as I see fit. (Generally: deleting abusive ones.)
ETA: Hey anons, want to further clarify something for those of you who seem to be lacking reading skills. This post is not about reactions to what Kynn did to Jack. I’m not saying AT ALL that intra-community issues need to be worked out around people’s reactions to that. I’m talking here about more general issues using Kynn’s behavior before this incident as a touchpoint, but not due to what happened at WisCon. This is about things I observed before that. How people deal with someone in their group who rapes another is a separate conversation and not what I’m addressing here (for that, see the other post). Okay? Okay.
There’s a very simple business reason why Google cares if they have your real name. It means it’s possible to cross-relate your account with your buying behavior with their partners, who might be banks, retailers, supermarkets, hospitals, airlines. To connect with your use of cell phones that might be running their mobile operating system. To provide identity in a commerce-ready way. And to give them information about what you do on the Internet, without obfuscation of pseudonyms.
Simply put, a real name is worth more than a fake one.
The entire post is worth a read, and Dave is pretty spot on. The Google reps I've spoken to deny this, but it's obvious to anyone who understands how Google works. Just about everything they do and service they provide is about search and advertising even if they don't seem related to search and advertising directly.
I'm sure that the real name/common name policy is also rooted in other beliefs held by the heads of the Google+ project. However, given all the pushback on this both externally and internally, it seems like a policy they should have given up if it was just about a misunderstanding of how people operate on the Internets. Throw in the fact that it's about money, better data mining, and the ability to tie what you do online to what you buy, and things crystallize a bit.
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Crossposted from K. T. Bradford
This post may be triggering for some as it contains discussions of rape, sexual assault, and community responses to such.
I promised to write this post last week, but unfortunately preparations for BlogHer took up more spoons than I anticipated. Plus, I’ve been dealing with a lot of intense emotions around the issue and it kept me from posting publicly for a while. But I feel it’s important for several reasons, all of which you will understand by the end of this post. I’m placing the bulk of it under a cut, just in case.
( Read the rest of this entry » )
In my preparation for the BlogHer conference (which was awesome!), I wanted to put together several ways to share my contact information with the people I would meet. I have traditional paper business cards, of course. But since I’m a digital geek girl, I also poked into my contact card on my phone and looked into ways I could share it. I assumed that there would be an easy, straightforward way to do this. Sadly for us all, I was wrong.
Sharing contact information via a smartphone is one of those things that many people assume is a basic, standard task. Going all the way back to the days of Palm Pilot supremacy and the rise of BlackBerry, the ability to “beam” your info to another person was a nice and expected perk of having a mobile, business-focused device. I remember that the process didn’t always work on the first try, but it was there and was easy.
Fast forward to now. Last week I went into my Android phone’s contacts, found my contact card, hit the Menu button and tapped “Send My Contact Info.” The menu that came up informed me that I could send via MMS, Mail, or Bluetooth. You might think: oh, that sounds reasonable. Let me explain why it’s not.
MMS is multimedia text messaging; thus, I’d send my contact info as a vCard attachment to an SMS. Not all phones/services support MMS. I use Google Voice for texting. It does not support MMS. So I can’t use that.
The Mail option is what I wanted… except Mail does not indicate the Gmail app, it indicates the Mail app for non-Gmail accounts. I don’t have any accounts set up there because I use Gmail on my Android phone. In order to send via my Gmail account, I would have to set up that account in the Mail app then set it to not notify me when messages come in because Gmail is already doing so. Convoluted? Yes.
Bluetooth is what people meant by “beaming” in the past, but connecting to another phone via Bluetooth isn’t always straightforward. Try doing it in a conference hallway when you’re on the way to the next panel and the person you want to send to doesn’t know how the Bluetooth works on their phone. Not ideal.
So really, my phone offered little in the way of easy or viable options. Why?
The heart of the problem lies with Android. Apparently, there is no native option for sending contact or vCard data in the OS at all[1]. How is my phone able to do so? It’s all down to the HTC Sense user interface skin. Android skins do more than just change the way icons look and offer fancy widgets, they also provide deep interface functions which are sometimes fixes for things Android doesn’t provide.
Who should I shake my fist at more, Android for not having a native contact sharing function or HTC for not realizing people might want to share contacts via their Gmail accounts? I’m inclined to be a little angrier at HTC.
That’s because I also happen to have a Samsung phone. I don’t use it as a phone, only as a MID/PDA. It connects to Wi-Fi just fine, so I could send my contact info from that device. I checked, and lo Samsung’s TouchWiz UI does realize that users might want to send via Gmail and offers that option. My problem is solved.
That doesn’t solve the overall issue though, does it? It also doesn’t help if I’m not near a free Wi-Fi signal. And my HTC phone is my main device; I want to be able to share from there. That’s when I started to look for alternatives.
I’ll share what I found so far in another post. Right now I’d like to know: how do you share digital contact information from your phone? Is it easier on iOS or webOS? Have you found the perfect app for the purpose? Let me know in the comments.
Notes
- This is what I gleaned via research and appears to be true at least up until Android 2.2. Some forum threads suggest that this function is available in Gingerbread (2.3), but I have not had a chance to check this myself. [↩]
Crossposted from K. T. Bradford
I’ve typed some variation of this sentence dozens of times over the past few hours, yet typing it again still feels very odd: Today is my last day at Laptop Magazine. Yep, I’m leaving my post as News Editor after almost exactly two years in that position. No, I am not going to This Is My Next like all the other cool kids.
I’ll be writing for Notebooks.com/GottabeMobile as well as Android Central and some other media outlets as the opportunity arises. Still covering the same stuff: mobile technology, accessories, apps, all that. Not going far, really. I’m really excited about these new opportunities and can’t wait to get to know the communities around these sites even better.
Moving on from Laptop wasn’t an easy decision. Over the past 3+ years I’ve had the chance to meet and work with some wonderful people. And I’ve learned so much about writing and what it means to be a journalist from my editors and fellow writers.
When I started there back in 2008 I thought I had the best job in the world: creating and producing web content all day? Blogging for a living? Getting to try out every new laptop, phone, and other mobile gadget that came through the office? Sweet! What I didn’t realize at the time was that I would get the chance to do so much more, with constant encouragement from everyone around me. I will forever be grateful to the folks at Laptop for giving me the opportunity to grow, particularly Editor in Chief Mark Spoonauer and Online Editorial Director Avram Piltch. Thanks for all the fish :)
Today I turn in my final review and write my last blog post. Tonight I party with my friends. Tomorrow I sleep in. Next week I move on to the next big thing. See you there.
Crossposted from K. T. Bradford
As you may have seen if you’re following my Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr, I’m doing a regular column for Book Country now. (By the way, Book Country is an excellent hangout for genre writers. Not just SF/F, but mystery, romance, etc. Get critiques, get writing advice, meet new people, it’s pretty awesome.) The column will focus on tech for writers and how to find the best tools so you can just focus on achieving wordcount.
One of the topics I plan to cover in the near future is good gadgets for writers. Not laptops — those get their own posts — but the other pieces of tech we find useful. For instance, I have a LiveScribe Echo Smartpen, a fabulous pen device that records what I write and digitizes it. It can also record audio while you write and sync it up with what you were writing at the time.
I find it very useful for crit sessions. I don’t have to write down everything a person said, but I can jot down a one or two word note, click it later, and hear their exact words on why my characterization felt flat. It’s also useful for journalists and students (for obvious reasons). One day I’ll write a full review.
So far I’ve got a short list of my favorite gadgets, but I wanted to throw the question out to my fiction writing friends. Are there any gadgets or pieces of tech that you’ve found helpful to have as a writer beyond your computer or cell phone? Things that either help you when writing or researching or even keeping your sanity when dealing with the business end of writing (taxes, promotion). Tell me about them in the comments. Don’t forget to tell me why you find them useful to you.
Crossposted from K. T. Bradford
‘Dead Drops’ is an anonymous, offline, peer to peer file-sharing network in public space. USB flash drives are embedded into walls, buildings and curbs accessable to anybody in public space. Everyone is invited to drop or find files on a dead drop. Plug your laptop to a wall, house or pole to share your favorite files and data. Each dead drop is installed empty except a readme.txt file explaining the project. ‘Dead Drops’ is open to participation. If you want to install a dead drop in your city/neighborhood follow the ‘how to’ instructions and submit the location and pictures.
I love this idea. I have about 30 USB drives without a purpose. This seems like a good one to me.
Crossposted from K. T. Bradford
“I had one good pickup line, and e-readers ruined it. I can no longer hit on a handsome man on a long commute by asking about his book — because I can’t see it.”
– Lisa Lewis, writing in the NYTimes’ City Room blog on how e-readers make it harder for her to strike up conversations with strangers. - Matt (via cnnmoneytech)
Is it wrong of me to think: “Quit harassing strangers, woman, and mind your own business!”? It’s probably wrong of me…
Crossposted from K. T. Bradford
A user of Google+ was logged into Google with both individual and his company’s Google Apps login, and discovered that Google+ can be used — at least partially — with Google Apps:
As reported by Google Operating System, Google’s John Costigan confirmed this: “We’re actively working on making Profiles (and Google+) available for Google Apps – it should be available in the coming months.”
Personally, I feel that this is where the tools that Google+ offers may be of greatest utility, as a stream-based business collaboration tool, an example of what I call work media. As I recently wondered, the effort involved in defining circles might not be worth the effort. However, if you are working in a company of dozens, hundreds, or thousands of people, creating circles for projects, departments, or topically-oriented collections of people makes a lot of sense.
Note also that Google Apps already has an app store architecture, so the rollout of apps like Huddle and Hangouts would be simple.
And there is the opportunity to convert the over 25M Google Apps users to something worth paying for.
This is an excellent idea. I do think workflow could be improved by Google+ for Apps accounts. Especially for long email conversation chains. Too bad my magazine is no longer using Google Apps.
Crossposted from K. T. Bradford
Urgent Reminder For all Tweeters.
This is a legitimate concern.
Excellent advice.
Crossposted from K. T. Bradford
Cory Watilo via
This is a screenshot from an official promotion video of Outlook 2010. Seriously, what a trainwreck. I still remain a Microsoft fan, but this screenshot just shows the lack of any intelligent design direction anywhere in the company.
I previously wrote about the design disconnect at Microsoft here.
Gross.
Our workplace is going to move to Office 2010 soon and I’m going to be forced to use Outlook instead of my beloved Thunderbird. I want to throw up every time I think about it. This doesn’t help.
Crossposted from K. T. Bradford
Tumblr opens doors to government agencies from Medill Washington on Vimeo.
I worked with the awesome David Charns yesterday on this piece about the government using Tumblr.
You may have seen the State Department’s Tumblr but there are others who are joining up, too. The National Archives runs a few (Document of the Day, the Exhibits Tumblr, and one about Our Presidents). One of my favorite things yesterday was meeting up with the ladies who blog from the National Archives and talking about funny documents they have. Did you know they’ve got the Jell-O box used in the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg trial? One woman said she came across documents from the Civil War listing the health of every horse in every regiment for EACH WEEK of the war. Crazy.
Anyway, the whole article is up on The Daily Caller. And thanks a million to Mark Coatney, the Peace Corps Tumblr people, everyone from the National Archives, and the USA.gov folks.
This was really nice work; thanks, Chelsea and David.
Really loving the diversity of uses people put Tumblr to. Makes me wonder why more companies, publications and organizations haven’t jumped on it.
Crossposted from K. T. Bradford
This. #nofilter #changetheratio
The New Yorker has come out with its profile of Facebook COO Sheyl Sandberg: “A Woman’s Place: Sheryl Sandberg & Male-Dominated Silicon Valley.” Stop for a second – it’s 2011 and it’s sort of nuts that such a title should even work. And yet! Sandberg is terrific and Auletta shines a light on the issue of access, and visibility, and opportunity – all of Change the Ratio’s favorite obsessions. It’s a great time for Sandberg’s message to be magnified (raise your hand; don’t leave before you leave; lean in) and a great time to be an awesome woman doing cool shizz ready to catch that spotlight now that it’s finally swinging around.
This is great for CTR, too. I was psyched when David Remnick emailed me back in March to hear my thoughts on the matter and more psyched to get to bend Ken Auletta’s ear for 90 minutes in the Hashable office – but he spoke to lots of people and seemed focused on Sheryl and the Valley, so who knew what would make the cut. But we did – with our core mission of visibility front and center. He also included a precis of the contretemps with Michael Arrington not even a year ago – and my God, how out of date it sounds now, eh? See below:
Sandberg and many other women in Silicon Valley think the problems women encounter are usually more subtle than blatant sexism. “I think it is largely innocent,” says Rachel Sklar, a New York writer and entrepreneur who has actively protested against digital conferences that invite too few women to speak. Sklar co-founded a women’s organization called Change the Ratio, and she tries to make sure there are more women onstage. “You can’t know about what you don’t see,” she says.
Some suggest that women are also to blame. Michael Arrington, the editor of TechCrunch and the organizer of the TechCrunch Disrupt conferences, defended venture capitalists and Silicon Valley males in a blog post last summer. “The problem is that not enough women want to become entrepreneurs,” he wrote. Referring to Sklar, and her campaign, Arrington added, “Yeah ok, whatever, Rachel. Every damn time we have a conference we fret over how we can find women to fill speaking slots. We ask our friends and contacts for suggestions. We beg women to come and speak… . And you know what? A lot of the time they say no. Because they are literally hounded to speak at every single tech event in the world because they are all trying so hard to find qualified women to speak at their conference.”
It is SO not hard to find qualified women to speak at tech, digital and entrepreneurship conferences – good Lord, I trip over all of you every day. I can’t imagine that all but the most clueless and narrow-minded readers won’t think to themselves, huh, that doesn’t sound quite right, as they mentally go through all the amazing women who are making incredible stuff happen more and more visibly every day. This article will swing that spotlight around even more, and hopefully further illuminate the blindspot where guess what? There are lots of qualified, amazing women raising their hands and leaning in.
This is a good day!
Crossposted from K. T. Bradford
Originally found on Google plus, posted by Eric Tecayehuatl. I can’t find the original in the Joy Of Tech archives, though.
This post was syndicated from my Tumblr. Comment below or Reblog @ Tumblr.
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Crossposted from K. T. Bradford
"As I'm browsing around Google-powered sites there’s occasionally a red notification alert that pops up and immediately grabs my attention. Soon enough I'm clicking through the various notifications and seeing what my friends have shared and who has recently begun sharing with me."
-- The One Google Plus Feature Facebook Should Fear (via digiture)
This post was syndicated from my Tumblr. Comment below or Reblog @ Tumblr.
To see all of my Tumblr posts, please follow me there.
Crossposted from K. T. Bradford
My favorite is the Microsoft one. You could almost just copy and paste for Sony.
via: laughingsquid
Crossposted from K. T. Bradford
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.2){kind=small}
