Sunday, August 19, 2012

Twitter's Greatest Hits: #legitimaterape

















Friday, August 17, 2012

Friday. Is. FAB! RoundUp!


What did we do before Fridays on the Internet? Here are some great things from today:
- Lindy West pwns Alice Cooper on Jezebel
- CBS News posts an AWESOME Friday music roundup. Yes really. It has FogandSmog's Daddy Skills video. Also-- K-Pop, you have outBollywooded Bollywood. Well played.
- JANELLE MONAE is the new CoverGirl. This video showing some behind the scenes from her CoverGirl shoot with her team is so great. I am such a Janelle fan. She is so unshakeably Janelle. 


Thursday, August 16, 2012

Bobak's a meme! Or why scientists are hot

Everyone's talking about Bobak Ferdowsi, and I completely understand the fascination. There's a stereotype of scientists, which you probably know all too well already.

And then this guy busts out on the scene with a sexy job title -- MSL Flight Director -- and a mohawk. A mohawk. Take that, stereotype! Scientists are people, too.



But I think it goes a little deeper than the mohawk. When we're reminded of these glory moments at NASA, when we see these hard-working people sweating, nervous, and then clapping and cheering, it's as good as any moment on ESPN.

So when Washington Post's style blogger Maura Judkis writes

"Even for a scientist, he marvels at the images from space the way that anyone else would"
I was surprised. Ah, journalism. "Even for a scientist" suggests that perhaps she never talked at length with a scientist. Every great scientist I talk with, including my brilliant spouse, gets thrilled talking about science. They marvel all the time. They have this sense of wonder and of awe about things I wouldn't have thought much about.

Take your everyday cramped flight on a commercial airplane. We settle in our cheap seats over the wing; I fold up a jacket and tuck it in next to my elbow to be a makeshift pillow. But Derek looks out the window and talks about how incredible it is that this big thing gets off the ground at all. (Keep in mind that he's a physicist.) The flow of air over wings that keeps planes in the air is a source of apparently never-ending interest and amazement for my spouse.

Scientists are not boring people-- they're highly curious, highly motivated to find things out. They're going to be your biggest cheerleaders when you find something out yourself.

So go on with your unique self, Bobak, and keep Curiosity burning up the roads on Mars. We're marveling at the journey.

Thursday, August 02, 2012

#BlogHer12: My Blog as Change Agent

Pathfinder Day is different every year that I've attended. 2010 was especially memorable with Marie Wilson and The White House Project talking about women, blogging and elections. The brilliant women in the room included candidates, elected officials, one ambassador, a CEO.

This year with Cheryl Contee and Deanna Zandt leading the charge, we Change Agents got personal. Here are some toplines from the day:



Cheryl shared her personal story of how she came to the tech world and what it was like to be among the 4-9% of women who receive venture capital/angel funding. And I deeply appreciated the courage it took for her to share what was close to her soul: "It wasn't because he felt sorry for me." Indeed it wasn't - it was because her company has an incredibly powerful product.

Deanna shared how she built strong in-person relationships and how those translated into every job she's had. Finding places to connect with people online provides more opportunity to develop relationships: listservs are great for this. She also shared the importance of metrics: using RowFeeder, for example.

Books they recommend:
War of Art by Steven Pressfield
Mastery by George Leonard
The Way We're Working Isn't Working

Use your SWOT! It's a great way to identify and clarify goals personally and professionally. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.

And realize that we all do our part to bring the world together. No one blog can- or even should- be all things to all people. There is no linear path; there is only the network, the relationships.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Wednesday, August 01, 2012

Time for the 83rd Annual BlogHer!

At least, it feels like this conference has been around that long, along with quickly-established protocols and etiquette and terminology that accompany blogging. Back in my day, we coded things by hand! None of these namby pamby WYSIWYG editors. Get off my pwn!

And every year around this time, I have a heart to heart with myself about why I blog. Why I pay to keep this domain name around the house. Why I leave the blog public instead of just locking it down and saying what I really really think.

And I realized that the challenge of blogging that keeps drawing me back is the challenge of saying what I really think out loud, and finding the courage to let those words live in the world by finding the talent to say them beautifully.

This is part of the reason I don't blog twice daily.

Practice makes better, and practicing in public, allowing the process to be out there as much as the words and thoughts are out there-- that's my biggest challenge.

But as I keep going in life and blogging, I'm giving myself more elbow room to express my opinions, even perhaps a bit messily. Because every once in awhile, perhaps someone else will be able to relate, will feel understood, will feel challenged and engaged and will want to share some words, some poems, some pictures, some bit of their own grace too.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad