I KNOW there are art quilt geeks out there..

And THIS is for us!!

She's Such a Geek!

An Anthology by and for Women Obsessed with Computers, Science, Comic
Books,Gaming, Spaceships, and Revolution
Slated for Fall 2006

Geeks are taking over the world. They make the most popular movies and games, pioneer new ways to communicate using technology, and create new ideas that will change the future. But the stereotype is that only men can be geeks. So when are we going to hear from the triumphant female nerds whose stories of outer space battles will inspire generations, and whose inventions will change the future?

Right now. Female geeks are busting out of the labs and into the spotlight. They have the skills and knowledge that can inspire social progress, scientific breakthroughs, and change the world for the better, and they're making their voices heard, some for the first time, in Annalee Newitz and Charlie Anders'book She's Such a Geek.

This anthology will celebrate women who have flourished in the male-dominated realms of technical and cultural arcana. We're looking for a wide range of personal essays about the meaning of female nerdhood by women who are in love with genomics, obsessed with blogging, learned about sex from Dungeons and Dragons, and aren't afraid to match wits with men or computers.

The essays in She's Such a Geek will explain what it means to be passionately engaged with technical or obscure topics, and how to deal with it when people tell you that your interests are weird, especially for a girl. This book aims to bust stereotypes of what it means to be a geek, as well as what it mean's to be female.

More than anything, She's Such a Geek is a celebration and call to arms: it's a hopeful book which looks forward to a day when women will pilot spaceships, invent molecular motors, design the next ultra-tiny supercomputer, write epics, and run the government. We want introspective essays that explain what being a geek has meant to you.

Describe how you've fought stereotypes to be accepted among nerds. Explore why you are obsessed with topics and ideas that are supposed to be "for boys only." Tell us how you felt the day you realized that you would be devoting the rest of your life to discovering algorithms or collecting comicbooks.

We want strong, personal writing that is also smart and critical. We don't mind if you use the word "fuck," and we don't mind if you use the word "telomerase."

Be celebratory, polemical, wistful, angry, and just plain dorky.
Possible topics include:
* what turned you into a geek * your career in science, technology, or engineering * growing up geeky * being a geek in high school today * battling geek stereotypes (i.e racial stereotypes and geekdom * cultural analysis of geek chic and the truth about nerds * the idea that women have to choose between being sexually desirable and smart * stereotypes about geek professions such as computer programmers) * sex and dating among geeks * science fiction fandom· role-playing game or comic-book subcultures * the joys of math * blogging or videogames * female geek bonding * geek role models for women * feminist commentary on geek culture * women's involvement in DiY science and technology groups * Stories from women involved in geek pop and underground cultures. These might include comic book writers, science fiction writers, electronic music musicians, and women interested in the gaming world * women's web networks and web zine grrrl culture * Issues of sexism in any or all of the above themes.

Editors: Annalee Newitz and Charlie Anders are geeky women writers.
Annalee is a contributing editor at Wired magazine and writes the
syndicated column Techsploitation. Charlie is the author of Choir Boy (Soft Skull
Press) and publisher of other magazine.

Publisher: Seal Press, an imprint of Avalon Publishing Group,
publishes groundbreaking books by and for women in a variety of topics.

Deadline: January 15, 2006

Length: 3,000-6,000 words

Format: Essays must be typed, double-spaced, and paginated. Please include your address, phone number, email address, and a short bio on the last page.Essays will not be returned.

Submitting: Send essay electronically as a Document or Rich Text Format file to Annalee Newitz and Charlie Anders at sheissuchageek@gmail.com.

Payment: $100 plus two books Reply: Please allow until February 15 for a response. If you haven't received a response by then, please assume your essay has not been selected.

It is not possible to reply to every submission personally.

Let's see who takes this...

Not surprisingly, I find this a most accurate description of me. Sorry for the run of quizzes and such, but I'm dealing with that scary studio thing...
Handholder

You go out of your way to build bridges with people of different views and beliefs and have quite a few religious friends. You believe in the essential goodness of people , which means you’re always looking for common ground even if that entails compromises. You would defend Salman Rushdie’s right to criticise Islam but you’re sorry he attacked it so viciously, just as you feel uncomfortable with some of the more outspoken and unkind views of religion in the pages of this magazine.

You prefer the inclusive approach of writers like Zadie Smith or the radical Christian values of Edward Said. Don’t fall into the same trap as super–naïve Lib Dem MP Jenny Tonge who declared it was okay for clerics like Yusuf al–Qaradawi to justify their monstrous prejudices as a legitimate interpretation of the Koran: a perfect example of how the will to understand can mean the sacrifice of fundamental principles. Sometimes, you just have to hold out for what you know is right even if it hurts someone’s feelings.

What kind of humanist are you? Click here to find out.

Just call me addy...

Now this is just a random name generator... with a French accent. But of the five or so times I clicked.. this name was the most fun.

Your French Name is:

Adélaïde Colas

What's Your French Name?

The Seven Dwarves of PMS/Perimenopause

Bad Blogger Girl

I haven't written since Monday?? Where have I been? What have I been doing?

Tuesday was the last day of classes at AQT. I played with wonder-undered squares of fabrics.. visited classrooms and packed up. I'm always sad on that day when you mentally start removing yourself from a place away. When I start seeing the end is approaching and begin to mentally move back into my everyday life.

I wish I could stay in the place/moment until the bitter end. I haven't learned how to do that yet, though. But I don't think I could share that in real time. I had to move through it before I could tell you.

Wednesday I carried my stuff to the resort lobby and walked to get my car. It was 27F with a heavy frost on the grass and the car. Packed up, signed out and with no reason to linger except for a final poignant goodbye, I headed over the Donner Pass toward home. As the altitude decreased, the thermometer increased. By the time I got home (and could breathe and move again)... it was 75F.

I was slightly uncomfortable the entire time I was up at Tahoe, never fully adjusting to the altitude. It will be a factor to keep in mind for future retreats and retirement places. I had trouble exercising at Tahoe, but came home and 2.5 miles with the dogs no problem.

Today I unpack and start getting the house back in order. After I drop Steve at the airport on Saturday (he's visiting his mother for the holiday), I will work on cleaning that scary studio... which is even more scary with the piles of rejected fabrics from the Tahoe pack... and the returning items from AQT.

AQT Monday

As I said, I woke up too early this morning with a plan. Took a quick shower, headed over to breakfast and sat with the other early birds, including Ruth McDowell. She is such a genuine soul. She looked at me when I admitted to hitting frustration early... and said:

Well, all artists are frustrating when they are working! If they're not, then they aren't participating in the process fully enough.

I was quite happy to hear that.

Went to the room and started thinking how I would work (with very limited ability on my machine), when a gal walked in to admire our class. She is in Ruth's class, and just playing with fabric, although she rented a sewing machine for the session. We dickered and negotiated a trade of one of my postcards for use of her machine for the day.

Whew.

I went to work. By the time we headed off to lunch at Sunnyside Resort, I had these two things done:

This is FOUR CONVERSATIONS. It's handpainted cotton (from Saturday) and silk dupioni. The panel of the far left is the conversation between an introvert and extrovert friend. The far right is two close friends. The top middle panel is 2 people on an elevator, and the bottom is some other exchange between strangers.

You can appreciate it as simple an elegant design.. but the story helped me place the lines of conversation.




This is Catch A Falling Star. The small squares all have stars, or parts of stars drawn in them.


Gerrie Chase was surprised to see me working on both of these pieces at once... switching from the elegant conversation to the sweet star.

but I had a vision.


In the afternoon, I sewed up one of the damask napkins with some silk to do another conversation piece (though I don't yet know the details): Dinner Conversation.






For lunch we went to Sunnyside Resort right on Lake Tahoe. The photos of lunch were shared last week (including the dessert), so I will photos of the locale.

This the lodge where we ate. Three different salads (caesar, fruit and marinated veggie), garlic something ravioli, deli cuts of meats and cheese, and a fabulous berry crisp (though they called it a cobbler). We got the recipe.

A lone pine tree outside the door of the lodge.


















And probably one of my favorite images: the sun playing on water, and reflecting light and shadow on the rocks below. Wish I could have captured the depth of this image, but I fear that that wish is beyond a simple digital point-n-shoot .

Another frustrating day

Ok, so Sunday was a bit frustrating, too. It was my own making.

I brought my sewing machine. When I was packing I kept dithering between bringing the large plastic table or staying with the removeable "arm" with my machine. One meant carrying another thing.. and hoping there was table space for it. The other meant a smaller platform to work on.

You guessed it.

I didn't bring either.

So any sewing I do this week will be done on the freearm only part. I did get some squares attached to a background, but the piece needs lots of additional stitching. If it ever gets done, it will have to be at home. (sigh). And that was my plan for the morning.

I continued working with the some of the pieces I made on Saturday. Frustration. Aarrgg... Who wants to spend valuable workshop tme fussing and fretting? Not me. I packed it away and painted some more fabric... hoping that a new happier inspiration would find me. I think the pieces will need more piecing than I want to deal with here. That's OK.

After dinner and such, my roomie and I talked while waiting for Desperate Housewives to come on. We talking about working without thinking... well without letting our internal critic talk to us. In the same time that I've been fussing and fretting, she's composed, assembled and quilted 4 pieces. And has several more in the works. She hasn't been quilting much at all... no desire, no inspiration. But she decided that she was just going to produce this week. (reminds me a lot of sharing a table with Gerrie last year).

I didn't fall asleep until after midnight thinking of sticks...I woke up at 5 am. thinking of conversations and falling stars.. and I've developed a plan for some of the first pieces I painted. I will be working from my plan without listening to any internal critic today. I am excited now. I will produce the work and let it go.

I've sketched out the ideas on a piece of propoganda from the hotel (why can't I find any of the four sketch books I brought?), and I'm just waiting for the breakfast buffet to open so I can eat a quick breakfast and try these ideas out in the flesh.

Lunchtime is a "field trip" to Sunnyside Lodge.. a restaurant facility right on Lake Tahoe. I've had a friend email me to eat a light lunch and save room for dessert. So I'll be buzzing this afternoon from the sugar rush. (My jeans are already tighter than they need to be...).

Sorry for no photos in this missive; I left my camera in the classroom. Will remedy all that later today. (with that sugar high, comes the inevitable crash...)

My Class at AQT

I thought I'd mentioned it, but maybe I didn't.

I'm taking the Spontaneous No Plan quilt with Gerrie Chase. I'm betting that most of your have not heard of her. Gerrie was one of the founding members of the Fiber Art Coalition (? I think) when she lived in Seattle. She's been shown at Dairy Barn and many other big venues. The link is to the AQT gallery where you can see several of her works.

Gerrie (and Sue Benner) are teachers that students see their classes here, and sign up for the next year. I don't think it's the teachers' work that excite us as much as it's the variety and enthusiasm of the students that make us think: If I'm spending all this money, I want to have this much fun myself next year!!

In her class, we paint small pieces of fabric... without really thinking too much...listening to what our spirit says. We dilute Golden acrylics to paint with... and add line by putting some of this paint into a tjainting tool. (you know those brass and copper tools for batiking). Then you tear the fabric into small pieces and use it.

I had no problem with the painting part, I thought. Spent most of my time trying to get a fine controlled line from the tool; with mine, I cannot dilute more than a drop or two. In retrospect each small piece could have had more done within it. less repetition and more variation.

However, when I tore it apart, I don't yet see a lot of little surprises or gems. And though I thought I was working in a nice complimentary palette, even the colors don't seem to work well together. For me, my colors are way too pastelly. I don't do pastel. I do the minerally colors and earthy tones... and these were the oxide colors I used.

I came up with a plan for several of the squares just before dinner... and today will be the challenge of figuring out different plans for all the other pieces. I only tore up 3 of the pieces... and we will be setting up a "community painting station" where I may spend some time tomorrow or the next day putting more context into the pieces that remain.

Today at Tahoe...

This is the view from our room early in the morning. Aren't I clever to take it with the reflections from the lamp to prove I am in our room??








At lunch time, I went for a walk on the golf course. Found a great piece of wood that I'm bringing home, but no photo of it yet.

This the facility in which we are working. Outside are heated pools and hot tub and wonderful waterfall. I understand that the bears played in the waterfall. Alas, unlike last week, we are not seeing bears.






Looking away from the facility down the golf course to the mountains at the other end of the valley.










And from the near the other end of our valley. I believe this mountain was the key place to be during the Olympics, if you were a skier.












Today we "created fabric" from PFD muslin with acrylic paints. Then late this afternoon, we tore the fabrics up. The idea is to then combine several of them into an unplanned composition and the basis for a quilt.

Although I tried to use similar colors and such on several pieces, as you can see nothing looks like it's going to compliment. So at the end of the first day I hit my first frustration barrier. (Here, it's common to hit a couple of these during the week. Atleast for me.)

It's not a bad thing. I think I developed a plan for one small piece that I can work on in the morning. And while I sleep tonight, my brain will come up with something else.

These pieces are just too pastel-y or too muddy. Maybe tomorrow afternoon I paint another piece or two specifically to compliment something that's already done.

Dessert tonight was a citrus tart with burnt merengue topping and guave and mango sauces. Yummy. No pictures.

The First meeting...

The first meeting of AQT attendees/bloggers and friends occurred on 11/11/05 at approximately 11:45 in the Sweet Potatoes Deli at the Resort.

In the photo are: Cathy Ortelle (not a ring member but an occasional blogger . I've lost her blogname though)

(Hey! It's early!! And that altitude thing...)


Gerrie Congdon in her signature lime green.
A woman who is not a blogger (someone help me with her name.) She was delightful.

Becky Turlock, who we all know as Junott on the Run.

Liz Berg.

And there my camera wasn't large enough to get the last two ladies. But, hey, they are bloggers, so I wouldn't remember their names.

See that #48 on the table? That's me.

We sat about eating lunch, sharing bear stories, and having a nice time. We missed Mrs. Mel, but understood her absence.




After lunch, I searched out my classroom. It's Papoose Peak. They were obviously just switching over from the old classes to the new.










The inside of our room. So bare and empty. Things will be so different by later today.

Rules for Drivers

I'm here at AQT. The drive was uneventful (thank goodness); sunny and clear but not too bright. No major traffic problems. But after 3+ hours on the road, I have suggestions for some drivers:

IF you are driving in a left hand lane and the traffic in the lane to your right is passing you...
YOU ARE IN THE WRONG LANE. By about 2 lanes.

IF the lane in front of you is clear, but there are 8 cars visible in your lane behind you...
YOU ARE IN THE WRONG LANE. Again, by about 2 lanes.

IF the person behind you keeps flashing thier lights... they are trying to tell you that...
YOU ARE IN THE WRONG LANE.

Now that my public service address is over.

Like Gerry, I was upgraded to a suite. Well, actually, my room mate, who stayed here last night, somehow snagged us the suite as an upgrade. It's fabulous. I will be sleeping on the couch, where I can stay up late, wake up early, snore to my little hearts' content and be generally happy.

I haven't taken any photos to share yet. Tomorrow. Wait until tomorrow.

Tonight I am suffering from a touch of altitude discomfort. I don't remember this from past trips, but probably by the end of this session, I won't remember that I had it tonight! I am a tad dizzy.. and headachy. So I'll close this missive and go zoom out with a little mindless television and my sketch book.

PS. I haven't seen the bears yet.

Right after Breakfast

Right after breakfast tomorrow, I drive up Art Quilt Tahoe. I've packed my supplies up in the car already... and the suitcase is packed. I almost carried it out to the car, but wondered why it seemed a bit empty.

I'd almost forgotten to pack the jeans, nightshirt and bras that were hanging on the line to dry. I think the one pair of sweats I'm driving in tomorrow would have worn out their welcome before the whole thing ended.

Now I'm fairly confident that whatever I've forgotten I can find locally... but I'm wondering what it will be.

Things I have forgotten in the past:

a toothbrush;

a slip. A business conference where I was wearing a relatively sheer dress to the welcome dinner. thank goodness someone saved me.

So what have you forgotten to pack (and really missed) on past trips??

And to my two regular readers who exist outside the Artful Quilt BlogRing.. (Grace and Pops)... sorry I deleted you from the blogring map. When I return from Tahoe, I'll set up a map for my blog and you can enter that.

Gabrielle made me do this.

Much More Emotional You have: 47% SCIENTIFIC INTUITION and 77% EMOTIONAL INTUITION

The graph above represents your place in Intuition 2-Space. As you can see, you scored well above average on emotional intuition and about average on scientific intuition.Keep in mind that very few people score high on both! In effect, you can compare your two intuition scores with each other to learn what kind of intuition you're best at. Your emotional intuition is stronger than your scientific intuition. Your Emotional Intuition score is a measure of how well you understand people, especially their unspoken needs and sympathies. A high score score usually indicates social grace and persuasiveness. A low score usually means you're good at Quake. Your Scientific Intuition score tells you how in tune you are with the world around you; how well you understand your physical and intellectual environment. People with high scores here are apt to succeed in business and, of course, the sciences.

"We've been married too long"

I'm eating lunch, watching Starting Over on TV, and checking my email Tuesday at noon. I get a message from my spouse:

Mark (X) is in town for (a) meetings but has no dinner plans. He
would like to get together with us and suggest Thursday night. That
ok with you? Any idea for a place? He says he doesn't mind driving.

I contemplate for all of 30 seconds before responding:

ooo... Fine with me. I enjoy dinner with Mark.

hmm... We haven't been to La Strada in El Cerrito for ages, but he
probably gets a lot of Italian. Get some sense what he has a taste for
and I'll come up with something...

And the Spouser writes back:

you know, we have been married too long. I proposed that to Mark, he
said he liked Italian, and then I said I'd let you decide.

scary.

---------------
So how often do you and your SO have simultaneous similar thoughts? And do you find it scary or comforting? (myself, I find it comforting).

Looks like I'll be having calamari in a lemon/white wine sauce Thursday. My car will be packed up, and first thing Friday morning, I'm heading up to Squaw Valley and Art Quilt Tahoe's second session.

I love it when a plan comes together!!

Productive Monday

I spent most of Monday waiting for the rain that was predicted. I wanted to go to my mini-group get together Monday night, but I can't drive in the dark and rain. I kept hoping that it would pour and get over it. It did better; it didn't rain until I was there.

So, while watching the weather outside, I:

packed for Art Quilt Tahoe;
stretched a piece to paint on stretcher bars;
Cleaned the carpet upstairs;
played with the Frapper maps;
walked the dogs and took Jake to the vet for a followup (small eye problem);
continued some organizing in the pre-super organizing of the sewing room.

Good day all around.

Tuesday:

Change the oil in the car (in preparation of the drive to Tahoe).
Take the dogs to PetSmart for nail trims and food.
Start painting stretched piece.
Continue with the pre-super organizing organizing.

Blogring members: Map yourself

My friend Bert sent me this link. You can go to this site, add your name, zipcode and a short comment (called a shout out), and your "pin" shows up on the map.

My shout out is "Life's here's a blast" because Hercules began as an explosives plant/company town.

And LOOK ---> There's a button!!---> --->

http://www.frappr.com/artfulquiltblogring

What's cooking Sunday??

Ok, time for another edition of What's Cooking Sunday??

Most days of the week, it's simple and fast. OK, tonight's supper was simple and fast, too. But it had the feel of something a bit more special. And everything is found in my pantry. (though maybe not yours).

Chicken and Veggies in Red Curry Sauce.

2 chicken boobs, sliced into pieces about 1/4" thick and about 1" long. about 10 oz.

1 can of coconut milk (13 oz. or so)

1 C. soymilk (water or stock can be used)

1 package of ULTIMATE STIRFRY VEGETABLES (frozen)
Red Curry paste (thai kitchen is the easiest to find).

2 keffir lime leaves or 2 TBS lime juice.

3 TBS fish sauce

1 tsp. sugar.

20 leaves of fresh basil.

Heat one cup of coconut milk in a wok or large frypan until it begins to boil. Stir in red curry paste (2 tsp. to 2 TBS. depending of heat preference). Reduce heat to medium, and stir until the paste dissolves. Add remaining coconut sauce and turn heat up. Let the mixture cook about 8 minutes until the oil rises to the surface and the sauce thickens somewhat.

Tear lime leaves into 3 pieces and add to sauce (or add lime juice). Cook another minute.

Add chicken and stir into the sauce, then add the remaining soymilk, fish sauce and sugar.

Cook several minutes until the whole pan is bubbling happily.

Pour in the bag of frozen veggies and the basil leaves. Stir. Turn the heat down to medium and cook until everything seems ready. (about 3-4 minutes).

Serve with steamed rice.

Doesn't this look yummy??

I sense a trend.

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

I did a little experiment. If I choose to say that "first impressions are very important, and I take great care with how I present myself to people"...and make that VERY ACCURATE, but don't change any other answer, suddenly I become Bill Clinton. Move it down a notch at all, and I'm Albert Einstein!!

And, in truth I cannot answer that question VERY ACCURATE if I can go out to dinner wearing jeans I've worn for 6 days that are covered in garden dirt and permanently stained with paint and dye.

UPDATE:

Steve took the test. Steve with the PhD in Physical/Analytical Chemistry. And guess what? He's not Einstein. He's Mahatma Gandi!!

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Five Red Stones

I took several photos of five glass pebbles along a windowsill. This arrangement just isn't interesting enough, so I rejected it. Note: I think because of the closeness of the photos, they are all blurry. That's OK with me for this project.

While this arrangement is interesting, it's a bit dark (the sun must have gone behind a cloud).

Down low...interesting angle and shadows, but not the one.

Nice. Still not the one.

This one has an interesting angle, interesting translucent quality, nice shadows. I also like that it moves out of the frame. This is the one.

Simple Still Life: Round Three Challenge Guidelines.

I'm making this my PERMANENT HOROSCOPE!!

Crazy Aunt Purl has finally written the horoscope that I like. Hell, I LOVE IT. I am not looking any further than this. This is my last horoscope.


CANCER (June 22 - July 22)
Temptation.
Enough said? Yummy everything ... tasty romance, delicious treats, scrumptious opportunities, delightful new doors, the path not yet ventured down is calling out to you. Interesting, since you usually despise change. But something about the holiday whirlwind and the crisp air is making your adventurous side bubble up with anticipation. Bottom line: candy is good. Don't take it from strangers, or steal it, or eat too much of it. Now, dive in!