glass hat: sharp edges

March 8, 2008 at 9:32 pm · Filed under

i always kind of cringe when i attend *women* oriented talks, generally too sex/gender reductive, but somehow i thought it was my duty to attend the “what women need to succeed” panel today at sxsw. it’s an understatement to say i shudder still.

from the panel description: With a lack of high-profile women in tech-related fields, the question arises–glass ceiling or glass hat?

i hadn’t heard the term “glass hat” before but in the panel discussion, it was strongly suggested by the moderator that the hat, not the ceiling, was the issue for discussion.

glass ceiling: a ceiling based on attitudinal or organizational bias in the work force that prevents minorities and women from advancing to leadership positions

thus i’m assuming that “glass hat” is an attitudinal or organizational bias that minorities and women chose to hold about themselves that prevents them from advancing to leadership positions.

the perspective that women and minorities do not advance because of something they themselves are choosing to do is tricky and lonely. as a proponent of field research, situative models of action and a special interest in the Stanford Prison Experiment, i think context matters. it doesn’t necessarily determine the actions of every individual, but those that transcend their context are in a minority. it may be safe to say, all of the women on the panel have successfully transcended their context–they are women in technology in leadership positions–and their actions have been exceptional.

two of the women self-report that they work all the time, one woman started her own company so that she could craft her own parent friendly environment, one woman employs a *wife* to perform many household and childcare tasks, and one woman responds to the issue of life-work balance with the notion of fuck life-work balance….you chose to have children.

the reality is that there will always be a few people who perform amazing feats and are able to transcend their context, but i guess i was more interested in how we might transform the context so the lot of us (and many more girls and women) who are equally, but not exceedingly exceptional to the men we work with, also have a place in our industry.

two tangential context transformations of late:

Free tuition at Stanford, Harvard and Yale
Stanford University announced that it would eliminate tuition costs for families earning less than $100,000. With the third highest endowment in the nation and the highest in California, Stanford follows Harvard and Yale who made similar decisions earlier this academic year.

New childbirth policy for female graduate students
The university has adopted a childbirth policy for female graduate students to accommodate the demands of late-stage pregnancy, childbirth and the care of a newborn. The new policy will allow the new mother to maintain full-time, registered student status, as well as facilitate her return to full participation in class work and, where applicable, research, teaching and clinical training in a seamless manner.

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pleo v. roomba

March 7, 2008 at 12:32 am · Filed under

dinosaur sits on the dresser, frozen in motion, like a third ice age has arrived, just for him.

i look at him every time i enter and exit the room, and feel badly that he is switched off, still, and silent. but truth be told, the dinosaur is rather high maintenance.

it seems he always needs explicit interaction….on-going petting, cuddling, playing, feeding. he doesn’t seem able to just be with us. he has so few explicit missions of his own.

the roomba on the other hand, has a job to do, a purpose in life, so to speak. it is enough to share missions in the same room, to momentarily meet and then to go about individual tasks once again.

hypothesis: pleo is a puppy. roomba is a cat.

small update: above image is from *a roomba costume shop*

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Friday night lights

February 23, 2008 at 10:00 pm · Filed under , ,

Obama rally.
Austin, TX.

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love coffee

February 14, 2008 at 1:29 pm · Filed under , ,

Summermoon Wood Fired Coffee 

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everybody knows you’ve been discreet

February 2, 2008 at 1:07 pm · Filed under

In 1988, futurists Leonard Cohen and Sharon Robinson predict the impact of online social networking.

*wink* — actually, my most recent uke song

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convergence of taste: 2.5 years + 36.5 years

January 28, 2008 at 3:30 pm · Filed under , ,

The Trouble With Trains by 17 year old Matt, TurboJ [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9CsNNhTKpM]

2.5 favorite parts: green train, when the train derails, when the ambulance comes, when the green train goes to the train shop to get fixed

favorite lines 36.5:
train over the edge
purple claymation person: …except for Reggie, we’ll save him later
Reggie: Can’t you save me now? The train is hanging really precariously over the edge and I don’t want to die.
when the penguin arrives
penguin: allow me to help
yellow claymation person: oh my god, he speaks english.

Reminds me of The end of the world.

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dino in situ

January 22, 2008 at 9:56 pm · Filed under

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it’s been seven hours and fifteen days

January 22, 2008 at 4:20 pm · Filed under

I’ve been in a long-term relationship for the past 8 years. Ups and downs, but happy, real happy.

But the last few days, such ennui. Waiting for the phone to ring, checking email too often, wondering if I should have let the last one go. Or even the one before that. Will I be alone forever. I’m totally having a weird case of Sinead O’Connor-tinged deja vu, all angst, chest pounding, and yearning .

This morning, I realized what it is. I’ve been dating my jobs for the past year and a half.

When I left Stanford for parenthood, I lost a soul mate. Since then my life has been filled with a whirl-wind of contracts, clients, people, projects. Every company I’ve dated has been charming and exciting, but I haven’t been ready to stay.

It’s changing though. In work, as it was for me in dating, I’m reaching that point where I’ve met enough people and I want to start building something more.

Yup, I am ready to settle down. I want to see *you* everyday. I want to know everything. I want us to stick together in the good times and the hard times. It’s time for mr|ms right job. That job where I am all of myself and you all are all of yourselves, and together we grow a future and create so much lovely, lovely, curious and brilliant work.

There will be ups and downs, but we’ll be happy, real happy.

Do wish me luck, again.

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novel experience

January 21, 2008 at 9:13 pm · Filed under ,

I [read] this amazing story a few weeks ago. The narrative began by broadly telling the major plot points. Every chapter then filled in the moments between the crucial events, distorting perception with every detail. It is a fantastic mystery thriller, masterfully written.

This story is a [tv show], but there is so little that is tv show about it.

• I downloaded the entire season from iTunes.
• I watched the chapters on my own schedule.
• The story filled 13 hours of my life, similar to a 400 page novel.
• I watched it at home on my small laptop–cuddled up in a chair, and in bed.
• I watched it on my iPhone at coffee shops and when waiting for appointments.
• The story was designed to be experienced in a linear, sequential fashion, unlike tv programs that include both a self-contained episodic story as well as a season wide story.
• It cost $23.99, around the same price as a new hardcover.

I don’t actually read novels anymore. I have a lot of fiction readers in my family and they lend me fiction and recommend fiction and ask me what I’ve read lately. I’m guessing I come across as a non-fiction design/cog studies new parent wonk, but really, I do like fiction.

I just don’t read it.

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manufactured scarcity

January 21, 2008 at 7:54 pm · Filed under ,

Greens and yellows make reds taste better. A whole roll of cherry lifesavers isn’t nearly as wonderful as discovering the single red one jammed up behind a yellow and an orange.

in decending order…

lifesavers: red | white | orange | yellow | green

wine gums: black | red | white | orange | yellow | green

skittles: purple | red | green | orange | yellow

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