Firebee Dispatch #2: Electric Boogaloo

Hello, again! I managed to get dispatches out two weeks in a row. Aren't you so proud of me? This dispatch is mostly links collected during the week because I am currently on vacation. I am publishing a little early since I will be busy at the conference on Friday.

What I'm Up To

• I am in Madison for Madison Ruby. This is my third year in a row.
• There has been much bubble tea. SO MUCH BUBBLE TEA!
• Check out this adorable bag I found at one of the local shops. It is the new home for my firebee swag. I think I am going to sew a little strap on it when I get home.

• I found a local co-op bookstore in Madison and fell a bit in love, perhaps because of their adorable resident black cat. You should check it out of if you are ever in Madison.
• Only a few spots left for my Speaking at Tech Events for Beginners workshop for Code & Supply in Pittsburgh on September 27th.

Recommended Reading & Current Events

• Don’t do what you love. by Rachel Nabors

Whatever you love should love you back. And if it’s not working out, it’s ok to find something else to love.

• When the Boss Says, 'Don't Tell Your Coworkers How Much You Get Paid' at The Atlantic
• An Argument Against “Free Speech” by Kate Harding

Telling people to take their bullshit to Reddit is not a harbinger of Orwellian dystopia.

• But WHAT CAN BE DONE: Dos and Don’ts To Combat Online Sexism by Leigh Alexander

In the News

• Twitter continues to make their service worse by putting more content you didn't ask to see in your timeline.

Ferguson

I am not a good source on this topic. Please, please, please go follow and listen to people who have better insight into what is going on. Below is some information that I found helpful if you aren't sure where to start.

• Colorlines has generally been a god place for me to keep up with things when I am not up for following live on twitter.
• Black People Are Not Ignoring 'Black on Black' Crime and Reparations for Ferguson by Ta-Nehisi Coates. I also strongly recommend reading his piece The Case for Reparations from earlier this year.
• It is notable that that Amnesty International, an organization dedicated to fighting injustice and promoting human rights, sent a human rights delegation to Ferguson.
• I started reading The New Jim Crow on the plane ride to Madison. I have been meaning to read it for a while and current events pushed me to stop putting it off.

This Week in Sexism

• News came out that investor, Pavel Curda, sexually harassed a number of women entrepreneurs.
• Game developer Zoe Quinn has been the target of really fucked up harassment and violation of her privacy. As I stated a few days ago, "I support Zoe Quinn. She has contributed important things to the gaming and tech communities. What is happening to her is yet another example of this fucked up culture sacrificing women in the name of a man's hurt feelings. Fuck that culture."

Mass Media Musings

This sections contains musings (mostly in bullet point format) on media I am watching, listening to, or consuming in some other format. Discussion is not necessarily a recommendation or endorsement. I almost named this "Mass Media Morass" instead because nearly all media is problematic and complicated.

Anime

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal

• Sailor Moon Crystal is a brand new anime adaptation of the Sailor Moon manga.
• LET THE NOSTALGIA WASH OVER YOU!
• I watch it on Crunchyroll, but it may also be available elsewhere.
• The opening song has lyrics like "We are not helpless girls who need the protection of men. SO SHINY MAKEUP!"
• Tuxedo Mask is a creeper. A creepy creeper who tries to kiss sleeping women who are much younger than him. I SEE YOU TUXEDO MASK, AND I JUDGE YOU!
• Related: check out these amazing Sailor Moon tshirts. There’s a ton of feminist crossover ones, and they are AMAAAAZING.

Film

Nymphomaniac

• I watched Antichrist a few months back and didn’t hate it as much as I was told I would, so clearly I needed to investigate more films by Lars von Trier.
• So far, I have a weird relationship with Von Trier’s films. It feels almost masochistic.
• Hello, Rammstein!
• I continue to be somewhat annoyed by the director's filming style.
• Selected quote: "I’ve always demanded more from the sunset...That is perhaps my only sin."
• Christian Slater has a distractingly bad quasi-british accent in this film.
• As one might expect, there is A LOT of problematic content.
• I should probably watch Melancholia, so that I can finish off his "depression trilogy." Then I can find someone to talk through how I feel about it. Possibly a therapist.
• Should you want to watch the film, it is currently available on Netflix. Disclaimer: it's a fucked up film with a lot of triggering and problematic content. Proceed at your own peril.

Games

Crypt of the Necrodancer

• Roguelike rhythm game currently available in alpha on Steam.
• I am busy, so a game I can play for just a few minutes at a time is perfect for me.
• I am terrible at this game, but it is so fun that I do not care. I CANNOT STOP PLAYING.
• I have not tried it with a dance pad yet, but I hope to in the future.

Firebees

Two updates from the firebees this week.

There is a rough cross stitch pattern available for that last one. I am also considering putting it on tshirts.

Miscellany

• Let's Talk About Pay lightning talk by Lauren Voswinkel at Cascadia Ruby -- this is the talk I mentioned in last week's dispatch.
• A Grounded Goth Teen Angrily Renames Household Items. I am definitely going to start referring to the cats' litter box as CAT SHIT JAIL.
• http://hasthebubbleburstyet.com/. SOOOOON.
• 30 Cat Fonts, Because Those Exist. There are going to be useful when I give in and make a site entirely dedicated to my cats.
• My coworker finally had the bees removed from the walls of his apartment. Some honey still remains.