I’m Having a Riot

6 Mar

Andy Warhol Banana

I’m so excited to tell you that I recently joined the ranks at Book Riot as a contributing writer!  I’ve been eating up Book Riot with a spoon ever since they launched in 2011, and am so honored to now be a part of this awesome online journal.  Keep your eye out for biweekly Book Riot posts from me, maybe more if I’m feeling ambitiously bookish.  And if you like thrillers with badass female characters, you might just like one or two of the books I recommend in today’s Genre Kryptonite post.

Book Riot may be the new home for my sexy librarian, pop-culture and bookish-themed content, but keep checking back in on me over here for periodic updates on life in general and what I’ve got cooking at my library.

Nerd Nite, KUboobs and Feminism

13 Jun

I’m a Nerd Nite Lawrence alum!!  Last night I gave a talk called “Oggles & Goggles: Viewing #KUboobs Through Feminism’s Many Lenses.”  I loved having the opportunity to share my nerdery with my peers, and the free drinks (for presenters) sure didn’t hurt. Thanks, Nerd Nite Lawrence crew!

Nick Spacek documents Nerd Nite for KU Media Mix, so keep your eye out for last night’s video to be posted soon.  In the meantime, my slides and notes are available in full below.  It’s a little raunchy, a little dark, and a lot feminist — in ways you might not even expect. Here we go: Continue reading →

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The New Man In My Life

21 May

Meet Max!  Max comes to us from the Lawrence Humane Society as of six days ago, and he’s already stolen both of our hearts. He’s 16 months old and an itty bitty 8 pounds.

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Max is sweet, muscular, affectionate, and chatty with huge wideset yellow eyes, leaving no doubt in our minds that he’s a li’l Burmese kitty. Also, did you know that apparently it is super hard for shelters to get people to adopt black cats and dogs? WHAT IS WRONG WITH EVERYONE?

Anyway, I’m looking forward to lots more exciting stuff coming up in the next few weeks — we’re moving into our new house, going to the 2013 US Air Guitar Championships Qualifier at the Record Bar, and I’m finally joining the ranks of Lawrence Nerd Nite Alumni with a June talk about — wait for it — KU Boobs. Will post more soon as the deets become available!

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Fun with Library Website Redesigns in Drupal

25 Feb

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At my library we’re in the midst of redesigning our entire website in-house using Drupal, and I’m learning tons from our esteemed web designer (and Karaoke maven) CourtieBeeds.  User experience, information architecture, navigation tests, designing for mobile-first, etc.!

As a content writer first and a web designer pretty much dead last, it’s fun to play around with how my skills fit into the mix.  My latest project has been figuring out what content we want to display on our “About Us” page. How do we make it informative but also super fun to read?

In these situations it’s always really helpful to prowl around for inspiration on the internets (which, by the way, are AMAZING guys) and I found all the inspiration I needed right here: www.madebysofa.com

Just scroll down and look at the staff profile in the lower right corner.  Pause to appreciate its beauty. Then, mouse-over said profile and die from the magic of it all.

Choose-Your-Own-Faulkner February

11 Feb

Remember that book club I started up with those jokesters over at The Larryville Chronicles about a year and half ago?  We’re still going strong!

William Faulkner with Pipe

This month we’re switching things up with a book by a dead white guy.  Make that ‘books’ plural.  If you live in NE Kansas and like book clubs that are charmingly disorganized and consume copious amounts of cheap beer, you might want to join us for our weirdest experiment yet: Choose-Your-Own-Faulkner February. Continue reading →

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What Glee has to say about #KUboobs, Beyoncé, and Self-Objectification

7 Feb

Glee Naked Calendar

Yes, I still watch Glee. And I’m glad I do, because otherwise I would’ve missed last week’s fascinating Naked episode about the phenomenon of self-objectification, choice, and empowerment, so timely in the wake of #KUboobs and Beyoncé’s recent sexy Super Bowl performance.

I love that this episode is so playful in its exploration of sexiness and agency.  And it’s not the first time Glee has explored body issues — the series often charts the waters of bulimia, handicapability, steroids, and gender identification, all with its signature playful pop-culture sensibility.  Read ahead for the highlights: Continue reading →

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Goodbye Poem to a Short, Chubby Cat

6 Feb

Ten days ago we lost our cat Lupa. She was eleven years old, and she had cancer that had moved into her lungs.

cat sleeping on heater

Lupa loved making the bed with us when we took freshly washed sheets out of the dryer.  She was shy and liked having her cheeks rubbed. And she was sneaky in her lifelong quest for yogurt and cheese. Continue reading →

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