Italy and Belgium Have Embraced #KUboobs

24 Jan
Francesco Furini - Sant'Agatha

“St Agatha” by Francesco Furini, Florence, 1630s

Readers, it’s officially global.

Last Friday, La Stampa — a major Italian newspaper — reported on the trend in which “the women are the protagonists of the American basketball championship.” Meanwhile, 7sur7 — the Belgian Sports Illustrated — ran a story about “the women who are here to announce their pride and strength and take their place in the Apollonian basketball tournament.”

I’ve had mixed feelings about my piece on third wave feminism and #KUboobs ever since it went viral last week.  It’s such a, well, tawdry cause to champion, especially for something that started as kind-of a joke.  I had also hoped more feminists would consider me — another feminist — their ally, which they both have and haven’t.

Is it really a victory for feminism that cute college co-eds are sexting coast-to-coast? Continue reading →

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Third Wave Feminism and #KUboobs

22 Jan

About 9 months ago I wrote a little piece for my friends at The Larryville Chronicles dealing with the phenomenon we fondly refer to as #KUboobs.  I argued that hey, maybe it’s not anti-feminist for women to post photos of their mascot-clad boobs online.

KU Fans

Last week my piece got picked up by the Huffington Post, Buzz Feed and Bust, and then made it’s way over to Feministing just today.  Some of the comments are supportive, others are critical, and I couldn’t be happier about either — it’s time for a rip-roaring debate about sexy feminism!  Here’s the excerpt that’s been getting the most play:

“It’s all about who’s in the driver’s seat, and in the case of #kuboobs, it’s the ladies all the way. #kuboobs has emerged from the throes of March Madness: a frenzied, cultish worship of the male body and its physical prowess. It’s a masculine sphere that traditionally excludes women (just like those pricks who assume girls don’t watch the games!). But with #kuboobs, ladies are here to announce their fandom, loud and proud, and to seize their own place among the Apollonian body worship that’s synonymous with the NCAA basketball tournament.”

I stand by my original words, and have just a few things to add to the dialog at this point: Continue reading →

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First There Were Meat Tastings, Then There Was Insane Clown Posse

22 Jan

Hi guys! I’ve missed you.  After navigating a few big work changes, it’s nice to say “hello” again.

Last month I said goodbye to the fabulous Lawrence Public Library and climbed aboard the web team at Johnson County Library right next door in Overland Park.

Johnson County Library Central Resource LIbrary

What I do now is pretty different from wearing banana suits at block parties, organizing meat tastings, and hanging out with world-famous authors like Daniel Woodrell, but I have to say I’m liking hunkering down in my cubicle to create hilarious (right?) social media and web content.  Writing has always always been up there among my favorite tasks at any job, and now I’m paid to do it 90% of the time.  The other 10% is spent brushing up on fun techie and UX skills.

The other major change? As a brand-new commuter, I have become totally fanatical about audiobooks.  Punk goddess Patti Smith reading her very own memoir?  Brilliant journalist Jon Ronson reciting Insane Clown Posse lyrics in a dry british accent? Yes, please!  If you’re a fan of audiobooks, too, let me know what I should listen to next.

Eating Deer With Daniel Woodrell

16 Oct

Please excuse a little bit of a braggy post today:

Oh, what’s that?  You can’t quite make out what it says?  No, don’t be silly, of course I don’t mind: “To Rachel, Great to meet and eat deer together in Lawrence. Dl Woodrell.”

Just a few weeks ago, my library played host to the phenomenal Daniel Woodrell and his wife, author Katie Estill. Continue reading →

Going Social to Get Local

30 Aug

My public library has been busy growing a loyal local fan base through social media — we’re up to 2900 fans on Facebook and 2800 followers on Twitter, with frequent interaction and a place for our local community to interact & engage.  One of the best compliments we receive is when patrons say: “I get my sense of community from your library’s social media.”

Early this year we were tapped by the State Library of Kansas to develop a webinar for their “Library as Community Center” series. Since then we’ve also given it at the Kansas Library Association Annual Conference and NEKLS Technology and Innovation Day.

Susan, Jenny and I had a lot of fun showing the shiny personalities that we try to convey through our different social media platforms, and we pulled some of our favorite examples to share: from Captain Ahab on a Date to live-tweeting the NCAA championship game. Enjoy!

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What Would You Name Your Creative Lab?

22 Aug

Hacker Spaces

We’re renovating our library right now, and one of the most exciting new features will be a creative lab with fancy computer software, a soundproof recording studio, keyboards, videocameras, green screens, even a scanner / fax (how innovative!). This is extra exciting to me since creation in libraries is so near & dear to my heart.

I think my library director said it well when he told our newspaper that libraries can be creation hubs where we provide “precious and expensive resources” to help the people in our community grow vibrant local arts and businesses.   I’ve  long been a fan of Chicago Public Library’s YOUmedia project and Skokie Public Library’s Digital Media Lab, and Barrington Library has a great media lab, too. (Hey, all these libraries are in Illinois!)

We’re envisioning this space as a combo artsy / techie / entrepreneurial space, and have been trying to strike just the right balance in our planning and especially in the name.  Today I trolled the internet looking for inspiration in Hackerspaces, which are known for often clever, sometimes terrible names.  I think I’m gravitating to “Collaboratory.”  I’m also morbidly attracted to “HackGyver,”  ”Hammer Time” and “Curious Forge.” Check out some other examples after the jump!

What do you think would make a good name for a library creative lab? Continue reading →

In Three Acts

12 Jun

Since I’ve been contributing to everyone else’s blogs lately, I thought you all deserved a little update, too.  Here it is, in three acts.  Happy birthday!

act i: what I’ve been reading

scene 1: Fifty Shades of Grey

This book really is as terrible as everyone says it is.  But I still loved reading it and would do it again; here’s why.  For the cynical take, you’ll have to check-in with twitter friends @knsstxs (“reading that book is my own red room of pain,”) and @theluckynun  (“I could write better one-handed reading with one hand tied behind my back & some gross dude spanking me.”)  I also enjoyed Chip’s ostentatiously lazy review.

scene 2: Love is a Mix Tape

Gawd, what a great piece of pop culture writing.  I heart Rob Sheffield, and this book made me cry like a baby, even though (or perhaps because) it was about Duran Duran and Missy Elliott.  I’m going to cheat by linking to my brand new review for Lawrence Public Library — this review isn’t officially published until tomorrow.  Doesn’t it feel exclusive?

scene 3: 2666

Roberto Bolaño is totally freaking me out, in that way that only the best writers know how.  I loved Savage Detectives, but 200 pages in and I’m already calling it: 2666 is Bolaño’s masterpiece.  I’m crawling along, reading just a few pages at a time, because it’s too much to take in.  This business with Amalfitano and the geometry textbook is KILLING me.

Continue reading →

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