Ava Duvernay Barbie Doll

CHARITY: Project for Awesome

 Every year the Vlogbrothers take over youtube for a weekend of charity. They raise money through crowdfunding, then split the funds amongst the highest voted charities (VOTE HERE). Through Tues Dec 15, you can still donate to the indiegogo campaign. P4A is one of my favorite things on youtube. It’s a lovely reminder of how strong and diverse the community is. It also uses the platform and our voices for good. As of writing this, over $1.4million has been raised. Above is one of my favorite charity videos this year, however there are tons and tons more to see. 

OTHER: Ava Duvernay Barbie Doll

Image courtesy of financialjuneteenth.com

Growing up my parents always tried to buy toys diversely and show me media with a diverse cast. I didn’t realize how important that is until I was older. Mattel made an Ava Duvernay Barbie doll that immediately sold out. Ava Duvernay is a film director that broke down many barriers. She was the first black female director to have a film nominated for best picture at the Oscars. Her most well known film to date is Selma, the historical drama about Martin Luther King Jr. She was the first director I ever knew of that looked like me. #RepresentationMatters

READ: Broke Vs Poor

I’ve been thinking about money and capitalism quite a bit. I read an interesting long form essay by Katie Klabusich. She described being poor as being stuck on a merry-go-round. I don’t consider myself poor however I relate to the feeling of instability. The nature of my work is that I jump from gig to gig and the fear is that the gigs will stop. So far that hasn’t happened but I’m always aware that it could. Katie also gave an interview at The Billfold discussing being broke versus being poor.

WATCHED: Being “The Pretty Girl” Isn’t Always So Pretty In Hollywood: Caitlin Stasey

“As a woman and as a white woman, I can turn on the television, I can see my physical self represented. I can see many many women like me but the forms I find them in are so often contrived, they’re so sexualised. Some of the greatest female heroines have been born in the hearts and minds of men. That’s my difficulty, is watching old white men write for young women or write for any marginalized individual because they just have no fucking idea what they’re talking about.”

OTHER: f.lux

Along with florescent lights backlit screens really strain my eyes. I found f.lux, which allows you to change the color temperature of your computer screen.

Pickle Train Conducters

I was early with last weeks post and late with this week's post. That's just how life goes. This week I want to mention that I am participating in Vlogmas on my youtube channel (more info below). A few months ago, I started working with InconnuMag as an editorial assistant. I'm in their article Q&A: The Cult of Inconnu.

READ: Gas Company Basically wants to Febreeze the Enormous Methane Leak in the Valley

In the Gilmore Girls episode, The Great Stink, a pickle train is derailed and its contents start rotting, causing the whole town to smell. An enormous natural gas leak in Porter Ranch, CA is stinking up the place and the gas company has been struggling to solve the problem. Their temporary solution is to use a "deodorizing mist" to clear up some of the smell while they continue working. In short, a gas company is febreezing the city because it smells of pickles (note: this is my humorous interpretation of the situation). The above clip is the scene when they discuss the pickle train.

READ: Why Consensual Sex Can Still Be Bad
The Cut published an article discussing the need for more nuanced discussions surrounding sex. I pulled out my favorite quote from the article.

“What I want is not for me to have that burden. I want one of my male partners, who are wonderful men who care about me, to have just once been like, ‘No, this is unacceptable to me. I’m not going to continue to have sex with you when you’re not getting off!’ And I can’t imagine that happening.”

PHOTOS: Jenny Holzer's Inflammatory Essays 1979-1982

 

Art Basel Miami has a collection of Jenny Holzer's Inflammatory Essays 1979-1982 plastered all over the walls. I found out about this exhibit via tumblr and it really hit a nerve. The tumblr post has more photos but this one was my favorite. The gif by Cecile Dormeau perfectly fits with the quote.

WATCHING: Vlogmas

In the days leading up to Christmas many people on youtube participate in Vlogmas by uploading a video a day. 

 

Here is my first week's playlist of videos. I'm using Vlogmas to kick myself into making content again and editing my enormous backlog of footage. And by enormous I mean that many of the videos were filmed in 2013.  

Rosianna Halse Rojas, one of my favorite youtubers is also participating. Her videos range from book reviews to travel logs to deep discussion videos. 

 

Booktuber Jean of BookishThoughts is also participating in Vlogmas. Her channel is all about books.

Thanksgiving 2015 Newsletter

I haven't written on this blog all year and I miss it. To start out, I will be publishing a weekly roundup each Friday of things I read, watched, listened to that I'd like to share. This week I am publishing early because of Thanksgiving. If you are in America, I hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving. If you are not, I hope you have a great week.

READ: Manjula Martin's 3 cents Newsletter
Manjula Martin is a writer that sends out a monthly newsletter about two things related to money and one thing related to love. This months newsletter touched on the economics of being a professional artist.

READ: How Much It Costs to Make a Zine when You pay Contributors & Use Nice-ish Materials by Sonya Ellen Mann
I am really interested in the financial realities of being a professional artist. It's super helpful when people share the real numbers behind their projects. This article really highlights how difficult it is to just break even with a project like this.

READ: Where's My Cut: On Unpaid Emotional Labor by Jess Zimmerman
The article really made me think about how much I take on emotionally and how it affects me. It's not something that is talked about very often but has a huge effect on people. There are bunch of other articles like this one that discuss unpaid emotional labor as being sexist because it disproportionately affects women. It can lead to a huge inequality in romantic relationships. All very interesting food for thought.


LISTENED: Women of the Hour Podcast
Filmmaker Lena Dunham started a podcast with Buzzfeed that is an extension of her book tour. The podcast touches on things that affect everyone, especially women from body issues to love to friendship. The first episode about friendship was a beautiful tapestry of nuance. A large chunk of the episode consists of Lena and her friend Ashley Ford reading emails they wrote back and forth. My description may sound boring but it is anything but. They are so open and vulnerable and honest with each other. I finished the episode feeling like I had a deeper understanding of them as people but also of myself.

Photo courtesy of stitcher.com

WATCHED: The No Smile Challenge by Linda Barsi
Linda's grad school professor challenged her students, especially the female students to stop smiling for every emotion. It's okay to feel upset and look upset. It's okay to feel angry and look angry. It's okay to express your full range of emotions through your face. It really made me think about how often I hide or downplay what I'm actually feeling so as not to bother anyone.

 

WATCHED: Gender Q&A by Vic Lewis

November 20 was Trans Remembrance Day, a day to honor those whose lives were lost due to anti-trans violence. Youtuber, Vic Lewis answers questions about his gender and sexuality. I've been trying to be a more informed citizen about what it means to be transgender and issues that transgender people face that I am not aware of as a cisgendered person. 

Top College & University TV Shows

I am back to my monthly articles at the +5 Charisma Blog. I'm a little bit late posting last months article. I did a listcle of my favorite tv shows set in university.


"This month’s theme is Back To (Fictional) School so I’m sharing my list of favorite college/university themed television shows. At the end of the list are some honorable mentions dealing with the time period immediately after graduation. If you watch any of these shows expect a lot of feels..." READ MORE

Pomplamoose Tour Backlash

Image courtesy of natalydawnmusic.com

        Jack Conte of Pomplamoose posted an article on medium breaking down the numbers for a month long tour across the US. The numbers show that a seemingly successful indie band still went into debt even with selling out venues.

        The numbers are fascinating but what I want to discuss is the backlash. Many people have commented that Jack Conte and his bandmate Nataly Dawn should not have taken a salary, should not have rented lights and put on such a large scale show and most importantly should have stayed in cheaper hotels with only a $10 per diem. What all of these criticisms are saying is that Pomplamoose should not value their time or the time of anyone else helping them and by extension should not value their artwork. A $10 per diem is not enough to cover three meals per day. Valuing people's time means putting them in adequate accomadations, especially if you intend to work with them again. Yes, $150,000 is a lot of money but it's what it costs to put on a tour where everyone involved is paid for their work.

        It really feels like you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. Both Amanda Palmer and Lena Dunham faced backlash on their last tours for not paying their opening acts. Both relented and eventually paid everyone involved. Here is Pomplamoose paying everyone and people are concerned that they shouldn't have done that. The biggest problem is how we as a culture view art. Almost everyone consumes art but many people don't want to pay for it. The CEO of Apple is never criticized for being paid, so why are we criticizing Pomplamoose for paying people for their time and work.