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A collection of random things

Lisa Jervis — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:48:54 -0400

Last night I co-hosted a fundraising house party for the kick-ass feminist media organization Women in Media and News. I've been involved in the organization since its planning and launch, and am proud to be its founding board chair.

Slowpoke comes to Portland!

Andi Zeisler — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 22:30:23 -0400

During the mid-'80s, my political education came almost entirely from Bloom County, to which my brother introduced me and to which I immediately became attached. Really, what's not to love about a preadolescent Bob Woodward type, his feminist elementary-school teacher, and a neurotic penguin with an unhealthy Caspar Weinberger obsession?

Thinking lots about lots of things

Lisa Jervis — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:37:11 -0400

Thinking so much about so many things that I don't really have anything to say just yet.

But one of the things I've been thinking a lot about is knowing when to stop talking and listen.

In that spirit, and because it has a lot to do with the thinking, Jessica Hoffman's open letter to white feminists absolutely must be read. (And for good measure, here's a link to make/shift, the magazine she coedits.)

Divertissements for performing bears

Debbie Rasmussen — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 22:27:00 -0400

The title of this post is the song title of another provocatively-titled entity (or problematically-titled entity, depending on whom you ask), 3 Leg Torso, a band I saw perform tonight. I've never been good at describing genres, but I'll call it a mashup of Klezmer/Chamber/Gypsy/Circus/Carnival/(see, this is why I don't write music reviews). The point is, it was one of the best shows I've seen in years. My mouth hurt afterwards because I had a perpetual smile through almost the whole show. Equally impressive was the opener, Fish Tank Ensemble. Please check them both out.

Earlier in the day, I let my friend Ben convince me to accompany him to a professional basketball game between the Portland Trailblazers and the San Antonio Spurs.

Allow me to set the stage (even though really, you had to be there to understand)...

Karaoke for shy people

Debbie Rasmussen — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 20:35:03 -0500

Sometimes I find it difficult to keep up with my reading pile, especially now that I've inherited a coffee table so enormous it almost begs for piles and piles of magazines, books, and zines to be stacked atop it.

But I set aside some time this weekend to catch up. A few things I enjoyed. Maybe you would, too:

Abortion: the "shmashmortion" of 2008?

Andi Zeisler — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 18:40:54 -0500

In a tiny bit of synergy, I read this excellent piece by Katha Pollitt only an hour after sitting at my ob-gyn's office next to a pregnant teen gabbing on a hot-pink cellphone.

Save the Shorts

Debbie Rasmussen — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 19:00:00 -0500

Perhaps my love for the short story is due to my sometimes short attention span, but if you, too, adore them, you should consider subscribing to One Story. A nonprofit literary magazine, they publish one writer's short story every few weeks. That's it—literally one short story per issue in a stand-alone chapbook, a different writer each issue. The companion website includes interviews with writers, short story events, and audio recordings from past readings.

Andi Z on the B-word

Debbie Rasmussen — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 18:45:00 -0500

For the third time this year, the word bitch has made national headines. Read cofounder and editorial director Andi Zeisler's take in the Washington Post.

Is it a bad word?

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