Cloud 9
I was on Cloud 9 on Saturday night…or rather, I was *at* Cloud 9 (A Comedy of Multiple Organisms), Caryl Churchill’s 1978 two-act play dealing with preconceptions of gender and sexuality. Act I and II are 25 years apart based on the characters’ ages, but in a wonderful twist, the first act is set in [...]
GNO with Pat, Gail, Julie & Julia
Last night was a GNO – Girls’ Night Out – with my friends Pat and Gail. We had plenty to celebrate: Gail’s birthday was just past, Pat’s divorce just came through, and we realized that we all met on a day just about 30 years ago when we lived in the same university residence. We [...]
Some things never change…
I missed the CASCON conference this year, but just found some notes from last year’s conference, which included a session on barriers to women in technology/business. In addition to some dismal numbers on the percentage of women on corporate boards (14.7% in the US, 11.2% in Canada), I jotted down a brilliant quote from the [...]
Eat, drink and do your part for breast cancer
Willow, a breast cancer support group, is hosting their annual Eat to the Beat event on September 25th: Willow’s Eat to the Beat is the only event of its kind in North America that features delicacies and delectables prepared by over 60 of the finest women chefs including famed television host, Chef Anna Olson. Now [...]
Women in technology
O’Reilly is running a Women in Technology series of articles. I suspect that this will be primarily a series on women in American technology, which is a significantly different experience from those of us in other countries (speaking from the point of view of having worked in tech in both Canada and the US, and traveled on [...]
The continuing saga of being a woman on the internet
I haven’t been posting my Skype Scumbags recently, but one popped up today that really pissed me off. I was working away and a Skype request to share details (that is, add to my friends list) came in from a “nick desanctis”. My Skype profile clearly states “Please be specific in your contact requests. I [...]
Women in the kitchen, renovating
Finding a home renovator in Toronto is difficult, but finding one owned and operated by women that also mentors women in construction trades borders on impossible. Enter Wo-Built, whose CEO Martina Ernst I met at the first Toronto Girl Geek Dinner last month; she and her partner have decades of experience in design, project management, building [...]
Where are all the TorCamp men?
Last night, we had the first Toronto Girl Geek dinner, which drew about 40 people with only one brave male soul amongst us. The rules of attending a Girl Geek dinner are simple: if you are male, you must bring a female with you or be brought by a female. You don’t have to be [...]
Never say dye…
From the talented Jessica Hagy: Not completely accurate, but funny nonetheless.
Best. Skype. Stalker. Ever.
In case there was any doubt that I receive an unusual number of Skype chat requests because I have the gender flag set to “female” on my profile, I present one of the more recent ones. This guy’s profile is absolutely hilarious, although I’m not sure how I feel about being categorized as a “mature [...]
