It’s nearly fall, everyone, and change is in the air!Pencils are being sharpened, binders are filled with crisp college-ruled paper, Butterbeer recipes are being bookmarked (just me?), and here at GeekGirlCon our regular feature Geek About Town is getting an upgrade.
Instead of our traditional blog format, we’re moving to a more streamlined calendar!
TFW you’re about to add some awesome events to your fall schedule. (Image Description: A gif of a person doing a shimmy dance while holding two Starbucks drinks. They have dark hair and are wearing a red top. They are standing in front of a dark orange background.)
What this means:
More geeky local events; more often. (With the added bonus of less scrolling through long posts to find the events you’re most interested in!)
Every quarter or so, we’ll post an update to give you a peek at the can’t-miss events coming up on the Geek About Town calendar. In the meantime, check out the calendar for all the most exciting upcoming events!
What the calendar looks like:
Image Description: A screenshot of the Geek About Town calendar for August 2019.Image Description: A screenshot of the Geek About Town calendar for September 2019.Image Description: A screenshot of the Geek About Town calendar for October 2019.
Proof that Agents are the best. (Image Description: An Agent stands in the Conference Center during GeekGirlCon ’17. They are wearing a teal Agent t-shirt, teal tights, and and a black skirt. They are smiling and resting their hand on a stanchion. Photo by Sayed Alamy.)
Calling all Agents! With your help, the GeekGirlCon ’19 Agent team is set to be the best one ever. As the former Volunteer Coordinator, I can directly attest to the fact that volunteering for the Con is a pretty awesome role.
Why? Let me count the ways:
Be part of an incredible team of fellow geeks and nerds, committed to making the Con the best event it can be.
Receive a free pass to the Con.
Gain access to our Agent Headquarters (and all the snacks it contains!)
Get a behind-the-scenes look at how our staff and Agent team puts together such an amazing convention.
Here’s what you need to know:
GeekGirlCon ’19 will be held November 16 and 17 at the Conference Center, located at 8th and Pike in downtown Seattle.
Agents must be available to work at least 2 shifts (4-5 hours each) during the weekend of the Con.
Agents must be at least 16 years old to volunteer.
The deadline to submit your application is September 8 by 10pm PST.
This is the perfect way to become even more involved with the convention you love, meet some incredible people, and have the best dang Con weekend ever!
I don’t know about you, but I could not be more ready for summer. As we move our hibernating, vitamin D-depleted bodies into sunnier days, be sure to check out some of our most highly-anticipated events coming up in the next few months!
The iconic pool party scene from “Shrill.” Source: Giphy
The Northwest Folklife Festival is one of the largest community-powered festivals in the nation, bringing together over 5,000 performers, 500 volunteers, 40 food vendors, 150 local craft/import vendors, and upwards of 250,000 attendees. Since 1972, the festival has highlighted the brilliant cultural tapestry of our Pacific Northwest communities. We are proud to be for the people, by the people.
Do you love board games and enjoy teaching others how to play? Explore the board/card game hobby and meet folks happy to teach you their favorite board games! Come and play with folks who love playing games. And the best part about the GeekGirlCon (http://www.geekgirlcon.com/) game nights with our friends at Wayward (http://www.waywardcoffee.com/)? They are absolutely FREE with no cover charge!
Shop, snack, and dance your way over 150 booths along with a summer beer festival with live music!
Previously, this festival has been held at the South Lake Union Saturday Market. Join us in a larger venue over two days. Music stage will be hosted inside the summer beer festival garden, so you must be 21+ to enter.
There is a required cash donation that benefits a local non-profit with a suggested donation of $3 per person, 2 for $5.
Up-close with the movers, shakers & boundary breakers who are pushing the LGBTQ+ movement forward. Join us at W Seattle for a Queer Me Out event, followed by Q&A for our amazing panelists, and drinks and a DJ in the Living Room. This is an Official PrideFest event and complimentary to the public (but register for a guaranteed seat)!
Who is Douglas? Well, apparently, Hannah Gadsby thinks he is the only one who can help her follow up on the trail blazed by her last show: Nanette. Hannah is all set to take the mysterious Douglas for a trot around America for her first ever US tour. Tasmania’s own Hannah Gadsby has come to the world’s attention through her multi-award winning stand up show Nanette which played to sold out houses across Australia, London, Edinburgh, New York and Los Angeles before launching on Netflix in June and stopping the comedy world in its tracks.
A gif of Hannah Gadbsy performing standup comedy. The text over the image says “This is…not normal.” Source: Giphy
500 E Pike St, Capitol Hill (Seattle) 98102, 98112, 98122
A partnership between PrideFest and the Capitol Hill Art Walk, June’s show features queer artists at various venues around Capitol Hill (usually numbering 15-20 altogether). An easy, gentle June stroll through some of the best art the queer community has to offer.
Do you love board games and enjoy teaching others how to play? Explore the board/card game hobby and meet folks happy to teach you their favorite board games! Come and play with folks who love playing games. And the best part about the GeekGirlCon (http://www.geekgirlcon.com/) game nights with our friends at Wayward (http://www.waywardcoffee.com/)? They are absolutely FREE with no cover charge!
Booklover’s Burlesque is the Pacific Northwest’s sexiest literary salon which matches titillating, inspiring, and empowering book readings with burlesque performances all in one show!
Professional readers, actors, and/or local authors & writers read aloud a three to five minute piece of poetry, fiction (from any genre), memoir, non-fiction, etc, which is then followed by a burlesque performance inspired by the piece.
Volunteer Park Rd, Seattle, WA 98112, United States
The time of the annual Cosplay Picnic is upon us. Hayly and Kat are back it again with another meet up! We hosted the Christmas one back in December, and everyone was so great and had a good time so we thought it’d be fun to put something together for the summer! What could be better than a cosplay picnic? You get to dress up as your favorite character, hang with friends, and stuff your face with food! Definitely an all around good time. As per usual, we’re gonna kick it potluck style! So bring a tasty food, eating utensils, or beverage of your choice! (While you don’t HAVE to bring an item to attend, it would be much appreciated) just be sure to label your food in case of any potential allergies.
PACCAR Theater 200 Second Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109
Free!
Once again giant puppets, stilt walkers, floats, skywriters, dancers, sashayers and musicians from all over will parade on the streets of Fremont in a kaleidoscope of joyous human expression. We’re preparing right now and are inviting our friends and neighbors to make the 2019 parade and following Gasworks Park Celebration the best ever! Who can participate? Anyone! We believe in cultivating the spirit of celebration where everyone is an artist. This people-powered celebration is not only for Fremont, but for our entire Seattle community!
Once again giant puppets, stilt walkers, floats, skywriters, dancers, sashayers and musicians from all over will parade on the streets of Fremont in a kaleidoscope of joyous human expression. We’re preparing right now and are inviting our friends and neighbors to make the 2019 parade and following Gasworks Park Celebration the best ever! Who can participate? Anyone! We believe in cultivating the spirit of celebration where everyone is an artist. This people-powered celebration is not only for Fremont, but for our entire Seattle community!
A gif of a painted rainbow with pink hearts coming out of it and text below which reads “Happy Pride.” Source: Giphy
Do you love board games and enjoy teaching others how to play? Explore the board/card game hobby and meet folks happy to teach you their favorite board games! Come and play with folks who love playing games. And the best part about the GeekGirlCon (http://www.geekgirlcon.com/) game nights with our friends at Wayward (http://www.waywardcoffee.com/)? They are absolutely FREE with no cover charge!
Trans Pride Seattle 2019 is Seattle’s Celebration of Two-Spirit, Trans, Gender Diverse, and Non-Binary people in the heart of Capitol Hill produced by Gender Justice League.
Entering our 7th year – Trans Pride Seattle has become one of the countries largest celebrations of gender diverse people – focused especially on the communities in the Pacific Northwest.
Trans Pride Seattle bringing performers from around the country and Mexico to deliver ground breaking and amazing performances, musical talent, speeches, and comedy.
Trans Pride Seattle is an amazing opportunity to connect with community, make new friends, celebrate our collective strength and continue our communities resistance with riotous demands for equity and justice!
You will also find resources of more than 60 organizations local to Washington State at our tabling fair. Each year Trans Pride Seattle sees more than 15,000 people. It’s the perfect way to kick off Pride Weekend in Seattle.
The Dragon Fest event will feature cultural performances including Dragon and Lion dances, Traditional Korean drumming, martial arts demonstrations, the Chinese Girls Drill Team, and more. For Seattle’s foodies we are proud to bring back the Annual $3 Food Walk with over 40 restaurants offering a wide array of international $3 bites and a few bonus retail!
Relive the magic of your favorite wizard in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban™ in Concert. Based on the third installment of J.K. Rowling’s classic saga, the thrilling tale is accompanied by the music played live by the Seattle Symphony as Harry soars across the big screen. From the moment Harry uses the Marauder’s Map to when the Patronus Charm bursts from his wand, you’ll be transported back into the world you love.
A gif of Professor Snake from “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.” The text over the gif says “Turn to page 394.” Source: Giphy
Do you love board games and enjoy teaching others how to play? Explore the board/card game hobby and meet folks happy to teach you their favorite board games! Come and play with folks who love playing games. And the best part about the GeekGirlCon (http://www.geekgirlcon.com/) game nights with our friends at Wayward (http://www.waywardcoffee.com/)? They are absolutely FREE with no cover charge!
During the summer months Seattle Shakespeare Company presents free, outdoor productions of classical plays performed in parks throughout the Puget Sound region. Grab a picnic, bring your family and join us for some free Shakespeare in the parks!
You’ve joined us for trivia… now join us for a magical scavenger hunt! This adventure will take you around major sites in Seattle with a wizarding flair, helping you find magic where you previously saw the mundane.
We are officially less than one week away from GiveBIG! Mark your calendars for Wednesday, May 8th, or schedule your gift ahead of time here!
For those of you who aren’t familiar, GiveBIG is an annual day of giving, hosted by 501 commons, that benefits local nonprofits like GeekGirlCon. The support generated by GiveBIG helps us at GeekGirlCon create the most inclusive, accessible convention possible, bringing you (our incredible supporters and community members!) more exceptional panelists, exhibitors, featured contributors, workshops, meetups, and so much more each year.
For all of us at GeekGirlCon, this kind of support is personal. As volunteers, we each have our own unique story of why we give and what GeekGirlCon means to us. Read on to hear our stories, and be sure to add your own. This GiveBIG, let us know what the GeekGirlCon community means to you and share your support for our mission.
Alyssa Jones | Director of Interactive Programming
I support GeekGirlCon because…
It’s important to support ALL WOMEN!
Geeks come in every shape, color, orientation, ability, and gender identity
There aren’t enough safe spaces for marginalized geek
And cause it’s a DAMN FUN WEEKEND
Kalyna Durbak | Copywriter
I support GeekGirlCon because I wish such an organization existed when I was younger. GeekGirlCon sends a message to the world that everyone of ALL ages, gender identities, sexual orientations, sizes, abilities, ethnicities, nationalities, races, creeds, religions, familial statuses, physical and mental abilities, alien species, earth species, education levels, science specializations, fandoms, etc., deserve a safe place to be a geek—no minimal “Geek Cred” required!
Allison Borngesser | Senior Designer
Because it’s important to hold space for geeks of marginalized spaces, so they can find community, share their stories and feel seen and heard. Watching all our attendees having a good time, learning, and interacting is the most rewarding feeling when putting in volunteer time and working behind the scenes.
Bonnie Barcellos | Human Resources Manager
I was not encouraged to enjoy geeky things as a child because I was a girl. My parents are amazing, loving people but they held strong views of what girls should do/like and what boys should do/like. I have a memory of my dad and brothers watching a movie – I popped in the room, was told I wouldn’t like it because it was a boys’ movie, and so I left. That movie was Star Wars. Luckily I rebelled as a teen and inhaled fantasy & sci-books, discovered the amazingness of Star Wars and so many other films, and never looked back. GGC celebrates inclusivity and the love of all things geek in such a wonderful way. We provide a safe space for people to unabashedly be who they are, learn new things, and meet awesome people with similar interests.
I also love our focus on STEM careers for women. Again, that wasn’t an option provided to me. I’m happy in my current career – but if I had gotten more exposure/encouragement in math and science, I would have pursued a career as an economist. I want to provide information and opportunities to women that I didn’t have. GGC does that so well, and it’s an important part of our mission.
Teal Christensen | Copywriter
Something I believe in very strongly is that while virtual spaces can be wildly important, especially to folks of marginalized identities, huge and important parts of our lives still have to happen irl. In order for that reality to be safe and accessible and equitable, we have to do the work to hold space for ourselves and our communities in the physical world. That’s what I think of as the work of GeekGirlCon, and that’s why I support it.
Thank you for supporting GeekGirlCon during GiveBIG, and adding your story to our community of supporters!
It all started with a simple recommendation from my sister.
“You should check out this YouTuber; her voice are so relaxing,” she said, casually, blissfully unaware of the obsession she was able to create. As someone who exists in a state of perma-anxiety, I will check out anything labeled “relaxing,” no questions asked.
The YouTuber in question turned out to be A Clockwork Reader, i.e. Hannah, a BookTuber with over 200,000 subscribers, an extensive backlog of reading vlogs, reviews, unboxings, “unhauls,” and more. She also co-hosts the webcast series Bookmarked with fellow BookTubers readbyzoe and Hailey in Bookland, is the 26th most followedGoodreads user in the U.S., and does, indeed, have a very relaxing voice.
Hannah from A Clockwork Reader holds the book Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare up so that it covers half her face. Source: The Owlery
I’ve been a book-nerd my whole life, and am no stranger to the world of the annual Goodreads Reading Challenge, Advanced Reader Copies, and Hogwarts sorting hat quizzes (if you’ve only taken the official Pottermore quiz and not the one with all the questions combined, do you even really know your house?!), but up until now my passion has apparently been incomplete because I hadn’t delved into the magical, comforting, and giddily geeky world that is BookTube.
Without further ado, let me present a beginner’s guide to exploring the tropes, tags, genres, and characters of what is arguably the best YouTube genre:
A gif of a person wearing a long-sleeved dress with a pattern of books on it, that matches the backdrop that they are standing in front of. Source: Giphy
Step 2: Dive into the over-caffeinated, high stakes world of Readathons. These are generally 24-periods in which the creator attempts to read as much as possible. Will they complete 6 books in one day? Will they fall asleep before they finish that last book? The suspense is real. If you’re super brave (and have time to recover) consider attempting one yourself. GeekGirlReadathon, anyone?
Step 3: Feel comforted by the fact that BookTubers are readers of all sorts. They read different genres, at different speeds, for different reasons, in different formats. Whether you’re an audiobook-only reader, a reader who takes their time to savor a few books, or a voracious speed-reader, BookTubers are here to share their love for all things books, not shame your own particular style.
A gif of Matilda from the movie Matilda, sitting in a chair and laughing while reading a book. Source: Giphy
Step 4: Check out reviews of your favorite books, least favorite books, books you’re curious about, books you’ve never heard of, books you wouldn’t expect to like in a million years, and everything in between. An enthusiastic BookTuber can convince you to add hundreds of books to your Goodreads “Want to Read” list that you’d never expect. Reviews are a great way to delve into all the spoiler-y thoughts, or give you a quick rundown of a book before you dive in, all while virtually bonding with your fellow book-nerd, the BookTuber.
Step 5: Find a bookish tag to watch and then answer the questions themselves. Why not? What a great party activity! Uncover your inner book-lover, and learn more about your friends and loved ones. Will your mom only read British murder mysteries? Has your best friend never gotten over their obsession with Dan Brown? You may never know unless you answer the hard-hitting questions found in a book tag.
Step 6: Repeat the previous steps until you achieve a heretofore unimagined state of relaxation, pull yourself out of a reading slump, buy more books than your paycheck can reasonably sustain, start using the terms “unboxing,” “AU,” and “DNF” in casual conversation, or all of the above.
A gif of Janelle Monae from the movie Hidden Figures, walking with a stack of books and binders in her arms. Source: Giphy
So there you have it, your super speedy guide to BookTube. Happy reading and watching, book nerds!
Is there anything more ripe for geekiness than food? It’s both the simplest, starkest element of our lives – necessary to our very survival – and the most lush, decadent pleasure. Somehow – for me at least, and, I suspect, for all of the other eager consumers of food and food media – the omnipresence of food somehow makes it less prosaic rather than more so, an empty plate (so sorry…) on which we can heap our artistry and desire, our insecurity and joy, often in equal measure.
For me, there is something inherently calming and satisfying about food media. At its best, it replicates the complete sensuous joy of a delicious meal, the just-right feeling of eating the food you’ve been craving for so long.
Nigella Lawson eats a grilled cheese sandwich, pulling the sandwich away from her face to create a long cheese pull. Source: Giphy
But the inherent satisfactions of food media are also balanced by the complicated relationships we each have to food itself. In Rosianna Halse Rojas’ gorgeous and thoughtful “Backburner” series of YouTube videos – in which she films herself cooking and eating from different cookbooks over a period of several months – food is a conduit for complex feelings of gluttony and overindulgence, fraught body image, control and restriction. It is a map of her emotional state, her time in the kitchen reflecting the extent to which she is or is not able to nurture her body and mind. At the same time, food is joyful, playful – an escape and a comfort.
My favorite food media jumps wholeheartedly into this uncomfortable dichotomy. Food as sustenance, food as destruction. Food as, ultimately, a reflection of us and all of our deepest, strangest, basest needs. And in this passionate, geeky way, consuming media about food mirrors the consumption of food itself, and all the wonderful, difficult, and wholly human emotions that conjures within us.
Samin Nosrat nibbles on a piece of food and laughs at something someone off-camera has said. Source: Giphy
When Super Mario Brothers first came out, my brother and I spent hour after hour trying to save a princess trapped behind Goombas and those weird-looking duck-turtle hybrid things. I never thought about the premise behind the game—that women characters were delicate flowers in need of rescue. To my young mind, I accepted that mindset in the same fashion I accepted fairy tales featuring damsels in distress.
Early video game manufacturers definitely catered to a certain audience, namely young men, many of which probably enjoyed escaping into gaming to create strong alter egos. Over the years, more women have joined the ranks of heavy-duty gamers, but has this influx of women players changed the way women characters get treated in the gaming world?
The “Madonna/Whore” Paradigm
Early game designers included women characters not as equal players, but rather as either innocent little princesses or sultry seductresses. This Madonna-versus-whore treatment of women in video games reinforced the false belief that women only exist in terms of their relationships with men. Any personality traits a unique woman character might possess were often overlooked.
As time progressed and more women began gaming, video game manufacturers began including more women characters to choose from in role-playing games and the like. Allowing gamers to select women avatars appeared to be a step in the direction of gender equality, and in some ways, it was.
However, serious gamers soon discovered that selecting a woman character often meant losing the game. For example, in the fighting game Dead or Alive, the woman protagonist must engage in battle with her much larger, stronger, and more powerful father in the second half of the game, putting the players who chose the woman character at a distinct disadvantage.
Even something as basic as the way game designers attire their women characters leaves these characters at an additional disadvantage. It’s a bit difficult to run very fast in high heels! No man video game protagonist has to go into battle clad only in his Fruit of the Loom boxer briefs, but women characters often wage war in skimpy bikinis or are otherwise scantily-clad.
How Video Games Impact Behavior
The issue of the gender divide between the treatment of characters in video games has implications beyond just the gameplay itself. Multiple studies suggest that while frequent exposure to violent video games doesn’t necessarily lead to criminal activity, images still do influence behavior. The consequences of how a fictional avatar treats women characters could potentially translate into the way the player interacts with women in the real world. At best, exposure to violent video games that also objectify women normalizes the objectification of women in real life. At worst, it may lead to more actual violence against women.
About four out of five victims of intimate-partner violence are women. One in six women have been the victim of a rape attempt, and one in five women will be raped at some point in their lives. With harrowing numbers like that, we should be looking at any and every way we can to prevent furthering the violence against women that is unfortunately so prevalent in society.
Perhaps the solution is as simple as parents taking more of an active role in preventing their children from playing violent games that send the wrong messages about how to treat women. For example, should a child tell of playing a violent game at a friend’s house, a parent should take time to talk with them to help them process what they saw and explain its full context.
Changing the Game for the Better
Video game manufacturers likewise should take responsibility for the way their creations portray women. While many video game manufacturers have shied away from using women protagonists in the past, they should realize women gamers prefer entertainment that portrays them complexly. Even if sales of a game with a woman protagonist dip among men, women could more than make up their slack!
In addition, video game manufacturers should embrace diversity and eschew rigid gendering that treat women as secondary in importance to men. Likewise, manufacturers should eliminate the practice of making men avatars automatically stronger or more talented than their women counterparts. Featuring more trans and nonbinary characters would also be an excellent addition to gaming.
Furthermore, primary and secondary schools alike can encourage women to explore the amazing opportunities of STEM fields, including video game design. The interest definitely exists. In Australia, for example, women make up 46 percent of all gamers, but only 15 percent of all of those working in the video game industry. Many researchers consider educator bias as a contributing factor, as many schools encourage boys to enter science and math career fields whereas young girls are steered into nurturing positions such as nursing or teaching.
Endgame
In the end, few people believe that women have reached total equality in all areas of life, the lives of gamers included! Works of art such as video games serve as powerful tools in creating an alternate reality that can be more, not less, inclusive.
About Kate: Kate Harveston is a young writer from Williamsport, Pennsylvania. She enjoys topics related to culture, feminism, and women’s health, and how those elements intersect and act upon each other. If you like her writing, you can follow her on Twitter or visit her blog, So Well, So Woman.
It’s almost March, and you know what that means! Celebration! Besides Holi and St. Patrick’s Day, did you know that March is not only National Women’s History Month, National Peanut Month, and National Craft Month?! The more you know…
Image Description: A gif of the words “The More You Know” on top of a rainbow that is shooting through the sky. This graphic was originally used for a series of NBC public service announcements. Source: Giphy
So get out there (or stay inside—it’s still pretty cold out, after all) and enjoy this month of merriment and green clothing!
Read on to see what’s happening in March.
Image Description: A gif of a crowd of people dancing and throwing colored powder in the air to celebrate Holi. Source: Giphy
Hing Hay Park 423 Maynard Ave S, Seattle, Washington 98104
It’s time for the QRC’s annual Drag Show! On Friday, February 1st, join us in the Performing Arts Center Concert Hall for a night of great music and even better performers! The show starts at 7pm and goes until 9pm, and will feature both drag queens and drag kings. Tickets are $10 for students and $12 for non-students.
All money collected goes to benefit Lifelong and the Sean Humphrey House, local organizations that support LGBT+ people in our community.
Please bring cash to tip the performers! Since this is a benefit, the performers are not being compensated, so please show them your love and tip heavily!
Tickets will be available in the PAC box office very soon, we will comment in the discussion when tickets become available for purchase!
For disability accommodations, please contact as.disability@wwu.edu
UW Center For Urban Horticulture 3501 NE 41st Street, Seattle, Washington 98105
Come celebrate spring a little early while helping support our local plant growers! The annual NHS Spring Ephemeral Plant Sale will take place on Saturday, March 2nd, 2019 from 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM at the UW Center for Urban Horticulture in Seattle.
Lynnwood Convention Center 3711 196th St SW, Lynnwood, Washington 98036
NerdFaire is NOT a craft fair or handmade fair, it is a MINI CON for ALL THE THINGS Nerdy and Geeky. Our focus is on supporting local Shops, businesses, and handmade items, in addition to creating community for all of Nerdery and Geekdom. This is our first year, but we hope to make this a long standing event.
Enjoy Cosplay contests and Fandom Meetups, Story Time and Meet n Greets with Our Princesses and Heroes.
Check out our show floor for some Trading Card Game duels OR learn how to play TCG Games, Board Games, and Miniatures Table Top Games. You can even take some time to paint a Miniature to take home.
Don’t forget to check out our Exhibitors! Some of the best Local Businesses, Artisans, Hand crafters, Authors, Artists, and more, the PNW has to offer!
Kids 15 and under are free, but they need a badge and accompanied by an adult. Come out, buy some Nerd trinkets to add to your collection, participate in our activities, and most of all HAVE FUN!
Delancey’s on 3rd 810 S 3rd St, Renton, Washington 98057
Join us for a raw and unfiltered experience as we address our black men by way of spoken word and live painting. There will be a full bar available to purchase drinks. Music by DJ Bankhead. Full Bar. Spoken Word. Live Painting.
Benaroya Hall 200 University St, Seattle, Washington 98101
International Women’s Day, celebrated around the world for 111 years, is coming back to Seattle. Join us to hear from inspirational speakers how together we can accelerate equality.
Holocaust Center for Humanity 2045 Second Ave, Seattle, Washington 98121
TWO WORKSHOPS: “Teaching Tolerance” and “Facilitating Critical Conversations” Register for one or both! $25 for one | $40 for both | Includes lunch and clock hours
The Holocaust Center for Humanity is proud to offer these workshops in partnership with Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
860 Terry Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109-4330, United States
On the first Thursday of each month, general admission to the Museum of History and Industry’s permanent exhibits are free all day long! The museum is open from 10a-8p.
Do you love board games and enjoy teaching others how to play? Explore the board/card game hobby and meet folks happy to teach you their favorite board games! Come and play with folks who love playing games. And the best part about the GeekGirlCon (http://www.geekgirlcon.com/) game nights with our friends at Wayward (http://www.waywardcoffee.com/)? They are absolutely FREE with no cover charge!
Our group is inclusive and totally newbie-friendly. We play a wide range of modern board and card games as well as some classics.
The Seattle Public Library Central Library, 1000 4th Ave, Seattle, Washington 98104
As our world burns, injustice festers around the globe. Patriarchy, racism, and capitalism are bringing us to ruin. In the face of this brutality, we need to elevate voices from the grassroots. And not just any voices. We need radical voices that take no prisoners, that speak the truth, that rip down the fantasies of the powerful and inspire us to fight like our lives depend on it.
On March 8th, 2019 (International Women’s Day), an event will be held featuring two of these powerful voices: Dominique Christina, the author of four books and the only person to EVER become a two-time world champion in slam poetry, and Cherry Smiley, warrior hero, feminist activist, scholar, and artist from the Nlaka’pamux (Thompson) and Diné (Navajo) nations.
The evening program will inform, educate, empower, inspire, and strengthen our spirit for the injustices we face: male violence, objectification, sexual exploitation, and racialization.
The event will take place at the world-famous Seattle Central Library in downtown Seattle, Washington, and is being organized by Asian Women for Equality and Fertile Ground Institute for Social and Environmental Justice.
Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial 4192 Eagle Harbor Dr NE, Bainbridge Island, Washington 98110
Originally scheduled to be on February 19th – the Day of Remembrance anniversary when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on Feb. 19, 1942 – snow and uncertain weather conditions forced the cancellation and rescheduling to March 9th., 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Inspired by the unique legacy of a community that welcomed their Japanese American friends and neighbors home after World War II, everyone is welcome to gather for “Service and Community” at the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial, offering landscaping maintenance and improvements to the National Historic Site, located at Pritchard Park, 4192 Eagle Harbor Drive, Bainbridge Island.
Hosted by the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community and generous support from the Bainbridge Island Metropolitan Park and Recreation District, everyone is invited and welcome to pitch in and help. Please wear appropriate clothing for work and weather, bring gloves and your own gardening tools.
Celebrate every inch of yourself at this Aquarius/Pisces season cusp pop-up shop just in time for the beginning of Seattle’s spring. Indian Summer owner Adria Garcia, ex-IS manager Kim Selling, and current IS shopgirl Abby Cooke will be selling racks on racks on racks of plus size vintage clothing. We’ll have pieces of many style varieties from size 12 to 32, especially pertaining to the encroaching (hopefully) sun-soaked seasons. Come get swathed in mesh, silk, velvet, faux fur, leather, pleather, lace, and all of your other favorite textures with us ♥
Emerald City Comic Con 800 Convention Pl, Seattle, Washington 98101
Emerald City Comic Con is the destination comic and pop culture show for the Pacific Northwest. ECCC delivers the best that the comics and pop culture industry has to offer directly from the creators, bringing super fans exactly what they crave: interaction with quality content and guests and an inclusive space to celebrate their fandom.
Lindy West will be here to join us as we binge watch her new adapted series, Shrill, debuting on Hulu March 15th. Based on her 2016 memoir Shrill: Notes From a Loud Woman, the 6 episode comedy stars Aidy Bryant, “A woman who seeks out ways to change her life without changing her body.”
We’ll have special cocktails and on-theme snacks for your viewing pleasure! 21+
Time to get your Irish on and celebrate this fun community tradition. Sponsored by Olympic College Foundation. Parade steps off at 11am at 6th and Pacific. Heads south on Pacific to Fourth Street. Turning Right to head down to Park Avenue. At Park Ave turning Right to 5th St. Right on 5th St back up to Pacific Ave.
Block 41 115 Bell Street, Seattle, Washington 98121
Join us for our Harry Potter inspired Beer Festival as we transform the Iconic Block 41 into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter complete with Hogwarts Great Hall, Diagon Alley, and the Leaky Cauldron. The event will hosts a beer tasting of over twenty winter, pumpkin, and holiday ales including Snape’s Lair of Secret Cider Potions and Adult Butter Beer. There will be a Hagrid Photo Op, plenty of characters, food from Mac Shackk, and live music from the Slytherin Sisters and DJ Dumbledore. 21+
Seattle Center Exhibition Hall 301 Mercer Street, Seattle, Washington 98109
It’s not just big, it’s huge! Over 100,000 items will be for sale with over 50 categories of nonfiction including art, cookbooks, crafts, gardening, history, music, performing arts, pets, nature and travel.
We have an extensive selection of fiction including science fiction, graphic novel, classics, and short stories. Our children’s selection covers every reading level you can imagine plus several special categories such as folk & fairy tales, history and nature.
We’ll have over 15 languages represented in our foreign languages section plus a vast selection of DVDs, CDs, audio books and records. Don’t miss it!
Sartori Elementary School, 332 Park Ave North, Renton WA
On March 18, education researchers and practitioners will discuss how teachers, students, administrators, parents, communities and researchers are coming together to renew and meaningfully improve how young people experience school during EduTalks: A Place Called School.
During the fast-paced program, presenters will have five minutes and one image to share their unique take on practices and policies that can invigorate and improve the experience of school for young people, educators and communities—and in particular for historically marginalized students. The event is free and open to the public. Advance registration is required to ensure seating: http://events.uw.edu/EduTalks2019.
Seattle First Baptist Church 1111 Harvard Ave, Seattle, Washington 98122
The Moth Presents the GrandSLAM, the culmination of ten open mic StorySLAM competitions. The champions of ten previous StorySLAM nights return to the stage to compete with brand new stories for the title of GrandSLAM champion. Take a seat ringside at the ultimate battle of wits and words, and witness a storytelling showdown that ranges from fierce to hilarious to heartbreaking, and all points in between.
Each ticket purchase includes a copy of The Moth’s new book, Occasional Magic: True Stories About Defying The Impossible!. Due to be published on March 19, 2019, this collection is drawn from the best stories ever told on The Moth stage.
Do you love board games and enjoy teaching others how to play? Explore the board/card game hobby and meet folks happy to teach you their favorite board games! Come and play with folks who love playing games. And the best part about the GeekGirlCon (http://www.geekgirlcon.com/) game nights with our friends at Wayward (http://www.waywardcoffee.com/)? They are absolutely FREE with no cover charge!
Our group is inclusive and totally newbie-friendly. We play a wide range of modern board and card games as well as some classics.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Discovery Center 440 5th Ave N, Seattle, Washington 98109
It Starts with Youth!
Celebrate youth-driven change at #TeenActionFair 2019. Connect with youth and organizations working to make a difference in their local and global communities through volunteering, art, social justice campaigns, and more.
Free and open to all. The celebration features powerful performances, a youth-led open mic, an art showcase, give back activities, and over 30 youth-driven and youth-focused organizations.
Office of Arts & Culture Seattle 303 S. Jackson Street, Top Floor, Seattle, Washington 98104
Join us for the grand opening of ARTS at King Street Station, our new arts and cultural space in the heart of Seattle. This space is dedicated to increasing opportunities for communities of color to:
– GENERATE and CREATE work – DISPLAY and SHARE their work – RECOMMEND PROGRAMMING through the King Street Station Advisors
In recognition of the Coast Salish peoples on whose land the City of Seattle is built, we are honored to open ARTS at King Street Station, with yəhaw̓, an indigenous-centered inaugural exhibition that will run March 23 – August 3, 2019.
This opening celebration will have performances, song, and storytelling all day. Join us! More details coming soon.
Moore Theatre 1932 2nd Ave, Seattle, Washington 98101
STG Presents & Live Nation Welcomes Maria Bamford – Live to The Moore Theatre on Saturday, March 23, 2019. Reserved Seating on Main Floor & in First Balcony General Admission Seating in Second Balcony All Ages / Bar with I.D. Tickets are $25.00 – $30.00 (not including fees).
1,311 steps | 69 floors | 788′ of vertical elevation | March 24, 2019
Each year the Big Climb hosts 6,000 participants to climb the stairs of the Columbia Center in Seattle, Washington. We want to maintain our fundraising focus to fight blood cancers thus all participants, are required to fundraise a minimum of $150. This $150 is in addition to the registration fee.
During the 2018 season, $3,007,080 was raised by 6,000 passionate participants – all for a cure. Join us on Sunday, March 24, 2019 as we CLIMB. CONQUER. CURE.
Brouwer’s Cafe 400 N 35th St, Seattle, Washington 98103
It’s that time of year again where we try to give back to the community and give the Badass Women of Craft our stage to try and raise funds for on organization that’s near and dear to us – Planned Parenthood.
That’s right! Drunk HERstory, now in its third rad year, will once again be held at Brouwer’s Café on March 27th. After the success of the past two years, we couldn’t keep the train from rolling on. This year, we’ll have 9 women representing 9 breweries and they will regale you with tales of awesome women throughout the ages. The night will begin at 6 pm with an introduction by a representative from Planned Parenthood and then move into 4 unique skits to educate and entertain our guests.
Prepare yourselves, dear readers, for today I will be telling you about an experience that changed my life.
No, not a death-defying feat, a thrilling adventure, or an inspiring turn of events.
A workshop.
Specifically, “You Can’t Suck at Everything,” a writing workshop that I was lucky enough to attend last October at GeekGirlCon ‘18.
As someone who has abandoned so many half-finished novels I could set up a small graveyard in my backyard, I couldn’t get to this workshop quickly enough. Not only did it promise to help provide the basics of a 3-act story structure, delve into character creation and worldbuilding, and explore how our perceived “flaws” are actually key to finding and articulating our own unique perspective as writers, but it was also run by the one and only Margaret Stohl.
Image Description: A headshot of author Margaret Stohl. Stohl is turned slightly to the side, and is looking straight at the camera. Source: Twitter
If you are one of the ten billion people (a rough estimate) who devoured the Beautiful Creatures series (co-authored with Kami Garcia), you might be familiar with the powerhouse talent that is Margaret Stohl. As if being an internationally bestselling author isn’t enough, Stohl has also written multiple comics, including the Mighty Captain Marvel series, and has a long career as a writer and narrative director for video games.
Almost immediately, Stohl cultivated a sense of community in the workshop, uniting us all as writers, artists, and creators of all kinds. It can be so easy to feel isolated as a writer or creator. If you’re like most of us, you’re probably plagued by constant doubts, spend an unhealthy amount of time with fictional characters, spin off into daydreams when you should be doing things like “concentrating” or “working at your day job,” and guard your work like a fearsome dragon mother.
Image Description: A screenshot of a tweet by Margaret Stohl, which says “WRITING TIP: NOBODY NEEDS WRITING TIPS! You need LISTENING TO THING YOU DON’T WANT TO HEAR tips & JUST GET IT DONE tips. Then you’re golden.” Source: Twitter
This workshop felt like the perfect antidote to the self-imposed isolation of doubt, fear, and embarrassment. When everyone’s in the same boat, what is there to be self-conscious about?
There were so many points, tips, and ideas that I walked away from the workshop with, but, in the interest of not making you read a full thesis, here are some of the highlights:
Everyone has a story, and everyone wants to tell a story. As Stohl said, “I’m interested in yours and you should be more interested in yours than anyone.”
Don’t put off what you want because you’re worried about failing. You will fail! Spoiler alert: that’s okay.
It’s hard to take yourself seriously as a writer and creator, even–and especially–if it’s the thing you want most in the world. Do it anyway. Affirm yourself as a writer and creator.
“If you want something, you take it. There is exactly nothing standing between you and that thing.”
“You cannot write a protagonist without being a protagonist in your own life.”
Understand who you are writing for, and write for them, not for the whole world.
A novel is, at its core, just 30 words. Write a list of 30 words that map the arc of your story, and make those your chapters. Go from there.
You are probably a specialist in fear. Write about that, use that. There is nothing you know more about than what you fear.
Start developing and curating your “brain office.” Collect and organize your material, even in your own mind.
Keep everything. Old lists, descriptions, terrible poems, scraps of dialogue. Keep it all.
Find a critique partner for accountability and support.
“Do not confuse sucking at one thing with sucking at everything.”
There you have it, some solid gold advice for when you’re feeling stuck, uninspired, or insecure. If I came away with one conviction from the workshop, it’s that I’m a writer. I’m a creator.
You probably are too.
Now let’s go write.
Image Description: A screenshot of a tweet from fellow GeekGirlCon Copywriter Teal Christensen quoting me, which says “Who knew that @mstohl would become our mother today?? – @hupptwothree re: a mind-blowing writing workshop this morning at #GGC18. GeekGirlCon Campaign Manager JC Lau comments “I like everything about this tweet.” Source: Twitter
A promotional image from Netflix’s series Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes. The title of the series is overlaid on the image of a red, white, and black cassette tape. Netflix’s logo is in the upper left hand corner. Source: Heaven of Horror
Like many—maybe even most—of us, I’m just a little too obsessed with true crime. I’ve listened to the podcasts (Up and Vanished, And That’s Why We Drink, Criminal…), read the books (Helter Skelter, The Devil in the White City, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark…), and gone on my fair share of deep dives into the murky depths of Wikipedia (do not, I beg of you, google Issei Sagawa alone at 2:00am.) I come by my obsession honestly; I was practically raised on British crime television (Poirot, Miss Marple, and Midsomer Murders, anyone?) and have been devouring my mom’s paperback murder mysteries since elementary school.
Given all of this, I had no hope of holding out against Netflix’s Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, all four parts of which were released this past Thursday. I tried to resist. I took in the repeated warnings not to watch it alone. I thought about my own complicity in a culture that romanticizes killers while erasing their victims. I asked myself why I wanted to watch the series in the first place when I’d already conducted enough personal research into Bundy’s life and crimes that I could have applied for grant funding. I reminded myself that I had work in the morning.
A tweet from Twitter user @zblay, which says “ted bundy looked dehydrated and dusty and had no lips. oh, and he was a fucking serial killer. people are weird.” Source: Twitter
All to no avail—I watched it. Of course.
And, at the end of those four episodes, I emerged from my cave of blankets, tortilla chips, and sweaty palms with the dawning realization that, even after hours of facts and memories and police reports and archival footage and death row interviews, Ted Bundy remained exactly as he had always been—a transparent cipher, at once empty symbol and impenetrable mystery, both utterly anomalous and entirely commonplace.
Because, at its core, the story of Ted Bundy is just the story of privilege and manipulation—power and charisma, bias and delusion—writ large, retold and recited into a burnished collective memory, reduced to familiar signifiers (the beige Volkswagen, the blue eyes) and bone-deep fears (if a supposedly handsome, Reagan-Republican law student could be a remorseless killer, couldn’t anyone?!).
And ultimately, our fears are justified. Yes, anyone around us could be a murderer, an abuser. Yes, they could remain undetected. Yes, they could escape. Yes, their judge could sentence them to death in one sentence and practically offer them an internship in the next. Yes, we’re afraid of it all, and not because it feels unknown, but because we’ve seen it before.
A tweet from Twitter user @no_sucker_MC, which says “to anyone who doesn’t believe in white privilege or thinks it’s overstated, watch the Ted Bundy tapes where a judge sentencing a man convicted of raping and murdering almost 40 women say ‘there is no animosity here, you would have made a greater lawyer you just took the wrong path.” Source: Twitter
The triumph of The Ted Bundy Tapes is that they reveal, time and time again, the ways in which even our deepest instincts, our most ingrained self-preservation mechanisms, can be overridden by our socialized bias, by our racism, by our willingness to trust—again and again—those who have continually revealed themselves to be untrustworthy.
In a time when convicted abusers are so often celebrated, when harassers maintain their careers even after they’ve been exposed, when forgiveness is coerced from victims and perpetrators demand unearned redemption, the story of Ted Bundy—regardless of how horrific and disturbing it is—starts to feel like a prosaic terror, a known entity.
Partway through The Ted Bundy Tapes, an old coworker of Bundy’s, Marlin Lee Vortman, says that Bundy seemed like the kind of person “you’d want your sister to marry.” A police officer recalls that, after her department released preliminary information seeking leads, multiple women came forward in the fear that their boyfriends could be the elusive killer. Bundy is repeatedly described as “good-looking,” “clean-cut,” “charming.” He’s portrayed as both normal and special, a combination that—even now, thirty years after his death—serves to inoculate him against the kind of vilification we reserve for those who are not troubled white men, the kind that doesn’t leave room for a sort of winking, sideways lust.
And yet here I am. Watching Netflix series about men who murder their wives, listening to podcasts about charismatic cult leaders, poring over Wikipedia articles of violent criminals. All those good-looking, clean cut white men we hate to love and love to hate. Rapt, waiting, almost gleeful. Watching a monster create his own myth. Watching a villain hide in plain sight.
