My grandma first taught me to knit when I was five years old. Oh, I was terrible at it–every time I dropped a stitch, I had to start the whole thing over–but the basic skills took root strongly enough that nearly twenty years later when I had the urge to pick up the hobby again, it all came flooding back.
I got some strange looks as a twenty-something knitter living in a small town in Texas. Twenty-somethings were supposed to be tailgating, getting drunk, and lighting bonfires; it was constantly assumed that I was knitting baby booties.
To my surprise, when I moved to the city and started joining knitting groups, they were full of my fellow geeks. And not just knitting, but many different domestic arts. Sewing, baking, quilting–you name it, someone’s made a TARDIS out of it! The 21st crafty revolution is driven by nerds and geeks of all stripes; if you see someone knitting, they’re more likely than not to have purple hair and be reading a sci-fi novel as they purl. The reasons why are a subject for a much longer post, but for now let’s have a run-down of the crafty, nerdy types who will be plying their wares at GeekGirlCon ‘15!
The GeekGirlCONcert has always been a highlight of convention weekend, and this year we decided to go all-out and celebrate our fifth annual convention with a combo Kick-Off Party and concert to start the weekend off with a bang!
When: Friday, October 9, 6pm-8pm Kick-Off Party, 8:30pm-10:30pm GeekGirlCONcert
Where: Hard Rock Cafe, Downtown Seattle, 116 Pike St, Seattle, WA 98101
As someone with not one but two fancy-sounding job titles and lots of Important Responsibilities, I am of course a totally dignified adult human person and in no way susceptible to adorable things looking at me all cute-like.
Haha, just kidding! I live with an entire menagerie of plush animals, each with their own personality and quirks. I keep photos of them on my phone like other people have pics of their children. For the most venerable of my plushy pals, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle who lives with my brother in England, I hand-sewed a steampunk vest complete with tiny functioning pocket-watch. Cute is my achilles heel.
I know a lot of GeekGirlCon’s dedicated following feel the same way, so here I am with a preview of some of the squee-sellers–the snuggle merchants, the captains of cute–who will be featured in the Exhibitor Hall at GeekGirlCon ‘15!
We’re excited to announce the return of the GeekGirlConnections room to our annual Convention!
It exists to create a space for excellent community leaders, producers, and organizations to share their experience and work with our amazing community members. The focus this year is on organizations that have made particularly impressive strides in diversity.
GeekGirlConnections will be located on the first floor, right next to the pick-up area for tickets, so come by and get your con started right!
Here’s a sampling of what to expect when you visit the Connections room!
A GeekGirlCon agent hands out a bag at GeekGirlCon ‘14. Image source: GeekGirlCon flickr
Thousands of eyes gobbling up your product. Thousands of eyes looking at your logo. That’s how much attention your brand will catch by appearing in this year’s swag bags! From now until September 25, GeekGirlCon is accepting submissions of promotional items from geeky businesses and organizations.
Each GeekGirlCon ‘15 attendee scores one of these satchels, and we are expecting more event-goers than ever this year! Countless costumed heroines and fun-loving fans could all be flashing your brand every time they reach for a water bottle, pick up a bookmark, or throw on some sunglasses. Whatever you prefer to donate, you’ll be giving support to a cool cause—not to mention geeks at large. And you know geeks always remember the good people who’ve got their backs.
Simply fill out our webform to get started and snag a spot for your stuff! We look forward to working with you to fill some seriously awesome swag bags for visitors young and old. Should questions or concerns arise, please contact Melodie Hardwick at melodie@geekgirlcon.com.
Please note: evil magic rings should be deposited in volcanoes and not distributed to GeekGirlCon attendees.
Gather round, mes amis, and prepare to exercise your little grey cells with this recap of July’s #DIYSciFilm event–in which our DIY Science Zone experts apply their chemistry smarts to the 1990 TV adaptation of Agatha Christie’s The Mysterious Affair at Styles.
Recovering from the horrors of World War I, British Army officer Arthur Hastings hopes to find peace and quiet at a country manor in the English countryside. But when the matriarch dies during the night from strychnine poisoning, Hastings enlists the help of an old friend staying nearby with other war refugees to help solve the murder: former Belgian police detective Hercule Poirot.
DIY Scientists Torrey Stenmark and Raychelle Burks are both chemists and murder mystery fans, and their interest was piqued by the poisoning storyline. They had cause for confidence in the scientific accuracy of what they were about to watch:
Agatha Christie worked as a dispenser during both World Wars. Her knowledge of poisons was first hand. #diyscifilm
Back in June, our intrepid DIY Science Zone Events Coordinator, Torrey Stenmark, decided to apply her fandom, snark, and critical thinking by leading GeekGirlCon fans in livetweeting that 1985 masterpiece of scientific accuracy Real Genius. In between critiquing the dubious lab safety, “reasonably plausible laser science,” and unlikely hacking protocols, the livetweeters enjoyed 80s soft electronica and the “#distractinglysexy” Val Kilmer.
Can you vaporize someone from space with a laser? No. Even with a codename like Crossbow. #DIYSciFilm
You can read a round-up of the whole event over on Storify.
July’s #DIYSciFilm: The Mysterious Affair at Styles Image source: IMDb
If you’re feeling right now like you missed out on a pretty cool event, no need to worry–it was such a hit that Torrey’s planning another one for this Thursday, July 23, at 9pm Eastern/6pm Pacific. This time around it’ll be the 1990 TV adaptation of the classic Agatha Christie story The Mysterious Affair at Styles, in which Hercule Poirot investigates a poisoning conundrum. Torrey is both a chemist and a costumer, perfectly poised to critique both the science and the fashions!
Join Torrey (@tereshkova2001) on Twitter and use the hashtag #DIYSciFilm to be part of the conversation, and don’t worry if you miss it–I’ll post a summary here on Friday.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles is Series 3, Episode 1 of the BBC series Poirot, available on Netflix.
Written by GeekGirlCon Manager of Editorial Services Winter Downs.
Written by GeekGirlCon Manager of Editorial Services Winter Downs.
About ten years ago, I made the decision to step outside of my bubble and explore the great wide world of comics. As a child, I’d pored over my dad’s old Silver Age Green Lantern comics. More recently I’d devoured trade paperbacks of The Sandman and Maus and Transmetropolitan borrowed from friends or from the library. I’d read books about what a versatile and challenging artform comics can be, and I wanted to find out more.
I steeled myself and marched off to my local comic store.
As soon as I walked in, the man working there swooped down on me. Maybe it’s hindsight that adds the memory of a glint in his eye at the sight of fresh prey. What was I looking for? he wanted to know. What ongoing series was I following? What had me on tenterhooks, waiting for it to hit the shelves?
“I… I… I like The Sandman?” I asked him.
“Ah,” he said, knowingly. The Sandman’s run had ended nearly a decade before.
Written by GeekGirlCon Manager of Editorial Services Winter Downs.
Over the past few years, a thriving indie games scene has sprung up, which is challenging the standard tropes and narratives in all kinds of games—videogames, tabletop roleplaying games—you name it, people are designing it for themselves.
Rise of the Videogame Zinesters by Anna Anthropy Image source: Google books
One aspect of this has come to be known as the queer games scene—games that center queer experiences and perspectives—and credit is due in particular to the trans women who are the pioneers of this movement. It began before Anna Anthropy’s 2012 book Rise of the Videogame Zinesters: How Freaks, Normals, Amateurs, Artists, Dreamers, Dropouts, Queers, Housewives, and People Like You Are Taking Back an Art Form, but that was definitely a turning point in awareness and momentum. The book is a call to action for everyone who considers themselves an outsider to mainstream culture, to use the tools at their disposal and tell their own stories.
