Famous authors speak out about harassment at conventions. And it happens all the time(!) And their stories are similar– it’s the same guys over and over again, never being forced to stop. That it should become expected and considered the norm is beyond the pale. It needs to stop. Here are Maria Dahvana Headley, Cherie Priest(!), Kat Howard, Stephanie Vahn, the original Elise Matthesen post… I’m sure there’s more we’re missing. Related is an excellent discussion by Mary Robinette Kowal— there are some horror stories in the comments as well.
There is a war on women going on at the state level. This week I gave money to planned parenthood in honor of Wendy Davis. But Texas is going to try to limit women’s right to choose again on July 1st. What can we do?
On a lighter note, here’s one path to making ring wraiths.
Kory Stamper with editorial correspondence I can’t send.
Excelsior Bev with a cute baby picture.
Little white lion with a clean bathroom.
Geeks vs nerds scientific-like.
Tiny cat pants with something scary weird if true.
Star turtle needed.
Oh, and back to feminisms. If you’ve had too much time since your last discussion of choice feminism and/or leaning out, Not of general interest and Ferule and Fescue both provide outlets.
Also… a dream shattered. To think I cried when he died because I’d never get to meet him. At least my other childhood hero, Martin Gardner, is still reputed to be a stand-up citizen and all around nice guy.
BTW, we were going to eventually finish this abortion post (based on an article by Judith Jarvitz Thompson), but Jim C. Hines wrote it this week instead.
Finally, we were an editor’s pick in last week’s carnival of personal finance. WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Grumpy Rumblings (of the formerly untenured) 
June 29, 2013 at 10:52 am
So apparently I’m a music geek (since I collect music but don’t make it) and a computer nerd (since I make software but don’t collect computer stuff particularly). So maybe nerds produce and geeks consume?
There are many people I love as writers whom I would not have in my house. Ditto musicians, artists, and a number of people whom I’ve had to work with.
June 29, 2013 at 2:46 pm
On the fat animals thing- the crucial question I have is whether the mice raised in the best pathogen free bubbles have also gotten fatter over time. Of course, our ability to design habitats to keep out microbes has increased over time, so what I’d hypothesize is that for “germ free” mice, they have actually gotten skinnier over time. Yeah, I think fatness is a bacterially transmitted disease (albeit one that might fail Koch’s postulates- I have no trouble conceptualizing it as a microbial community effect, rather than a specific germ of fatness type of thing. Though I wouldn’t put money on it either way). The piece the excerpt is from mentions viruses as another possibility, which I suppose is also reasonable.
Also, that bathroom is the best thing ever. Though the piece by Jim C. Hines comes in a close second for it’s pithiness.
June 29, 2013 at 3:17 pm
I can’t believe I never knew about Kory Stamper until now!!! Her shitte is f*cken hilarious!!
June 30, 2013 at 6:32 pm
Thanks for saying that. I had skipped over that one and then I went backke.
June 30, 2013 at 6:33 pm
I also loved the clean bathroom (what would you do if ordered to clean the bathroom as if the queen were visiting?)) and I was also fascinated by the scary weird (lab animals with the same diet are fatter now? perhaps just because they have air conditioning?). Thanks for sharing.
July 1, 2013 at 10:52 am
I have no idea what to do about the Texas thing other than to try and not puke because I really do find it completely nauseating and that classic photo of the woman holding a sign that says “I can’t believe I still have to protest this shit” comes to mind.
The ring wraith thing went over my head. And that makes me sad. I hate when jokes go over my head.
Thanks for introducing me to Harmless Drudgery. Looks right up my alley
Awwwww lookie the wee baby!
I choked on my water with the bathroom pic.
I’m definitely quite a hybrid of the nerd/geek worlds. What is that called? A neek? A gerd? A nerdy geek? A geeky nerd? I do think I relate to more words on the nerd side but the blue is much easier to read than that atrocious orange. What was he thinking? Definitely not a design nerd.
Oh wow that IS weird…
That Asimov thing just killed me. I haz a sad now…
The organ donor/abortion ting is striking and efficient. I like those kinds of arguments.
Congrats on editor’s pick!
July 1, 2013 at 11:30 am
Thanks for the link to Jim C. Hines’ piece. I shared it on FB even though I know it is going to set some of my “friends” off.