[Cool Chicks] Some Epic Poetry Slamming

I started a new role at Google this week, so I've been extra busy (re: sorry, for ignoring you, blog).

I ran into these 3 AMAZING college women, slamming some good, feminist truth.

Definitely worth spending the 7 minutes watching.

A recent favorite: Lisa Congdon

A few years ago, I bought two prints from 20x200 without knowing much about the artist.

Well, 20x200 shutdown (and is apparently soon coming back to life), and I re-discovered the artist, Lisa Congdon, through the blog, Brain Pickings.

She's way cooler than I knew back then.

Not only did she make the two prints I bought, but she's also worked on these two super cool projects (I've pasted a blurb about each project below).

The Reconstructionists:

"Every Monday in 2013, we'll be publishing an illustrated portrait of one such trailblazing woman, along with a hand-lettered quote that captures her spirit and a short micro-essay about her life and legacy.

The project borrows its title from Anaïs Nin, one of the 52 female icons, who wrote of “woman's role in the reconstruction of the world” in a poetic 1944 diary entry — a sentiment that encapsulates the heart of what this undertaking is about: women who have reconstructed, in ways big and small, famous and infamous, timeless and timely, our understanding of ourselves, the world, and our place in it."

A Collection A Day:

"I came up with a few ideas, but A Collection a Day resonated most. It would be a project that would span exactly one year, from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010. On each of those 365 days, I would post a photograph of one of my own collections or a drawing or painting of an imagined collection on a blog called A Collection a Day. I am an voracious collector and I wanted to share some of my collections with the world."

Here's her blog & some of her work below so you can become a fangirl (or fanboy) too!

Even Janis Joplin had "girl problems"

When I tell people I'm from Texas and sense judgement in their eyes (re: my entire time in San Francisco), I like to say "Janis Joplin is from there."  

She was a bad ass.
"The Queen of Psychedelic Soul"
#46 on Rolling Stones List of Greatest Artists of All Time
A member of the rock-and-roll hall of fame
A trailblazer for female rock musicians.

"Janis put herself out there completely, and her voice was not only strong and soulful, it was painfully and beautifully real. She sang in the great tradition of the rhythm & blues singers that were her heroes, but she brought her own dangerous, sexy rock & roll edge to every single song. She really gave you a piece of her heart. And that inspired me to find my own voice and my own style." 

- Stevie Nicks

She was also very vulnerable.  
I forget that legends can feel the same emotions as mere mortals.

I'm currently reading "Just Kids" by Patti Smith (a must read), and she describes her last interaction with Janis before her death.  

Janis was in New York playing in Central Park and then met up with other artists afterwards for drinks at the Remington.  She spent most of her night talking to a good-looking guy who eventually left with a prettier groupie.

Janis started crying and said, "This always happens to me, man.  Just another night alone"

Patti took her back to the Chelsea Hotel and listened to her bemoan her fate.  She then wrote her a poem:

I was working real hard 

To show the world what I could do 

Oh I guess I never dreamed 

I'd have toWorld spins some photographs 

How I love to laugh when the crowd laughs 

While love slips through 

A theatre that is full 

But oh baby 

When the crowd goes home 

And I turn in and I realize I'm alone 

I can't believe 

I had to sacrifice you

In response, Janice said, "That's me, man.  That's my song"

I guess we're all more alike (and vulnerable) than we think.

Girls <> Boys in Media

We've launched a new learning & development program at Google about "unconscious biases" where I learned that a 1% bias against women can lead to major organization stratification (i.e., why CEOs are men).

It's great that Google is training us.  I find it fascinating and have a moderate bias myself.

There is one thing missing from the training -- biases in our business.

Girls (the one on HBO)

Vogue UK 2012

Love it or hate it.... you've got to give the TV show "Girls" credit.  

Lena Dunham (age 27) is the creator, director and star of one of the most talked about TV shows on HBO.  That, alone, deserves major praise.

I'm not sure about you, but I haven't accomplished anything remotely in the same league (I mean, my main accomplishment is just being "employed").

Personally, I love it.  It's quirky.  It's funny.  It's raw.  It's more real (at least for "young urbanites in developed countries") than almost any other show around.  

Despite being in a serious relationship now, my life has always been dominated by my "pack of chicks" (FYI - I think I might be the only person that still uses "chicks").  Girlfriends don't go away in your adult years -- if anything, I think the relationships become stronger.

It's the same in Girls -- the show has 4 strong female characters.  A strong "pack."

Thankfully, others love Girls too.  It's been renewed for a 3rd Season (yesss!).... here's the teaser.  In advance, I've started listening to the Spotify Girls Station (yep, it exists. it's awesome).

Cool Chicks: Stevie Nicks

Source: Annie Leibovitz

I've been a fan of Stevie Nicks & Fleetwood Mac for awhile, but this clip a Rolling Stones photo shoot with Annie Leibovitz (another cool chick) reminds me exactly how awesome she is.

She's so natural and soulful in her singing -- it almost sounds like she's having a conversation with you.

Despite her mystical, free-spirited appearance, she's had a prolific career -- producing over 40 Top 50 hits and selling 140 million albums.  In fact, she's spurred on a whole new generation of artists with Courtney Love, Michelle Branch, Mary J Blige, Sheryl Crow and Sarah McLachlan (among others) naming Stevie as a strong influence on their music careers.

At age 65, she's still going.  In 2010, she began working on a new solo album, "In Your Dreams."  Rolling Stones said, "it's her finest collection of songs since the eighties."

"It was my 16th birthday - my mom and dad gave me my Goya classical guitar that day. I sat down, wrote this song, and I just knew that that was the only thing I could ever really do - write songs and sing them to people." - stevie

In honor of Stevie, I'm listening to her ALL day on Spotify.  If only tambourines were allowed at my desk...

Source: Annie Leibovitz

Cool Chicks: Wendy Davis

It's one thing to complain about the war on women's reproduction rights in the US.  

It's another thing to fight it.  That's exactly what Wendy Davis did last night.

Cool Chicks: Oprah Winfrey

She was born to a teenage mother in Koscuisko, Mississippi.

She wore dresses made of potato sacks.

Her half-sister died of cocaine addiction.  

Her other half-sister was given away for adoption due to financial constraints.

Her half brother died of AIDs.

She was molested by her cousin, uncle and family friend, starting at age 9.

She gave birth at age 14 (the baby shortly died).

Sounds like the start to a depressing Lifetime movie.

Cool Chicks: Annie Leibovitz

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

At my Objectif's photography class last night, we studied Annie Leibovitz, a famous photographer.  My teacher said Annie has the uncanny ability to befriend anyone, making them feel instantly comfortable -- that's the secret to being a good portraitist.

Cool Chicks: Regina Dugan

(Source: All Things Digital)

This article hit the nail on the head.  Regina Dugan is a bad ass .

PhD in Mechanical Engineering.
First Female Director of DARPA (the super crazy R&D department of the US government)
Google Executive for Motorola
Demo-er of Jetson-like electronic pills & tattoos (start this video at 14 minutes)
Sassy.

She did a lot of "epic shit" at DARPA & wants to do the same at Motorola.  

She believes boredom is the enemy of innovation.  Good thing she looks to be anything BUT bored.  Here's the more "epic shit" in the future under Regina Dugan.

Cool Chicks: Mary Meeker

KPCB Internet Trends 2013 from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

In university, we were asked to tell a guest speaker our career plans; I said I planned on working in consulting.  The professor told me in front of the class to "enjoy being single forever, drinking beer & eating takeout alone in a hotel room" (to be fair, there was some truth to the statement).

Cool Chicks: Anais Nin

(Source: John Pearson)

Confession: I'd never heard of Anais Nin until I started reading Brain Pickings.  I picked up her volume 5 diary at the end of 2012 and devoured it -- it's as if I found a kindred spirit in her writing.  

She thinks and experiences life in a way I'd like to.  Her words are poetic, thoughtful and deep -- I want to underline every sentence.