Trending, Malala Day, and other rants
By Megan Goodacre
Warning: this post is an embarrassing mix of self-promotion, childish humour, and serious issues. But the theme is, very loosely, about girls begin awesome.
I'm from that generation before the invention of self esteem (I'm stealing from, and misquoting, David Sedaris). But I'm also from the generation where girls are supposed to be super tough (like Sarah Connor in the second Terminator who up-ends her prison cell bed to do chin ups).
So when I publish something new, I act nonchalant but surreptitiously watch for it on the Ravelry Top 20 pattern list. Which is soooo silly, I know. The Top 20 is just a tiny snapshot of some algorithm that sorts a huge database of patterns. I'm hardly ever on it. But when I am, I'm all Sarah Connor about it (chin ups, shot gun), but also a little bit Sally Field (you like me!).
Anyways, just wanted to say that Grenache is in the top 20 at this particular moment (10:41 am July 10 2014). Which totally kicks ass. But I didn't even notice.
Having a good morning catching up on my Internet. Spent some time checking out Amy Poehler's Smart Girls. Especially love Jason Bateman's Boys Minute. Don't you love it when celebrities use their influence for good?
And spent some time reading about Malala Day.
Now, I can be a little cynical. (A little?) Any time I see a social issue campaign with someone holding a white placard with an inspirational slogan in black marker, I (might) secretly roll my eyes. I do not like it when complex issues are boiled down to bumper stickers and tweets. It smacks of sentimentalism, cliches, and bandwagons. It's too easy to Like or Retweet, without taking real action.
But talk to me about literacy, access to education, and I will be on that bandwagon. The (divine) Jian Ghomeshi on Q read an essay about literacy yesterday, and I was all like, Yeah! and pumping my fist in the air while driving. (Jian once talked so seductively about the Dewey Decimal system, that and it made me want to bed a librarian.)
This morning, I listened to Malala Yousafzai's speech to the UN on Malala Day last year. Recently, I heard her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, being interviewed on CBC.
He said that he and his daughter were travellers in the same caravan. The imagery stuck with me. We're all in this together. And Malala is an incredibly powerful spokesperson for the cause of education and non-violence.
July 14, 2014 is Malala Day. It represents the idea that education is power, and that no girl or boy should be denied education.
So check back on Monday, the 14th, we'll do something special in honour of Malala Day.
(above image from http://community.malala.org)
I'm from that generation before the invention of self esteem (I'm stealing from, and misquoting, David Sedaris). But I'm also from the generation where girls are supposed to be super tough (like Sarah Connor in the second Terminator who up-ends her prison cell bed to do chin ups).
So when I publish something new, I act nonchalant but surreptitiously watch for it on the Ravelry Top 20 pattern list. Which is soooo silly, I know. The Top 20 is just a tiny snapshot of some algorithm that sorts a huge database of patterns. I'm hardly ever on it. But when I am, I'm all Sarah Connor about it (chin ups, shot gun), but also a little bit Sally Field (you like me!).
Anyways, just wanted to say that Grenache is in the top 20 at this particular moment (10:41 am July 10 2014). Which totally kicks ass. But I didn't even notice.
Having a good morning catching up on my Internet. Spent some time checking out Amy Poehler's Smart Girls. Especially love Jason Bateman's Boys Minute. Don't you love it when celebrities use their influence for good?
And spent some time reading about Malala Day.
Now, I can be a little cynical. (A little?) Any time I see a social issue campaign with someone holding a white placard with an inspirational slogan in black marker, I (might) secretly roll my eyes. I do not like it when complex issues are boiled down to bumper stickers and tweets. It smacks of sentimentalism, cliches, and bandwagons. It's too easy to Like or Retweet, without taking real action.
But talk to me about literacy, access to education, and I will be on that bandwagon. The (divine) Jian Ghomeshi on Q read an essay about literacy yesterday, and I was all like, Yeah! and pumping my fist in the air while driving. (Jian once talked so seductively about the Dewey Decimal system, that and it made me want to bed a librarian.)
This morning, I listened to Malala Yousafzai's speech to the UN on Malala Day last year. Recently, I heard her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, being interviewed on CBC.
He said that he and his daughter were travellers in the same caravan. The imagery stuck with me. We're all in this together. And Malala is an incredibly powerful spokesperson for the cause of education and non-violence.
July 14, 2014 is Malala Day. It represents the idea that education is power, and that no girl or boy should be denied education.
So check back on Monday, the 14th, we'll do something special in honour of Malala Day.
(above image from http://community.malala.org)