Initiate Panic Mode

It’s that time of the quarter again, so don’t expect a lot of updates from me this week. This morning I got the lovely surprise that my end of the quarter departmental research presentation was being moved from Tuesday March 15th to Friday March 11th, eliminating four days of preparation that I would have really appreciated. On top of that our professor finally passed out our take home final exam two weeks late…and I have to finish that while scrambling to finish my research. Gah.

At least this means I’m done with the quarter much earlier, so I effectively get two weeks of spring break instead of one. If last quarter is any indication, I will be quite inebriated Friday night.

So yeah. No sleep for me this week, and if I blog at all it’ll probably be while on the bus, which is about the only chance I’ll have to read blogs or write my own. Though, I could use those extra minutes to read more papers… aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!

Back to work. Yay grad school.

Import awards ceremony tonight!

…What? No, not the Oscars – who cares about those? I mean something much more important – The Bloggies!

Winners will start being announced at 8 pm EST (5pm PST) via their twitter feed and Facebook page. Blag Hag is nominated for Best Weblog about Religion – but I gotta admit, I think Friendly Atheist is the favorite in that category. Oh well, as long as we don’t lose to Norse mythology or the person who thinks they’re talking to their dead child’s ghost.

Unfortunately I’m going to be a grad student recruitment dinner when the awards are announced. Well, I mean, it’s great because I get to meet the prospective students and get free delicious food, but it will also be kind of rude for me to stare at my iPhone the whole time. I’ll have to surreptitiously check it occasionally.

How to make guys like you

Here that, ladies and gentlemen? Nerds = awesome to date.

…Now, if only I knew how to find the cute godless nerds in Seattle – I think we’re all too busy hiding in our apartments reading blogs and playing video games to actually run into each other. What a conundrum.

It’s the little assumptions

Via Geek Feminism Blog:Advertisement: Can you solve one of our puzzles? Can you explain it to your mom? We’re hiring hackers with people skills.
Post It Note: My mom has a PhD in Math

It’s amazing how often science oriented speakers or advertisements will say stuff like “Explain it so mom/grandma can understand.” One of those things you take for granted until someone points it out to you. Does feminism have more important issues to talk about? Sure. But the little assumptions can add up.

It's the little assumptions

Via Geek Feminism Blog:Advertisement: Can you solve one of our puzzles? Can you explain it to your mom? We’re hiring hackers with people skills.
Post It Note: My mom has a PhD in Math

It’s amazing how often science oriented speakers or advertisements will say stuff like “Explain it so mom/grandma can understand.” One of those things you take for granted until someone points it out to you. Does feminism have more important issues to talk about? Sure. But the little assumptions can add up.

I’ve found my new favorite atheist

And she’s a 14 year old girl!

“There’s so much violence that comes with religion. So you know what? Stop giving these things to children. Let them form their own decisions when they’re older and actually have the intelligence and mental capacity to make up their own minds.” This.

I’d say someone needs to tell her to start a Secular Student Alliance at her high school…but she may not even be in high school yet. I freaking love young activists. We are the future of secularism!

I've found my new favorite atheist

And she’s a 14 year old girl!

“There’s so much violence that comes with religion. So you know what? Stop giving these things to children. Let them form their own decisions when they’re older and actually have the intelligence and mental capacity to make up their own minds.” This.

I’d say someone needs to tell her to start a Secular Student Alliance at her high school…but she may not even be in high school yet. I freaking love young activists. We are the future of secularism!

Save the date – April 2!

That’s when Rock Beyond Belief will be rocking Fort Bragg, North Carolina! It’s a completely free day of skeptical entertainment in response to the offensive and religious Rock The Fort.
It’ll be featuring speakers like Dan Barker, Richard Dawkins, Margaret Downey, Dale McGowan, Hemant Mehta, Eugenie Scott, and meeeeeeee! And a bunch of great musicians, too (which does not include me, thankfully for ears of the audience). There are still cool events and information being added (you know there’ll so be a hotel after party), so make sure to keep an eye on their official website.

If you’re near NC, I hope you check out this event! Not only should it be a ton of fun, but it’s a great response to the evangelistic event held last year. And who knows when’s the next time I’ll be anywhere near NC, haha.

And major props to Justin Griffith for being the major force in organizing this – and he just became a daddy a couple of days ago! Congrats, Justin! Best of luck controlling your atheist nature and not eating your baby.

I suck at titles

I’m doing a speaking tour in Minnesota in March, and if I don’t come up with a title for my talk soon, my host groups are going to greet me with torches and pitchforks. Okay, it’s not quite that bad yet – but I certainly am being a stereotypically difficult speaker at the moment. There are flyers to be made! It’s odd being on the other side for once.

Anyway, I need your help. I’m absolutely horrible at coming up with creative, witty titles. My talk is basically about:

  1. Why women should give up religion
  2. Why skepticism benefits feminism
  3. Why atheists should be feminists
  4. Why women are underrepresented in atheism, and how to help fix that.

I am so excited to give this talk in rural Minnesota.

But right now my working title is “Atheism & Feminism,” which is embarrassingly awful. Some fun titles my friends have suggested so far include:

  • Dispelling Fallacies and Phallusies
  • Denying The Man In Charge: Hey, It Worked For Suffrage
  • How To Be Cooler Than God: Respect Women
  • God’s Lady Problem: Breaking up with abusive supernatural beings
  • Free Beer At This Talk

…Okay, maybe not that last one, though it would probably be effective.

Any suggestions, my lovely readers?

On the bright side…

I had a blast at the Secular Student Alliance Southern California leadership summit. I don’t exactly feel like writing a big summary at the moment, but I wanted to rub it in that I saw a bunch of awesome speakers and just got out of a hot tub. I think this photo pretty much summarizes my happiness:I heart everyone from the SSA.