One of the people hard at work behind the scenes here is Kyla Wagener, AKA Bitch webmonkey. I'm sharing this for two reasons. First because Kyla recently started her own blog. She's wicked smart. You should read it.
I also share this because in her role as webmonkey, Kyla's wrangling all the content from past issues to be posted here. Our plan is to make available all content from issues that are sold out, and selected content from issues that are still available for purchase (get them while they last!).
I'm up in Portland this week, visiting Debbie and hanging out at the Bitch office. I haven't been here in about a year, and it's amazing to see how bustling the office is—with interns and volunteers and new staffers (hi, Brian!)—while maintaining a relatively unfrenzied vibe, even though it's the middle of production on a new issue. This kind of calm, um, was never really achieved when I was working here. I'm going to try not to read anything into that.
I was about a month into my job at Bitch and seeking meetings with many who are closest to B-Word's heart. I had the pleasure of meeting the individual who wrote this pitch about a year ago in a Seattle coffeeshop. Her words have blown us away and got us thinking about raising money and the values around procuring donations, sponsorship, planning events/fundraisers and grant funding and different ways to get folks engaged enough in our work to make a contribution.
...for Estelle Getty — also known as the Golden Girls' Sophia Petrillo — who died today at age 84. Though her shoes were undoubtedly tiny, has any sitcom actress really filled them since? That's a rhetorical question, by the way, since each and every one of those smartypantssuited retirees kicked ass, but today's about Sophia. So share your favorite "Picture It: Sicily, 1912..." moments in the comments section, why don'tcha?
I just happened to stumble upon this inspiring musical project spearheaded by singer, Deeyah (often referred to as the 'Muslim Madonna'), today. She describes it as this:
'Sisterhood' is the collective name for a mixtape project of previously
unreleased songs written by young up and coming female Muslim rappers,
singers and poetesses from the UK, Europe and US.
Last night I co-hosted a fundraising house party for the kick-ass feminist media organization Women in Media and News. I've been involved in the organization since its planning and launch, and am proud to be its founding board chair.
B-Word/Bitch magazine is thrilled to announce our first lecture series, “Feminist Perspectives in Pop Culture,” a four-evening series made possible by the generous funding of the Oregon Council for the Humanities! We are so happy that we've been dancing around the office. And then panic set in because we need a confirmed line-up of folks to speak!
So, I thought I'd share our potential speaker list, the folks we'd LOOOOVE to partner with and see what y'all have to say about it. Drumroll please.............
Please spread as far and wide as you possibly can...
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Here at Bitch, we're in search of a perfect someone to join our tiny but dedicated staff as a program director (full-time) at our office in Portland, Oregon. Someone bright, with a deep talent and love for analyzing media/pop culture from a perspective rooted in social/economic justice, who's passionate about both print publishing and newer (to us, at least) forms like online, audio, and video, someone excited about helping shape the future of the work we do at Bitch (and who recognizes Bitch's potential), someone committed to DIY/grassroots operating, who understands Bitch's role as both critiquing what's crappy and praising what's good, who's as excited about Bitch as a multimedia organization as Bitch as a magazine…
I stumbled upon this little brooch over at Etsy.com. In light of our previous post with Tina Fey's original proclamation: 'Bitches get stuff done!', I couldn't help putting it here on sm[art].
Always a west coast gal, Amy has happily called Portland home for three years. Amy believes that nonprofit organizations don't have to lose their politics to grow and expand and also believes a goal of many nonprofits should be to work themselves out of a job, because that means you've achieved your mission. Amy lives in SE Portland with her family and loves to cook, read, hike, play cards, and go to the movies.
Andi is the co-founder of Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture. A longtime freelance writer and illustrator, Andi's work has appeared in numerous periodicals and newspapers.
She passes her non-Bitch hours watching television and embroidering portraits of dogs, often simultaneously. Her other interests include painting, walking, candy, Scrabble, and the interrobang.
What I'm reading:
Operating Instructions, by Anne Lamott; Bonk, by Mary Roach; The Dangerous Joy of Dr. Sex, by Pagan Kennedy, many back issues of the New Yorker
What I'm listening to:
The Band, T Rex, Elton John's Madman Across the Water
Briar Levit is a graphic designer who blends her love of design with social/environmental progress. She first began working with Bitch in 2003 (starting with the Transformation and Reinvention issue). After a grad school hiatus to Central Saint Martins in London, Briar has returned to where she knows she belongs, not only as a designer, but as a feminist and pop culture junkie.
Bitch co-founder Lisa Jervis's official bio makes her sound far more official than she actually is. She is not an international woman of mystery.
What I'm reading:
I can't update this page as compulsively as I do my goodreads.com profile, so you should check that out if you are really curious.
What I'm listening to:
My pandora.com "avant pop" station.
What I'm watching:
My So-Called Life, newly borrowed on DVD
Great documentaries like Sir, No Sir and things by Errol Morris Buffy, 'cause I'm always watching Buffy
Silly summertime romantic comedies, because sometimes I am a sucker