One writes of scars healed, a loose parallel to the pathology of the skin, but there is no such thing in the life of an individual. There are open wounds, shrunk sometimes to the size of a pin-prick but wounds still. The marks of suffering are more comparable to the loss of a finger, or of the sight of an eye. We may not miss them, either, for one minute in a year, but if we should there is nothing to be done about it.
Yesterday, I wanted to suggest a few self-taught women programmers for an interview series (which someone else is conducting). However, I wasn’t sure how many of them had learned their craft via non-traditional methods, so, rather than contacting everyone individually, I put the word out on Twitter. I thought that a handful of the women I know follow me would respond if they were interested in participating and fit the bill.
But I keep forgetting I have a wider reach on the internet than I used to. As of now, that tweet has 335 retweets, 27 favorites and more responses than I can count.
This, of course, is awesome and I’m so grateful for and impressed by the interest. Unfortunately, I can’t accomodate all of the responses for this particular interview series. But I have another venue for you to tell your stories.
A while back, I made the High Visibility Project, to highlight the stories of women in technology. I haven’t had the bandwidth to keep up with it, though, and it’s been languishing on my list of things to redesign and reboot. But, well, why miss an opportunity like this to give more women a platform? Let’s start the reboot right now. If you were interested being interviewed, I would like to formally invite you to submit your story to the High Visibility Project and help us build a repository for women’s stories. You can submit no matter what your skill level or background is. Also, if you’re just starting out, watching the videos there is a great way to figure out your own path.
“Some people have said to me, ‘Well, don’t you think that kind of success spoils one as an artist? If you’re a punk rocker, you don’t want to have a hit record…’
And I say to them, ‘Fuck you!’
One does their work for the people. And the more people you can touch, the more wonderful it is. You don’t do your work and say, ‘I only want the cool people to read it.’ You want everyone to be transported, or hopefully inspired by it.”
When Patti Smith gives you creative advice, you listen.
There’s suddenly quite a lot going on. I have to capture it all in writing or it might scamper away from me. Here’s what I’m up to in the near future.
Upcoming speaking/travel:
Other things!
You can email me or reach me on Twitter with questions about anything. Or offers of drinks.
I’ve idly wished for a personal assistant off and on for a long time, and it finally makes financial and professional sense to try it out. So I’m officially looking for one on a virtual basis.
Things with which I would like assistance:
All work can be done via email and/or phone, so it doesn’t matter exactly where you are physically - however, I’m currently in the US in the Eastern time zone and will be moving in two months to the Central time zone, so sticking close to that would probably help us both out.
I think, right now, the amount of work would average around five hours a week, possibly more. If it works out well, that would probably increase. If you’re located in Chicago and would be willing to help with in-person organization, it would definitely increase.
If you’re interested in learning more about web development, I’d also be more than happy to make this an opportunity to learn about working in the field and to connect with people I know. If you don’t already know me on the internets, swing through my website or my Twitter profile to get a sense of what I do.
If you’d like to chat about it, please send me an email at hello@jenmyers.net to tell me about your experience and rates.
“Great people do things before they know they’re ready.” My fantasy BFF, Amy Poehler, on courage.
Because we are human, because we are bound by gravity and the limitations of our bodies, because we live in a world where the news is often bad and the prospects disturbing, there is a need for another world somewhere, a world where Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers live.
“I’ve been looking for someone a long time… I didn’t know her name or where she lived — I’d never seen her before. A girl was killed, and because of that, I found what I was looking for. Now I know your name, where you live, and how you look.” — In a Lonely Place (Nicholas Ray, 1950)
The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you’re allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it’s definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it honestly, and tell it as best you can. I’m not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter.
Be disciplined. Work hard. Be prepared to hear ‘no’ a lot and don’t care. My dad taught me an important lesson, which is to look at why someone does something rather than what they actually do. A lot of artists are making art because they they want to be cool and they want people to like them. That’s the wrong reason to be making art. Be prepared to have a lot of people not enjoy your work and have it not bother you; you should do it because you want to do it.
“Because you worked hard, this little terribly-dressed girl has a puppy. And this little puppy has a home. If Leslie’s taught me anything, it’s that yes, 98% of the time, this job is frustrating and you hit brick walls. But the other 2%, it’s stuff like this kid. And that puppy.” Wisdom from Tom Haverford.
Bill Lipold at I Rock Cleveland calls bullshit on that “punk rock is bullshit” opinion piece going around.
