Diary of a Smart Chick

Various writings from a curious mind

  • Home
  • About
  • Home
  • About
  • many human trafficking victims are children
    Interviews,  Mental Health

    Dressember: Fight Human Trafficking Through A Community Style Challenge and The Power of Crochet, Slow Fashion, and Sustainability

    November 30, 2020

    Dressember is a movement to fight human trafficking. Each December, teams come together to raise money for the cause. They do so by committing to wearing a dress or tie every day of the month, sharing it on social media along with information about human trafficking, sex trafficking, and slave labor, and asking people to donate. I’ve decided to join the Namaste and Crochet team this year, which has an additional component: raising awareness about the power of crochet and knitting as slow fashion, sustainable, ethical antidotes to fast fashion which is one major contributor to slave labor around the world. My personal fundraising goal is $1000. Ready to donate?…

    Read More

    Related Posts

    music interview

    Musician Interview with Heather Schmid About Transformations

    March 7, 2019
    embroidery of mountains

    Interview with Feminist Embroidery Artist Maria Arseniuk

    September 4, 2018
    Threadwinners artist team

    Interview With Crochet Artists Alyssa and Liz of Threadwinners

    September 4, 2018
  • a love for movies
    Book Review

    A Movie Lover’s Search for Romance: A Dating Memoir (Author Interview)

    September 22, 2020

    I was immediately curious when I found out that author Joanna J. Charnas had come out with a new book: A Movie Lover’s Search for Romance. I had reviewed her book about chronic illness a few years ago and thoroughly appreciated her transparent authenticity as she addressed a difficult topic. I was intrigued by her new choice of topic, seemingly lighthearted – and yet proving, as I read each page, that it was also quite heartfelt and meaningful. In this new title, she uses a diary-like format to share two intertwined stories: her love for movies and her journeys in dating life as a woman in her forties and fifties. She…

    Read More

    Related Posts

    Junk Mountain

    Book Report: The Battle of Junk Mountain

    January 4, 2019
    therapist memoir unsayable

    Therapist Memoir: Annie Rogers’ Shining Affliction and Unsayable

    January 10, 2019
    books about walking

    5 Books About Walking to Inspire as You Move through the World

    January 7, 2019
  • Nancy drew illustration
    Book Review

    Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her

    September 6, 2020

    When the libraries here closed back in March (and still haven’t really re-opened) my mom sent me a bunch of books from her personal library to satisfy my reading itch. I’ve been reading much more slowly than usual but I’ve finished a few of them, including the just-finished Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak. It took me a minute to really get into it but a few chapters in I became totally immersed. Nostalgia: Nancy Drew I will always have a special place in my heart for Nancy Drew. Reading the book, it became clear that many women across multiple generations have this…

    Read More

    Related Posts

    artist as culture producer

    Recommended Essay Reading: The Artist as Culture Producer … and Thoughts on Creative Collaboration

    August 18, 2019
    just girls

    Just Girls: YA LGBTQ Book Review

    January 8, 2019
    videocracy book

    Videocracy: Forms of Collaboration on YouTube

    August 23, 2019
  • screenplay readers
    Art,  Reviews

    How to Become a Reader for Screenplays (A Class I Just Took Online)

    August 15, 2020

    This morning I was browsing around on Instagram and saw an ad for a Masterclass to learn how to become a reader for screenplays. I have previously researched how to become a reader for publishers but never followed through on it. I never thought about becoming a reader for screenplays. The idea is intriguing. So I decided to sign up and hop right into the class. What is the Class? This was a free online MasterClass offered by Hollywood Gatekeepers. It was hosted by Carolyn J. Carpenter who has a long history of working in theatre, screenplay writing, and becoming a story reader. As a reader, she often saw the same…

    Read More

    Related Posts

    Mixed media artist Whitney Turetzky

    Interview with Mixed Media Artist Whitney Turetzky

    September 7, 2018
    Maryanne Moodie weaving

    Interview with Weaving Artist Maryanne Moodie

    September 4, 2018
    India photography by Danielle Da Silva

    Interview with Director, Photographer and Activist Danielle da Silva

    September 7, 2018
  • low hanging fruit
    Reviews,  Theatre

    Female Veterans Surviving Homelessness Together – Low Hanging Fruit, a Compelling Play

    July 24, 2020

    Heather Gordon, Cat Brooks, Livia Demarchi in Low Hanging Fruit. Photo credit: Mario Parnell Photography Intro: A Compelling Play One of the things that I miss the most during the restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic is seeing live performances including theater. So, I’ve been looking back at some of my old reviews of events like that, reminiscing. Here’s a post from July 2016 about a compelling play that really moved me, enough so that I still remember the power of it four years later (although it’s so hard to believe it’s been that long since I saw it!) Compelling. That is the word that keeps coming to mind as I…

    Read More

    Related Posts

    screenplay readers

    How to Become a Reader for Screenplays (A Class I Just Took Online)

    August 15, 2020
    book review memoir

    Book Review: Always Too Much and Never Enough

    September 4, 2018
  • Art

    How COVID Has Inspired Digital Performance Art and Where It Might Go

    May 14, 2020

    Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash I have intended to get back to posting here regularly for quite some time. I haven’t done that for myriad reasons but a lot of things have inspired me recently, and I’m finally motivated to get back to it. Tonight I am watching Digital Witness: Performance in the Era of Online-Only, a Zoom panel discussion hosted by SOMArts. It’s a smart, articulate, intriguing, edgy discussion about how performance artists are adapting to a digital forum in the era of COVID-19. Everyone Is Active On Screens Right Now It speaks to something I have been thinking about a lot lately, which I haven’t quite really been…

    Read More

    Related Posts

    Maryanne Moodie weaving

    Interview with Weaving Artist Maryanne Moodie

    September 4, 2018
    anonymous woman art by eva lake

    Interview with Photomontage Artist Eva Lake

    September 4, 2018
    India photography by Danielle Da Silva

    Interview with Director, Photographer and Activist Danielle da Silva

    September 7, 2018
  • Fanny Ara of Sintonia Flamenco
    Dance,  San Francisco

    Flamenco Dance Interview: Sintonia Presents “Tattooed”

    September 30, 2019

    There’s about to be a flamenco performance at the newly-renovated Presidio Theatre here in San Francisco. The performance looks powerful. The group performing it looks fascinating. And I’m excited to be able to share a dance interview with you below so you can learn more about all of it. But first, let’s discuss the performance and the group behind it … The Performance: Tattooed Tattooed is “an experimental flamenco dance performance about survivors’ strength and resilience.” Tattooed is a flamenco dance performance by Sintonia. The performance consists of “theatrical vignettes that utilize each dancer and musician as a player in the narrative.” It is about trauma and abuse. It explores how…

    Read More
  • writing crafting moods
    About Me or This Blog,  Mental Health

    How Writing, Crafting, and Depression Came Together in a Book

    September 19, 2019

    This is a post about the intersection of writing, crafting, and depression in my life. It originally appeared on the Sibel Hodge blog as a guest post. It was intended to promote my then-new book, Crochet Saved My Life. Since it’s no longer available on the original site, I thought I’d re-publish it again here. Crafting Together a Life One Stitch at a Time  For many years I led parallel lives where the different passions and experiences that I had didn’t seem to intersect much. As I’ve gotten older and grown into myself more, things have begun to converge. I’ve become more fully the person I am meant to be.…

    Read More

    Related Posts

    blog typewriter

    Hello world! (Again)

    September 2, 2018
    drowning feeling in depression

    Dr(Owning) and S(Wallowing) in Depression

    May 23, 2019

    Launching Crochet Saved My Life: Early on My Book Publishing Journey

    August 25, 2019
  • inspiration to write
    Writing

    Inspiration: Before the Writing, Between the Writing, Comes the Inspiration

    September 10, 2019

    Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash My favorite feeling in the entire world is inspiration. I love to be in love. I’m thrilled during days when I feel excitement. And I’ve even been known to thoroughly indulge in immersing myself in red-hot moments of anger … But if I could only feel one feeling for the rest of my life, I would choose inspiration every single time. Inspiration is that hard-to-capture feeling of being simultaneously aware of your complete interconnectedness with the world around you and yet sure that your voice matters in the big scheme of things. It’s that feeling that you have been so touched by something in…

    Read More
  • About Me or This Blog,  Mental Health

    Launching Crochet Saved My Life: Early on My Book Publishing Journey

    August 25, 2019

    This was originally a guest post on the website Whip Up. I wrote it to promote my then-new book, Crochet Saved My Life. That was back in 2012. Since that post is no longer up on the original site, I thought I’d re-publish it again here. It was an early step on my self-publishing journey and my explorations into Crafting to Heal. There I am … a doubled-over heap of empty sobs balled up onto the bathroom floor, rocking back and forth trying to calm away the palpitating pain. My mind keeps racing around and around, exploring the tempting (but frightening) options for suicide. I could take some pills, I…

    Read More

    Related Posts

    writing crafting moods

    How Writing, Crafting, and Depression Came Together in a Book

    September 19, 2019
    literacy volunteer

    Literacy Volunteer: Appreciating the Ease of Reading and Writing

    August 19, 2019
    blog typewriter

    Hello world! (Again)

    September 2, 2018
 Older Posts

Support Indie Writing

support indie writing on patreon

Support my work through micro-donations at Patreon.

I commit to using my skills / experience in writing, crafting and therapeutic creativity to assist others in understanding, exploring and achieving their creative dreams, honoring their artistic selves and healing their inner and outer worlds. This is done primarily through the channel of crochet but incorporates information from other areas of craft, art, creativity, and psychology. Subscribers receive my newsletter and additional rewards at various funding levels. As we reach collective milestones, I donate copies of my books to those in need.

Books I’ve Authored

Kathryn vercillo's books

Categories

  • About Me or This Blog
  • Animals
  • Art
  • Book Review
  • Dance
  • Fashion
  • Fiber Art
  • Interviews
  • Mental Health
  • Quotes
  • Reviews
  • San Francisco
  • Theatre
  • Writing

Topics

activism artist art of asking body image book report book review books books I love California collaboration community crafting crochet crochet saved my life crowdsourced funding depression embroidery essays fashion feminist fiber art healing interview memoir mental health music narrative needle felting performance art photography photomontage reading relationships rescue dog San Francisco stigma storytelling sustainability theatre therapy dog walking weaving women writing young adult novel

Archives

  • November 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • May 2020
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • May 2019
  • March 2019
  • January 2019
  • September 2018
Savona Theme by Optima Themes