Diary of a Smart Chick

Various writings from a curious mind

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  • videocracy book
    Book Review

    Videocracy: Forms of Collaboration on YouTube

    August 23, 2019

    I recently read the book Videocracy. There was so much rich stuff in there about collaboration. Here are some of the things I learned and thoughts I had while reading this book. Videocracy: About the Book First I’ll tell you a little bit about the book Videocracy. It is all about YouTube trends. The head of the company’s “Culture and Trends” department is the author. Naturally, he has a lot of interesting insight into video watching trends. I think there’s some bias on his part to see YouTube as a mostly great thing. However, in spite of that there’s tons of interesting information in the book. I’m currently working on…

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    artist as culture producer

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

    August 18, 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
  • creative duo Orange Barrel Industries
    Art,  Interviews

    Creative Duo Interview: Orange Barrel Industries

    August 20, 2019

    A portion of the interview about this creative duo was originally published in Happily Hooked digital magazine.  Orange Barrel Industries is the collaborative art business of creative duo husband-and-wife printmaking team Hannah and Blake. They are a witty pair who got married in a series of art events. They share on their website, “At first, Blake thought Hannah was some kind of itchy, excitable midget and Hannah found Blake to be an uppity ascetic. It turns out, they were both right, but they learned to love each other, anyway. They bonded over their shared passions of printmaking, drawing, cooking and hard work.“ I had the opportunity awhile back to interview…

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    anonymous woman art by eva lake

    Interview with Photomontage Artist Eva Lake

    September 4, 2018
    Mixed media artist Whitney Turetzky

    Interview with Mixed Media Artist Whitney Turetzky

    September 7, 2018
    Needle felting artist weijue wang

    Interview with Needle Felting Artist Weijue Wang

    September 7, 2018
  • literacy volunteer
    About Me or This Blog

    Literacy Volunteer: Appreciating the Ease of Reading and Writing

    August 19, 2019

    This post originally appeared in 2007 on my old blog: Real Words for a Real Writer. It’s about my brief but memorable experience as a literacy volunteer. When I was about eighteen, I signed up as a Literacy Volunteer of Tucson. My work with the group didn’t last long (what can I say, I was eighteen and not exactly committed to anything for very long periods of time). However, it left a lasting impression on my life. Although I obviously knew that there were illiterate adults living around me, I hadn’t really understood until working with one what that meant on a daily basis. And I hadn’t understood until that…

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    writing crafting moods

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

    September 19, 2019
    blog typewriter

    Hello world! (Again)

    September 2, 2018

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

    August 25, 2019
  • artist as culture producer
    Book Review

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

    August 18, 2019

    The Artist as Culture Producer: Living and Sustaining a Creative Life is an essay collection edited by Sharon Louden in an effort to combat the stereotype that artists are working in studios alone, toiling away in solitary – even self-absorbed – pursuits. The essays are each by an artist who “reaches outside of the studio to extend creative energies and pursuits into his or her community.” She goes on to say she chose these artists for many reasons including their generosity and that “they inject creative culture into the cracks of society, where they alter the direction of small towns and large cities”. Each of the essays is as different…

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    Junk Mountain

    Book Report: The Battle of Junk Mountain

    January 4, 2019
    dementia memoir

    Dementia Memoir: Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words

    January 9, 2019
    wisdom

    Wisdom From Every Year of Life

    March 16, 2019
  • drowning feeling in depression
    About Me or This Blog,  Mental Health

    Dr(Owning) and S(Wallowing) in Depression

    May 23, 2019

    I originally wrote this post for Rebelle Society years ago. It remains relevant to my depression story today, so I wanted to share it again. It expresses how despite living with chronic relapses of depression over the past 25 years, I don’t always know in the beginning of each one what is going on. I think it’s something else, usually something that’s my fault, until I finally realize it’s depression again. Depression came back. It walked right in through the front door while I was busy guarding all of the windows and cracks. It ignored the sign warning that “danger, there’s a dog here to protect me”. It sidled up…

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    Related Posts

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

    August 25, 2019
    blog typewriter

    Hello world! (Again)

    September 2, 2018
    literacy volunteer

    Literacy Volunteer: Appreciating the Ease of Reading and Writing

    August 19, 2019
  • wisdom
    Book Review

    Wisdom From Every Year of Life

    March 16, 2019

    100 Years: Wisdom From Famous Writers on Every Year of Your Life is a book that has short quotations about every year of life from birth through age 100. I flipped through it a few times before reading it in full. I checked out the selections for my current age. Furthermore, I checked certain ages that seemed to be important milestones in my life. I even glanced at friends’ ages. However, this morning I finally sat down and read it from cover to cover. When I did, I discovered that doing so offers more than the sum of its parts. There Is Wisdom in Every Age Joshua Prager carefully curated the…

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    a love for movies

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

    September 22, 2020
    Nancy drew illustration

    Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her

    September 6, 2020
    videocracy book

    Videocracy: Forms of Collaboration on YouTube

    August 23, 2019
  • music interview
    Interviews

    Musician Interview with Heather Schmid About Transformations

    March 7, 2019

    I’m continuing to dig through the archives of the old, sadly deleted, version of this blog. In doing so, I came across this musician interview with Heather Schmid. She’s a globally-minded opera singer. Back in 2016, she released an album called Transformations. I had the opportunity at the time to interview her about this album. Although this musician interview is old now, I don’t want to lose it. Therefore, I’ve decided to republish it again. I hope it’ll encourage people to take a listen to the album. Musician Interview: Heather Schmid Heather Schmid is the subject of this musician interview. If you aren’t familiar with it, then take a moment…

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    India photography by Danielle Da Silva

    Interview with Director, Photographer and Activist Danielle da Silva

    September 7, 2018
    Threadwinners artist team

    Interview With Crochet Artists Alyssa and Liz of Threadwinners

    September 4, 2018
    creative duo Orange Barrel Industries

    Creative Duo Interview: Orange Barrel Industries

    August 20, 2019
  • memoir quotes
    Quotes

    Memoir Quotes: Borderlines by Caroline Kraus

    January 11, 2019

    Memoir quotes are often my favorite quotes. I really love reading memoirs. There is something so special about individual stories. In a memoir, the deeply personal becomes universal. We find what resonates for us. We read the words as though they are in our own voices. Somehow, one person’s story becomes the story of each of us. I’ve been digging through the archives of this blog to find items that were lost in a blog transition. I came across the following memoir quotes. They’re from a post I did in 2014 when reading the book Borderlines. Borderlines: A Memoir I recently read Borderlines: A Memoir by Caroline Kraus. This moving book tells the…

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  • therapist memoir unsayable
    Book Review

    Therapist Memoir: Annie Rogers’ Shining Affliction and Unsayable

    January 10, 2019

    This post is about two therapist memoir books. I originally published this as two separate posts, which I’ve combined and updated here. The therapist memoir The Unsayable: The Hidden Language of Trauma by Annie Rogers, PhD is one of my favorite books that I was assigned in grad school. I first read the book in one day. Then I read a big chunk of it for a second time shortly after. Then after that, I went back and checked out Rogers’ first book. It’s called A Shining Affliction: A Story of Harm and Healing in Psychotherapy. It’s another therapist memoir from earlier in her career. About Annie Rogers, Therapist Memoir Author Annie Rogers…

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    art of asking

    Book Review: Art of Asking

    January 5, 2019
    just girls

    Just Girls: YA LGBTQ Book Review

    January 8, 2019
    Junk Mountain

    Book Report: The Battle of Junk Mountain

    January 4, 2019
  • dementia memoir
    Book Review

    Dementia Memoir: Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words

    January 9, 2019

    This is a book review of a dementia memoir. I originally published this review here on the blog in 2014. As I update what was lost in my blog transition, I found that I wanted to share this again. The full title of this book is Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words: Travels with Mom in the Land of Dementia. That does a good job of summing up what this dementia memoir is about. The book, by Kate Whouley, is her experience with her aging mother as her mom declines into Alzheimer’s. Although that sounds sad, she manages to put a positive spin on the experience. Therefore, I found it…

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    Related Posts

    just girls

    Just Girls: YA LGBTQ Book Review

    January 8, 2019
    a love for movies

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

    September 22, 2020
    videocracy book

    Videocracy: Forms of Collaboration on YouTube

    August 23, 2019
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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.

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