Diary of a Smart Chick

Various writings from a curious mind

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  • 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?…

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    we shall overcome by Ellen Schinderman

    Interview with Thread Artist Ellen Schinderman

    September 7, 2018
    embroidery of mountains

    Interview with Feminist Embroidery Artist Maria Arseniuk

    September 4, 2018

    Interview with Sumi Ink and Honey Watercolor Artist Ms. Muse

    September 7, 2018
  • 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…

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    Related Posts

    book review memoir

    Book Review: Always Too Much and Never Enough

    September 4, 2018
    wisdom

    Wisdom From Every Year of Life

    March 16, 2019
    Junk Mountain

    Book Report: The Battle of Junk Mountain

    January 4, 2019
  • 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…

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    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
  • 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…

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  • 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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    literacy volunteer

    Literacy Volunteer: Appreciating the Ease of Reading and Writing

    August 19, 2019

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

    August 25, 2019
    blog typewriter

    Hello world! (Again)

    September 2, 2018
  • 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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    Related Posts

    we shall overcome by Ellen Schinderman

    Interview with Thread Artist Ellen Schinderman

    September 7, 2018
    creative duo Orange Barrel Industries

    Creative Duo Interview: Orange Barrel Industries

    August 20, 2019
    many human trafficking victims are children

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

    November 30, 2020
  • we shall overcome by Ellen Schinderman
    Art,  Fiber Art,  Interviews

    Interview with Thread Artist Ellen Schinderman

    September 7, 2018

    Ellen Schinderman is a self-taught thread artist based in Hollywood, California. She doesn’t focus on the labels of being a “feminist artist” or a “fiber artist”, preferring to just be an artist, working with thread as her medium. Nevertheless, her work offers powerful messages to and about women. Her work recontextualizes images of women, including images that may be considered pornographic. She works to remind us that women are not objects. Instead, we are thinking, feeling, amazing beings. She wants us to love who we are the way we are. Furthermore, she wants to support other women in doing the same. Those are messages she shares in her work as…

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    Related Posts

    Interview with Weaver Meghan Bogden Shimek

    September 4, 2018
    Michelle Anais Beaulieu-Morgan embroidery

    Interview with Embroidery Artist Michelle Anais Beaulieu-Morgan

    September 4, 2018
    India photography by Danielle Da Silva

    Interview with Director, Photographer and Activist Danielle da Silva

    September 7, 2018
  • Needle felting artist weijue wang
    Art,  Fiber Art,  Interviews

    Interview with Needle Felting Artist Weijue Wang

    September 7, 2018

    Needle felting artist Weijue Wang is an emerging Chinese feminist artist. She was born an only female child to a family in China. Now she lives in San Francisco. Weijue is navigating different identities and bringing her personal experience into her work. She works to approach difficult topics through humor and cuteness. Her art is in done in several mediums, particularly incorporating needle felting. This choice is a direct result of her own personal experience with cosmetic surgery, a practice her work regularly comments upon. We learn more from this interview. What are your earliest memories of becoming an artist? Before I was born, my dad’s best friend bought a…

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    Related Posts

    Interview with Weaver Meghan Bogden Shimek

    September 4, 2018
    creative duo Orange Barrel Industries

    Creative Duo Interview: Orange Barrel Industries

    August 20, 2019
    Mixed media artist Whitney Turetzky

    Interview with Mixed Media Artist Whitney Turetzky

    September 7, 2018
  • India photography by Danielle Da Silva
    Art,  Interviews

    Interview with Director, Photographer and Activist Danielle da Silva

    September 7, 2018

    Photographer Danielle da Silva is a multi-lingual, multi-disciplinary artist and activist. Her art includes writing, photography, and filmmaking. Moreover, she is a public speaker, the Founder and CEO of Photographers Without Borders (PWB), and Co-Founder of the Sumatran Wildlife Sanctuary. Furthermore, Danielle also serves on the board of the Dandelion Initiative, a grassroots organization run for and by trauma survivors. Although she tackles many different projects from many different angles, a single thread runs through all of her work: “communicating the extraordinary efforts of people around the world working to solve the most challenging problems.” She took some time out of her busy schedule to inspire us with this interview: The artist…

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    Related Posts

    screenplay readers

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

    August 15, 2020

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

    May 14, 2020
    Michelle Anais Beaulieu-Morgan embroidery

    Interview with Embroidery Artist Michelle Anais Beaulieu-Morgan

    September 4, 2018
  • Mixed media artist Whitney Turetzky
    Art,  Interviews

    Interview with Mixed Media Artist Whitney Turetzky

    September 7, 2018

    Whitney Turetzky is a self-taught visual artist whose mixed media work combines vintage photography, textiles and other ephemera with color block painting. Her pieces evoke powerful emotional responses while honoring common women of past and present. In this interview, she shares what makes this feminist work as well as how her art helps her pass on strong views of womanhood to her young daughter. Journey of a Mixed Media Artist Can you tell us a little bit about your journey to becoming an artist (and claiming that title, which can often be hard for people)? I have always been a maker, but I didn’t always call myself an artist. About…

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    Related Posts

    Michelle Anais Beaulieu-Morgan embroidery

    Interview with Embroidery Artist Michelle Anais Beaulieu-Morgan

    September 4, 2018
    Needle felting artist weijue wang

    Interview with Needle Felting Artist Weijue Wang

    September 7, 2018

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

    May 14, 2020
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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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