Podcasts for Beginners #WC39

As I mentioned before, I was on a lot of panels at WisCon 39. They were super fun to do albeit somewhat energy and time consuming. This one was the first one I did and was totally worth going to even if I’d only gotten an hour of sleep beforehand.

 

 

Podcasts for Beginners #WC39

(Click the link above to go to the show page on the Nerdgasm Noire website)

 

Normally, I would wait until whenever I do my Catching Up post next month to post this, but I decided to post it sooner. This is on the Nerdgasm Noire podcast feed, but it’s technically not an episode, it’s more of an extra gem for the listeners. If you’re looking to start a podcast this is definitely helpful, because we let you know what to expect in the beginning and some good beginner resources. Hope you guys enjoy it!

Check out this post on Nerdy Girl Swag

Catching Up: April and May 2015

So I didn’t make a Catching Up post last month because I was getting ready for WisCon but don’t worry I got the wrap up for the few things I did during April and May.

Arsenal for Democracy:

• More Than A Hairstyle: The Resurgence of Natural Hair
• Film the Police
• After Baltimore: In defense of riots

I was also in an episode of the Arsenal for Democracy radio show.

Take a moment to check those out if you can. Also make sure you check out the Nerdgasm Noire website! We’re going to start putting even more content there as well!

Check out this post on Nerdy Girl Swag

I’m Going To WisCon!

Two years ago was the first time I went to WisCon. My friend and podcast co-host Jamie had suggested I go after my first Arisia convention. I thought it would be a fun trip, especially because before and after I’d be able to hang out with my Chicago friends. It was an interesting experience and became a regular trip with me and my friends.
This year I’m paneling again! About what, you ask? Of course Black nerd culture as it pertains to Black women. I’m super excited and wanted to share with everyone what panels I’ll be on.
Saturday 5/23/2015
Podcasts for Beginners

• 8:30am – 9:45am
• So you want to start a podcast. You have a computer, a mic, and Skype. What else do you need? How much is good editing software? Where’s the best place to host? How do you get your podcast listed in all the right places? A panel of seasoned podcasters is ready to answer your questions, give great advice, and probably pop their Ps.
• Twitter: #PodcastsforBeginners

Just Say No to #DollarStoreThor: A Sleepy Hollow panel

• 2:30pm – 3:45pm
• The first half of Sleepy Hollow season 2 had much of the fandom asking: WTF happened! The first season was amazing and gave us all hope. The second season dismantled nearly everything that made it attractive to its viewers. Fans wondered why it was so hard for networks to consistently depict characters of color with complexity and respect. But then the second half of the season happened, and everything changed. And that finale was a blatant apology to every fan who abandoned the show. Is this the power of the audience made manifest? Should we give Sleepy Hollow another chance?
• Twitter: #NoDollarStoreThor

Sunday 5/24/2015
Is Anyone Listening? Black Women’s Experience in Podcasting

• 8:30am – 9:45am
• Podcasting has been around for more than a decade and has given access to different voices without access to commercial radio or television. Yet around 70 of the top 100 podcasts in Stitcher & iTunes are hosted exclusively by men, with only around 10 exclusively women-led. This number is drastically smaller for exclusively Black women hosts of podcasts. This panel invites Black women to share their experiences as a podcast host, challenges keeping an audience engaged, being relegated to “niche,” and combating sexism and racism in another media largely dominated by white, cis-gendered men.
• Twitter: #IsAnyoneListening

Standing In The Sun: How Shonda Rhimes Redirected Hollywood’s Spotlight Onto Intersectional Feminism

• 2:30–3:45 pm

• Whether you love her, hate her, or are just absolutely annoyed with her, you cannot deny that Shonda Rhimes has significantly changed the course of American television and how members of marginalized groups are portrayed onscreen. Ms. Rhimes made her mark by challenging and redefining “The Norm”, and in return, she has under her belt over eleven years of acclaim, four wildly popular dramas, and a growing number of Emmy and Golden Globe awards and nominations. Get ready as some of Shondaland’s frequent guests take us on a tour of what Shonda got right, what Shonda could have done better, and what Shonda absolutely nailed!
• #ShondaRhimesSpotlight

Nerdgasm Noire Network Live At Wiscon!

• 4:00–5:15 pm
• Ladies of the podcast Nerdgasm Noire Network take over Wiscon to discuss various topics such as best sci-fi movies & books, fantasy versus sci-fi genres, terrible witches in Sleepy Hollow, increased representation of POC in network television, and more! Come hang out with us! Bring your nerd rants, corny jokes and guilty pleasures!
• #NNNLiveAtWC39

If you’re there, make sure you come see me! If not, make sure you check out the hashtags!

Check out this post on Nerdy Girl Swag

Proud

This post will be fairly short and is being fairly quickly so forgive me for any typos or spelling errors that may occur. I promise I’ll come back and fix them later (or learn how to use a spellcheck, maybe?), however right now I’m super excited and super proud of myself and my associates.

Like I’ve said before I am a part of a project called Nerdgasm Noire Network. It’s a podcast by black nerd girls about nerdom, nerdery and nerdism. The original idea came from my friend Melissa who loves reading comic books, books and watching sci-fi shoes just as much as I do. After a few really funny, really nerdy conversations she admitted to me that she wanted to start a podcast that talked about various parts of nerd culture. I was totally down for it, because I loved the idea and got super passionate about it.

What I didn’t realize was, that I was going to love this project like it was my own child! It started off simple, with just a podcast and a twitter, then grew into a tumblr as we started finding more and more things that we wanted to share, but didn’t have time to share on the podcast. We thought we were just going to stick with the tumblr, but after lots and lots of ideas for serious writing that just didn’t fit into the tumblr format we decided to start an actual blog.

And here it is!

My pride and F-ing joy, and I’m pretty sure the pride and joy of the other girls in the podcast and the other writers who so graciously accepted our invitation for them to write for us. Just looking at the stats from the launch day today made me giggle with excitement. It felt so good to facilitate this with my co-hostesses, it feels like the work I’d rather be doing. I mean, I got so excited looking at the stats that I had to send a message to the writer who got the most views today and congratulate him on having the most views! I was 2 seconds away from sending him a gift basket. That’s not strange right?

 

So I guess this is where I put the rundown on the entire project, yet?

Podcast Feed: For those who aren’t fond of iTunes.

iTunes link: For those who are fond of iTunes.

WordPress feed: For adding to your RSS reader.

Tumblr feed: Also for adding to your RSS.

Twitter: To follow us, and read our tweets, and whatnots.

 

Please check us out!

 

I’m A Busy Girl

In an effort to do more of what I like in life, and do less of the automatic work-sleep, work-sleep routine, I’ve been doing a lot more of my hobbies. In doing that, I realized that my job is just that, a job, and that if I ever want to actually be comfortable in my life I need to either move up in it, or move into something else I like.

So, for the past week I’ve been diligently working on my resume, working on my own silly projects, and looking for jobs. I thought it would be easier than it actually is, and I certainly didn’t expect this much stress, but I can’t say I dislike it.
The main issue I’m having right now is my resume. I didn’t realize how long it had been since I updated my resume til last week when I actually started looking for other jobs. What makes me even more sad is how little I’ve had to update. I still have the same basic skills, which will help with the jobs that I’ve found and want to apply for, but the new skills I’ve developed are very specific to the job and the are I work in. It’s disconcerting, because I’ve learned a lot in the past few years, but I feel as if that knowledge isn’t of any use.

Not only that but since 2007 I’ve only had two jobs and I’m not sure whether that’s bad or good. On one hand, it means that I’m a very good long term worker when it comes to jobs, which is true. When I’m at a job, my intention is to be there for awhile until either the job closes down, I can move up in it, or it’s just impractical for me to stay. I went from my old job to this job, because the job that I had before had no room to move up in, so I found the step up that I needed in another county. It worked out for the best for me, because now I have this job, and the reason I’m looking for a job past this job is because although this is a good job, it’s not in the best of places. I don’t really have a lot of room to advance yet, but I need a new location, more money or something more satisfying. I would prefer all three and I’m an optimist….. so I probably wont get any.
The two main jobs that I want to apply for I’m conflicted as to how my resume should look when I send it out. Should I include the useless program information to show that I learn fast? Or should I instead put the information they need and if I get an interview mention it to show that I’m a quick learner?

I guess we’ll see.