letter sixteen: a mid-august update

Ohai!

I came back to this newsletter fully intending to continue writing on a weekly basis but…my summer to-do list still looks like this. It’s been a productive summer though! We polished and published the Getting Unstuck curriculum. We submitted a revised version of a paper about Clowder to SIGCSE 2022 (rejected last year, submitted to the same conference). And I just participated in ICER 2021’s doctoral consortium, which was maybe my favorite online conference so far? (Here’s Amy J. Ko’s rundown.) I appreciated that it was only over a couple days and tightly scheduled; it felt easier to “be” in an online conference space with others, and my list of “to-read” papers is certainly longer!

Anyway, I am looking forward to the fall semester—I’m excited for a second iteration of T550 online, and I’m also excited to really dig into data analysis and writing that will be (finally!) more dissertation related! So, this space will probably get a little more academic article-heavy in the next few months. (Also, yoga pals, I am still teaching outdoor + online at the Corner Studio, except for right now when Hurricane Henri is imminent.)

Here are a few things I read semi-recently:

Several short sentences about writing - Verlyn Klinkenborg (p.132, book rec by KB)

Now is the time to make your kitchen more sustainable. (Eater)

Altruism is not a deliverable. (Courtney Martin)

Why was it so hard to sell a house that promised eternal life? (Curbed)

You need help: Why be out as a bisexual? (Autostraddle)

And a few other things I loved: All of Lynn Fisher’s projects. An interesting and scandalous history of harem pants. Running to save Dził Nchaa Si’an. The company behind all those startup brands. Women with great hair fleeing gothic houses. The hidden melodies of subways. Ways to support Afghanistan and Afghan people.

See y’all in a couple weeks!

xx p.