Friday, January 10, 2014

Weekend Reading: The Twitter Favorites Edition

I almost skipped the weekend links post this week- I have a lot going on that I'm not quite ready to blog about but that is consuming my attention and energy.

But there were so many good things in my Twitter favorites list, that it feels wrong not to share. I favorite interesting looking things that go by during the day, when I don't have time to read them, and then read them every other night, while waiting for Petunia to fall asleep. So if you're ever stuck for something to read online, you could always go look at my favorites and find a bunch of things that at least sounded interesting to me.

Anyway, I still lack energy and mental focus, so I'm just going to paste in a bunch of links with very little context. I'll try to say how I found each one, at least.

This post on microagressions experienced as a woman programmer is a nice example of what I referenced in yesterday's mini-rant. (Found via @fianros.) Someday, I'll try to write about how much I think microagressions have cost me. They suck my energy and confidence away. I wish I were better at not letting them do that, but they do.

I liked this article about the foolishness of trying to "hack" popularity for your website. I think the need to be careful in the metrics you choose is one of those truisms that should be applied in all aspects of life. (Found via @Seriouspony.)

If you somehow missed Ta-Nehisi Coates' reply to the kerfuffle over his calling Melissa Harris-Perry our "foremost public intellectual", it is well worth the short time it will take you to read. (Found via just about everyone in my Twitter feed, I think.)

Old dudes are probably not the best people to write about what teenage girls like. The author's nicer to the old dudes making fun of her tastes than I would be. (Found via... I don't know. I guess I didn't favorite this one.)

And, as always, I like to end on something fun: parents who can remember (or are still experiencing) the sleep-deprivation of the baby years will probably get a chuckle out of this parody of Lorde's Royals. (found via @Sharon_Silver)

1 comment:

  1. The microagressions post hit home.
    My career in architecture is almost 20 years old and in general it has not been as discriminatory and unfriendly as what I have heard described about STEM careers. My class was 50/50 gender-wise and my first job was at a place where I wasn't the only woman.

    That said, my nearly 20 years has had its fair share of microagressions, and I am thankful now to have a word for it. At the time, I knew it wasn't outright harassment or overtly sexist, but each incident gave me a funny feeling of not being quite right.

    My "favorite" is getting the following question when meeting a client, engineer, or contractor for the first time:
    "Oh, are you the interior designer?"

    I can guarantee you that this question is never uttered at a male counterpart.

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