sasha_feather: Retro-style poster of skier on pluto.   (Default)
1. What do you enjoy most about Wiscon?

These days, it's seeing some of my best friends from all over the country and world. Some of these people are family to me, and I see them only at WisCon. I like feeling like I am among my people. I also like feeling intellectually and emotionally challenged, while having this feeling of being supported and valued for who I am.

2. What do you enjoy least about Wiscon?

I usually get a migraine every time. I push hard and run out of energy, and have to intensively rest for the following week or more. This is obviously not WisCon's fault. I would like it if there were more wiscon-like spaces in the world. LGBT books to prisoners is a bit like it, in that it's a very politcally progressive space, with people who are interested in books and in making the world better.

3. Tell me about a memory from your childhood.

I have a lot of very nice memories from childhood. The first bike I remember riding was this purple bike with a banana seat: https://flic.kr/p/8VhqFY
My brothers and I rode our bikes a lot, sometimes a mile up the gravel road to the neighbor's. (We lived in the country).

With my mom's help, I sewed that outfit as a 4-H project. It's shorts with an elastic waistband, and a matching kerchief with blue and silver beads. This picture was probably taken as part of that 4-H project. Sewing is a skill that I did not keep up but probably could do if I had to, thanks to my mom's teaching.

4. You wrote, "I think calling each other on things is something we should do for each other out of respect." I like that. It reminded me of "In fandom, people will correct you just to be polite," which I asked jesse_the_k to comment on.

I think when you're on the receiving end of criticism, it can be hard to tell the difference between the criticism that comes from respect, and trust, and affection, and the one that comes from "I want to make myself feel superior by making you feel inferior." Do you have any advice on how to distinguish between the two, either as the giver or as the receiver?


This is a good and hard question that I will have to think more about. I have a lot of good friends around me that I would trust to give me feedback and hold me accountable, and I trust that this would come from a place of respect and trust, because we are friends and have know each other a long time, and have similar values. I like the idea of "calling in," though I don't think it's bad to call people out, either.

I do well giving or receiving such feedback in text form, because then I can think it over without immediately reacting, and I can run it by other people to ask for help in how to react. This might not work for other people, though; not everyone is so comfortable with text as I am.

This is obviously very complex and difficult. So many of us are used to feeling unsafe, that hearing criticism can feel like an attack, rather than useful information that we can use to grow.

Mia Mingus has this idea about "pods". A pod is a group of people you can call on, that you trust, when something harmful happens. You might have one pod that you call on when you've done something wrong, and another pod you can call on when you have been wronged.
https://batjc.wordpress.com/pods-and-pod-mapping-worksheet/

5. Would you rather cook or be cooked for?

Absolutely "be cooked for". I would rather do the dishes, put the leftovers away, and other such tasks. I'm not very confident while cooking, and often it just takes too much energy. I do enjoy baking from time to time, because it seems easier to me. This is a bit wild; my mom is a great cook, but it somehow didn't pass down to me. Both my brothers cook, perhaps out of necessity as they each have a large family. Left to my own devices, I eat cereal, sandwiches, frozen pizza, etc.

This was very interesting, thank you for the questions! If anyone wants questions, leave a comment saying so, and i will try to think some up. :)

4-H

Jan. 6th, 2014 06:54 pm
sasha_feather: me with my brothers in 1982 (family)
In my previous post about sheep and 4-H, I did not explain what 4-H actually is. It was the water I swam in as a kid so I never really thought to explain it, and I still have trouble describing what it actually *is* sometimes! It's a youth leadership and development organization. In Minnesota, it's run by the University of MN extension. 4-H has roots in agricultural education (and the org. is part of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture), but since family farms are kinda on their way out, it's expanded to other kinds of education like job preparation, travel opportunities, etc.

We had monthly club meetings. Families attend club meetings, there are adult leaders and the older kids get to be club officers. Clubs do things like community service and fun activities. People can also be 4-H members without actually being in a club, though, if they are the renegade sort.

We had a few activities through the year like raking leaves for some older folks, staining a recycling shed, etc, but the main thing was the county fair in the summer and getting ready for it. In my family we raised and showed sheep and chickens, and later got into horses. We also exhibited our art projects from school and did many other projects (things like photography, sewing, doing a demonstration, making a display on a disease, etc). Any sort of research project you wanted to do, you could do in 4-H, and show it at the fair. There would be an interview with a judge and you'd get a ribbon. If we did well enough, we could go to the State fair, where we stayed in a huge dorm built by the Works Progress Administration during the 1930s, and little changed since then. And we'd get quite a bit of independence, roaming around the state fair grounds, eating junk food and having a blast.

As I got older there were other opportunities for me; I got to go to Washington D.C. on a trip, and later to Costa Rica, where they have a similar program called 4-S. I did a creative writing competition at the regional and state levels. I learned how to make a resume, give talks, and I did many interviews, which was a huge help as I went to college and grad school. For a few years after I graduated out of the program, I stayed on and ran the poultry show as superintendent. This means that I organized the show, announced things on the microphone, answered questions for the kids and the public, etc. It was fun and I miss it.

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