Friday, December 19, 2014

Women in Tech

Being a female theater designer (scenic is categorized as "technical theater" which always makes me laugh) or even being a woman architect is not really what I'd call women-in-tech, but I still feel for my sisters in the STEM areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.  Sometimes it can get a little lonely or weird - or scary - when you're the only female in the room.

I've never had it bad.  At school in my time, the ratio of male to female was something like 15:1 - nowadays architecture school students are slightly more likely to be female than male!  But, as I said, I never had it bad: professors did remember me, at least, and the few overt sexists were clearly jerks and therefor ignore-able, while the subtler stuff - whatever that was - flew over my head.  (I can be pretty oblivious when I'm concentrating.  And stubborn.)  Now, the theater world is a more mixed and accepting group, baring a few ol' boy carpenters.

In my career my baby-face created more problems than my gender did in being taken seriously...

A little gray hair solved that!

Women in science and computers today, however, seem to be battling real and nasty misogyny.

So it was fun to see the good side of Girly Science today with pics of Professor May-Britt Moser accepting her Nobel prize in an evening gown embroidered with the brain neurons she and her colleagues Edvard Moser and John O'Keefe discovered.

Gown designer Matthew Hubble decided that scientists deserve as much celebratory fuss (and fashion) as movie stars do.  Great idea!

And I love how beautiful the patterns inspired by the science are.  Design inspiration can, really, come from anywhere.

Nobel prize winning scientist May-Britt Moser in her Matthew Hubble designed "Neuron" dress.

ADDENDUM:  Sorry, forgot to add a link to where I found this - The MarySue, that nexus of women, science, and pop culture HERE.


Wednesday, December 17, 2014

And so on...

Long time, no post.

It's the Holidays!

But today's little designer treat is an elegant on-line inspirograph - very cool!  Find it HERE.

What else have I been up to?  Well, The Explorers Club opened to good reviews (including set mentions), so that went well.  (If you don't see this funny show at Stage West in Fort Worth, please see it at WaterTower Theatre when it moves to Addison.)  I've just emailed off the construction drawings for Godspell, to be built and played in the San Francisco area.  I'm sketching away at ideas for Asher, the dramatization of a long-time favorite book My Name Is Asher Lev.  For anyone interested in art and the artist's life the book's examination of the conflict between artistic truth and personal and family feeling, between tradition and growth, is fascinating.  Chaim Potok is a good writer, but this is my favorite of his novels.

Speaking of books - I'm reading William Shakespeare's Star Wars Trilogy.   A hoot!  Very funny.  But even when the novelty of the iambic pentameter wears off, the author (really a guy named Ian Doescher channeling The Bard... if The Bard sat through a LOT of Star Wars rewatchings) gives characters clever soliloquies - like the priceless musings of the rancor's keeper.  Even sideline characters have comments on Imperial architecture.  And, you know, it's just flat a good story.

I'd love to see this actually staged.

Perfect for Shakespeare and/or Star Wars fans!

William Shakespeare's Star Wars Trilogy
Illustrations by Nicolas Delort, 
Author Ian Doescher.
Quirk Books & Lucasfilm Ltd.