Notes on October
Textiles, Team Dresch, Frank Lloyd Wright, lesbian conferencing...
Happy Halloween! This morning I busted out my SAD lamp for the first time of the season. I use this one for about 20-30 mins every morning while I sit and drink coffee/eat breakfast/read a book, and I do legitimately think it “helps” with my energy level. I need it right now! This month has been intense - I’m in the thick of it with academic job market applications, and Clover and I are hard at work with some bar things that I hope to announce to you very soon. But amidst it all, there’s been lots of fun and sweetness this month. First, a Pennsylvania-specific PSA:
-I’m not normally one to tell people how to use their vote, but…if you live in Pennsylvania, PLEASE take the time to go to the polls on November 4th and vote “yes” to retain judges Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty, and David Wecht on our state supreme court. Here’s the deal: PA state supreme court judges are subject to retention elections after their initial 10 year terms. Typically, these elections are very low profile - only one judge has ever been voted out of his position in over 50 years. This year, three Democrat judges are up for retention election and the GOP has launched a campaign to get them voted out. I don’t think I need to tell you what kinds of things may happen if we lose the Democratic majority in our state supreme court in this purple-ass state, but yeah. Everyone who cares about abortion access and trans healthcare (which I hope includes you) should come out and vote yes to retain all three judges. I’m sure you’ve gotten a million door mailers about this, but here I am, adding to the cacophony. Rock the vote, etc.
-If you’re in Philly, you gotta go see the Moki Cherry exhibit at the Fabric Workshop and Museum (which is free!). I went with my friend Siena, with whom I share a love of textile-based arts and crafts. As I learned at the exhibit, Moki Cherry was a Swedish textile artist and painter. She was married to the American jazz musician Don Cherry, and they were part of a New Age-y hippie scene in the 60s and 70s. A lot of her most striking works are big banners and tapestries embellished with appliquéd words and images in bright colors and fun textures. Her work is super mesmerizing and there’s a ton of it! Highly, highly recommend.
Afterward, Siena asked if I had ever been to the needlepoint store next door. Reader, I had not!