Kelsie Ladd is the second oldest in her family of artists. She is fifteen years old and was kind enough to answer my questions about the Womanthology book and herself. How did you find out about the Womanthology project? A few years ago, while visiting a comic book convention, I met an amazing female artist […]
Continue ReadingBoys? Yes, I’d like to recommend some books with female leads that your son would enjoy reading. If your next question is “Why?,” then ask your daughter why she liked Harry Potter. She might say it was a good story, great characters, and a fantastic world. Who cares if the main character was a boy? […]
Continue ReadingWomanthology: Heroic — described in a post last week — is a compilation of graphic art by women. It can now be found at your local art, gaming, and book stores. It is an exciting time for all who are involved in the project, including Summer Hemingray, a 10-year-old artist. She contributed an illustration of […]
Continue ReadingRelying on seductive art to draw in your audience is akin to a comedian swearing. It doesn’t take skill to get a reaction. There have been several recent posts GeekMom and elsewhere about the sexualization of women in comics. Although that’s nothing new, female geeks are finally getting fed up- realizing that being loyal and […]
Continue ReadingBeing a geek is no longer geeky. Role-playing games are being used in classrooms, “graphic novels” are considered literature, conferences about geek pop culture are in major cities with thousands of attendees, and every cool kid is going to see the latest Harry Potter in the theaters. After this movie about magic and monsters, what’s […]
Continue ReadingI received lots of kudos for getting to interview Joy Hakim. Maybe this is because most of my friends are geeks of some sort, most homeschool their kids, and we all have read Joy’s books, amazed at how she draws us into learning so easily with her gift of storytelling. I hope you enjoy this […]
Continue ReadingFor my Muse of Nerds this month, I’ll formally introduce you to someone I have talked about in the past: Dr. Michele McColgan of Siena College. I met her through our homeschooling group (she has two elementary-aged children) and she has introduced my kids to science, math, robots, computer programming, alternative energy, a Lego Robotics […]
Continue ReadingMy twelve-year-old son finished Americus and said, “This is a good book.” I’m always annoyed to read the list of “banned” books in American schools and libraries. It’s one thing for a parent to decide what to put in their own child’s head, but a town board? Harry Potter was banned in many places because […]
Continue ReadingFor this month’s Muse of Nerds, I quickly grabbed onto the STEM to STEAM movement (adding ‘arts’ to the technical.) Creativity is the foundation for advancement in all fields. The arts — writing, music, art, theater and dance — paired with science, technology, engineering and math, foster a relationship between both sides of the brain […]
Continue ReadingI was busily buying tickets to attend the Quidditch World Cup next month, and found myself perusing the IQA (International Quidditch Association) website. There is a documentary film coming out about the 2010 World Cup: what started as a Harry Potter fan game in Vermont a few years ago has become a sport drawing hundreds […]
Continue ReadingThis past summer Siena College held robotics camps for children ages 7 – 12. They were a huge success, with children learning how to build and program robots, plus, understand the physics behind the movements. Working with NXT can be fun, but challenging. To keep up the interest behind the mechanics, each camp had a […]
Continue ReadingAround where I come from (New York) the music for when the bride walks down the aisle is always ‘Bridal Chorus‘ from Richard Wagner’s opera Lohengrin, and the music when the new couple runs off is Mendelssohn’s Wedding March from ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’ (With maybe a dozen of the exact same exceptions including Bach’s […]
Continue ReadingEvery summer I run a History through the Creative Arts camp for homeschoolers in my area. It started as a way to do history with my own children that was based on something other than war and politics. I find it easier to relate periods of history to what the classical composers were doing at […]
Continue ReadingI refer to role-playing, not actually having sex with your fellow gamers (unless it’s a whole different kind of role-playing group.) I played a character for about a year that had had sex every single gaming session (not alone), and you can do it too! I did not set out to make such a stud, […]
Continue ReadingHow many times could your swear your sweet kitty is trying to tell you something? Something wise and powerful? Something a mere human cannot grasp? The latest research in cat speech shows that these noble animals are trying to communicate, however, they don’t speak English, Spanish or Chinese. Dr. Barbara Fuzzmacher, of the deGato Medical […]
Continue ReadingSteampunk Family is a great resource and inspiration to creative families everywhere. They call themselves the von Hedwig Family, and have created steampunk personas to go with their fun lifestyle of turning junk into steampunk, creating an adventure serial, cool DIY turtorials, traveling to conventions to share their know-how, and providing resources so anyone can […]
Continue ReadingBooks, movies, TV are the regular medium for geeks in the know. But what about YouTube? I watch YouTube and the chances are pretty darn high that you do too, considering YouTube exceeds two-billion views a day. And although men in the US spend more time watching videos online than women (and we can only […]
Continue ReadingThis week I watched the first X-Men movie with my son. My husband declined, saying he hadn’t been that impressed with the plot when we saw it in the theater. He was right. The movie is more about introducing the world and characters. I loved it. I remember walking out of the theater with my […]
Continue ReadingMy son Luke turned twelve in November, and all he asked for was money to buy his coveted items in the Lego catalog. I have a problem with this consumeristic tendency of my offspring. Does he need more Legos? No. Does he want them? Oh, yes. When Luke was younger he would occasionally convince random […]
Continue ReadingWhat is it that sets a Geek Mom apart from the mundane mass of mothers? Have you ever questioned if you qualify? To really know if you are part of this proud parental pack of geeks, read on… As soon as your daughter’s hair was long enough, you put it in Leia buns. You make […]
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