Are we really in the 21st century?

Why is it, in this day and age of supposed equality for women, when we have female politicians, pilots, surgeons, astronauts etc, that women do not seem to be able to breach that last bastion of manly endeavour, the TV Game Show Host?

Seriously, the only game show in Australia I can think of with a female presenter was the Weakest Link - and she was there for the fear factor for sure! And reality TV is no better. I happened to see an episode of Dancing with the Stars last night. Daryl Somer's hasn't changed his act in 20 something years, and frequently his jokes fall well short of not only the humour they were aiming for, but also the standards of political correctness of the current decade. Sonya Kruger on the other hand, who 'mans' (woman's? ugh whatever) the green room, seems smart, witty, and can think on her feet. I'm sure the whole show would be much more bearable to watch if she was hosting. (I wont go into what would have to happen to the dancing & judging to make it bearable to watch - last night had some terrifying moments!). So, what is it going to take for Ed Phillips to give up the podium on Temptation to Lavinia Nixon? She has far more experience as a TV presenter than him.....

Linking Up

Im working on some blog publicity this morning, so this blog is now listed with Blogarama . Apparently I get a higher ranking if I link back...so here goes.

Good Intentions...

The theme for Modern Savages this week was 'intent'. I am quite happy with my MS blog post this week, discussing the intent behind my current set, 'Wildflowers in Bloom'. But it got me thinking about some longer term goals - the intent towards my beadmaking in general. I have had a few new intentions lately - to have auctions up constantly, and create new work regularly...and more recently, to really work towards developing some new work that is uniquely 'me', an idea that I revisit and reform, and that will perhaps grow into a series of work. The Wildflower beads are a step in that direction, and there may be a few more ideas on the burner. Hopefully the challenges of the weekly themes on MS will be another tool to help me grow in that direction. The first 2 themes didn't really extend me - I had the Fall beads made already (its a very logical theme for this time of year, when most of your customers are from the US), and while they are really relevant to the theme, a they are the fulfilment of my 'intent', the Wildflower beads were made upon my return from the USA, not in direct response to the theme. But the next few weeks hold some very different themes - some involving artists whose work is nothing like the style I use in my beads. So there are definitely some challenges ahead....

Better Blogging

I have recently joined a couple of 'Ning' communities relating to education and blogging. Ning is a free site that allows users to set up their own online communities, with similar resources to those found on sites like My Space.Through one of these communities I have found a link to a post about a 31 day challenge to better blogging, so I will probably be working through some of those suggestions in the near future. One suggestion I noticed when skimming the site the other day, was to return the favour when your blog gets linked to or commented upon on another blog site. The Modern Savages collective I mentioned the other day was blogged about today by Michele on Blog about Crafts, so I wanted to return the favour. Looks like some interesting discussions and good advice on promoting craft work of various kinds.

A new blogging outlet...

I have become involved in a new collective of mainly glass bead artists, who will be blogging together on the creative process, and creating work for sale on a shared theme each week. The blog can be found at http://www.modernsavages.com/ . This week I have been working on my share of Modern Savages, updating my edublog and mainly, getting ready for the SCA event I am running this weekend. My husband has organised a 2 day fighting symposium, with guest presenters from the United States, and my event is the feast on Saturday night. I was at a friends cooking till after 11pm on Tuesday night. I'm heading back tonight, but hopefully it wont be a late night - it only desserts on the agenda tonight (hmm, and cookies, and the pie filling....). Hopefully next week I can get stuck in to some serious torch time....