more outlines.
The salon will focus on "so bad it's good" TV, and how it can create community
among its viewers, with a spotlight on seminally crappy shows.
Suggested Television Shows:
Dawson's Creek
Beverly Hills 90210
Degrassi
Degrassi: The Next Generation
MTV's reality slate (My Super Sweet 16 and Real World, etc),
Vintage eighties shows like Miami Vice and L.A. Law.
Optional Reading List:
Television Without Pity.com
The 90210 wrap-ups on Inquisitor Mediarama
Entertainment Weekly
The Futon Critic
Bio: Sarah D. Bunting is a co-founder of Television Without Pity.com and the
publisher of Tomato Nation.com and the Brooklyn Diners blog. She lives in
Brooklyn.
Fairy Tales
A discussion of fairy tales, their archetypal structure, their objects, clothing,
and actions, with specific emphasis on re-telling classic tales and constructing
new ones. In terms of writing, language style will be examined, from the
traditional oral approach to integrating postmodern techniques and
experimental language into this ancient form.
Suggested Reading:
Grimm’s Fairy Tales
Arabian Nights
Anderson’s Fairy Tales
Perrault’s Fairy Tales
So that one knows what one is getting, Catherynne M. Valente’s works are not
inadvisable.
Bio: Catherynne M. Valente was born on Cinco de Mayo, 1979 in Seattle, WA,
but grew up in the wheatgrass paradise of Northern California. She graduated
from high school at age 15, going on to UC San Diego and Edinburgh
University, receiving her B.A. in Classics with an emphasis in Ancient Greek
Linguistics. She is currently resides with her husband and two dogs in
Virginia. Her work in poetry and fiction can be found online and in print in
numerous journals. A major fantasy series is forthcoming from Bantam/Dell in
2006, titled The Orphan’s Tales. “An Arabian Nights for our time,” the Tales
are a collection of original, intersecting fairy tales. Volume I: In The Night-
Garden, will be released on Halloween.
Dianic Wicca
This salon will define Wicca as one of many forms of Paganism, and
differentiate Dianic Wicca as a subset of spiritual practice. A brief history will be
presented, together with an explanation of the sabbats and a typical altar.
This will be followed by an actual ritual, the theme of which will be
“Empowerment and Intention”. At the conclusion of the circle, there will be a
period of Q and A, and handouts. Some materials used in the ritual may be
taken home, if desired.Wicca as one of many forms of Paganism, and
differentiate Dianic Wicca as a subset of spiritual practice. A brief history will be
presented, together with an explanation of the sabbats and a typical altar. This
salon is open to all genders.
Suggested Reading:
Llewellyn – Witches’ Calendars and Magical Almanacs
Sacred Source Catalog – Wonderful Goddess Gifts
Susan Seddon Boulet – Goddess Calendars
Mary Daley’s Wickedary – for extra credit
Found Goddesses by Morgan Grey and Julia Penelope – just for fun!
The Wiki Entry on Dianic Wicca
WitchVox's Entries on Dianic Wicca
Bio: Skip Drumm is a long-time spiritual seeker, Wiccan practitioner and
feminist activist. Raised as a Southern Baptist, she had a “click experience” in
1974 that brought her into feminism. Once her consciousness was raised about
the patriarchal nature of the world in general, and organized religion in
particular, she began to seek a spiritual path that honors the divine feminine.
A multitude of workshops, classes, and Wiccan retreats (notably one with
Margot Adler) confirmed for Skip that this was indeed the spiritual path she
wanted to follow. She began seeking a coven to join, but was unable to find
one in her area. So she founded The Amethyst Circle of Sisters, which had its
first ritual in March of 1991.
The coven has met regularly once a month since its founding, to celebrate the
sabbats, phases of the moons, and life passages of its members. It is a Dianic
Wiccan Circle, which is open to like-minded women. If you would like to visit,
you can contact Skip at Skip@AlanMGross.com.
Perception, Focus, and Perspective; the Lines between
Sanity and Insanity
People often ask what separates people who are considered to be normal from
those who are considered to be mentally ill. People ask even more often, what
constitutes normal anyway, and furthermore, who decides what is normal? The
answer to that question is psychologists. We generally are the ones who decide
what is normal and what is not, because that is a major part of our job. This
Salon is concerning what criteria psychologists use to determine what is
normal is. It also will give you some idea of exactly how crazy you have to be
to be considered normal, and how normal you have to be to be committed
psychiatrically.
Suggested Reading List:
A Cognitive Model of Hallucinations
A Rorshach Investigation of Sexual Homicide
Aggressive Boys Hostile Perceptual Biases
Construct Validation of the Fairy Tale Test
Erotomanic Stalking in an Evolutionary Perspective
Getting Real in Analysis
Self-Recognition in Everyday Life
Social Constructions of Evil
Bio: John Minus was torn from the thigh of Zeus in 2000 AD. He loafed around
Europe for a while before helping to defeat the Germans at the Battle of the
Bulge in WWII. After creating Rock and Roll in the early 50’s, he sailed the 7
seas flying the flag of New Jersey…
No actually he was born in December of 1977 in Edison, NJ. Several uneventful
years later he graduated with a BA in Psychology from Rutgers University, and
then, even more shockingly, graduated from John Jay School of Criminal
Justice in New York City with a MA in Forensic Psychology. John currently
works for UMDNJ as a Psychiatric Screener.
Obsolescence, Ubiquity and Technology
One of the "perks" of the era in which we live is the increasingly fast
turnover of new technologies. Daily we see older technologies pushed to the
wayside, or recycling bin by the newer, faster smaller version. Sometimes
however, the process hits a snag. How do we account for those who still
carry pagers in the era of cell phones with text messaging
capacities/PDA's? How do we explain away those who choose to keep their
rotary dial phones? What is the appeal of text based online gaming in a
world devoted to Evercrack(quest) and WoW?
As it turns out, there is a discrete list of reasons why certain technologies
"fail to become obsolete". In this salon we're going to brainstorm some
technologies that have managed to remain a presence in our soceity in the
face of supplantation by "superior" items. (I put superior in quotes because
obviously newer does NOT mean better or more functional.) We're also
going to work on theorizing some of the reasons users choose not to
upgrade.
Suggested Reading:
Contextually, this salon fits into the current scholarly investigation of how a
new or improved technology comes to mass acceptance with its audience,
aka ubiquity, ala cell phones, TV's, DVD's etc. In other words, some people
out there are studying why DVD"s caught on and are now accept as the
form to produce content in, supplanting VHS. We're looking at the other
side, who is still using VHS tapes, and why?
There are not many texts out there covering these materials. Please prepare
yourself by being an active observer around you for examples we may
discuss or find relevant.
Bio: Beth Goldberg-Lord lives quite far from all human civilization with her
family and her cats. She received her BA with Honors from Douglass College at
Rutgers University Phi Beta Kappa in Comparative Literature with a focus on
science fiction and technology theory. In 2003 she was awarded her Masters
from the New School University in New York in Media Studies with a
certificate in Media Management. Currently she works full time doing anything
that will pay the mortgage while she works on her PhD application. She will be
happy to answer any questions by email (penthilisea[at]yahoo.com) about the
following topics prior to or during the event: Animal husbandry, equestrian
sports, feline psychology, media marketing, selling and buying cars, espresso,
Avon, PCOS, weight loss surgery and technology.
Sex, Gender and Genderplay
Are you a Man from Venus, a Woman from Mars, or an Androgyne from
Parts Unknown? Are you a macho person who wants to get in touch with
hir inner girl, or a femme who wants to understand hir butch? Are you
curious about how your body has shaped your being? Then this salon is
for you.
What do the words "masculine" and "feminine" mean in our lives? How
can we use "masculine" and "feminine" signifiers in magical and
mundane ways? Discussion will touch upon how gender influences every
aspect of our lives, including our sex lives: hence this salon is 18+.
Suggested Reading:
Books:
Kate Bornstein - Gender Outlaw
Leslie Feinberg - Stone Butch Blues
Leslie Feinberg - TransLiberation
Raven Kaldera - Hermaphrodeities
Websites:
Raven Kaldera's Activist Writing
Technodyke Interview with Patrick Califia
Kate Bornstein's Website
Bio: Kenaz Filan (formerly Kevin Filan) is the Managing Editor of New Witch
and the author of The Haitian Vodou Handbook. Sie resides in New York City
with hir partner Kathy, several reptiles, and a whole host of noncorporeal
friends.
Divination
This salon will focus on the various types of divination and their histories.
Examples of all types will be discussed and demonstrated.
The types of divinations discussed will be:
Tarot
Runes
Chiromancy (Palmistry)
Tasseography (Tea Leaves)
Oneriomancy (Dream Divination)
Tarot: A history of the cards and how they came to be used in divination. Also,
I will be showing different forms of tarot cards and how to pick the best deck
for you.
Runes: A history of the Futhark alphabet and how they came to be used at
divination tools. Buying verses making your own runes.
Chiromancy (Palmistry): The history of palm reading and introduction to the
lines, whorls, shapes and formations of the hands and fingers.
Tasseography (Tea Leaves): A history of the art. Basic-how to of preparing a
cup for a reading and common symbols seen in the leaves with their meanings.
Oneriomancy (Dream Divination): Dream divination in history (ex. as in
Joseph of the Old Testament). What dreams can and cannot tell you. Common
symbollogy and how to figure out what symbols mean what to YOU.
Suggested Reading:
Learning the Tarot: A Tarot Book for Beginners, Joan Bunning
The Enchanted Tarot: Book and Cards, Amy Zerner, Monty Farber
Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic, Edred Thorsson
Taking Up The Runes: A Complete Guide To Using Runes In Spells, Rituals,
Divination, And Magic, Diana L. Paxson
Reading Tea Leaves, James Pratt
Tea Cup Tales: The Art of Reading Tea Leaves, Margaret L. McWhorter
The Fortune Telling Book: Reading Crystal Balls, Tea Leaves, Playing Cards,
and Everyday Omens of Love and Luck, Gillian Kemp
Dreamer's Dictionary, Stearn Robinson and Tom Corbett
The Fortune-Telling Book: The Encyclopedia of Divination and Soothsaying,
Raymond Buckland
Bio: Sara M. Harvey was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and
hates writing bios.
I am just going to tell you about me directly, because I can’t stand writing
about myself in the third person.
Currently, I live in Nashville, TN with my sweetheart, Matt and our very
dramatic dog, Guinevere. My main trade is costuming and I have designed,
constructed, dyed, embellished, and taught about costumes all over the
country. If you see me at an event or convention, chances are I will be
participating in a costuming panel as well as reading from my newest novel. I
love both arts with equal voracity. Costuming used to pay for my writing
habit, but things seem to be turning around in that department.
