Slutwalk Berlin 2011

"I have nothing to wear (that protects me from violence)."

One week ago today, 3000 people took to the streets in Berlin to protest against sexist discrimination.  (Think Christopher Street Day for women's rights.)  I was there - as were plenty of other Girls On Web Society members. If you like, please follow the jump for a collection of some of their posts.

For German Readers: Wahlrecht für alle!

 

Unter dem Motto "Wahlrecht für alle!" startete vor wenigen Tagen die Aktion Jede Stimme zählt 2011. Die Kampagne fordert die Einführung des Wahlrechts für EU-BürgerInnen und Drittstaatsangehörige auch auf Landesebene. Anders als EU-BürgerInnen sind Letztere derzeit aber nicht einmal auf Bezirksebene wahlberechtigt.

Das Abhalten einer symbolischen Wahl für BerlinerInnen ohne deutschen Pass soll eine öffentliche Debatte über die Ausweitung politischer Partizipationsrechte anregen. Eine wichtige Initiative, wie ich finde, deren Ziel mir aus persönlicher Erfahrung sehr am Herzen liegt: Ich selbst darf erst seit 2009 an Bundestagswahlen teilnehmen. Zuvor hatte sich Deutschland jahrelang geweigert, Mehrfachstaatsbürgerschaften zuzulassen - als eines von wenigen Ländern weltweit. Mir war es also bis dahin zum Beispiel nicht möglich, mitzubestimmen, welche Partei die Steuern, die ich dem Staat zahle, ausgibt. Einbürgern lassen hätte ich mich nur können, wenn ich meinen Schweizer Pass - und somit meine Herkunft - aufgegeben hätte. Und das, obwohl ich in Deutschland  Kindergarten, Grundschule, Gymnasium, Universität und Fachhochschule besucht habe, und mir ein einfaches Wahlrecht ohne deutsche Staatsbürgerschaft auch genügt hätte. Ein Einbürgerungstest blieb mir dank meines deutschen Abiturs übrigens erspart. Wenn ich diese Geschichte im Ausland erzähle, ernte ich oft nur verständnisloses Kopfschütteln. Jede Stimme 2011 schreibt entsprechend: Viele europäische Metropolen wie Kopenhagen, London, Amsterdam oder Budapest haben bereits das Wahlrecht für ausländische Bürger eingeführt und positive Ergebnisse bei der Integration erzielt. Berlin darf als Metropole mitten in Europa hier nicht zurückfallen. Weitere Infos zum Projekt - auch für Förderer und freiwillige Mitarbeiter - findet Ihr hier.

Frido Gazpacho

Yum!

I just accidentally deleted a whole post on this Gazpacho soup I made recently (grrr!) - and that my cat Frido stepped into a couple of minutes after I took this photo. Because it's late and I'm tired I won't rewrite everything that just went into digital nirvana now, please apologize. Let me just say that this cold raw vegetable soup that I prepared with my KitchenAid Artisan Blender has made it onto my Favorite Things to Eat of All Time list instantly! And for someone who enjoys cooking, that's really something. The blender performed perfectly at all times, and as per usual, cleaning it was super easy. For more photos, please follow the jump...

Tampon Flash Drives. Seriously.

Cool or not? 

Via.

Help Improve Artificial Intelligence

The Challenge on Generating Instructions in Virtual Environments is still looking for players to help improve intelligent programming. Just by going on a virtual treasure hunt, you could contribute valuable data on systems that guide humans through virtual worlds. Sounds exciting? You'll find more info on the matter here - computer scientist Kristina Striegnitz would sure appreciate your help!

Who am I? What do I want? What is my Purpose in Life?

These are the three core questions of this year's 21 Day Meditation Challenge. The idea is to meditate for ten minutes every day over three weeks to get to know yourself better. To that end, you will receive free MP3 files with guided meditation instructions each day. Registration is quick and easy. I've never partaken before, but past participants wrote rave reviews and are eagerly awaiting tomorrow's start of this year's challenge. So why not try out something new for a change? This sounds easy enough. ;)

Happy Birthday Veggie Love!

Photo: Veggie Love

Schöner hätte sie es nicht sagen können: Franziska Schmids Blog hat eine ganz tolle Geburtstagsrede bekommen! Und die Party ist damit noch nicht vorbei: Über die nächsten Tage wird es auf Veggie Love eine "Blogger-Birthday-Sause" geben, zu der Ihr alle herzlich eingeladen seid. Wie das geht und was das ist erfahrt Ihr in den nächsten Tagen. Verraten darf ich vielleicht, dass ich auch mit von der Partie bin... Weil Franziska eine ganz tolle Frau ist, die ganz tolle Dinge tut. Mein Interesse am veganen Lebenswandel habe ich nicht zuletzt ihrer Aufklärungsarbeit zu verdanken. Daher: Chapeau, Franziska, und juhu, Veggie Love! Auf viele weitere Jahre! :)

GCB Tests: The KitchenAid Veggie Burger

 

Like announced last week, a couple of days ago I prepared the veggie burger featured in 24 hours a day, the KitchenAid blender cookbook. Despite a long list of ingredients, its preparation was fairly inexpensive (given you have a couple of basics like olive oil etc. at home) and the result tasted great. For more pictures and a German Bericht of my first ever veggie burger, please follow the jump.

Left-Handed Females are Underpaid

Source

For unknown reasons, left-handed men earn more than right-handed ones, but left-handed women earn less than average. 

Full article at Business Insider.

GCB Shares: Slutwalk, Plus Size Onlineshops, Men Speaking Out

Source

Coming Saturday, August 13, the Slutwalk Berlin will take place. What sounds a little strange is a demonstration for women's rights that has been taking place the world over. (I think the last I've heard of was staged in New Delhi.) Nadine Lantzsch is one of the local organizers and is still looking for helping hands.

Johanna shows us one of her favorite buildings in Germany: The Vitrahaus in Weil am Rhein.

This Vegan Life is proud of Duke University and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill for adding Jonathan Safran Foer's book Eating Animals to their reading lists. Way to go!

Passend zum Thema teilt Katharina Brunner einen YouTube-Clip, der die Spekulation mit Nahrungsmitteln erklärt.

Helga Hansen stellt in einem kurzen Post die junge pakistanische Außenministerin Hina Rabbani Khar vor.

Cathrin Karras bereist zur Zeit die Insel Borneo (gehört zu Malaysia) und beschreibt zum Beispiel das durch ein komplettes Alkoholverbot etwas, äh, "ruhigere" Nachtleben der brunesischen Hauptstadt Bandar Seri Begawan.

Luciana Schmidt hat eine informative Liste mit Plus Size Onlineshops zusammengestellt.

Der Spiegel teasert ein Interview mit Charlotte Roche an, in dem die Autorin zum ersten Mal über ihre überwundene Mager- und Alkohlsucht, ihre Depressionen und den Unfalltod ihrer drei Brüder im Jahr 2001 spricht. Das neue Buch der Autorin erscheint am kommenden Mittwoch.

Boy's Corner

A cool new site called Men Speaking Out displays photo messages from guys supporting women's equality to other guys who haven't given the matter much thought yet. I like! (Via.)

Today is Be Body Positive Day!

Never heard of the Be Body Positive Day? Me neither, until Anna Guest-Jelley featured it on her blog recently. The idea is to do one thing today that will make you feel great about your body. As to me, I'll do Yoga, but Anna has a list of fifteen other ideas for you try if that's not for you (yet). In any case, it's never too late to start loving your body! Find out more about the initiative at the body positive.

There's a Special Place in Hell for Fashion Bloggers

Via

A couple of months back I saw someone walk around my Berlin neighbourhood wearing a tote bag saying There's a special place in hell for fashion bloggers. It made me smile although I do like me my fashion blog every once in a while and don't believe in hell at all. Well, now I found the same slogan stitched onto some customized jeans vest and thought I'd share. If you're still looking for your own perfect tote bag, check out the GCB ones. Only last week, Franziska Schmid (whom I haven't seen in way too long) unpacked hers and put her favorite every day items on display: Bloggerinnen It Bag!

GCB Tests: The KitchenAid Cookbook!

With my KitchenAid Artisan Blender also came the German version of a KitchenAid Blender Cookbook. Along the lines of its English language counterpart "24 hours a day" the book is entitled "Rund um die Uhr". Quite obviously, the idea is to show that a blender is useful for the preparation of most any meal or drink - no matter what time of the day, whether it's breakfast, lunch, dinner, baby food or cocktails. For a German Einschätzung whether this cookbook is of any use at all (it is!) and whether it's also suitable for vegetarians like my humble self (it is!), please follow the jump!

Shake, Doggy, Shake

Photo: Carli Davidson

This is one of a series of awesome photographies of dogs shaking off water. Carli Davidson, the photographer, is based in  Portland, Oregon, has previously worked at the local zoo and has specialised in animal photography. Check out her portfolio or take a look at my source for more hilarious images.

Thank You for Reading!

I cracked the 100 RSS feed subscribers mark! If you'd like to know what that might be, check out last year's articles on RSS feeds in English or German. Personally, I still use Google's Reader to stay on top of what's happening in the blogosphere. Currently I've subscribed to more than one hundred different blogs from all around the world; and besides the usual Blogspot and Wordpress stuff, I've been getting into tumblr, too - have I mentioned this here before? I like the platform for its easy to use approach and visual simplicity, and of course couldn't resist starting my own: yogannina, an image-only collection of Yoga shots I liked. (Just in case you'd like to subscribe to another one of my outlets, I figured. ;) ) Every now and then, I even add photos of myself doing poses... like that rather crooked looking eagle pose I attempted on Erfurt's cathedral steps last month.

Congratulations, Smilla!

Smilla Dankert's blog anders-anziehen turned two a couple of days ago and she wrote a wonderful birthday speech!

For German Readers: Vulva verzweifelt gesucht

Photo: Mädchenmannschaft

Die Mädchenmannschaft erklärt, was an der Aussage “Mädchen kommen mit einer Scheide zur Welt, Jungen mit einem Penis. Bei Jungen ist der Penis außen am Körper. Bei Mädchen sieht man nur einen Schlitz.” nicht ok ist: Vulva verzweifelt gesucht. Zum Thema passend habe ich im Juni die Dokumentation The Perfect Vagina gepostet. Absolut sehenswert!

Why Won't Women Win Literature Awards?

Rare female winner: Orientalist Annemarie Schimmel

- an ever-interesting question pondered once more in two recent German articles: Novelist Zoë Beck wonders about a lack of female award winners in crime writing in her article Sei wie das Veilchen im Moose... and Jessica of recently founded group-litblog lesErleben asks why the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade has only ever been awarded to six women in its sixty-one-year history (I counted 6 1/2, because in 1970 it was awarded to the Myrdal couple - but what difference would that make?): Schreiben nur Männer engagierte Literatur?! If you've been a reader of GCB for a while, you might also remember poet Katharina Schultens' January 2011 article on the role of female lyricists in German publishing.

GCB Tests: My First Homemade Juice!

Immediately after unpacking my KitchenAid Artisan Blender, I needed to try it out. So without further ado, I threw together a couple of ingredients I happened to have at home: A pear, a small apple, half a honeydew melon, a carrott (not pictured), 1 cm of ginger, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup (I got mine at Alnatura), and a little fresh lemon juice. To see how it went, how much juice I produced and whether it tasted well (I can give away that it did!), please follow the jump for a first German Erfahrungsbericht.

GCB Archives: July 2010

In July 2010 I introduced to you Angela, who was diagnosed with Huntington's disease, famous Austrian litblogger Christiane Zintzen, entrepreneur Miriam Paulsen, digital life-lover Kathrin Ganz, and transsexual blogger Svenja (pictured). My favorite clip of the month would have to be the one of J.K. Rowling's Speech at Harvard. For a full list of last July's posts, please click here.

On Fighting Depression

Image: Postsecret

For German Readers: Mutterseelenalleinerziehend

DSDS-Casting: Querkopf Meike Büttner
© Deutschland sucht den Superstar

Noch neu am Bloggerinnenhimmel leuchtet der Stern von Maike Büttner, ihres Zeichens Autorin des Blogs Mutterseelenalleinerziehend. Nach anfänglicher Skepsis bin ich mittlerweile mehr als überzeugt von ihren Beiträgen. In ihnen erzählt sie nicht nur aus dem nicht immer einfachen Leben mit Kind, sondern postet gelegentlich auch schöne eigene Songs wie diesen hier. Als ehemalige DSDS-Chef-Kandidatin ihre leichteste Übung - saucool!

What is a Creative Commons License?

Via.

More info on Creative Commons licenses at Wikpedia in English or German.

Anna Guest-Jelley of Curvy Yoga

Anna Guest-Jelley is a yogini who likes to share her experiences not only in her teaching, but also on her blog Curvy Yoga. With lots of empathy and great intuition, she focuses on issues like self-esteem, weight, and body image. Anna had to force herself through more than 65 (!) diets before she could accept that living a joyful life is not down to body size.

To find out more about Anna, her blog, and her work, just follow the jump below.

o2 Can do - if Pressured Hard Enough!

Yesterday, I had a phone fight with my mobile provider o2. Despite of my status as "premium customer", they refused to downgrade my super-expensive and outdated contract to one that would suit my current needs much better - and save me around 50€ a month. That is, they refused service until I threatened to write about their attitude on this blog. I had never previously used GCB as a leverage, and was very surprised when my problem - which had been deemed as a lost cause before - was solved immediately. To me, this is a scandal itself. What about all those poor non-blogging souls? Aren't they entitled to fair conditions, too?

On popular demand (again, on Facebook), I put together what I remember of my conversation with o2's customer service in German. The transcript is probably shorter than the actual call was, but it should be fairly accurate. Oh, and did I mention that speaking to o2's customer service costs 0,30€ cents per call of late?

GCB Tests: KitchenAid!

As hinted at in yesterday's post, I'm the lucky new owner of a KitchenAid Artisan Blender. Hooray! Even after just two days of usage, I'm delighted. For more pictures, to see what colour machine I got and how the unpacking and first installation went, follow the jump for an extensive Testbericht in German...

New: GCB Tests!

In an informal survey recently conducted on Facebook, I asked how you guys would like it if I - aside from interviewing female bloggers every now and then - tested products. To my surprise, many of you were very fond of the idea. You even agreed that it wouldn't matter whether these products had anything to do with social media at all, as long as they were not clothing or make-up. Being a person whose wish lists were always way too short ("But there must be SOMETHING you want?!"), only one thing came to mind... And now guess what's in that parcel? ;) Stay put to find out!

MYM - Hold Me Down

Save a few glorious exceptions, I'm not a big fan of intros in songs. Not even in R&B and hip hop, where some considerate producers have kindly started to export them into whole separate tracks in the early 1990s already. However, only yesterday Starrene Rhett introduced new British artist MYM (short for her first name Maryam). At 23, she managed to become the first female her producers Double AK featured, so hooray for that! If you like the clip below, listen to more of Maryam's story in this video, where she also performs her first single Hold Me Down unplugged. 

To skip the intro here, just fast forward to around a minute - shortly thereafter, the beat sets in.  

Clara Heissler of Vegane Freude

One of the blogs I really enjoy reading has been Clara Heissler's Vegane Freude - probably, because it revolves around topics I'm personally interested in: Food, Yoga, all sorts of ethical issues surrounding the treatment of animals and mindful living in general.

Follow the jump to find out about Clara's understanding of a good blog, how to write the perfect recipe post, and her offline interests.

Self-Deception

Via.

Graphite drawing by British artist Gillian Lambert.

If you Women aren't Feminists, what else Might you be?

Reading a couple of recently published statements on German blogs, I have come to wonder - if you women aren't feminists, what else might you be?

Source

Simply put, feminism is a movement to end sexism, exploitation and oppression. 

- bell hooks -

Ich bin keine Feministin, aber dass Frauen, egal ob im Beruf oder zuhause, selbst in westlichen Ländern immer noch weniger wert sind als Männer, das ist verkehrt.

Ich bin weder eine Feministin, noch bin ich politisch korrekt. (...) [Aber] Ich weiß um die Ungerechtigkeiten unserer Gesellschaft und ich kenne das große Ungleichgewicht zwischen Männern und Frauen.

In all diesen Situationen habe ich „Feminismus“ gesagt, aber es ist dafür einfach ein doofes Wort.

A Brief Set of GCB Shares

Photo: Ninia LaGrande

With around a thousand fresh blog posts waiting to be read, I am still trawling through my RSS reader in search of interesting news to share with you. Here's a bunch of first noteworthy finds: 

Tasya van Ree, photographer and eponym of one of my GCB bags, has been interviewed by French Tetu Magazine. A transcript is available on her own blog. 

Fashion blogger Anna Wegelin aka Lachsbroetchen has been featured in the current German GLAMOUR magazine.

Franziska Schmid, green lifestyle blogger, is now part of a new high-profile blog team: Berlin is[s]t vegan.

And on a less professional note: Ninia La Grande travelled the Baltic states and has been sharing her holiday experiences (see photo above).

Let's Take Back the Internet!

Activist Rebecca McKinnon asks in this TED talk: How do we design the next phase of the Internet with accountability and freedom at its core, rather than control? The New York Times has a summary: A Call to Take Back the Internet From Corporations.

Via.

Bachmannpreis @ Wörthersee

In case you've been wondering where I was all last week: I spent my holiday in Klagenfurt, Austria, where one of the most important prizes in German literature was awarded after a three-day reading competition. Sounds good? Don't worry if you missed it - all submissions are freely available and translated into eight languages at bachmannpreis.eu. And while my favorite text by Linus Reichlin didn't win anything, I had a bunch of nice sunny days at the Wörthersee nevertheless. For a longer personal commentary on the competition in German, check out my other blog words on a watch.

Almost Back!

Source

 

 

** This is the last in a series of holiday posts. I'll be back any minute now. **

So You're Telling me There's a Chance?

Source

** This is part of a series of holiday posts. Even bloggers need a break sometime. **

This is What Oprah Winfrey Looked like in 1998

Source

** This is part of a series of holiday posts. Even bloggers need a break sometime. **

I am a Thousand Winds that Blow

Poem by Mary Elizabeth Fry. Via: Lisa Rank

** This is part of a series of holiday posts. Even bloggers need a break sometime. **