January 2013

The day started early. My friend Leah had graciously offered the use of her apartment in the District so Sara, Lauren, and I would not have to worry about getting into the busy capital the morning of the Inauguration.  However this meant that six people were crammed into a space usually reserved for two.

I know that many people resolve to get fit, to lose weight, to change how they look, and then to change some aspects of their lives with the New Year. I’m interested in why that is, so I had a conversation with Amy Chestnutt, coordinator of the Women’s Center Eating Disorders Education Initiative. She says we need to change our minds about this kind of change. We need to change: 1) What we expect about how we look 2) What it means to change ourselves and how we go about it.

Wednesday, February 6th, Iris and VQR team up to host a "Celebration of the Female Conscience" at OpenGrounds (next to the Women's Center).

LINGERR: I went home, I conquered home, and then I came back... home. I think figuring out what home means is difficult; difficult because it changes frequently and completely, and is entirely dependent on what I'm categorizing as where I live. Is your home: 1. Where you live now?: in which case, my home is Charlottesville. I miss it when I'm gone, I'm comfortable when I'm here. But surely that isn't enough? Is your home: 2. Where you grew up: so my homes would be California, and The Gambia.

You think of your job and you think of all the other people you know doing more interesting things with their lives. You feel guilty about griping when you know plenty of capable friends who are still unemployed. It could've been you.

There are many recipes for being a bada** woman. This is one that we particularly admire: Graduate from Santa Clara University with a Truman Scholarship as their first female valedictorian. Get your JD from the University of Virginia School of Law (WAHOOWA!). Serve as a clerk for the honorable Judge Mary Schroeder on the U.S Court of Appeals. Be the attorney general and then governor of Arizona. Become the third Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.