Garden of Thorn's: December 2014

I was asked to speak at a local college about being a woman in technology, and I turned it down. Part of it was they asked me at the last minute and I had prior plans (nothing that couldn't have been rescheduled), but the main reason why I turned it down is GamerGate.

I'm Pro-GamerGate and I didn't want to be made a larger target of harassment than I already am. Anti-GamerGate has harassed me on FaceBook, they've harassed me on Twitter and they've attempted to harass me at work, but ended up annoying me instead of scaring me. No place is safe anymore. So, I did not want to go speak at a college where there are certain to be Anti-GamerGate people in the audience who may decide to harass me because I want ethical journalism.

Also, I've been trying to lay low since AGG started visiting my job and I just didn't feel like pining a target on myself the day before my vacation. And I do believe that speaking about being a woman in technology and not toeing the Third Wave Feminist line at a college would be pinning a target on myself in the current cultural climate.

This month is special to me, this weekend my husband and I will be celebrating our 30th anniversary and I'm feeling nostalgic and loving and happy. And quite honestly, I don't want to argue or fight with anyone right now. I don't want to worry about offending or angering anyone with my cultural and political views. I want to float through the month spending time with the man I fell in love with when I was 19, remembering all the silly things we've done with our life and planning new adventures for the future.

My husband and our life together is what is important to me. More important than GamerGate, more important than speaking for women in technology, more important than worrying about being harassed.

Being nostalgic and loving and happy for my husband is what I will remember at the end of my life. And that's the way it should be.

Christmas Through The Years: