About the Blog Sisters

Hundreds of women share their thoughts within this community weblog for women. We are a loosely-joined group of women from across the globe. We'd like you to meet some of Blog Sisters' amazing members. [Note: we'll be updating this page often as members send in their personal information. Check back often!]

Drucilla B. Blood

Age: 32
Home Base: Austin, TX
Occupation: Full-time homeschooling mama and full-time administrator/instructor for non-profit adult computer technology center
Weblogs: Full Bleed: Confessions of a zine girl (http://surreally.net/fullbleed)
Clothespins for the Revolution (http://www.clothespin.org)
Radical Homeschool Blog (http://surreally.net/fullbleed/homeschool)

Drucilla Blood has been publishing her thoughts and ramblings in one format or another since, as a sophomore in high school, she started a zine called Lime Green Bulldozers. She currently resides in Austin, TX, where she takes frequent breaks from her adventures to spew ideas into the ether.

Elaine of Kalilily

Age: 62
Home Base: New York State
Occupation: Retired educator/writer, currently caregiver for 86-year-old mom, President of Blog Sisters
Weblog: http://www.kalilily.net

Over the course of her active and opinionated lifetime, Elaine has (among many other things) taught Eighth Grade English; co-led the team that instituted the successful collaboration between the New York State Education Department and the State Council on the Arts; wrote legislation for the State Senate establishing what is now the New York State Theater Institute; had her poetry published in a major anthology; won a local swing dance contest; led arts-based self-empowerment workshops for women; marched in Washington in support of liberal and feminist issues; wrote an alumnae speech given by Jane Fonda; had a grant proposal she wrote for a university program in Engineering and Ethics used by the NEH as a model proposal; and gave birth to (and as a single mother raised) two amazing kids: the infamous www.theonetruebix.com and the irrepressible http://home.attbi.com/~cwyln/. She is still a feminist, still opinionated, and still learning.

Gina Giuliano

Age: 41
Home Base: Upstate New York
Occupation: Freelance writer, college instructor, student advisor
Weblog: http://www.gullybrookpress.blogspot.com/
Other Sites: http://www.gullybrookpress.com/

Gina holds a Ph.D. in educational administration, a B.A. in U.S. History, and a Master of Public Administration degree. She is married and childfree, loves all animals, especially dogs. In addition to writing, she enjoys organic gardening, volunteer work, and reading.

Deborah Gussman

Age: 41
Home Base: Southern New Jersey
Occupation: College professor
Weblog: http://caxton.stockton.edu/distracted
Other site: http://caxton.stockton.edu/bookish

Deb works full time at a public college in New Jersey and teaches courses in American literature, composition, and women's studies. She has a Ph.D. in literature, and her research and writing focuses mainly on women and American Indians in the 19th century and the ways in which they created political agency through writing and activism. Together with her husband, she parents an amazing son who is now 6 years old. Their family also includes a standard poodle, two guinea pigs, 4 hermit crabs, numerous fish. Demographically speaking, she is white, Jewish, middle class, liberal and a US citizen. She is passionate about her immediate and extended family, friends, literature, feminism and progressive politics, food, teaching, learning. She sees her blog as a form of autobiography that encourages collaboration, dialogue, and constant revision.

Rosemary Grace

Age: 22
Home Base: Dual UK/USA citizenship; grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland; now living in San Diego, CA
Occupation: Research Associate in a diabetes research lab
Weblog: http://painfullyfluffy.blogspot.com/

Rosemary grew up in a middle-class academic family. Her father is a linguistics professor and her mother is an administrator and an art history/literature geek. After earning a bachelors in biomedical sciences, specializing in neuroscience, at Kings College London, Rosemary moved to San Diego, CA, where she works as a research associate in a diabetes research lab. "I'd like to move in to the field of public health, specifically public health education programs, but I'm still trying to figure that one out," she says. Rosemary considers herself a decidedly lefty-libertarian, who tends to show more interest in socio-political issues like human rights and feminism than in the large global political debates. Never married and with no children, Rosemary is in a stable monogamous relationship with a 24-year-old civilian technical instructor for the Navy. "I think that one of the things world/society needs most of all is better education; teaching people how to think and stretch their minds would decrease prejudice and fear of the unknown greatly, and give us happier citizens in general, rather than emotionally frustrated hoards who can barely parrot back what they memorised in school, and will never be able to fulfill their potential because it was stifled too soon," she says.

Andrea Roceal James

Age: 25
Home Base: Sydney, Australia
Occupation: Webmonkey and general technological slave laborer, Blog Sisters Volunteer Tech Support Guru
Weblog: http://www.jngm.net/arjlog/
Other Sites: The Geek Icon

Andrea was born three weeks early on December 31st, and since then has been just as eager to get out into the world and experience it. She has lived on a sailboat, traveled most of the United States, been on three continents, and hopes to visit the rest someday. She likes to defy the stereotype of the pasty-faced, logic-loving, outdoors-fearing technologist. As often as she likes to go out and wander the web, she also likes to go out and wander through the woods. As often as she likes to write code, she also likes to write poetry and stories. She is passionate about reading and writing, technology, nature, Mr Wiggins, maintaining a childlike wonder about the world and a healthy sense of adventure. She likes to volunteer her services for things like Blog Sisters, the Blogsticker Factory, mediAgora, and create free web sites for good causes. She also reads and watches too many cartoons, and has yet to decide what she's going to be when she grows up.

Esta Jarrett

Age: 27
Home Base: Richmond, Virginia
Weblog: http://www.diaries.com/es

Esta is passionate about history, baking, and getting her hands dirty; Sleater-Kinney, Ani DiFranco and other women who let it hang out. She says she's also interested in "choral music; poetry, stripping religion of its stigma, promoting free thought among teenagers, and yelling at SUVs on the interstate." Beyond that, Esta says she tries to be a considerate and loyal friend, daughter and sister.

Jen X

Age: 22
Home Base: Ontario, in Canada
Occupation: Producer/Production, CHUM Group Radio
Weblog: http://eiram.blogspot.com
Other publications: Articles for the Whore's Boudoir can be found at http://drunkenwhore.blogspot.com

Finishing up an honours degree in communications, Jen X is interested in reading and writing, looking after her cats, hanging out with friends, watching movies and having interesting conversations about everything from the correct use of various slang terms to the prevalence of advertising and the treatment of women overall. "I don't claim social relevancy or even importance to any of what I do," she says. "It's entertainment, it's me being open and honest, as I am in real life, and hopefully it'll open your mind or teach you something."

Elizabeth Lane Lawley

Age: 40
Home Base: Rochester, NY
Occupation: Professor of Info Tech at RIT
Weblogs: http://www.it.rit.edu/~ell/mamamusings/

Liz is a mother to two young sons, wife to a stay-at-home dad, and daughter to two wonderful, smart, loving parents. She's an early adopter of technology, an ENFJ, and an irrepressible smartass. Her life is defined and enriched by the people in it, but those relationships are supported and strengthened by technological tools like e-mail and blogging.

Maren

Age: 29
Vitals: Attached, shopaholic, detached co-dependent
Weblog: http://www.bullseye.blogspot.com/

"I am 29 and living with cancer," Mare writes. "How do you think I feel today?"

Jennifer Schulz Medlock

Age: 28
Home Base: High Point, NC
Occupation: College Student, Mom, Fine Artist
Weblog: http://radio.weblogs.com/0113431/
Other Sites: http://www.schulzart.com, http://www.gclp.org

Jennifer is married to a wonderful man who works in IT and has a beautiful seven year old daughter. Jennifer's foremost passion is music and art. She paints in acrylic on canvas and draws in Photoshop. In 2002 her 4 x 3 acrylic painting, "Liberty Eternal" auctioned for $1,000.00. Jennifer is not a musician but she supports local music in NC by writing music reviews, going to shows and posting club schedules on her art site. Jennifer is a dean's list student working on her associate's degree before going for her Bachelor's. She hopes to own her own art gallery and music bar someday.

She is currently heading up a team of walkers for the MS Walk in April 2003 in honor of her mother, who has Multiple Sclerosis. In November 2002, she was the Libertarian candidate for NC House District 61, running against a Republican. Jennifer made history by earning 21% of the vote, a record number for a third party in her county. She was also the third political candidate in the world to use a blog as part of her campaign. Guilford County, NC is now the political blog capitol of the world. She is most concerned about G/L/T/B equality. Jennifer also posed for a tasteful pin-up calendar featuring other Libertarian women-the 2003 NC Ladies of Liberty Calendar which earned national attention. Jennifer has served as secretary for the Libertarian Party of Guilford County, currently maintains their web site, and in the past served as Public Information Officer for the Student Government Association at CPCC. In between college she has acquired work experience in banking and customer service.

Clancy Ratliff

Age: 29
Home Base: Minneapolis, MN
Occupation: Graduate student and first-year composition teacher to some excellent students
Weblog: http://culturecat.net/
Other Sites: http://umn.edu/home/ratli008/

Clancy has a B.A. and an M.A. in English from the University of North Alabama and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, respectively, and is working toward a Ph.D. in Rhetoric & Scientific & Technical Communication at the University of Minnesota. Her primary research interest is blogging, but she is also interested in feminist studies. She's a southern woman who loves the Minnesota weather but misses biscuits & gravy, grits, and soul food. She likes TV, hip-hop, and campy movies like Earth Girls are Easy and Rock'n'Roll High School (the one with the Ramones, not Corey Feldman).

Dorothea Salo

Age: 30
Home Base: Wisconsin
Occupation: University of Wisconsin Survey Center
Weblog: http://www.yarinareth.net/caveatlector/
Other Site: http://textartisan.com/

Dorothea is currently working for the University of Wisconsin Survey Center on a two-year data-capture project. She says she is, in alphabetical order, "Agnostic, avid reader, Caucasian, carfree, childfree, female, feminist, IXTJ, markup geek, married, occasional programmer, teetotaler, RPGer, vegetarian, and probably a few other things that don't leap to mind."

Jeneane Sessum

Age: 40
Home Base: Atlanta, Georgia
Occupation: Blog Sisters founder and CEO; Senior E-Business Writer, Ketchum
Weblog: http://allied.blogspot.com
Other Sites: http://gonzoengaged.blogspot.com, http://humans.blogspot.com, www.writeresources.com

Jeneane works part-time for a global PR agency and spends the rest of her time being amazed by her five-year-old daughter, spending time with her husband, and blogging. She's a serial "blogrepreneur," having started three team weblogs as well as maintaining her own blog. She's penned hundreds of articles for executives in all kinds of industries-- construction, manufacturing, healthcare, telecommunications, financial services... and more. These articles have appeared in such publications as ComputerWorld, Application Development Trends, Software Magazine, Beyond Computing, Data Management Review, Sm@rt Partner, Business 2.0 and others. Aside from her family, her passions are reading, learning, and-- you guessed it-- blogging.