What I Read This Week

I'm a bit late with this post, but there were some really good reads this week that I wanted to share with you all.

If you're at all interested in, or have been following, the Edward Snowden privacy issue, this article from The New Yorker talks extensively about a documentary that is being made about the state of surveillance done by the US.

The Holder of Secrets - The New Yorker

Portland is a city that is near and dear to my heart. In fact, it's one of the cities in the US that I would move to in a heartbeat if the situation were right. For the past few years, my team at work was based out of Portland, so we've taken a number of trips up that way for both work and pleasure (often combining the two). I love seeing that the tech community there is thriving.

Why this VC is so bullish about Portland’s red-hot startup scene - Geek Wire

You need to watch this video. I'm serious. Do it now. (Even though I really, really, really hate the titles this site uses. Clickbait anyone?!)

They Took A Camera To A Remote Area In Greenland, And What They Recorded Is Simply Terrifying - Upworthy

Jazz fans around the world know the musical stylings of Miles Davis, and can likely identify his beats in just a few seconds of listening. What most of us might not know, is that he was also a painter later in life.

The Paintings of Miles Davis - Open Culture

I have a love/hate relationship with Ikea. For many years, our apartment(s) were about 90% Ikea, 10% found/repurposed furniture and decor. As we got older, I looked at this setup as a failure of adulthood. Lately, though, Ikea is doing some really great things for people who don't have a lot of space. I was really excited to see some of the new pieces they've introduced for fall. If I were in a different space, looking to start over, I'd probably buy a number of these items and be damned with anyone who scoffed.

20 NEW THINGS FOR YOUR HOME THIS FALL FROM IKEA - Poppytalk

Craft beer is serious business here in the Bay Area, and none is more vaunted that Russian River Brewing's Pliny the Younger. Available for a limited time, and only at the brewery, this beer has a serious fandom. Earlier this year for our anniversary we stayed up in the Russian River area. On a Saturday night we (I) had the bright idea that we should hit up RRB since we'd never been before. I didn't know that Pliny was on tap until we got within a couple of blocks of the place and saw people literally camping out in the rain to get in. Not knowing what the protocol was in this situation, we called the brewery to find out if this was just the line to get Pliny. We learned that it was the line to even get into the brewery and that if we got in line then, our wait would be about six hours, as in, closing time. We turned the car around and drove up to Healdsburg to visit Bear Republic. So yeah, you can imagine there was a lot of worry about what would happen with this cult favorite while the brewery updated its equipment. Beer fans have no need to fear.

Pliny lives! Firestone Walker steps in to keep vaunted brew flowing - Los Angeles Times

If you asked my boss at my last PR agency job if I had a problem saying "no" she'd say "no" right back. That was the general impression my superiors had, but it was only because both my team and I were immensely overworked. While people were saying yes to tasks that no one on my team had bandwidth to take on, I was slowly drowning. When I started my new job (the one I have now) I vowed that I would learn from my past mistakes in how I said no, and it's been a huge improvement over previous situations. While there will always be times that I am incredibly busy, I no longer live my life at the office, or drowning in client materials. I've been able to establish a pretty decent work/life balance, and all because I no longer accept that I have to carry the weight of the world on my shoulders. I was excited to see that a female CEO was recently advocating in the power of saying no at work.

THE MANY, MANY, MANY THINGS YOU SHOULD SAY "NO" TO AT WORK - Fast Company

Speaking of the power of females in the workplace, did y'all hear about the asshattery that came out of Microsoft's CEO this week? No? Consider that a good thing because your head would probably have exploded. At a women in tech conference he literally told an auditorium full of professional women that they shouldn't ask for raises. Instead, they should trust karma to even out the gender gap. Right, because that's worked so well recently. Fucker.

Microsoft CEO Tells Women Not to Ask For a Raise at Women in Tech Event - ValleyWag

Meanwhile, Sarah Silverman has been working to bring attention to the gender gap in the workforce and has begun advocating for equal pay for men and women doing the same job. There are a lot of smart men I respect that don't agree with Sarah's argument, which only goes to show that we are so, so far from women being paid the same as a man. So disappointing that this is still even something we have to fight for. But, you know, reading the comments of the article shows exactly why this fight is still needed. They're pretty disgusting. There are a number of men out there who simply hate women, and think that we should all shut our pieholes and stick to birthing babies. You know how I feel about that notion.

Sarah Silverman's $29 Trillion Campaign for Equal Pay - Bloomberg BusinessWeek

The next two articles are mostly about hyper local issues that most of my readers won't care about, but they are of supreme interest to me given their locations. The first deals with the results of a long and complicated lawsuit around Drake's Bay. Since we love going up to the coast for some tasty oysters, I've been keeping my eyes on how this plays out. The second article is about the state of innovation in Cleveland, another city that we absolutely love and would move to in the right circumstance. When most people think of Cleveland, they see a beat down, rust belt city with no long-term strategy for revitalization. People on the ground and in the know have a much different take on what's happening there.

Drake's Bay Officially Out; Family Plans New Farm, Restaurant - Eater SF

Cleveland named on CNN Money's list of most innovative cities - CNN Money, CleveScene

Happy weekend everybody!