TOMORROW MARKS THE 38th ANNIVERSARY of the supreme court’s Roe v. Wade decision. I’m so grateful to have been born into a country where sisters (and brothers, too, of course) before me fought for women’s right to choose! So how are you celebrating? Need ideas?

The website Feminists for Choice has several events listed (in Texas and NYC) and here’s a post from feministing with the lowdown on other NYC-based celebrations.

P.S. Another happy birthday to my favorite feminist and fantastic boyfriend, Dreux! (photo by christine)

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(click image for full-size)

WOWSERS. APPARENTLY A CHAP NAMED Chris Harrison, who happens to be a Ph.D. student in Human-Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon, has put together this amazing looking infographic on how “he” and “she” are used in Google’s digital books archive, which now contains 200 years worth of published material. (Completely mind blowing, right?!) The graph shows the 120 most common words used after “he” and “she,” ordered in decreasing frequency. Like I said: wow. But how are we to interpret such a thing?

My first was reaction was to to see how this collection of 200 years of published material completely reaffirms age-old gender addages that us women are the passive feelers (“she loves” and “she learns” and “she gives”) while the men are out beating their chests and asserting themselves (“he believes” and “he argues” and “he became”).

I was amused to read that this conclusion on stereotypical gender roles wasn’t the first thing that jumpped out to Harrison. When asked by feministing.com what he found the most interesting about his findings, he responded: “Not any one thing was most interesting. As with many large data sets, there are many fascinating patterns. It is analogous to a single thread being rather unremarkable. From from many threads one can weave a tapestry.” Spoken like a true engineer!

Care to weigh in? (When you uncross your eyes from following all those tiny, criss-crossing lines, that is.)

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A YEAR AGO when Margaret, Marion, Paige and I were just setting sail on murky blog waters with the mission to spread the word on sisterhood, we were nervous. Who would read our ramblings? Could we really write about sisters and sisterhood for an indefinite time? But we came together with you, our sweet readers (in our own sort of sisterhood) and have officially been breathing life into The Sister Project for one year! In celebration of this milestone, and as a toast to more blog-birthdays to come, here are a few favorite posts (mine and yours) from the last year to read again or discover anew:

What if fairy-tale heroines lived unhappily ever after?

Cooking lessons with my brother, T: veggie fritters and lemon bars.

Nuns!

This year’s winner for “least desirable baby sibling.”

Great handwriting + feminism = brilliant.

And a few of my personal favorites from elsewhere on The Sister Project:

A Geisha Sisterhood.

Marion goes bra shopping.

Flipping for potato salad!

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IN ANTICIPATION OF MY TREK southward, I’ve been nesting like nobody’s business. In my head, I see my soon-to-be new apartment as beautiful, clean and cozy, smelling like fresh-baked muffins. (While trying to not envision all the hard work it’s going to take to get me there. Eep!) But my vision just may come true now that I’m a part of a sisterhood with such creative and generous women.

• Last week I bought two prints (above) of artist Shelley Kommer’s collages for my living room. I fell in love with her work while writing a piece about her for the TSP Galleries.

• I am ever-inspired by Sister Paige’s gorgeous renovated farmhouse over the border in Columbia County, NY. Perhaps you’ll feel inspired, too when you read her article about it in this month’s Country Living.

• TSP’s founding sister, Margaret, has given me the most generous sisterly donation of forks and spoons and napkins and bedding. (Geez, nothing makes me feel more adult than getting excited about cloth napkins.)

• And once I get settled in, I’m going to have to whip up a batch of The Gluten Free Girl’s molasses cupcakes (not exactly muffins, but close). They’ll be perfect for my mama’s first visit–since she’s a gluten-free girl, herself!

Thanks, sisters! You’re going to make this big move just fine.

P.S. I’m picking up Kate tomorrow in Philly and heading down to NC, but don’t worry, I’ll have some fantastic posts lined up here during my moving hiatus. See you soon!

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Below this photo Katherine writes, "Summertime, you're mine"

WHEN I FOUND KATHERINE SQUIER’S photostream on flickr (thanks to boooooom! who featured her work on their homepage), I spent hours clicking through the nine or so pages of eerily beautiful photos. And even when I was too sleepy to prop myself up in front of my computer, I felt so reluctant to leave her world and go to sleep.

"3 am, late night out."

Her photos, which range from portraits of friends to grainy shots of unmade beds and rooms empty save shafts of sparkling sunlight, resound with intimacy.

Of her work Katherine says, “Women are one of my greatest inspirations in photography, and in life.  Despite the certain delicacy of the female sex, the resiliency and strength they display through life’s hardships is awe-inspiring.”

Certainly that duality permeates her photos. While viewing her work I was struck with the solitude–a near loneliness that was captured within these moments of suspension, particularly among her female subjects. Yet, there is an element of coming-of-age within her narrative that touches on playfulness.

Katherine with her twin sister, Jill.

When I asked Katherine to complete the sentence “You know you’re a sister when…” She replied, “You know you’re a sister when you can find relief and understanding in [your sister's] company.”

Katherine (who has a twin sister) weaves this story of sisterhood well into her images with flawless talent. Bravo.

[Show as slideshow]

visit Katherine’s blog here.

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The Sister Project is beginning to write down its rules for sisterhood. Mine follow; Paige and Marion have some, too. We hope you’ll add to the list.

M Y RULES FOR sisterhood are split in two categories, because I see my role as sister to a brother as being quite different from my role as sister to my friends.

Rules for being a sister to a brother:

1.    Maintain a list (mental or otherwise) of offenses that happened long ago that you can use in your favor at a later date.

Just recently, I reminded my brother of the time he knocked the wind out of me in front of our cousins as a good example of why he owes me a favor.  Note: Don’t think I’m heinous for doing this. T continuously brings up the time I took a bottle-finishing swig of his Tang beverage 18 years ago as proof of why he should never share food with me again.

2.    Make fun of your parents.

Sometimes the only way to keep from breaking-down when we think about our parents’ messy divorce is to start laughing. And there is no better subject than the thing that we have most in common. Every once and a while, we get on these rolls of Dad impersonations that leave us both hyperventilating.

3.    Keep things rambunctious.

Chances are (unless you have an anger-management problem) that your siblings are the only people you can get away with beating up. Take advantage of that outlet. I do.

Rules for being a sister to your girlfriends:

1.    Hold their hair/heads/hands. (When they’re puking/crying/scared.)

2.   Keep their secrets when you want to; spill them when you have to. There’s a fine line between those two, which friends must navigate with care.

3.    Make endless fun of prom photos (and other ridiculous memorabilia)—it’s the best way to keep from taking yourself too seriously (proof of ridiculous prom photo to come).

What are the rules of sisterhood that you live by? Any of these resonate with you?

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