
Make it a Pear!
By Marlena Compton

Make it a Pear!Apr 05, 2023

Peak SF: Fat in San Francisco
Big trigger warning: I'll talking about weight, body image, eating, and all of that.
This episode was inspired by Jennette McCurdy -- "I'm Glad My Mom Died"

No Tears for the Tech Bro Bank
Let's rant about the VC finance machine in general and the Silicon Valley Bank in particular.

Don't Be That Guy
Twitter is back in the headlines as the shiny object of Elon Musk must have in his possession.
It is also one of anchors if not “the” anchor of the San Francisco tech scene in the 2010’s.
This week, I'll explain why I think Elon Musk has a 50/50 chance of being Twitter's "great savior," and why his purchase of Twitter is really about an "edit" button.

You have arrived.
Have you ever struggled to feel like you belong? Most everyone does, but it's worth examining the moments we get, and most of us do have these moments when you feel like you've arrived. If we think back, they might be small, they might not be noticeable to anyone but you, but they do happen. And this type of moment doesn't just happen for us. When does a city arrive? When does a decade arrive?

Escaping the Overwork Trap
Tech is known to have many different types of overwork traps. This week I talk about some of them, and how I avoid them.

The Interview
Hear what it’s like to fly to San Francisco for an interview at a cool tech company.
Want to hear what I was listening to at the time? Here's a Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4LqPo085gOln18qG3m6M0S?si=951bdddd5a03424f

#PeakSF
Join me for Season 3 of "Make it a Pear!" Hear about what's in store for this upcoming season and a little life update about where I am today.
If you want pics, follow me on Instagram.

The Why of Wavelength Part 3 -- The hardest thing to share
Click here to buy your Wavelength Ticket or Donate a Ticket today!
https://wavelengthconf.com/shop/

The Why of Wavelength Part 2 -- Can you have an online conference without a screen?
Click here to find out more about the Wavelength Zine Exchange & Tech Conference.
Zines that are not just for kids:
Your Black Friend by Ben Passmore
I couldn't afford therapy so I made this zine by Lawrence Lindell
Bubblesort Zines by Amy Wibowo (aka SailorHG)
For more cool zines, click to check out appearworks.shop.

The Why of Wavelength: Part 1
This is the first of a three part series that goes behind the scenes of the Wavelength Zine Exchange & Conference.
What happens when you realize the the roadmap you have no longer shows the road in front of you?
Click here to find out more about the Wavelength Zine Exchange & Conference.

How to start making your zine
This week, it's all about how to get started making a zine.
If you'd like to join a free, online workshop to get started, I'm running 3 of them in the month of July.
Click here to get more info and sign up.

It's not you, it's them!!!!
You really *are* enough, you know.
Click here to sign up for Wavelength conference announcements.
Interested in what else is happening and where you can follow me? Click here.

Eclipse in the desert
For patrons, Click here to link to the post I mention in the podcast.
Art by Wilson Ye. Thanks for capturing Furnace Creek better than I ever could.

What is Wavelength?

Practice is the journey
It's time to get your creative process together. In this episode we talk about the three basic pieces of creative practice according to Beth Pickens, author of "Your Art Will Save Your Live" and, more recently, "Make Your Art No Matter What."
Even though the context for these is artists making art, we explain the solid connection with building for tech and what that means for you.
The Writing Salon -- Where I worked on a novel that will never see the light of day, lol.
Exercism.io -- Level up your coding skills through mentoring, feedback and revisions.
Appear Works affiliate links for (support our work with a purchase):
Photo credit. Amjith S.

All of Tech's a Stage!
Let's dive into the artistic process of producing and play and how it's connected to what you do everyday at a software job.
Are you ready to bring more art into the tech you build?
Join me next Tuesday, May 11. Click here to find out more.

After Agile
So what happens after everything burns?
Hear the backstory of the talk I did at Agile Deliver and why it's blowing up on twitter.
Are you a new follower? This episode is a great introduction to what I'm about.
My Totally Unwelcome and Utterly Fantastic Agile Deliver Keynote Talk

RGB.TXT
This month, Let's Sketch Tech! is taking a deep-dive into the world of color and what that means for tech. Today, we hear about two color origin stories that couldn't be more different. We begin at the Imperial Palace in Beijing and then traipse over to the West Coast and learn about the origin stories of color in CSS.
Join the meetup on May 11, 2021.
Explore "Let's Sketch Tech!".
Imperial Yellow: A Costume Colour at the Top of the Social Hierarchy
Portrait Dowager Empress Cixi by Katherine Carl.
A lecture by Jung Chang about "Empress Dowager Cixi."

The date of expiration in tech
Content warning: workplace abuse
Chani Nicholas/Astrology app (not paid, I just like it) -- https://chaninicholas.com/chani-app/
btw, as of this post, they are looking for mobile developers.
Join our meetup tomorrow (Tuesday, April 6) -- https://www.eventbrite.com/e/145167719557
What's all this about? -- https://appearworks.com/link-tree/

Fun is not optional, joy is not a luxury.
Click to join us next week! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/145167719557
Beth Pickens: https://www.bethpickens.com/
What is Let's Sketch Tech? -- https://appearworks.com/link-tree/

A simple technique for a self-care breakthrough
How to do the 3 day challenge:
1. Spend 3 minutes massaging, moisturizing and caring for your hands.
2. Give them some gentle stretching.
3. Use your hands to write your name, and slow it way down.
Click here to check out our next meetup.
Click here to find out what "Let's Sketch Tech!" is all about.

What the C?
Here's all you need to know... https://appearworks.com/link-tree/
The 3 question survey I talk about is here: https://forms.gle/eR3n2PGpcRGvW3qj7

My depression story and how zines helped me out of it
Content warning. In this episode I share some parts of my journey with depression/anxiety. Also, I'm not a doctor or therapist. I'm speaking about my own personal journey, and if you know someone who needs to hear this, I hope you'll share it.
If you are a Patron or received the Let's Sketch Tech survey, please fill out.
Want to know about the Patreon? Click here. Or signup for the free Let's Sketch Tech! newsletter.
Click to join our zine meetup tonight. (March 9)
Or to find out about our lettering meetup next month (April 6)
Keep sketching!!!

Telling your story with Zines
In this episode, we talk about why it's so important to find your story and how the free-form format of zines can help.
Explore the world of zines and make a small business-owner's day by purchasing some zines to check them out. Not sure what you want? Call up and ask for a $20 random assortment. Here are links to some of our favorite zine stores. These aren't affiliate links, we just think they're great.
Links from the episode:
Sign up for the Let's Sketch Tech! newsletter. (It's free!)
Join us next Tuesday (March 9, 2021) for our zine workshop.
Click to check out our Patreon
Buy a zine from the Appear Works shop -- We are the creators of the podcast.

Drawing Cute Robots and Computers
A little bit of news and lots of fun.
Learn how to sketch cute computers and robots the easy way!

What is "Let's Sketch Tech!" doing this year?
Plans are happening for 2021. Find out what's in store and how we're tailoring it just for you!

Fresh air for the new year!
In this episode we go through an exercise of talking about what we wish we knew last year, and what we'd like to know about the coming year.

Can we talk about January
We're 3 days into February. How can we even process January?
I talk about this and what a vision board of January could look like.