About

👋 My name is Lauren. I live in Madison, WI, after spending much of my life in central Indiana.

📝 This is a link blog, where I keep track of what I’m reading and my reflections on it. If I’m reading a ton, I may post frequently. 📝 I use this site to tinker at the edge of the Fediverse, compiling stories related to higher education, new media and internet culture, tech and digital communication practices. I’m a real nerd about writing and the internet, and currently thinking out loud about the mainstreaming of LLMs and AI. 📝 This blog keeps track of my reading, and it’s also my sandbox for experimenting with AI as I learn the LLM tools. The intention is to plot out my work over time and share out what I find. Crunching my own writing within the LLM means whatever I produce within the tool is mine and doesn’t draw from other bodies of work outside of what was used to create the AI model. The writing here is mine unless I specifically call out otherwise in relationship to Claude/Anthropic. Assume I’m using the latest Claude Pro version as I go.
➡️ Question or suggestion? Talk to me.
➡️ More: “What is this site and why am I doing it?"

⚡ I was a prominent political blogger in the Web 1.0 era, as a player in the third wave feminist movement with a focus on the intersection of gender with American politics, tech and media. I have done dozens of interviews and appearances associated with that work.
➡️ Here’s a podcast from 2022
➡️ An article from 2019
➡️ Going viral and what it’s like
During this era, I was also a front-end web developer for other prominent bloggers on early tools, including Movable Type, Blogger and Wordpress. In this house, we love the indie web.

📚 Read books. 📚 The book-related posts and pages on this site are powered by the Epilogue app, a companion app for micro.blog, and my favorite feature of this platform. 📚 To be a good communicator, you should thoughtfully consume a lot of good media, and build your depth in music, articles, movies, books and art. Stay curious.

🎨 I make a habit of supporting independent media, student media and local artists. You should, too. 🎨 I’m a casual fiber artist and practice with middling commitment; however, I am proud to have exhibited a quilt at the Los Angeles art gallery Gallery 1988, at a show curated by Wustitch, in 2023. The quilt was purchased by a working artist and is now on permanent display at Lala Gallery in Lafayette, IN.

💀 Google Reader is my Roman Empire.

➡️ Be vigilant; stay fly.