So what's up with the name of your Substack, Don't Pretend We're Dead?

Well, it comes from one of my favorite songs, written by the awesome cofounder of the band L7, Ms. Donita Sparks.

To those who are unfamiliar, L7 was an all-female rock band from LA that often gets lumped with grunge bands from the 90s because they were labelmates with Nirvana and by God did they love a flannel shirt. I’m not going to get into the whole are-they-grunge-or-not debate, but suffice to say I’ve always liked them. I mean, look at those ladies in that video. Forget for a minute that the director made some fleeting stylistic choices—no, I do not know why everyone had to fly through music videos—but anyway, doesn’t matter. These women are clearly queens no matter what the era.

“Pretend We’re Dead” became a witty feminist rock anthem back in the 90s, a middle finger back at those who would rather forget smart, strong-minded women exist. I’m repurposing it here - robbing it of its sarcastic humor with that added “Don’t”, albeit, but to make the straightforward point that we should never be dismissed—as childless cat ladies, humorless feminists, or whatever the new stereotype-of-the-week is.

Not only should we not be dismissed, but I think I’ve actually become downright addicted to the rush of meeting interesting new women over the years — fiercely independent women, go-their-own-way women, complicated and wise-beyond-their-years women, ridiculously strong, funny-as-hell women. Women who inspire me and make me want to do more, whether that’s get off my ass and write more, or get off my ass and try to be of help to others and look beyond my navel.

So I’ve started this newsletter so we can meet them together. Cool women doing cool things in the fields of advocacy, art, culture, food, music, science and technology. Simple as that. The women I write about and interview in this newsletter give me a shred of hope in these dark times. And by God, who doesn’t need a little more of that.