Author Archives: Deborah Drucker

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About Deborah Drucker

I am a native of California who lives in Southern California. I have a background in healthcare and Special Education. Writing is a new adventure for me.

Walking Through Doors

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Walking through doors that are not your own could be a metaphor for entering into unfamiliar territory or something that is outside your comfort zone. I do that a lot in my fiction writing. My characters do things, say things, and get into situations that I would probably not want to do. I just wrote a flash fiction piece where the main characters decided to go caving which involved rappelling into a deep cavern. In another story one of my characters used special gear to climb up 150 feet to the top of a redwood tree. It is fun to research what I need to make these situations real and I like imagining someone (else) doing these things. That is what is so fun about fiction writing. You can imagine people doing so many interesting things and create their worlds. The writer stands at the door to these worlds and holds the key.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. Today’s prompt is “door.” Write about a door you walked through this week that wasn’t your own. Enjoy!

‘Walking through door’ GIF by giphy.com

Women Can Do Science

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You may think I went a tad overboard this month, and I probably did, but I wanted to shine a big light on the issue of gender equity in STEM careers. I am sharing stories about women in science who have had to overcome stereotypes about their gender to pursue careers in science. I am in awe of these women who continued studying and working in spite of all the barriers in their path. Part of the problem besides outright prejudice and discrimination may be that we do not read about these women in the media as often as we read about male scientists. So I mentioned two journalists who decided to analyze and remedy the lack of gender equity in their reporting. And I included what some organizations and companies are doing to bring more women into careers in the sciences. The stories about women in science definitely demonstrate resilience of the human spirit.

Nancy Grace Roman was told women can’t be scientists. It is a good thing she didn’t listen to that opinion. Here is a short video about Dr. Roman’s story in her own words courtesy of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Katrina Jackson.

In the video Dr. Roman states that people are often not interested in how things got started. I think because we don’t read or hear stories about women in science we assume they don’t exist. Ed Yong in his Atlantic article talks about gender imbalance in science reporting. He talks about how he realized he was leaving women scientists out of his reporting and how he made the effort to remedy that. He mentions an example of his own writing in December 2015 about a conference on CRISPER, where he quotes six men and one woman which might indicate a lack of women working in the field. He writes this was:

“…all the more egregious because the CRISPR field is hardly short of excellent, prominent female scientists. Indeed, two of the technique’s pioneers, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna, are women, and both of them spoke at the same conference from which I reported. And yet, if you read my piece, you could be forgiven for thinking that CRISPR was almost entirely the work of men.”-Ed Yong

If we never read about women in science, it is like they do not exist. He mentions his colleague Adrianne LaFrance who did a study with the help of a computer scientist at MIT on the proportion of women scientists she had been including in her articles and found it was much lower compared to men. She says:

“These numbers are distressing, particularly because my beats cover areas where women are already outnumbered by men—robotics, artificial intelligence, archaeology, astronomy, etc. Which means that, by failing to quote or mention very many women, I’m one of the forces actively contributing to a world in which women’s skills and accomplishments are undermined or ignored, and women are excluded.”-Adrienne LaFrance

You might argue that more women scientists do not exist or are less qualified to be quoted. Yong found this was not the case he just needed to look in the right places.

“It is getting increasingly easy to find such people. The journalist Christina Selby, writing at the Open Notebook, compiled a list of tips for diversifying sources. The journalist Mollie Bloudoff-Indelicato created Diverse Sources, a searchable database of underrepresented experts in science. 500 Women Scientists, a nonprofit, created Request a Woman Scientist, a similar (and larger) database. Both can be filtered by country, specialty, and more. Several scientists have compiled lists of women in microbiology, astronomy, physics, evolution, political science, neuroscience, and more. I keep a personal list of women and people of color who work in the beats that I usually cover. And if these all fail, the most basic journalistic method always works: Ask someone. Get people in the field to suggest names.”-Yong

Women in STEM sciences at NASA, web site has profiles and links to resources for girls and boys.

Women at JPL

And you may have heard some buzz about how women don’t belong in Tech or do well in Tech. Here is a bit about that:

GE announced the goal of having 20,000 women in STEM jobs by 2020.

And TED Talk by Kimberly Bryant founder of Black Girls Code. Ms. Bryant wants to encourage women and girls of color to pursue careers in tech and is helping with her nonprofit:

We Are The World Blogfest, #WATWB, hosted by Belinda Witzenhausen, Emerald Barnes, Eric Lahti, Inderpreet Uppal, Lynn Hallbrooks, Mary Giese, Michelle Wallace, Peter Nena, Roshan Radhakrishnan, Simon Falk, Susan Scott, Sylvia McGrath, Sylvia Stein. We Are The World Blogfest is a monthly blog occurring the last Friday of each month dedicated to sharing positive news of the world “stories that show compassion and the resilience of the human spirit. Sharing these stories increases our awareness of hope in our increasingly dark world.”

*Featured Image at top of page: “Mary Van Rensselaer Buell (1893-1969), sitting in lab with microscope, reading paper” from Smithsonian Institute via Flickr. Creator/Photographer: Julian Scott Description: In 1919, Mary Van Rensselaer Buell (1893-1969) became the first woman to earn Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin. She carried on her extensive research on nutrition and physiological chemistry at University of Iowa, Johns Hopkins University, Washington University, and the University of Chicago.

We Are the World Blogfest

Falling Deep

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Jordan lay awake thinking about how her life had changed so radically in the past few weeks. She prided herself on her independence and planned to travel through life with no attachments holding her down. It’s not that she didn’t enjoy the company of men, but she wanted to be free to go wherever life would lead her in a moments notice. That was before she met Aidan.

She had been on another adventure hiking in Nepal when her group took refuge at Gorek Shep. They were told it was too dangerous to try to climb Everest in the winter. She was lobbying her companions to take a shot climbing part of the way. She didn’t find any takers and resigned herself to spending the night and heading back to Lukla in the morning. She was drowning her disappointment in dark chocolate and a large glass of wine at the fireside when she heard his voice.

“You don’t give up easily, do you?”

Jordan looked in the direction of the voice and saw large dark eyes that seemed to penetrate her with their intensity.

” I guess I don’t,” she replied.

” Your friends are right, this is not the time to climb the mountain.”

“I have given up on that idea already.”

” I am planning on a caving trip. Have you ever tried it?”

” I haven’t done that yet. Where are you planning to go?”

“The Krubera Cave in Abkhazia. It’s believed to be the deepest cave in the world.”

“How deep?”

” The latest measurement was 2,197 meters.”

” That’s over 7,000 feet!”

“Yes, but I don’t recommend it for beginners. I would be willing to give you some lessons.”

” I have to head back to my home base but you have got me interested.”

“Where do you live?”

” I live in Nevada City.”

” Where’s that?”

“Nevada City is in the Gold Country in Northern California.”

“Gold Country?”

” It’s where Gold was discovered and mined in California. The site of the “Gold Rush.” I grew up there. It’s a small town but with a colorful history of people who took risks and sought their fortunes in the Wild West. Maybe that’s how I got my love of adventure. I’m Jordan Sullivan, and you are?

“I’m Aidan Rourke, nice to meet you. Nevada City sounds like an interesting place to visit. Did you ever go climbing around there?”

“Just hiking but I was just thinking about what you said, teaching me about caving. There is a large cave near Angels Camp called the Moaning Caverns. There is rappelling available at the site. If you would like to come to California, you could be my guest in Nevada City.”

Jordan had shocked herself with this invitation to a man she just met but there was something about him. She was drawn to him and wanted to get to know him better. She had relationships before but they never lasted long and she told herself not to expect this one would amount to much either. After all, she was not interested in commitment and the men she usually dated felt the same way.

Aidan had taken her up on the offer to visit California and she had spent the last week showing him around her home town and the surrounding area. She was used to getting into intimate relationships quickly and this one was no different in that respect. What was different about it was how she was beginning to feel about Aidan. Jordan saw this as a red flag. You’ve got to get hold of yourself, slow down. No commitment, remember?  There was something about this one though. He had such an appealing way about him. He was strong but gentle and had a quirky sense of humor that made her laugh. And when she looked into those big dark brown eyes she felt herself melt. What was she going to do? This was getting serious!

They decided to head for the Moaning Caverns the next morning. Jordan found herself yawning over breakfast.

” I didn’t think my conversation was so boring,” Aidan remarked grinning.

” I had a little trouble sleeping last night.”

” Anything bothering you?”

” Nothing really. I’m not sure what kept me awake.” Jordan was not going to admit what or who was causing her insomnia yet, or maybe never she thought.

“Are you ready for some rappelling lessons this morning?”

“I’m ready to get going. Can we leave now?”

Aidan picked up on Jordan’s irritability but decided to ignore it. He was looking forward to teaching her how to use the ropes. He couldn’t wait to get close to her again. He had been attracted to her from the first night they met and now he didn’t know how he would ever live without her. He had the ring hidden in his backpack and planned to surprise her when they were in the cave. He just hoped she felt the same way about him.

They had a great time rappelling down into the cavern. Jordan took to it like a pro. They decided to make one final descent. Aidan started off down the wall of the cave and was halfway down when his rappel anchor suddenly broke loose and he plummeted. Luckily a ledge broke his fall. Jordan screamed and cried out to him but he did not respond. She quickly descended to where he was sprawled on the ledge.

“Aidan, darling, are you hurt?”

It took a few minutes for Aidan’s head to clear then he realized Jordan was touching his body looking for any injury. “Did you call me darling?”

” Yes, and are you going to make a big deal out of it?” Jordan shouted, tears glistening in her eyes.

” Yeah, I’m going to make a big deal out it,” he said as he pulled her close and covered her mouth with his before she could say anything more.

They never made it to Abkhazia but found much to explore in Nevada City after they were married in the Spring.

This Flash Fiction post is for the # WEPFF WEP-Write…Edit…Publish February 2018 Challenge-In Too Deep hosted by Denise Covey, Yolanda Renée, Nilanjana Bose, and Olga Godim. Featured image Harwood hole New Zealand by Dave Bunnell on Wikimedia.org

 

Word Count: 998

Full Critique

 

 

 

 

His And Hers Skating

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His arms lift her above it all, spin, and then release her.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. Today’s prompt is: “his/her(s).” Use one, use both, bonus points if you start your post with one and end with the other. Have fun!  Slide show of Sarah Rose and Joseph Goodpaster at Lillehammer 2016 by Clément Bucco-Lechat on wikimedia.org, Sarah Rose and Ian Meyh at US Nationals 2018 by icenetwork on You Tube.

 

Tiger Tale

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I read that Chile has banished Tony the Tiger as part of their campaign to change the dietary habits of their country. I grew up with Tony the Tiger, Frosted Flakes, and other too sweet cereals myself. I can’t blame Tony for any bad eating habits I have acquired over the years.

Tony the Tiger via giphy.com

There were so many choices when I was growing up: Sugar Pops, Lucky Charms, Cocoa Puffs. But I wasn’t “Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs”,

via giphy.com

or even for Lucky Charms and the Leprechaun.

But the ads probably do influence kids. I remember the commercials were shown during the times when kids shows were on, like Saturday morning cartoons. I do think I miss Tony the Tiger saying “Frosted Flakes are GRRRREAT!!!! And that’s the end of my tale.

Did you have any favorite, too sugarly, cereals when you were a kid or even now?

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. Today’s prompt words: tail/tale. Use one or both. Featured image ‘tiger meme’ by Meme Binge on Flickr. Gifs via giphy.com

Images And Words

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“One picture is worth a thousand words”

In other words, an image can have a tremendous impact…much greater than writing.  A photographer can capture an image that speaks in a universal language understood by everyone. Pretty hard for the written word to compete with that.

Child Laborer 1908
Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange
Marcel Marceau via Pixabay
Kissing the War Goodbye by Lt Victor Jorgensen

Lewis Hine: Exposing Child Labor early 20th Century US via US Capitol Visitor Center

To read more about Lewis Hine.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. Today’s prompt ‘in other words.’

Fast and Slow Motion

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Even though I can appear stationary, I have been racing around inside. A restlessness because of feeling at loose ends. I think it is related to my moving into a new stage of life. I have been transitioning away from having a work life. And now that I don’t have a lot of stuff I have to do,  to distract me, I have to come face to face with myself. I have decided that is what this part of my journey is about. Taking stock of what my life has been and now setting off on a new adventure… the exploration of this new, unknown territory. But I think I am ready to begin. There are no guideposts, maps, or operating instructions. You have to figure it out for yourself. So I am taking it one step at a time.

Spider Meadows, Glacier Peak by Andy Porter

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. The prompt word for today ‘movement’ However, don’t use the word “movement.” Choose some sort of movement, and base your post on that. Enjoy!

Featured image “Lipan Point, South Rim, Grand Canyon National Park” by Adam Schallau US Dept of the Interior on Flickr. Spider Meadows Image from US Dept of State on Flickr. Both images part of National Wilderness Month Album from 9/2017.

 

Teaching Kindness

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Can children be taught kindness?  That is the goal of a program being taught in a Pre-kindergarten classroom in Queens, New York and in other preschool programs around the US based on “the Kindness Curriculum, developed by the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in which preschoolers are introduced to a potpourri of sensory games, songs and stories that are designed to help them pay closer attention to their emotions,” ( New York Times).In the program children are taught to recognize their own emotions and become sensitive to the feelings of others, to show kindness toward others. Children who have received this training do become more altruistic but the lessons must be reinforced as children get older.

Seems like a worthwhile addition to school curriculum and the world.

This post is part of We Are The World Blogfest through which bloggers share stories that show love, humanity, and brotherhood but go beyond religion and politics. This month We Are The World is co-hosted by:  Shilpa Garg, Simon Falk, Lynn Hallbrooks, Eric Lahti, Damyanti Biswas and Guilie Castillo.  Click on the WATWB link if you want to read more about the rules and how to join in. Featured image, ‘Kindergarten is fun’ by woodleywonderworks on Wikimedia.org

Virtual Perfection

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Fish

The children were fitted with Virtual Sight contacts at an early age. Everyone had perfect eye sight and everything in the world was in perfect high-definition. The Controllers questioned why anyone should view imperfection. So any flaws were quickly removed from view and everything looked perfect. Poverty,human suffering, or the elderly need not be seen. To prevent the population from tripping over unseen bodies in the street, the poor and sick were swept into hidden compounds. When people reached the age of 55 they simply disappeared. This arrangement was deemed sensible. No one should have to see the messy, imperfection of ageing. People sometimes felt uneasy though. A sensation of people walking beside or around, a whisper, a movement in the air, a shadow.

The disruption in the Virtual System occurred during a solar flare in the middle of the Summer Solstice celebration. People were disoriented as their brains fought to adjust to their natural vision. They froze in place as the creatures came into view. There were strange, imperfect beings standing among them. The older ones who had disappeared were still alive. They just had been unable to see them.

Flash Fiction for the Purposeful Practitioner is hosted by Roger Shipp. Click on link to learn more about this writing group.

Flapjack

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Octopuses occasionally occupy the ocean floor.

“While diving off the central California coast, the team of E/V Nautilus encountered this Flapjack Octopus (named for its ear flaps) lingering on the sea floor.”- EVNautilus via You Tube

Flapjack or Opisthoteuthis californiana via Monterey Bay Aquarium on You Tube. The octopus looks red because it is being illuminated by a red light which it can’t see and thinks it is in the dark. This little octopus is a rare find in the ocean.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. Today’s  “prompt for #JusJoJan and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “oc.” Find a word that starts with “oc” and use it in your post. Bonus points if you start and end with your post with an “oc” word.”