Nerd Nite 7 will be a special Thursday edition on June 14, 2012.

Check back here soon for more information on speakers!

See you at Pachamama’s (8th and New Hampshire). Doors 7:30ish, presentations 8:00.

Featuring:

Camellia sinensis: Beverage or Spiritual Ideal? Stories of ceremony, meditation and espionage
by Alyssa Koestner

From the meditative properties and transcendental power of tea to the culture effects of tea ceremonies and cultural events.  Tea, not only a beverage, but a “living archaeology” that we are blessed to experience over millennia. Let’s all share a moment of wakeful tranquility connected through tea.

Alyssa Koestner was raised by a woman who loves tea, who was raised by a woman who despises tea (how?!) bouncing between Colorado, Texas and California. Ending up in Lawrence, Kansas in August of 2010 (moved here because of love). Alyssa graduated from UC Irvine in 2010 with a Bachelors in History (focusing on American agriculture); and minors in Medical Anthropology and Archaeology.

Information Nation: Data in the U.S.A.
by Travis Weller

This will be a broad, overview of information and data in the US: who has it, who wants it and why it matters. It will be a wide ranging exploration that bounces from corporate data mining to warrant-less GPS tracking to government information. And, like all things nerdy should be, it will be super “meta.” You come to an event to get information about information!

Travis is a proud Kansan who simultaneously challenges and reinforces the stereotypes about that state. He lives in Lawrence, Kansas, enjoys front-porch-sitting, bike-riding and putting his hands in the dirt.

Williams and Keaton: Two Dianes to Help Us through those Urgent Moments
by Rebecca Evanhoe

Diane Williams, author of experimental fiction, and Diane Keaton, famous actress, were both
born in 1946 in the United States of America. And the parallels don’t stop there. Each woman
captures a similar spirit in their respective art fields, yielding work that is hilarious, sometimes
fumbling, heart-breaking, and enthralling.

Rebecca’s exploration of these two women began as two separate obsessions that merged into
one ever-expanding Mega Obsession. Both Dianes express/portray moments of urgency—small
or large points in life where everything seems most dangerous, most arousing, most absurd,
most exquisitely boring, most enchanting, most disgusting, most joyful. We’ll look at moments
of urgency in the art of each Diane through some of DW’s short fiction, and some of DK’s less
credited work, including her epically under-rated L’Oreal make-up commercials.

Rebecca is most famous in Lawrence for having once worn basketball shorts in public (as an
adult). She has a B.A. in chemistry from KU and lived happily in Lawrence for 10 years. She
currently lives in Gainesville, FL, and is working toward an MFA in fiction at the University of
Florida.