About Us

Andrea Rubenstein, aka. tekanji

Andrea Rubenstein (not Rubinstein as is commonly thought) is the founder and primary blogger of the Official Shrub.com Blog. As a writer, feminist, gamer, geek, and all-around opinionated person, she blogs on a whole host of topics, particularly the intersections of her interests. She also maintains a host of other websites including Shrub.com (parent site to all Shrub-related material) and the Iris Gaming Network. Recently she has begun chronicling her school experiences over at The Life and Times of a Video Game Design Student. In addition to her own sites, she guest blogs at the comics blog Finally, a Feminism 101 Blog, League of Substitute Superheroes, and the video game blog Killer Betties (here’s her blog there).

After graduating from the University of British Columbia with a BA in Asian Area Studies (minor in Classical Myth, Religion, and Literature) in May of 2005. She moved to Japan in April of 2006 to study Japanese at The Yamasa Institute and as of April 2008 has been in a four year program at HAL computer college in Osaka. Her long term goal is to work in Japan for a few years after she graduates and then return to North America to start her own company. She hopes to get a career in the video game industry and one day work on designing MMOs.

Ariel Wetzel, aka. Lake Desire

Ariel Wetzel, known better by her online moniker Lake Desire, became a contributer in January of 2006. In addition to posting here, she maintains New Game Plus – her personal blog, focused primarily gender and her geeky interests like gaming and scifi. Her alias refers to the lake that she grew up near.

She is a 21 year old senior at Western Washington University, where she is able to design her BA major through a smaller college, Fairhaven, within the university. The title? Speculative Visions: Gender and Imaginative Composition. Basically, it’s an intersection of creative writing, gender studies, and the speculative fiction umbrella (scifi, fantasy, dystopias, and the like). She also enjoys writing fiction, vegan cooking (as an animal rights activist, she is accordingly an herbivore), reading young adult literature, activism, and the outdoors.

Jeff Pack, aka. jfpbookworm

Jeff Pack became a contributor in June of 2006. In addition to posting here, he maintains a personal blog at jeffpack.vox.com.

In May 1999 he graduated from Brown University with a BA in English and American Literature; in May 2002 he received a JD from Columbia Law School, where he served as technical editor for the Science and Technology Law Review. He works in Buffalo, New York.

Dora, a.k.a. Sigel Phoenix

Dora became a contributer in July 2006. Her personal blog Chicken Scratch, also contains political content, while being a site of personal and geek ponderings besides. Currently she is a student at the University of Washington double majoring in Creative Writing and Women Studies, with minors in Japanese and Philosophy.

Politically, her primary interests are feminism and anti-racism. On the geek side of things, she enjoys writing, comic books, sci-fi and fantasy, anime, and tabletop roleplaying.

Luke

Luke blogs primarily at The Old School Lunch. He is also a guest contributor of Official Shrub.com Blog and Racialicious which represents a few of his blogging topics of interest: gender, race, ethnicity and feminism.

He majored in American Ethnic Studies (African American Studies concentration – Arts & Humanities focus to be specific) and minored in Women Studies at the University of Washington where he graduated in the Spring of 2006. Luke hopes to attend graduate school for either Ethnic Studies or Women’s Studies but in the meantime works as a counselor to homeless and low-income men in downtown Seattle. Luke is also proud to be a part of Hollaback Pacific Northwest (formerly Hollaback Seattle). His likes include: The Media Education Foundation, NBA Live, Law & Order: SVU, Veronica Mars and curry.

Last Updated: June 18, 2011.

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