Gina Barreca,author of It’s Not That I’m Bitter: How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Visible Panty Lines and Conquered the World, will be speaking — and making the audience laugh out loud — on Thursday, Feb. 23 at Michael’s on East. The event, which is sort of a lead-up to the “big” 2012 Renaissance Luncheon: The Reinvention of Self, is a luncheon/fun-fest in support of the Women’s Resource Center of Sarasota County.

Barreca has appeared on 20/20, the Today Show and Oprah and, a woman after my own heart, she’s a weekly columnist for The Hartford Courant. She’s currently a Professor of English and Feminist Theory at the University of Connecticut.

For ticket information — visit www.thewomensresourcecenter.org.