Friday, December 28, 2012

This week I signed up for Twitter, mainly because I wanted to scoff my name before some other Linda Zajac got their hands on it.  You can catch me at @LindaZajac.   I also added a Twitter link on the right hand side of this website.

Lately, I'm enjoying plenty of family time and writing time too.   

After getting this detailed email about Chasing Ice, I decided to go on Saturday 1/5 instead of Friday night, weather permitting.

Real Art Ways, 56 Arbor Street in Hartford, CT.

Showtimes:

Fri. 1/4: 5pm, 7pm       Sat. 1/5: 2pm, 5pm, 7pm*       Sun. 1/6: 2pm, 5pm, 7pm      Mon. 1/7: 5pm, 7pm**
Tues. 1/8: 4pm            Wed. 1/9: 5pm, 7pm            Thurs. 1/10: 5pm, 7pm 



*Post-film presentation and Q&A with Laurence Gould after the 7pm screening. 

Laurence Gould is a professor of physics at the University of Hartford. Gould was a keynote speaker at the Heartland Institute's 2009 International Conference on Climate Change 

**Post-film discussion with Brian Glenn and the Appalachian Mountain Club after the 7pm screening. 

Brian J. Glenn is a Research Fellow at the Dukakis Center for Public Policy at Northeastern University who studies how perceptions of political issues lead Americans to support certain policies and not others. The discussion will focus on how Chasing Ice presents the issue of global warming. What are the elements of a powerful argument? Is this movie convincing, and if so, why? 
  
My free public skating trip to Hartford turned out to be a costly one.  Not only did I hurt my back really bad when I fell only once, I also crippled my camera, which was in my pocket.  Brilliant.

Thankfully, the pulled muscle is back to normal, but the camera is not.  Thus I am now posting photos from the past.   This is a mountain lion we saw at San Diego Zoo this past summer.  It was a good thing it was in a cage because it was eying and growling at a young child.   

Friday, December 21, 2012

In mid-February I'll be spending a few days at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference.  I got a press pass, which means I get in for free.  I also booked a room in Boston.  It's an opportunity to learn more about current science research and check out a conference that I've never been to.

I also joined the American Chemical Society.   I'll give it a try for a year and see how it goes.

There is also a nonfiction conference that has spurred my interest.  Once again, it's within driving distance.

21st Century Children's Nonfiction Publishing Conference, June 14–16, 2013.
State University of New York ~ New Paltz

I received an email from the Highlights Foundation about their great selection of writing workshops for 2013.

Last Sunday, with a seriously hurting back, I supervised a kids' craft session at the arts center.  Although it was exceptionally painful to get out of bed and to get into the car, I am so glad I went.  It was a diversion from the pain and also from the sadness at Sandy Hook.  The kids had such a great time that they kept coming to the table to decorate another snowflake.  The kids enjoyed it so much that I ended up making 40 more snowflakes and sending them to the siblings of the Newtown tragedy on behalf of the arts center.  I wrote the card out to the kids and included two bags of Hershey's Hugs.  It was a small act of kindness for a heartbroken town.

The sunset shot was taken as I drove by the Major Michael Donnelly Preserve in South Windsor.  I was following a friend while glancing leftward at the pink and purple sky.  Impulsively, I pulled in the lot. 

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Chasing Ice - a "hauntingly beautiful" documentary



Chasing Ice


Acclaimed National Geographic photographer James Balog was once a skeptic about climate change. But through his Extreme Ice Survey, he discovers undeniable evidence of our changing planet. In Chasing Ice, Balog deploys revolutionary time-lapse cameras to capture a multi-year record of the world's changing glaciers. His hauntingly beautiful videos compress years into seconds and capture ancient mountains of ice in motion as they disappear at a breathtaking rate. Traveling with a team of young adventurers across the brutal Arctic, Balog risks his career and his well-being in pursuit of the biggest story facing humanity. As the debate polarizes America, and the intensity of natural disasters ramps up globally, Chasing Ice depicts a heroic photojournalist on a mission to deliver fragile hope to our carbon-powered planet.
"As much as one may intellectually believe in climate change, to see it actually happening has the power to stun a viewer into wordlessness." - Ty Burr, Boston Globe
"The "green" teams looking into such energy sources as solar, wind and nuclear are often ridiculed. Watch "Chasing Ice" and see if you laugh." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
(USA, 76 mins, In English)
Fri. 1/4:
Sat. 1/5:
Sun. 1/6:
Mon. 1/7:
Tues. 1/8:
Wed. 1/9:
Thurs. 1/10: