The Quill
Quick Updates for Independent Lifelong Learners
January 24, 2021
#332


Course Registration Starts Tomorrow
Double or Triple Your Experience
Bring a Friend
Wintersession! Week Two - Tuesday, 1/26 - Thursday, 1/28
Mythmakers (Beth Sanders) - Tuesday, 1/26
Lost and Found in Spain with Susan Solomont - Thursday, 1/28
Prep and Paint (Yale Art Gallery) - Friday, 1/29
It's So Surreal (Suzanne Art) - Thursday, 2/4
Don Bermont Returns - Tuesday, 2/9
Monet and Boston (Beth Sanders) - Wednesday, 2/10
LLAIC Zoom Happy Hour - Thursday, 2/18
Spanish Conversation Group (La Tertulia) - Monday, 2/1
LLAIC Lit-Lovers - Friday, 2/12
No Geniuses on Wall Street - Monday, 2/15
Movie Mavens - Friday, 2/19
French Conversation Group

COURSE REGISTRATION STARTS TOMORROW  

We hope you're as excited as we are about the spring 2021 slate of courses! If you haven't decided what courses you would like to take, click here for a complete look at the schedule and descriptions. Registration opens at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning, so make sure you're ready to choose your favorites. Have extra choices ready just in case.

IF YOU MISSED LAST WEEK'S INFOSESSIONS, WHERE COURSE LEADERS DESCRIBED THEIR COURSES, YOU CAN WATCH THE RECORDINGS OF THE JANUARY 19 SESSION AT THIS LINK AND THE JANUARY 22 SESSION AT THIS LINK.

You need to be a member to sign up for courses. If you took out an annual membership last fall, you're all set. If not, the fee is $45 for the spring semester (now thru June 30). If you get a message on the membership page telling you that membership is not available, it means that you're already a member!

Sign up here for membership TODAY if you haven't already, so that it doesn't slow down your course registration process tomorrow. Course slots are assigned first-come, first-served, so you want to register as close to 10 a.m. tomorrow as possible. Signing up for membership beforehand is also good for checking out your username and password, and changing them if necessary.

Go to this page to register for courses. You may want to look it over today. You'll find answers to questions about course registration as well as a link to the registration page. Print out this one-page guide if you want help through the membership and/or registration process.

If a course you want to take is full, you can write to Phyllis Cohen and ask to be placed on a waitlist. The odds of getting into a course from a waitlist are slim, since few people drop out, but it may be worth a try.

For help with any part of the membership and course registration processes, contact one of these helpful people:
Phyllis Cohen       508 651 9630  saffta@gmail.com
Richard Mansfield 978 443 4404  richardscottmansfield@gmail.com
Barbara Mende     857 259 6347  barbara@moosehill.com
Peter Schmidt      339 223 3973  petereschmidt@gmail.com
DOUBLE OR TRIPLE YOUR EXPERIENCE
 
LLAIC is excited about the quality, variety and number of courses available this spring. Since all our courses are offered remotely, there are no worries about driving or rush hour—so consider taking two or three courses this spring. Those of us who have taken multiple courses have found the additional opportunity to learn more and interact with a wider variety of students and Course Leaders to be very rewarding.

Spread the word! Invite your friends and family to join the fun, regardless of where they live. The wonderful opportunity afforded by Zoom is available to everyone and we would love to welcome folks who live out of the area.
WEEK THREE OF WINTERSESSION!
TUESDAY, JANUARY 26 - THURSDAY, JANUARY 28
10:00 A.M.
Welcome to the third week of LLAIC's four-week Wintersession programming. By virtue of your membership in LLAIC you are entitled to participate in any or all of the programs that we offer. There is no extra charge. However, you will need a separate Zoom invitation to attend each one.
 
Every Tuesday at 10 a.m. we have a New Yorker short story roundtable session. The magazine has very nicely provided a series of four winter-based pieces that we will be using as our texts. All four stories are by highly respected and frequently published authors. The January 26 selection is "Turn Signals" by Louise Erdrich. Here is a link to that story. In case you can't access it, here is a PDF for you to download. The class will be limited to 23 people for optimal discussion possibilities. Click here before noon tomorrow, Monday, January 25, to request an invitation. You'll receive it by 3 p.m. that day.

For the final week of the program please read Jonathan Lethem's story "Ava's Apartment" which is linked here. There is also a version which you can print out.

Our group is lively and fun. We hope you wil join us.

* * * * *
Jerry Jacobs leads a Current Events discussion every Wednesday. Click here before noon on Tuesday, January 26, to request an invitation to the January 27 session. You'll get your invite by 3 p.m. that day.

* * * * *
On Thursday, January 28, Susan Solomont will share the story of her life as an Ambassador's wife in Spain. See below for a description of Susan's talk and a link to it.

 We hope to see many of you in each of these free sessions which LLAIC is providing to help while away the winter coronavirus blues.
LLAIC LOVES ART

MYTHMAKERS:
THE ART OF WINSLOW HOMER
AND FREDERIC REMINGTON
BETH SANDERS
TUESDAY, JANUARY 26 1:15-2:30

American icons Winslow Homer and Frederic Remington are paired in Mythmakers: The Art of Winslow Homer and Frederic Remington, an exhibition curated by the Denver Art Museum, Portland Museum of Art and the Amon Carter Museum to explore the unexpected resonances and moments of convergence between the themes, artistic sensibilities, and technical processes of these two artists. The exhibit has had its run in Portland and has moved to Texas….but LLAIC Loves Art is offering an overview of the exhibit with PMA docent Beth Sanders.

Homer and Remington were hailed by turn-of-the-century critics as artists whose work reinforced an American identity rooted in action, independence, and communion with the outdoors. While both artists actively cultivated this reputation, the correlation between these two artists had never been considered in depth due to the perceived differences in their subject matter and the regions of America they depicted in their work. This exhibit takes a new look at these two iconic artists.

Read about Beth here. We're fortunate to have her as a Course Leader this coming semester.

Click here before noon tomorrow, Monday, January 25, to request an invitation. You will receive it by 3 p.m. that day.
LOST AND FOUND IN SPAIN: TALES OF AN AMBASSADOR'S WIFE  
SUSAN SOLOMONT
THURSDAY, JANUARY 28 10:00-11:30
(A WINTERSESSION PROGRAM)
When Barack Obama appointed her husband to be U.S. Ambassador to Spain, Susan Solomont uprooted herself. She left her career, her friends and family, and a life she loved to join her husband for a three-and-a-half-year tour overseas. In a story that is part memoir and part travelogue, Susan recounts a time of self-discovery as she learns the rules of a diplomatic household, feeds her culinary curiosity with the help of some of Spain's greatest chefs, finds her place in the Madrid Jewish community; and creates new meaning in her role as a spouse, a community member, and a twenty-first century woman. 
 
Lost and Found in Spain is an insider's account of everyday life in an American embassy that reminds us we are all looking for our place in the world.
 
Read more about Susan here. Click here before noon on Wednesday, January 27, for a link to a Zoom invitation. You'll receive the invite by 3 p.m. that day.

LLAIC LOVES ART

PREP AND PAINT
YALE UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY
FRIDAY, JANUARY 29 1:15-2:30
This session will focus on artwork from the Yale University Art Gallery and will look at preparatory work done by artists. We will look closely at sketches Edward Hopper
did in preparation for painting "Sunlight in a
Cafeteria." 

Please request your invitation by clicking on this link. You will receive your invitation to the presentation by Thursday, January 28 at 3:00 p.m.
 

LLAIC LOVES ART

 IT'S SO SURREAL!
VENTURING BEYOND THE FRINGE
SUZANNE ART
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4 10:00-11:30
(A WINTERSESSION PROGRAM) 

It's been a tough year, and we can all use a break from reality. All it
takes is some imagination! So let's pull out all the stops and venture into
the realm beyond the real - the surreal. Surrealism was a major art movement of the early 20th century, one that was strongly influenced as much by the bizarre creatures of 16th century artist Hieronymous Bosch as by the theories of Sigmund Freud. After briefly examining André Breton's Manifesto of Surrealism (1924), we'll look at some of the works of Miro, Dali, Tanguy, and others. Then, as we play some mind games with the illusions of Magritte, we'll figure out what makes him a quintessential surrealist. Finally, we'll discover how surrealism is alive and well in today's multiple media.
 
Suzanne Art has taught a wide range of courses in art history at LLAIC. She has degrees in history, French language and literature, and teaching, as well as a lifelong passion for the arts, no pun intended. Click on this link to request an invitation. You'll receive it by 3 p.m. on Wednesday, February 3.

DON BERMONT RETURNS

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9 10:00 A.M.
 
We recently found an old magazine from 1996 that described in glowing terms this new thing called “The Internet,” otherwise known as “The World Wide Web.” This “thing” already had over 25 million users world wide! Check out this video that explains it all — the first five minutes is enough: https://theawesomer.com/the-internet-in-1996/399619/
 
Now, twenty-five years later, the Internet has a few billion users worldwide and it has certainly created change!
 
We will look at how it has changed everything: communication, marketing, retail and sales, work, healthcare, war, crime and policing, dating and mating, politics, journalism, free speech, the truth, truthiness, outright lies and deep fakes, how we have lived during the pandemic and even how we play and what we play with.
 
Think about how we lived our lives in 1994. What about the internet has made our lives better, easier and more convenient? What has made things more challenging, confusing and intrusive? What do you think will happen over the next five years? Is this what we want? And can we do anything about it?
 
Let’s discuss how we think the internet is working for us, the good and the bad. Click on this link by noon on February 8 to request an invitation. You'll receive it by 3 p.m. that day.  
LLAIC LOVES ART
MONET AND BOSTON: LASTING
IMPRESSIONS
BETH SANDERS
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10 1:13-2:30

The Boston Museum of Fine Arts has brought together its unparalleled collection of Monet paintings but now the museum is closed and an opportunity to visit the special exhibit curated by Katie Hanson is not possible. Murray Whyte in the Boston Globe described his impression after a brief opening in November: “Walking into the galleries at the Museum of Fine Arts’ freshly-opened “Monet and Boston: Lasting Impression,” the waves of relief washing over me took almost physical force…. Curator Katie Hanson makes an elegant choice; the exhibition is simple chronology, first to last, leaving the work to stand on its own ample merits.”
 
In honor of its 150th anniversary, the MFA celebrates a great treasure of its collection. Although a gallery was dedicated to a rotating display of the artist’s works in 2016, it has been 25 years since the entire collection was shown together.

Beth Sanders will offer an unofficial glimpse into the collection and appreciation of Monet’s paintings Boston had had since the late 19th century. Not the same as visiting the gallery but a chance to admire together a much-loved artist’s work.

Photo by David Ryan for The Boston Globe

Read about Beth here. We're fortunate to have her as a Course Leader this coming semester.

Click on this link before noon on Tuesday, February 9, to request an invitation. You'll receive it by 3:00 p.m. that day.
COME TO OUR LLAIC ZOOM HAPPY HOUR!
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18 4:00-5:00 P.M.

We had a great time at our January Happy Hour as usual. Since it was the day after the inauguration, we talked a lot about how Congress worked and what the government would do next. Then we compared notes on how we got our news. We also made time, though, for the usual informative discussion of good restaurants for takeout and good pizza in general.

We hope you'll join us again on Thursday, February 18, from 4 to 5 p.m. A lot will have happened between now and then. Bring your drinks, snacks, and conversation. Watch future Quills for a link to request an invitation.
 
SPANISH CONVERSATION GROUP
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1 AT 1 P.M.
 ¡Bienvenidos a La Tertulia! 
Newcomers are welcome at the Spanish conversation group, hosted by Miriam Grodberg and Larry Krakauer. We meet biweekly and focus on conversation using current Spanish language media. Please consider joining us to maintain and improve your Spanish language skills and have some fun along the way. 
 
Click here before noon Sunday, January 31, to request an invitation. You'll receive it before 3 p.m. If you are new and wish to attend, please let Miriam know at mgrodberg@comcast.net.
A PASSAGE TO INDIA
BY E.M. Forster
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12 10:30-12:00
Sign up here by Thursday, February 11, at noon to request a Zoom invitation. The meeting will open 15 minutes early so we can socialize before we begin the discussion.

NOTE: There was a problem with the Lit-Lovers registrations over the last three weeks for the Feb 12th meeting.  If you signed up your registration may have been lost. The issue has been fixed, but will you please sign up again. Thank you.

Among the greatest novels of the twentieth century and the basis for an Oscar-winning film, A Passage to India tells of the clash of cultures in British India after the turn of the century. In exquisite prose, Forster reveals the menace that lurks just beneath the surface of ordinary life, as a common misunderstanding erupts into a devastating affair. Written while England was still firmly in control of India, Forster's novel follows the fortunes of three English newcomers to India and the Indian with whom they cross destinies. The idea of true friendship between the races was a radical one in Forster's time, and he makes it abundantly clear that it was not one that either side welcomed. 

Click here to see a list of the upcoming book selections through May.
THERE ARE NO GENIUSES ON WALL STREET
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15  10:30 A.M.-12 NOON
Are you an experienced investor, or are you new to "the market" and want to know more? We are an easygoing discussion group that deals with all market-related topics. Bring your opinions, insights, and questions. Or just listen.

Sign up here before noon on Sunday, February 14, to receive an invitation to the February 15 meeting. And save March 22 for the next meeting. If you have any questions, contact Richard Lewis: lewisdmd@ yahoo.com or 617-448-4439.
MOVIE MAVENS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19  2:00 P.M.
Watch this space for the name of the movie that we will watch on our own before we get together for our usual lively discussion.
We will gather on Zoom on Friday afternoon, February 19th, at 2:00 p.m. to share our impressions of the movie. Watch future Quills for a link to the Zoom invite.
FRENCH CONVERSATION GROUP
The French Conversation Group is currently reading and discussing
La Peste by Albert Camus. The group meets biweekly, usually on Monday afternoons. If you are interested in joining the group, please contact Richard Mansfield at richardscottmansfield@gmail.com.
Learn more about LLAIC at www.llaic.org
Call us: (508) 463-1205
Write us: llaic2014@gmail.com
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