The Quill
Quick Updates for Independent Lifelong Learners
September 26, 2021
#367

Tips for the Fall Semester
Spanish Conversation Group (La Tertulia) - Monday, 9/27
LLAIC Loves Art: Art That Was Radical in Its Time - Wednesday, 9/29
Current Events - Friday, 10/1
Ted Talk - Depression: The Secret We Share - Wednesday, 10/6
LLAIC Lit-Lovers - Friday, 10/8
Let's Go: DeCordova Sculpture Park - Friday, 10/8
Movie Mavens - Friday, 10/15
No Geniuses on Wall Street - Monday, 10/18
LLAIC Zoom Happy Hour - Thursday, 10/21
French Conversation Group

TIPS FOR THE FALL SEMESTER
 
Registration for 10-week and first-half five-week courses is now closed. But you can still register for the five-week courses that begin in November. Look over this At-a-Glance Schedule, which is also on our website. Courses designated (5b) start on the week of November 2.
 
If you're having difficulty with Zoom, please let your tech support know so they can help you before class starts. The contact information for your tech support person is given on your recent Zoom invitation. Or you can reach out to info@llaic.org.

Those of you in 10-week courses will be getting contacted within the next couple weeks for your mid-course feedback.

And finally, if you have changed your email address or phone number, please let us know! We have had a few situations in which members did not get material from their course leader or a Zoom invitation from the tech support because we didn't have your latest email address. Send the updated info to info@llaic.org, and we'll make the changes on both the student database and the Quill mailing list.

SPANISH CONVERSATION GROUP
¡Bienvenidos a La Tertulia!
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 @ 1:00-2:30
The LLAIC Spanish Conversation group, La Tertulia, meets via Zoom every other Monday from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. We focus on print and short video articles from Spanish language media from around the world, choosing topics of general interest for every reading appetite. We take turns reading or viewing and then discuss the content, vocabulary, style, world view and other relevant themes.

Participants should feel comfortable reading, speaking, and understanding Spanish at an advanced intermediate level or higher. We address vocabulary and grammar issues as needed, but the focus is on conversation. No preparation is required. The hosts for the group are Miriam Grodberg and Larry Krakauer. Contact Miriam at mgrodberg@comcast.net with any questions.
LLAIC LOVES ART:
ART THAT WAS RADICAL IN ITS TIME: HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE BOSTON MFA
PRESENTED BY IVY CUBELL
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 @ 1:30-2:45
“ALL ART HAS BEEN CONTEMPORARY!” What was considered innovative and new in its time? Using the MFA’s unparalleled collection for an overview, we will explore various outstanding art works, from 3000 years ago to the 20th century, that were considered not only radical in subject matter or message, but also radical in style, how they were painted or crafted. Who were some of the brave and influential artists through history to break through the barriers of the status quo? What and how did they choose to represent the world in which they lived?

Ivy Cubell is passionate about art and history and making connections between the two. As a gallery instructor at the MFA, she leads specially themed tours for both adult and student groups, develops tours and training curricula for MFA docents, and leads professional development teacher workshops as well as LLAIC courses. In addition to degrees in art history, she holds an MSW and a JD.

Please click here by noon on Tuesday, September 28, to request an invitation to this LLAIC Loves Art program. You'll receive your invitation or notification of your status by 3:00 p.m. that day. There will be lots of terrific reproductions on view so if you have a choice, the larger your display screen the better. Questions? Email Elaine Paster or call her at 508 527 5552.
CURRENT EVENTS
LED BY DON BERMONT
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1 @ 10:00-11:15

Don Bermont will lead the group in the usual stimulating discussion of recent happenings in the state, the country, and the world. It'll be a busy session with these items on the agenda:

  • The virus: still, vaccines, boosters, precautions, the cold weather.

  • Congress: infrastructure 1, infrastructure 2, voting rights? the debt ceiling?

  • China: Evergrande, the economy, submarines; why is France so upset?

  • Texas: abortion law, Beto O'Rourke, voting laws.

  • Supply chain breakdowns: who is working, who isn’t, refrigerators, chips.

  • Social media : social consequences, depression, Facebook exposed by WSJ, Zuckerberg’s response, Gabby Petito (white woman, influencer).

  • New revelations about Trump: the insurrection, Russia.

Click here to request an invitation before noon on Thursday, September 30. You'll receive the invitation by 3 p.m. that day. New members are always welcome.

DECORDOVA SCULPTURE PARK, LINCOLN
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8 @ 10:45 A.M.
                                                     
DeCordova Sculpture Park is an exciting venue with over 50 unique contemporary sculptures. The sculpture park includes works by important twentieth- and twenty-first-century artists such as Dorothy Dehner, Andy Goldsworthy, Antony Gormley, Ursula von Rydingsvard, and many other noteworthy artists. It is internationally recognized as a major venue for the exhibition and interpretation of modern and contemporary outdoor sculptures.
 
Please arrive at 10:45 a.m for our 11:00 a.m 60-minute docent-led tour, which will cost $8.00 and includes admission and parking. We hope that you will join us at the picnic tables for a brown bag lunch. (Don’t forget yours!) We aren’t going out for lunch because of Covid. We will enjoy lunch surrounded by the beautiful surroundings of the deCordova Sculpture Park. Also, everyone must wear a mask while on the tour. I’ve been told that there are no benches on the route. Therefore, if you feel that you’ll need to sit down during the tour, please bring something like a portable stool.
 
To reserve your space for the docent tour, please print out and complete the attached registration form, enclose a check made out to Terri Kasper for $8.00 per person and send it to Terri at the address on the registration form. This trip is limited to 16 people.
 
Your check must be received by Saturday, October 2. No cancellations will be allowed after October 2. in case of pouring rain, we will cancel the trip and refund your money.
 
For more information, please call or write to Terri Kasper at 617-543-1955 or Tkasper67@comcast.net.
 
TED TALK:
ANDREW SOLOMON
DEPRESSION: THE SECRET WE SHARE
PRESENTED BY MARY MANSFIELD
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6 @ 1:30-2:45

The talk is about the speaker's battle with depression, his encounters with other people suffering from the same disease, and what he has learned both about himself and about the world as a result.


Click here to request an invitation before noon on Tuesday, October 5. You'll receive the invitation by 3 p.m. that day.

ALL OVER BUT THE SHOUTIN'
BY RICK BRAGG
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8 @ 10:30-12:00
Sign up by sending your name and e-mail to Joan Chasan before registration closes at 10 p.m. on Wednesday, October 6, and you will receive a Zoom invitation by 3 p.m. Thursday, October 7. The meeting will open 15 minutes early so we can socialize before we begin the discussion. Contact Joan if you have trouble signing up. All book lovers are welcome.

This haunting, harrowing, gloriously moving recollection of a life on the American margin is the story of Rick Bragg, who grew up dirt-poor in northeastern Alabama, seemingly destined for either the cotton mills or the penitentiary, and instead became a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The New York Times. It is the story of Bragg's father, a hard-drinking man with a murderous temper and the habit of running out on the people who needed him most, and of his mother, who went eighteen years without a new dress so that her sons could have school clothes and picked other people's cotton so that her children wouldn't have to live on welfare alone.

Click here to see the upcoming book selections through April.
MOVIE MAVENS
SAND STORM
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15 @ 2:00-3:00
The Movie Maven film choice for October is Sand Storm, a 2017 Israeli film in Arabic directed by Elite Zexer with a 93% rating from Rotten Tomatoes. The film won six Ophirs (Israeli Oscars) including best picture, best director and best supporting actress. Set in a Bedouin village in the Negev (southern Israel), it tells of the plight of women in traditional patriarchal societies struggling to live within the limits of their tradition. This urgent family drama also won the Sundance World Cinema Grand Jury Prize.
As stated in the Los Angeles Times movie review, “It’s set in the heart of the desert, but the disturbances of the quietly impressive 'Sand Storm' rage not in the natural world but in the intimate corners of the human heart.”
After you watch the film on your own (available on Netflix), please join us on Zoom on October 15 at 2:00 p.m. for a lively discussion. Please click here by Thursday, October 14, to receive a link by that afternoon.
Newcomers welcome!
THERE ARE NO GENIUSES ON WALL STREET
MONDAY, OCTOBER 18 @ 10:30-12:00
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.

Click here before noon on Sunday, October 17, to request an invitation to the October 18 meeting. If you have any questions, contact Richard Lewis: lewisdmd@yahoo.com or 617-448-4439.

COME TO OUR LLAIC ZOOM HAPPY HOUR!
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21
4:00-5:00

At our September Happy Hour, topics we talked about included the importance of volunteers to LLAIC, disinformation about vaccines and masks, third shots, burning bras to make a point, lies vs. reality, good outdoor garden trips (like Tower Hill), butterfly bushes, farmers' markets, where to get good tomatoes, how to serve them (with sugar?), chicken soup add-ins from ramen noodles to sugar to ginger, and where to buy used books. 

We hope you'll all join us on Thursday, October 21, from 4 to 5 p.m. We should have lots of new things to discuss. Bring your drinks, snacks, and conversation. New members are especially welcome.

Click here for a Zoom invitation before noon on Wednesday, October 20. You'll receive it before 3:00 that afternoon.
 
FRENCH CONVERSATION GROUP
The French Conversation Group is now reading La Gloire de Mon Pere by Marcel Pagnol.

We are a group of intermediate to advanced level speakers. We read books aloud, taking turns, and stopping often to discuss any interesting aspects of what we are reading. If you are interested in this group, please contact Richard Mansfield at richardscottmansfield@gmail.com.
Learn more about LLAIC at www.llaic.org
Call us: (508) 453-1205
Write us: info@llaic.org

Editor: Barbara Mende
Contributing Editors: Joe Bongiardina and Shelly Levine
Stay connected: