Early this month I heard Stacy Bare speak about our mental
health and spending time outdoors. Rusty and I both love spending time
outdoors and so most things he talked about resonated with me. Stacy's
intended audience was UNL students. With the high rate of depression
among young people, I felt his presentation was most appropriate.
If interested, check out either of these two links:
or
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| Stacy Bare at the UNL student union. |
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| The Flatwater Shakespeare Company performed Macbeth at the Stables at Wyuka
Cemetery. Very appropriately, this is an outdoor venue. The acting
and costuming were superb! I especially enjoyed the 3 witches. |
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| Lady Macbeth and Macbeth take their final bows. |
Lincoln's independent theater, the Mary Riepma Ross, shows
many documentaries as well as other non-mainstream films. This month
Rusty and I saw two films at the Ross.
Some of you may be old enough to remember reading editorial
columns by Molly Ivins.
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| Molly wasn't afraid to say exactly what she thought about politicians. |
The second movie we saw was "Miles Davis". His
beginnings as a jazz musician happened before there was easy access to
camera/video, so the early part of the film is mostly still shots with
incredible voice over done by Carl Lumbly. Many of Mile's sidemen are interviewed in the documentary.
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| Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool! |
My fellow teachers at Irving still maintain an active book
club. This month we read The Charm Bracelet by Viola
Shipman. It was a very sweet story about 3 generations of women and
shared stories revolving around the grandmother's charm bracelet. Although
the book is not challenging (think Hallmark movie), it did inspire me to
purchase a charm and a bracelet for my granddaughter, Ruby. I also
wrote a short story for her about the meaning of the charm. I'll be
sending the book and bracelet to her for her 9th birthday next month.
In mid October we went to the Rococo Theater to hear Stefon
Harris and Blackout. Stefon is a vibraphone and marimba
player. He was amazing!
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| Stefon Harris and Blackout |
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| Hammering out some cool sounds! |
After the performance we went to the after party at the
Capital Cigar Lounge. Because of Rusty's connection with musicians, we
were invited into the private members only section. We had fun chatting
with some of the more famous, but it was a very late night for two old people
like us.
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| Sharing a cigar at the Capital Cigar Lounge |
OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) and UNL presented
an all-day symposium on Women's Rights, commemorating the centennial
anniversary of the 19th Amendment. Speakers addressed the history of the
struggles for women's suffrage; the impact of women in elections over the past
century, women's involvement in elective office, and the status of women's
rights on a global scale.
I spent a half day in Seneca Falls, NY a few years back and
have also read several books about women's suffrage, but I still found plenty of
new and interesting information at the symposium.
Our good friend, Artes Johnson, has spent much time over the
last few years researching, filming, and presenting information about the
largest African American settlement in Nebraska; the 1910 census recorded 8 residnets in DeWitte. His work is called
"Descendants of DeWitte." I had an opportunity to see his film
this month.
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| Lincoln Journal Star article about the Descendants of DeWitte project |
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The Nebraska Chamber Players gave another outstanding
performance this month! We heard pieces by Mozart, Berkeley and Bowen.
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| The Nebraska Chamber Players |
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| Our baby maple tree had its first very red leaf this year. |
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| On Sunday at church a six-piece jazz group sang "Autumn Leaves" and this is what the parking lot looked like. |
Another OLLI event I attended this month was a tour of a
home-grown company called
HUDL.
This is a sports technology company that was founded in 2006
by three UNL graduates and now employs more than 1,300 people globally and
about 500 at its headquarters in Lincoln.
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| Hudl employees around the globe tune in live to watch the company's weekly all-hands presentation held at headquarters. |
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Some of the perks at this company are unlimited paid time off, covered individual healthcare premiums, free catered lunch, professional development stipends and tickets to professional sporting events. If I were still in my 20's I definitely would be looking for a job at Hudl!
We had a fair number of Trick-or-Treaters tonight. I've gotten to know many of the neighborhood kids and was looking forward to seeing them in costume. Here are the 3 Tran kids who live next door.
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| Haley |
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| Jason |
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| Ava |
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| Happy Halloween! |
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