Congratulations! We won in Georgia! People are going to be able to get much-needed help! That was amazing! That was extremely unlikely! We went from a Republican-controlled Presidency/House/Senate to a Democratic-controlled Presidency/House/Senate in 4 years! That’s going to be so important.
The coup was terrifying! We don’t really know what to say beyond that. We’re freaked out, and we’re hoping that this week doesn’t see more violence on the part of Republicans. Stay safe, folks.
Are you in need of help of any sort? Speak with Mass Support! They’re here to help, and they’re doing a lot of stuff virtually this year. You can also just get in touch via MASSSUPPORT@RIVERSIDECC.ORG or 888-215-4920.
Miss the movies? Watch Images Cinema online! Or watch Amherst Cinema online!
You can order Tony DiTerlizzi signed books here from Odyssey Bookshop!
Buy comics from amazing local retailers Comics N’ More! They’re great!
You can join up with the Westfield Athenaeum Monthly Reading Challenge:
Sign up at https://westath.beanstack.org/ to join our Monthly Reading Challenges, running from September 2020 to June 2021. Each month, read a book for a new challenge and then join one or more of our Reader’s Chats to discuss the book you’ve read with other readers on the fourth Tuesdays of every month. Not sure what to read? Check our Facebook page for a themed #shelfiesunday video and Beanstack for book lists for applicable challenges. The challenge and book clubs are for all ages. JANUARY’S CHALLENGE: Read a book you meant to read in 2020!
Monday from 12:30PM – 1:30PM you can attend a Facebook Live Lunchtime Librarian session at the Westfield Athenaeum!
Are you ready to talk about books? Athenaeum librarians will be live on our Facebook page for an hour to help you find your next great read live on air. Please drop reading requests into the comments. Already reading a good book? Put that in the comments, too! There are never too many books.
Monday from 6PM – 7PM kids ages 10 – 12 can attend Hour of Code Python 3! Register by contacting tboulrice [at] westath.org
Learn how to code with Python 3 during our virtual Hour of Code. In each session we will go over a different concept of Python 3 and see what we can create using the concept. A computer and email address will be required.
Monday from 6:30PM – 8PM you can attend the VIRTUAL: Second Monday Book Discussion: Nothing to See Here! Obviously a bit late to read the book, but you can introduce yourself and find out what they’re reading next! Join on Zoom with Meeting ID: 914 8618 6242 and Passcode: 939659.
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Family Fang, a moving and uproarious novel about a woman who finds meaning in her life when she begins caring for two children with a remarkable ability.
Monday from 8PM – 10PM you can attend the VIRTUAL : Far Out Film Discussion via Zoom : Long Day’s Journey Into Night.
Far Out Film Discussion will have a zoom meeting to talk about the 2018 film Long Day’s Journey Into Night by Chinese filmmaker Bi Gan. View the trailer here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yPt3kQzxa8. It can be found online at kanopy : https://boston.kanopy.com/product/long-days-journey-night-0. To virtually attend this discussion, click the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87523942049
Tuesday from 7PM – 8PM you can join the folks at Odyssey Bookshop on Crowdcast for a conversation with Serena Burdick, author of Find Me in Havana and Bryn Turbull best selling Canadian author. This event is free and open to the public. To register, please click here.
Wednesday from 7PM – 8PM you can attend the VIRTUAL: Nature and Environment Book Club: The Overstory. Contact hcethatsme [at] gmail for joining info!
The Nature and Environment Book Club is devoted to the best of nature writing and environmental reporting with discussions on the second Wednesday of each month. Readers and writers interested in books ranging from such classics as Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek to topical reportage like Elizabeth Kolbert’s The Sixth Extinction will want to join the conversation.
Wednesday from 7PM – 9PM you can attend the Zine Club – ONLINE at Jones Library!
Drop in for all or part of our virtual Zine Club work party! We’ll be hanging out, working on our individual projects, sharing stories, talking zines, making art, getting feedback, brainstorming, getting stuff done. If you’ve been meaning to work on an art project but time keeps slipping away, put this in your calendar! All ages welcome! zoom link password – 614664
Wednesday from 7PM – 11PM you can hang with the lovely folks from Start Playing Online! They gather at the Discord channel: https://discord.gg/fAM8yJw. Most games are played on Board Game Arena if you want to check it out ahead of time. It’s fun and everyone’s nice!
Thursday from 10AM – 11AM you can see the History Chat with Bob Brown (recorded)
Enjoy a recorded history chat with Bob Brown every second and fourth Thursday on our Facebook channel! While Bob will not be live, feel free to leave comments or questions on the video and hopefully we will record a later video where he answers your questions. You do not require a Facebook page to view the video, just go to http://www.facebook.com/westath and go to the “Videos” page.
Thursday from 7PM – 8PM you can attend the Reading Nature book discussion group as they discuss Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, a seminal work of environmental literature. Register on this page!
The Lilly Library, in conjunction with the Forbes Library and Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary will be hosting a 2-session online nature and environment book discussion group. This group, led by Arcadia Teacher/ Naturalist Kim Hoff, will be held on Thursday January 14th and Thursday February 18th from 7:00-8:00pm. The books we’ll be discussing are Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (on Jan 14th) and Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer (on Feb 18th). *Please register for both dates if you would like to attend both discussion. Register for the second discussion here.*
Thursday from 7PM – 8PM you can attend “Part 4: Five Hundred Years of Wildlife Changes in Northampton: A Zoom Presentation by co-director and naturalist Laurie Sanders” by registering here! There’s a sliding scale fee from $0 – $20.
During the last 500 years, there have been dramatic changes in the abundance and variety of Northampton’s wildlife species. Some, like wolves, mountain lions, and passenger pigeons, are completely gone. Others, like black bears, beavers, and wild turkeys, have seen their populations rebound after decades or centuries of absence. And many other species—coyotes, cardinals, and gypsy moths, to name a few—have arrived and become year-round residents. In this presentation, Laurie Sanders will highlight historical changes and trends that have led to the mix of animal species that we now encounter in Northampton, from its urbanized center to its wilder spaces.
Thursday from 7PM – 8PM you can attend a Members’ Gallery Talk with author/illustrator Roxie Munro at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art if you’re a Museum member!
Join author/illustrator Roxie Munro for a virtual gallery tour of the special exhibition Inside-Outside Dinosaurs: Creating a Book with Roxie Munro. Munro will discuss her research and steps in the book creation process, from storyboards and book dummies to rough sketches and finished art. Open to Museum Members; Click here to register.
Thursday from 7PM – 8PM you can Join folks at the Odyssey Bookshop for a reading with James Harold, author of Dangerous Art, and Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Mount Holyoke College. Joining us in conversation will be Jerrine Tan, who is a visiting lecturer in the English Department at Mount Holyoke College. This event is free and open to the public. To register, please click here.
Friday from 1PM – 2PM you can attend VIRTUAL: Afternoon Book Discussion: Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss! Join the Zoom here! Meeting ID: 835 3287 2599, Passcode: 188946.
Follow the eccentric, cantankerous, utterly charming Professor Chandra as he tries to answer the biggest question of all: What makes us happy?
Friday from 1PM – 2:30PM you can join the Emily Dickinson Museum poetry discussion group on Zoom.
Space is limited. To request a space, please complete this google form. For questions, please write edmprograms@emilydickinsonmuseum.org. This program is free of charge, but we encourage those who are able to do so to make a donation after the program.
We finished The Creature in the Well this weekend and that was a neat game! It’s an action-pinball game. A unique and entertaining combo that doesn’t overstay its welcome. We really appreciate games that you can actually finish in a couple days instead of taking a hundred years. Also it was really pretty!
THE VALLEY NERD WATCH 