A Seusstastical Day: Dr. Seuss's Birthday on Sunday

Sunday marks the 104th birthday of Dr. Seuss, beloved children's author (but, of course, who doesn't still love it all?). Across the country, bookstores will be celebrating on March 2nd honoring the wealth of books that we still find so inspiring and enchanting.

Next week, in honor of the occasion, the Carnegie Center will have Dr. Seuss inspired crafts to pick up, as well as lots of Dr. Seuss books that can be read within the building. Be sure to check it out!

In honor of my personal favorite Dr. Seuss book, Horton Hears a Who, I'd like to impart my FAVORITE lines from his work (the following is a truly wonderful Seuss-ism):

IflI put this speck down?..." Horton thought with alarm. "If I do, these small persons may come to great harm. I can't, put it down. And I won't! After all A person's a person. No matter how small."

Happy Friday!
~warmly~
Katherine

How to Pick your Next Book

How do you decide which book your going to devour next?

Try checking out Amazon's Best of the Month list to check out what's hot and what's selling.

This month's list includes:

The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead by David Shields
Things I've Learned from Women Who've Dumped Me by Ben Karlin
Friend of the Devil by Peter Robinson

Try checking out something new today! You might just find a new book that you love!

Happy reading!
~warmly~
Katherine

Learn to Navigate our Global Media Culture

Tomorrow evening, the Carnegie Center will host a Media Literacy Day event, Media Literacy Education: Preparing Young People to Thrive in a Global Media Culture led by Elizabeth Thoman, founder of the Center for Media Literacy in Los Angeles, CA. She is a pioneer of the United States Media Literacy movement.

Join us Thursday, February 28th from 5-7:30 pm for this exciting event open to all educators, students and parents.

WORKSHOP IS FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!

Call (859.254.4175) or email today to sign up!

We hope that you will join us!

~warmly~
Katherine

Victor Hugo is 203!

Today marks the 203rd birthday of Victor Hugo, of Les Miserables and Notre-Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) fame. Try digging in to some of his work today or practice some french.

Vive Victor!

Have a fantastic Tuesday!

~warmly~
Katherine

New Class Begins Tonight, Brain Power

Stop by tonight for a new class, Brain Power!

Mondays, February 25 & March 3
5:30-7 pm

The latest research points out the importance of cross-training your brain to keep mentally sharp! In this class, we’ll do games and activities to cross-train your brain. Learn about kakuro, Blink, Set, logic matrix puzzles, Boggle, and tangram. Learn how to increase your memory!

The $5 fee covers materials.

Please join us!

~warmly~
Katherine

Saturday Seminar: Unforgettable Nonfiction with Leslie Guttman

Don't forget to join us tomorrow for another exciting Saturday seminar.

Join journalist Leslie Guttman, who spent 10 years at the San Francisco Chronicle, for a hands-on workshop on how to write compelling feature articles for magazines and newspapers. Leslie, a Lexington native, has freelanced for the Washington Post, Salon, Orion magazine, and elsewhere. She’ll show you how to develop story ideas, interview sources, organize stories, and write them with flair. She’ll also share strategies for working successfully with that elusive animal: your editor.

The cost is $25, so call now to register! (859.254.4175)

We hope to see you there!

~warmly~
Katherine

Yes, We're Open!

Just an update...
The Carnegie Center is open today! (9 AM-5 PM)

Please call if you have any questions (859.254.4175)

~warmly~
Katherine

Do you know what today is?

Another interesting fact for you...

Today is Hoodie-Hoo day! It is a real, patented holiday meant to help scare away winter, so spring can come. Doesn't that sound great?! (especially after the flurries of snow this morning and the whipping winter wind)?!?

Do your part! Run outside and yell "Hoodie-Hoo!"

At this point, most of us would do anything to help the weather. If it doesn't work...well, spring is offically ONLY one month away. March 20!

Bundle up and "Hoodie-Hoo!"

~warmly (kind of)~
Katherine

Books We Love: Part Deux

Hey guys! Here's another installment of the Books We Love! Hopefully, this will inspire you to pick up some old favorites or check out a new book!

Carnegie Center Assistant Director, Rachel Noble, LOVES Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. She says "When I need a pick-me-up and it's time to turn to that first love I always grab my worn-out copy of Little Women."

Randi Ewing, our newest staff member LOVES The English Patient by Michael Ondaajte "for its sensuality. Every time I read it I find a new layer... For a good story, I've also often turned to The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King. He wrote it for his daughter, because his other books frightened her. This one, which he outlined on a napkin (and there's something to that) is delicately told and as graceful as it is thrilling."

There are so many books that I LOVE...My favorite go-to book is Charlotte's Web by E. B. White. It doesn't matter how many times that I've read it, it still reads like a fresh and delightful tale.

What are books that you love? Stay tuned for more of ours.

~warmly~
Katherine

Books We Love: In Honor of Valentine's Day

I know that yesterday was Valentine's Day, but the Carnegie Center staff wanted to take a moment to honor some of the books that they LOVE. These are the books that they would read over and over and over again, without ever getting tired of them.

Laura Whitaker, our Volunteer and Program Development Coordinator, LOVES A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. "It's a great read - definitely a classic - and I love that it's autobiographical disgused as a novel. I definitely recomment it to anyone who hasn't had the pleasure of reading it...at least twice."

Charlene Mingus, our Special Programs Coordinator, LOVES Watership Down by Richard Adams. "I didn't read this book until my senior year of college but I instantly fell in love with the world of Hazel and the other rabbits." She also LOVES Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. "I love this book because Mr. Darcy was my first true love in 6th grade and I wanted to grow up to be as witty as Elizabeth."

Sarah Combs, Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications, LOVES Happy all the Time by Laurie Colwin. "It's a generous, warm, hilarious, and is the literary equivalent to a slow-gin fizz."

These are just a few of our favorite books...Stay tuned to future posts for all of them!

Hope that your Valentine's Day was wonderful! Happy Friday!

~warmly~
Katherine

A Carnegie Center Poem

Hi all! A wonderful, little poem about the Carnegie Center was found on a whiteboard in the Shakespeare cafe. We thought that we would share it with you!

Oasis

Still lifes in the kitchen
toaster oven on a file cabinet
"Please recycle" splashed with water
taped beneath the sink

Burn on the counter
Cafe tables on the carpet
dry erase board on an easel
track lighting casting brightness, creating shadows

I could live in this room
Frigidaire full of ideas
folders filed with notes
Red and blue markers for poems
coffee burning the roof of my mouth
tongue fingering exposed skin
Matisse scolding for drinking too fast

Yet there are more rooms
paneled and cushioned
papered with books and announcements
floors reaching up
to be lifted and held
to be sung to and danced with
and tossed in the air

I could live in this building
with voices on pages
and children in hallways
with color on walls
and hardwood floors echoing
where lyrics are laughed
and silence is chord.

~anonymous

Thank you to the anonymous poet who brightened our snowy Wednesday! Stop by our building---you too may be inspired!

~warmly~
Katherine

Carnegie Center is Open-Classes will Meet

Despite the persistant snowy weather, the Carnegie Center is up and running today. All classes and tutoring will continue as scheduled.

For those of you that missed classes yesterday, we will be in touch regarding make up sessions.

Please note: the Center will be closed this Monday, February 18th in observance of Presidents' Day.

Thanks so much!

~warmly~
Katherine

CLOSED TUESDAY

The Carnegie Center is closed today, Tuesday, February 12th.  All workshops and events are cancelled.  Please stay tuned to Lex18 SnoGo for updates as well as our answering machine (859.254.4175).

Enjoy the snow!

~warmly~

Katherine

Upcoming Eclectic Living Room and New Books by Great Wrtiters Events

This Thursday, February 14, we will have our eclectic living room discussion of Spit Baths, by our February NBGW author, Greg Downs. This engaging group is lead by Leatha Kendrick.
We invite you to come share with us as we explore Downs' style at work.

On the following Thursday (the 21st), Greg Downs will be at the Carnegie Center for our regular NBGW event:

6:30 pm: FREE reading and signing of Spit Baths, winner of the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction. Books will be on sale at the Carnegie Center that evening.

7:30 pm: Hands-on writing workshop with the author: Writing Good Dialogue--How to Fool the Reader into Believing What Your Characters Say. The cost for the workshop is $25.

Greg Downs’s first book, Spit Baths, was published by the University of Georgia Press in October 2006. It won the Flannery O'Connor Award, and the stories have been published in Black Warrior Review, Glimmer Train, The Greensboro Review, and elsewhere. Raised in central Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, and an end-of-the-road valley in Kauai, Hawaii, Downs now lives in West Philadelphia with his wife and cat, who is named for a famous 1970s country music singer. Along with writing fiction, Downs also writes and researches history, and recently received a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently an Assistant Professor of History at a university in New York City.

We hope you can join us for these wonderful events!

~warmly~
Katherine

FFLN Healthy Heart Valentines Day--Celebrate Valentine's Day with All of your Heart!

Come celebrate Valentine's Day early!

The next FFLN is scheduled for Tuesday, February 12th. Join us for Valentine's Day crafts, healthy heart activities and an exciting raffle.

FREE dinner and activities for the WHOLE family!

This wonderful event is sponsored by the Junior League of Lexington.


Call today to reserve a space for your family (859.254.4175) or send us an email (kgreene@carnegieliteracy.org). Pre-registration is required and space is limited. Call today!

~warmly~
Katherine

FREE Saturday Seminars on 2/9

Hey guys! I just wanted to let you know about an exciting opportunity this weekend. We will be offering two FREE Saturday seminars. Here's the info:

Poetry and Practicality 9:00 am -noon
with David Harrity

This workshop will examine ways in which a writer, specifically a poet, can get practical and develop systems to aid in the formation of better pieces. Using William Stafford’s poetry and writings about craft and vocation as a lens, we’ll take a look at how organization and consistency can inform the processes and methods by which we create. The focus of the lecture will be on exercise, production, revision, and technique. This workshop could be valuable for people writing in other genres.

&

Writing with Others noon-2:30 pm

Curious about Writing Practice? Need a writing group to call your own? Through writing exercises and an informal time to mix and meet , you’ll have the opportunity to discover the benefits of writing and reading with others and maybe even build a writing group to call your own. This workshop is for the simply curious, and particularly for those familiar with books such as Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones or Pat Schneider’s Writing Alone and With Others but who haven’t experienced the power that occurs when writing in a group. Led by author Lynn Pruett and Carnegie Center instructor Gail Koehler.

Feel free to sign up online or give us a call (859.254.4175).

We hope you can join us!

~warmly~
Katherine