Artomatic Opens Today

The one, the only, the Artomatic opens today through July 5th (schedule below).

The Artomatic folks are celebrating their 10th anniversary of taking over unfinished space and bring multimedia wunderkinds (and wunderdon'ts) to the public. With 9 floors of art, video, music, and classes, Artomatic has something that will appeal to everyone. Last year, I watched old episodes of Pancake Mountain with three six year olds and a pair of teenagers making out before I explored exhibits ranging from the awesome to the mediocre. I ended my day by dropping by a class on burlesque dancing and practiced my shimmy shake moves.


The best part is that Artomatic is entirely gratis! This year it's in the Navy Yard neighborhood... not too much of a hike for those on the green line.



Details:
55 M Street, S.E. Washington, DC 20003
(at the corner with Half Street above the Navy Yard Metro)

Metro stop: Green Line, Navy Yard, Ballpark exit

May 29–July 5, 2009
Wednesdays and Thursdays
5 p.m. – 10 p.m

Fridays and Saturdays
12 noon – 1 a.m.

Sundays 12 noon – 10 p.m.

Closed Mondays and Tuesdays



photos courtesy of Edward Underwood Photography and Fine Art Photography by Scott Speck.

Film - The Next Industrial Revolution

The Next Industrial Revolution
Narrated by Susan Sarandon

The Next Industrial Revolution is a film produced by Earthome Productions to communicate the work and vision of architect William McDonough and chemist Dr. Michael Braungart, two leaders in a growing movement to transform the relationship between commerce and nature. McDonough and Braungart work with corporations with over half a trillion dollars in annual sales, companies like Ford and Nike, to redesign buildings, processes, and products to work according to nature's rules. View trailer here.

The Emergence Community Arts Collective is hosting a showing of this 55 minute film Tuesday, May 19 from 7pm - 9pm at their location in Northwest. Discussion will follow. Suggested donation $5.

The Emergence Community Arts Collective is located at 733 Euclid Street NW. For questions, please contact 202.462.2285.

Photo courtesy of Penn State University's Center for Sustainability.

Happy Hour! - Next Thursday!

Time to get merry by getting drunk (or at least a little tipsy)!

Happy Hour
Thursday, May 21
7pm - 9pm
Tonic Restaurant & Grill


Happy Hour special until 7pm include:
1/2 price draught beers
1/2 price burger or veggie burger

(so arrive early if you want some cheaps)

Open to all members, those interested in becoming members, or anyone else just dropping by.

Tonic is located in Mt. Pleasant at 3155 Mt. Pleasant Street.


photo of Tonic courtesy of M.V. Jantzen.

Literacy Conference - All Ages! - This Weekend!

As part of the All Corps Service Day on Saturday, May 16th, AmeriCorps is organizing a Literacy Conference for all ages!

The conference consists of two 40-minute workshops for children in pre-kindergarten through 6th grade and their parents. Scheduled activities and times are as follows:

Registration (free to all participants!)
10:00am - 10:20pm

First workshop
10:30am - 11:00am

Second workshop
11:20am - 12:00pm

Lunch
Noon - 1:00pm

Games
1:00pm - 2:00pm

Location
Turner at Green Elementary
1500 Mississippi Avenue SE
Washington, DC 20032
(walking distance from Congress Heights metro station)


Workshop Options:
Pre-K/K, 1st/2nd, 3rd/4th
Storytelling, American Sign Language, Haiku, Rhyming Words, Fitness & Nutrition, Theater,
Music

5th/6th
Comedy, Spoken Word

Parents
Resume Writing, Finance

All are invited to attend!



Frequently Asked Questions:

How many children can I bring?
As many as you can. Keep in mind that each workshop is capped at 15 participants, accommodating a maximum of 135 children and 30 parents.

How can I register for the workshops?
Registration will take place from 10:00am - 10:20am at the site and on the day of the conference. If you are planning to bring a group of 5 or more, please call Janelle Forde (202) 549-6692 with the names of each participant, his/her grade, and workshop choices, before Saturday, May 16th.

I am not a parent, but I work with children in a school or organization -- can I chaperon a group?
Yes! Please follow your school's or organization's field trip guidelines.

I am a parent; do I have to participate in the parent workshops.
No. Adults may volunteer alongside national service members in one of the other service projects, such as gardening, picking up litter, and painting murals.

Oops! I almost forgot -- is all of this free?

Yes! The entire day is free of cost for community members (of Earth) to enjoy.

When is it again?
THIS Saturday, May 16th.


photos courtesy of AmeriCorps.

Check it out! Great organization!

Some of our members not only love food, sustainability, and environmental justice, they also love social justice and children! Especially children of the cute, small, and runny nose variety. So check out the DC Child Care Collective.


WHAT IS THE DC CHILD CARE COLLECTIVE?
The DC Child Care Collective is a small all-volunteer group that
provides free childcare to progressive groups working for social
justice. We provide childcare as an act of solidarity and prioritize
providing this service to groups that are primarily led by low-income
women of color. It is our mission to make childcare that is safe, fun
and empowering available to parents working to further social and
political change.


WHO ARE YOUR PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS?
Currently, we provide childcare to Empower DC, Women Empowered Against
Violence, UNITE HERE union, Right to the City Alliance, Latino Economic
Development Corporation, and the Asian/Pacific Islander Domestic
Violence Research Project.

HOW CAN I GET INVOLVED?
We would like to make free childcare available to more groups and organizations; to do so we need to build a larger volunteer base. We ask volunteers to make a commitment to provide childcare at least 6 times over the course of 6 months and attend additional trainings that we provide.

If you want to support parents in DC working toward social change and if
you like spending time with kids (even if you don't have much
experience) we would love to have you volunteer with us. If you are
interested, please fill out the volunteer application available at our website www.dcchildcarecollective.org and send it to
dckids@gmail.com.

Ryan's Dahl of Deliciousness

photo courtesy of Big Harvest

Ingredients:

1 cup of red split lentils, washed well 

1 chopped onion

1 potato, quartered

dash of turmeric

salt

1 TBS grated ginger 

1/2 cup frozen peas

Nob of butter

Fresh cilantro 

Slice of lime (garnish)

Cooked rice (to serve with the dish)

Putting it together:

• Put first 6 ingredients in saucepan and cover with water (about 1.5 inches above lentils).
  
• Cover the saucepan and bring to a boil. 
  
• Once boiling, simmer for 10 minutes or until desired consistency.
  
• Toss in the peas and some butter. 
  
• Add a bit of fresh cilantro.
  
• Serve hot over plain rice and a slice of lime. 
  

For dessert, you can enjoy some more Dahl:

photo courtesy of the Episcopal High School Community

Michael Pollan SOLD OUT

Tickets for the Michael Pollan event are SOLD OUT. 

Due to the size of the venue, there is no waiting list for tickets.