I’ve been asked on occasion how one (this was from another writer) keeps creative. Sometimes banging out one piece after another can exhaust every creative idea or approach you’ve ever had and your writing, or if you’re in another field, your work has become pedestrian and/or repetitive. It’s not possible to avoid the problem entirely but I find that checking out other writers (both in fields similar to my own and entirely dissimilar) and checking out events and projects that are in unrelated fields can help a lot. So, this is a potpourri of events some science-oriented and some not and some literary-themed events and some not, but all are taking place in Vancouver, BC, Canada sometime in January or February 2013.

First off, jazz vocalist, Colleen Savage is offering SingShop,

‘SingShop© – the basics’ gives you a fun introduction to the
vocal technique and essential musical skills that you need to make singing
a life-long enjoyment.  This is the course that grows with you because we review,
renew and strengthen the ‘the basics.’

You will relax! Breathe deep! and Express your unique, clear sound.
We’ll build and blend our sound, developing ‘the ear’ and the ensemble singing skills that
lend themselves to every popular style – gospel, blues, doo-wop, jazz and world beat.

‘SingShop© – the basics’ starts Monday, Jan. 28th. and runs to Mar. 4th.
with 6 evening classes from 7 till 8:30 p.m.  The Studio is just off Commercial Drive.

To register for SingShop, please contact Rosemary at the Movable Music School (604) 733- 5571.
Fee is $120.    Thank you!  – Colleen

In addition to learning to sing, you can explore the science/music relationship at Symphony of Science (many videos and downloads) and/or at the Musicians and Science blog.

For the explorer/memoirist/poet  in you, here’s  a set of courses with Ingrid Rose (it’s a bit late to register for some of these but you may want to contact Ingrid personally to see if there’s room),

writing from the body  jan 8 – feb 26

8 tuesday mornings 9:30-12:30  $200

it takes time    it takes attention   time

and again     attention

to words and how

they come

into awareness   their

import   our transport

our bodies know what we want to say and how to write it.

this course will take the writer on a journey of breath sound and movement in good company;  will give you time, encourage attention, feedback & writing explorations to grow your writing fin & wing.

writing memoir: re-minding & re-drafting the story jan 9 – feb 27

8 wednesday evenings 6:30-9:30   $200

you want to tell this story that fascinates and deceives you

how to pin it down–

the ever-changing formlessness of a life still lived?

this series will focus on what’s under the surface and help edge it into the light–through writing exploration, readings, listening to your own & others telling, feedback and at-home writing assignments.

writing the body electric  sunday 3 feb  10:30-17:00

$100 includes light lunch @ studio in eastside vancouver

The voice, articulation, language, whispering, shouting aloud,
Food, drink, pulse, digestion, sweat, sleep, walking, swimming,
Poise on the hips, leaping, reclining, embracing, arm-curving and tightening,
…O I say, these are not the parts and poems of the Body only, but of the Soul…                               Walt Whitman

For those who have some poetry or excerpts from other works ready to be heard, here’s a call for readers at Simon Fraser University’s The Writer’s Studio’s (TWS) next event in February 2013,

February Call for Readers – TWS Reading Series

This is the official call for readers for our next TWS Reading Series. If you can’t be in Mexico on February 7, why not be at Cottage Bistro [470 Main Street Vancouver]? Featured readers will be contacted in seven days. If you’d like to be considered, please respond to this email with the following information:

• Your name:
• The genre you plan to read:
• The year you attended TWS (if you did):
• The last time you read for our Reading Series (if you have):
• Your 50 word bio for the playbill

twsinfo@sfu.ca

Please Note:

• There are only seven reading spots per month. In order to avoid problems associated with the first-come, first-served approach, we will receive bios of those who are interested in reading for 48 hours and then set the playbill based on a balance of current TWS participants, alumni, emerging writers, and established authors. If you’ve been trying for a while and haven’t been able to secure a reading spot, be sure to try again. Our policy is that people can potentially read every four months to give everyone an opportunity
• Reading spots will be confirmed within seven days and a playbill will be sent out in January. Only confirmed readers are contacted.
• Each reader is given 10 minutes total speaking time. This includes your selection and any introductory remarks you choose to make. Please time yourself in advance.

Thanks and remember, daffodils often bloom here in February.

Karen & Ivan

TWS Reading Series Co-hosts

If you prefer to listen, you may want to reserve that Feb. 7, 2013 date or here”s another opportunity coming more shortly, a poetry reading at Simon Fraser University’s (SFU) Harbour Centre campus in downtown Vancouver,

Wednesday, January 16 [2013[

Lunch Poems @ SFU

Time: 12-1pm

Place: Teck Gallery, Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings St.

Cost: Free

Come to the Teck Gallery to enjoy two poetry readings. Stick around for a question and answer session after. This week’s sessions features the poetry of lunch poems @SFU features Daniel Zomparelli and Elizabeth Bachinsky.

There are also a couple of science-themed get-togethers,

Wednesday, January 16 [2013]

Café Scientifique

Time: 7-8pm

Place: CBC, 700 Hamilton St.

Cost: Free, reserve by emailing cafesci@sfu.ca

Café Scientifique: Stem cells and the treatment of congenital heart disease. New techniques that generate inducible pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) represents a powerful new approach to the study and treatment of congenital heart disease and other genetic disorders. Dr. Glen Tibbits, of SFU’s Dept. of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, will focus on how iPSCs can be used to investigate the causes of congenital heart diseases, create new strategies for their treatment and potentially lead to a new era of personalized medicine in managing patients with these disorders. Refreshments will also be served.

Note: There are four different Café Scientifique groups in Vancouver. One meets at the Railway Club but is organized (or at least seems to be organized) by folks at the University of British Columbia (UBC), another is the LSI (Life Sciences Institute) Café Scientifique  and this is definitely organized at UBC; there’s also the Canadian Institutes of Health (CIHR) Café Scientifique (Science on tap; next meeting:  Does Communication Really Matter in Cancer Care? on Jan. 30, 2013 at Steamworks Brewing Co. 375 Water Street, Vancouver) which is associated with UBC (again) and now,there is a fourth Café, this one organized at SFU. I wish these folks would get together and have one gathering place for their notices, as well as, putting up notices institution by institution.

For those who find the Café Scientifique plethora somewhat confusing, there is the ScienceOnlineVancouver meeting planned for Jan. 17, 2013. Thematically this is on target but the group is meeting at The Whip Restaurant and Gallery and Neighbourhood House rather than at Science World as is more usual.

ScienceOnlineVancouver

Refresh for 2013
Jan. 17, 2013 at 7 pm
The Whip
229 E. 6th Avenue
Vancouver

Happy weekend!