RESOLVE TO FINALLY PEN THAT MEMOIR

EMBRACE YOUR inner writer and sign up for Gorton Community Center’s virtual Zoom class, “How to Write a Memoir,” a seminar by veteran author and journalist David Rutter. Participants will learn what it takes to research, write, and publish his or her story, and have fun doing it. Nearly everyone eventually longs to tell a life story in a memoir, but many are thwarted because they do not know how to do it. Rutter reveals the nuts and bolts of the process, from finding a personal narrative to interviewing relatives for background and shares how to put it all together.

Rutter’s Topic 3: Building Bridges takes place on Monday, January 11. Writers often build 20 good ideas in separate, independent paragraphs, but are less effective in connecting ideas. How does one idea lead to another? How does a writer build “word bridges” that connect ideas into a seamless whole? Learn how to write in smooth, more thoughtful patterns in this skill building session. On Monday, February 8, Topic 4: Finding Your Voice addresses the writer’s concern of his or her “voice” sounding real. How do writers find that sound in writing, and how can they tell if they are tapping into their experiences? In this seminar, you will find your “voice” and learn to speak in it as a writer.

Participants will receive a link to the archived video memoir and will have access for six months. Pre-registration within 24 hours before the seminar is mandatory as Rutter will email “memoir writing samples” to each participant in advance of the seminars. The samples will be used as discussion points (Rutter has about 1,000 of his own published memoir samples from which to choose).

“How to Write a Memoir” Topic 3: Building Bridges takes place on Monday, January 11, 7-8:30 p.m. via Zoom and Topic 4: Finding Your Voice takes place on Monday, February 8, 7-8:30 p.m. via Zoom. For more information, visit gortoncenter.org.

LET THE MUSEUM OF SCIENCE + INDUSTRY BRING FUN HOME THIS MONTH

WHETHER IT IS Chicago’s arctic January winds or COVID-19 closures keeping your family at home, The Museum of Science and Industry is at your fingertips. Through its Science at Home section, virtual visitors can learn in place and at their own pace with fun science experiments, activities, and topics that are accessible anytime. Inexpensive, readily accessible household items are utilized in this series that includes both written and video instruction. Chemistry magic ensues in “Elephant Toothpaste,” where participants create a chemical reaction producing a large foamy mess that mimics elephant-sized toothpaste squirting out of a tube. “Candy Chromatography” uses forensic science to analyze different types of candy-coated sweets like M&Ms, Reese’s Pieces, and Skittles. “Egg Bungee” dives into Physics’ Law of Conservation of Energy where the fate of an egg is in your hands. When the weather breaks, head outdoors to learn the physics of flight by launching a self-made “Stomp Rocket” while harnessing the power of compression.

To discover these experiments and many more or to sign up for emails containing activities and ideas for science learning at home, visit msichicago.org.