Looking through the Fall opportunitites

Our community has a wealth of opportunities for adults to learn, to create and to think. I have laid out on the kitchen counter Center Stage, the programming for the Senior Center (adults 50 and over), UAPL Fall Programs 08, with programs for adults, teens and children, and UA Lifelong Learning & Leisure, Fall 2008. I could be busy morning to night, and with the exception of a few pricey trips ($1800 for a trip to Charleston & Savannah or $900 for Tulip Time at the Greenbrier), at a very reasonable price or free. At the Senior Center I could hear on Friday at 10 a.m. Ed Lentz, local historian, talk about the American Presidential Elections for $5 per class ($30 for 6). Or I could go Tuesday evenings to 4 lectures in the City Council Chambers for $40 to hear various university professors, including John Quigley, Moritz College of Law, Ohio State. After looking up his research , I think I'll pass. Another blame US first guy.

Quigley points to a series of interventions by the United States after assuming dominance of the region in the 1950s: the facilitation of a coup in Iran that overthrew a democratically elected regime and replaced it with the totalitarian Shah; a similar attempted CIA-backed coup in Syria; CIA backing of Western-loyal parliamentary candidates in Lebanon precipitating a civil war; and the backing of U.S. friendly totalitarian King Hussein in Jordan.

“In the United States, none of these interventionist actions gained public attention,” he writes. “But in the Middle East, a perception developed that the United States was out to promote its own interests.” These anti-U.S. perceptions were further solidified by the continued one-sided U.S. backing of Israel and Cold War decisions to support causes like the Islamist revolutionary Mujahideen in Afghanistan, Quigley writes.

Ultimately, anti-American sentiment caused by these actions coalesced into the current Islamist movement that gave us 911 and the resultant “War in Terrorism,” he writes. “Osama bin Laden’s militias grew out of the Afghan resistance,” Quigley writes. “Bin Laden framed his anti-United States arguments in the language of Islam, but he was voicing the same anti-colonialist sentiments that had been directed against France and Britain in the early 20th Century.”

I heard enough of this at the Lakeside programming this summer to last awhile.

Then for more enrichment, I could go to classes offered by something called "Dating Directions Certified Matchmakers," which will teach me how to flirt, go online, and set dating goals. Hmmm. I've been married 48 years, so I think I'm beyond that. Oh, here's a good one: Exploring past lives with guided regression--wear comfortable clothing! Or I could do a 2 session "Living your Passions" with guided visualization and positive thoughts. Whew! This is getting way too hot.

I could study near death experiences with someone doing it for 20 years (and it has fundamentally altered her viewpoint on death!) or observe a real life death autopsy (90 minutes on tape) at COSI or attend a session with a certified laughter Yoga instructor--wear comfortable clothing!

Also the city offers belly dancing basics with finger cymbals (this should work well with the flirting class), composting the worms (might work with the autopsy class), and introduction to beer (for the laughing Yoga?).

One trip the Senior Center offers that looks within my price range if I could find a girl friend to go is a trip to two of the homes of Rosemary Clooney, girl singer of the 40s, 50s and beyond, actress and author (and aunt of what's his name). We would stay overnight in the French Quarter Inn (of Maysville, KY), and make rolls at a bakery. This is $269 per person, double occupancy. This doesn't sound like something my husband would be interested in, but mid-October would be lovely in Kentucky. Then for $15 I could do the Holiday Wildlights at the Columbus Zoo--that would be Christmas, you know. There are some financial classes that look good--tax free investing, investment and stock market trends and indicators, how to down size and organize, legal counseling and investment counseling one-on-one. Medically there is a hearing screening and Life Line Screen for various blockages like abdominal aortic aneurysm (I think a lot of communities are offering this) and nutrition classes.

The UAPL has some interesting art and movie series, like "Objects of Wonder," which will coincide with the Museum of Art's offering this fall. We're members, so that might be an interesting peek ahead of time of what we'll see at the opening. "Objects of Wonder" features "a trove of treasures held in the more than 300 libraries and collections at OSU. The curator of the exhibit will be speaking--free, no registration required. There's an Italy travel show--having just been there, that looks good. I'll skip the movie on Darfur and the Afghani cabbie who died in military custody, but Young @ Heart was at Lakeside this summer and I missed it. There are several law topics, like Domestic and Probate Law 101, and General Law. There's a guy talking about the war between Woody and Bo. Of course, there are classes about the internet and book clubs to join. There are two art lectures, one on Manet and one on Cassat that look good.