November 18, 2020
reader,
If you're new here, well howdy! Welcome to my weekly blog about Houston arts and culture, plus whatever else I wish to share from my brain. Scroll to the very bottom for more about it.
I'm having a blast doing two weekly Facebook Live chats on my Facebook page: MONDAY MEDITATION CHATS at 10am (the latest one is here) and WEDNESDAY NIGHT LIVE arts & culture chats at 9pm (the latest one is here). Tune in!
A special note if you're a parent or caregiver: be sure to follow my GISH PICKS page for not only my KID PICKS but also my CAMP PICKS (holiday day camps). Special for the pandemic, I'm also publishing EXPLORE PICKS (school year enrichment programs). If the Thanksgiving holidays are making you quake in your cowboy boots because you need a break from your little darlings, don't worry: just check out my latest round-up of EXPLORE PICKS and Thanksgiving CAMP PICKS! The Artz, Discover Gymnastics, Main Street Theater, and others are ready for loads of fun with your kiddos.
As you read, please note that all the words in purple are linked to websites.
WHAT'S ON MY MIND THIS WEEK? Thanksgiving is around the corner, ya'll! How did that happen?! So it's time to wrap our minds around the fact that this year will be different with no large, comfy-and-close family gatherings. This just means we need to be creative and figure out how to see relatives (virtual is good, even in these over-Zoom-y days) and what to cook for ourselves at home.
Please, oh please: stay small! If you want to know about the fallout from a too big gathering, read this article about a Maine wedding that had 55 guests, which led to 177 cases of COVID and 7 deaths. SEVEN DEATHS. C'mon -- wear your mask, social distance, do your part.
Houston is bubbling over with free COVID testing sites -- see a fully updated list here. It's fun! It's easy! And you then have peace of mind, my friends. And, according to this article, it's looking promising for vaccines. We will wade out of this mess, I promise you! And once we do, there will be much hugging, kissing, laughing, singing, dancing, and (my favorite) PERFORMING ARTS EVENTS. It makes me so happy just thinking about that. Hang on and we will get there.
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LET'S CONNECT! If you are wondering wassup with me, my offerings are below. If you'd like to keep up with all my doings, please click here to get a sorta monthly newsletter from me full of info about my events and more, including my IGNITE YOUR LIFE! art project. Be sure to follow my Facebook pages too -- Gish Picks Kids and Gish Picks Adults. I'm always throwing words and pictures around somewhere!
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⬆️CLICK ON IMAGE TO ACCESS WEBSITE⬆️
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My ⭐️ARTS PICKS Spotlight⭐️ this week is a little different because the holidays they are a'comin' and I wanted to let you know about an annual Houston tradition: pop-up outdoors ice skating rinks! Every winter season starting in November, these rinks make me feel like we have our own little winter wonderland...ya know, just like the one pictured here (ok, that's really from ice skating in Canada...but isn't it a coooool photo?!).
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And now -- the two virtual events I am PICK-ing this week. Please note that even my VIRTUAL PICKS are always Houston-based because I am very committed to Houston arts & culture.
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➡️ Virtual for KIDS: Miller Outdoor Theatre is presenting wonderful virtual and live streaming free performances now (the current schedule is here) so you can see the art they present in the comfort of your home! Next Tuesday, November 24 at 10am, H-E-B presents "Br'er Rabbit," a virtual performance by Ensemble Theatre, produced by Young Audiences of Houston. The show is a fun-packed combination of African American folklore and American popular culture that focuses on the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It's family entertainment with a moral lesson!
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➡️ Virtual for ADULTS: For five years in a row, the YMCA of Greater Houston has mounted a special show, Triumph of the Human Spirit, which this year is online. The event features artwork from former local refugee and immigrant artists; click here to see 45 beautiful pieces created by 10 artists and to place your bids. Final bids must be in by Thursday, December 10 and all winners will be notified on Friday, December 11. Proceeds from the art sales will benefit the artist and YMCA International Services where it will be used to support programming designed to help immigrants, refugees, and other vulnerable individuals in Houston.
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HIRE ME! If you want help getting centered -- or for focusing your life -- here's how I can help (I'm available for groups too):
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One-on-one or small group labyrinth walks or nature mandala-making sessions (or both!), all done with masks and physical distancing. The fee varies based on what we are doing.
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Virtual Life Path Sessions; see more about those here. It's $50 for 45 minutes during COVID.
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Virtual meditation lessons for up to 30 minutes. I've been doing weekly Monday Meditation Chats and was interviewed on Great Day Houston about fun ways to make sounds for meditation (see that here). The fee varies based on what we are doing, and all ages are welcome.
To book me for anything, please call me at 713.492.1173 or email me. I'd love to help you find PEACE in this crazy time.
In non-pandemic times, and since I started publishing my blog in 2004, it has been a space to promote my curated list of unique live Houston area cultural events (PICKS) on the weekend for adults and kids. Because of COVID-19, those haven't happened since mid-March so I originally re-worked the format to focus on 5 Houston-based arts & culture organizations in my (Almost) Daily Dose of ARTS PICKS blog each of the NINE weeks of quarantine. You can see each edition - and read about 45 arts groups! - here.
And now I'm bringing you an ⭐️ARTS PICKS Spotlight⭐️ each week -- featuring an arts & culture space that is open -- and you'll get info about all of their activities and sometimes a video to bring them to life. Alongside that, I'll also be PICK-ing one local virtual event each for ADULTS and KIDS.
I'll keep doing all of that until public events start happening again on a larger scale and I can start curating live event PICKS again.
In the meantime: please enjoy my weekly Spotlights and VIRTUAL PICKS, and please stay healthy!
Sincerely,
Sarah Gish
713.492.1173
P.S. If you want to IGNITE YOUR LIFE now or anytime, check out my list of "12 Ways to Ignite Your Life Daily" -- and watch the 12 videos I made about each Way here. I'm very proud of that list and my work and I hope it will help you live a fully creative life. Meditation, taking care of yourself, enjoying life, and laughing -- plus more! -- is what will get us through this global pandemic.
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