Free performance of this show in celebration of Women’s “Herstory” Month, at 7 p.m. on March 29, at Pima Community College Proscenium Theater. Sponsored by the West Campus Student Life Office.

More background on this 1996 Vagina Monologues episodic play by Eve Ensler click here.

I know those of you who haven’t seen this show are wondering how can monologues about vaginas and womanhood be funny, but believe me, it is. I saw this show back in Hawaii years ago, and it was creative and entertaining…even for men. I’m taking my husband to see it, but then — he writes and lectures about women & sexuality in the Middle Ages (click here for his talk tonight at Himmel Branch Library).

German Jesuit Missionaries as Founders of Sonora/Arizona, presented by University of Arizona professor Dr. Albrecht Classen, is also sponsored by the Arizona Humanities Council and is also a program celebrating Arizona’s Centennial.

Description: It is commonly thought that the early history of Pimeria Alta (now Sonora/Arizona) was determined by Spanish colonizers.

Dr. Albrecht Classen explains how in reality, the Jesuit Order can be credited with having had the greatest impact on the entire region. An example is Padre Eusebio Kino. A surprisingly large number of his successors hailed from German speaking lands and left a huge impact on the early history of the Southwest. This presentation illuminates the historical background of the Jesuit Order and traces the path of major representative of German Jesuit missionaries to the Pimeria Alta.

Moreover, it will bring to light some of the most recent research that is intensifying as major collections of original texts/letters are being translated into English. The audience will have a chance to gain insight into the global role which the Jesuits played, and how important the Sonoran province was for the international Jesuit Order.

When: Monday, February 27, 2012 from 6:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M.

Where: Himmel Park branch Library
1035 North Treat Avenue (SW corner of Treat and E. 1st St, south of Speedway)
Tucson, Arizona 85716
520-594-5305

This talk is by my husband, who has published about a dozen scholarly articles about Padre Kino and other Jesuits in Arizona, has given this talk at libraries in Pima County and Arizona, at Agua Caliente Park‘s Historic Lecture Series, and to other civil groups. He has also published an online translation of letters by Jesuit Father Philipp Segesser, and is now working on a book about the German speaking Jesuits. He will be a presenter at an upcoming November, 2012 symposium on Padre Kino, hosted by the Kino Heritage Society in Tucson.

Over two years ago Sue Parker, librarian at Himmel Park Branch Library decided to start up a Senior Games program (age 50 plus) for patrons interested in getting together and socially playing games such as chess, checkers, rummikub, scrabble, etc. I suggested we play Chinese Mahjong, which I play at the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center, but which I also learned back in Hawaii decades ago from Japanese-American friends on the Big Island. Sue had never played Mahjong before, but she was willing and enthusiastic to learn.

(This program is also an offshoot of the now defunct Sam Hughes Cares for Seniors program which I founded in 2005, in the Sam Hughes Neighborhood, where the library is located).

Two years later, we have taught numerous Seniors (and some younger friends), and now have 3 regular tables of four players each – patrons, neighbors, visiting “snowbirds”. Some of these Seniors learned American Mahjong style first (utilizing pre-printed cards), which is being played at the Tucson Jewish Community Center and Oro Valley Library, as well as taught at Oasis on River Road.

Know anyone interested in learning Hong Kong Simplified style or other games, please contact librarian Sue Parker at at 520-594-5305, or just show up on Mondays, 12 noon to 3 p.m. at Himmel Lbrary’s large meeting room, 1035 N. Treat Ave. (SW corner of E. 1st St.) No Senior Games when the library is closed for holidays. (Incidentally Himmel is the oldest branch library, built in 1961).

The lead teacher is now MJ Talbot, a Chinese-American immigrant from Hong Kong, assisted by myself, and Sarah Stephenson, who used to live in the People’s Republic of China. We are all members of the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center, 1288 W. River Rd., phone 520-292-6900, which promotes Chinese culture and history.

More about Mahjong (sometimes spelled Mah jongg) read wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong. The version we play uses 144 tiles, but other versions (such as the Hawaiian style) uses 4 more, including animals – cat, rat, chicken, & worm. It is a game of luck and skill, similar to rummy, where you have to match sets of 4 grouping of three (or sometimes four) tiles, plus a pair of two tiles to attain “mahjong” & win. A Mahjong set (in a case) can cost about $50 or more (pictured below).