Zinta Aistars's Blog, page 20
January 24, 2014
On the road to Allegan
Photos copyright by Zinta Aistars
Winter has been winter again. The way I remember her. Chillingly cold, clapping her blue hand over your mouth and stealing your breath, slipping ice fingers down your shirt and between the seams to make you shiver, biting the tip of your nose until it turns bright red. She sweeps her white skirts in drifts across the road and hangs dripping lace along the branches of the denuded trees, striping their trunks with snow. I love her when she shows a little wild.
To...
Winter has been winter again. The way I remember her. Chillingly cold, clapping her blue hand over your mouth and stealing your breath, slipping ice fingers down your shirt and between the seams to make you shiver, biting the tip of your nose until it turns bright red. She sweeps her white skirts in drifts across the road and hangs dripping lace along the branches of the denuded trees, striping their trunks with snow. I love her when she shows a little wild.
To...
January 16, 2014
Three Sistas in the Kitchen have a family recipe for success
by Zinta Aistars
Published in Southwest Michigan's Second Wave Media
January 16, 2014
Sample platter at Sistas in the Kitchen
Three Sistas in the Kitchen is the restaurant family built and the community demanded in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Zinta Aistars has the story.
Someone is singing in the kitchen. No, not just one person, but two, three, singing and laughing, the laughter sputtering like bacon grease on a frying pan.
The delicious smells from the kitchen whet the appetite coming in the...
Published in Southwest Michigan's Second Wave Media
January 16, 2014
Sample platter at Sistas in the KitchenThree Sistas in the Kitchen is the restaurant family built and the community demanded in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Zinta Aistars has the story.
Someone is singing in the kitchen. No, not just one person, but two, three, singing and laughing, the laughter sputtering like bacon grease on a frying pan.
The delicious smells from the kitchen whet the appetite coming in the...
January 14, 2014
Chilean poet, publisher and Ludington writer read at Kazoo Books
For my southwest Michigan readers ... while others of you may simply be interested in checking out these books by Michigan writers.
Author corner at Kazoo BooksKalamazoo, MI—Mariela Griffor and George Dila spend much of their time being the publisher and the editor writers approach with hope in their hearts. At a reading on Saturday, January 18, at 1 p.m., at Kazoo Books on 2413 Parkview in Kalamazoo, however, the two will show their other, equally passionate, side—as writers.
Mariela Gr...
January 9, 2014
Best Stories of 2013 in Southwest Michigan's Second Wave
Photo for #1 story, Kids in Tune, by Erik Holladay at eholladay.com One of my favorite publications to write for is Southwest Michigan's Second Wave, and their annual list of best stories of the year is out. Six of the top ten are mine, and I had great fun working on them and meeting the great people behind them: #1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 10. Thank you, Kathy Jennings, for the terrific assignments and Erik Holladay-McCann for the eye-catching photography that illustrates the stories.
Before we get...
January 6, 2014
Arcus Center Rising
by Zinta Aistars
Published in January 2014 Issue of ENCORE magazine
Cover Story
The nearly 10,000-square-foot building on the corner of Academy and Monroe Streets in Kalamazoo is still under construction, just bare cement and crews in hard hats covering its rising steel skeleton like worker ants. But while the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership (ACSJL), at Kalamazoo College, is still months from its anticipated grand opening in June, its reach is already extending across the globe.
Click...
Published in January 2014 Issue of ENCORE magazine
Cover Story
The nearly 10,000-square-foot building on the corner of Academy and Monroe Streets in Kalamazoo is still under construction, just bare cement and crews in hard hats covering its rising steel skeleton like worker ants. But while the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership (ACSJL), at Kalamazoo College, is still months from its anticipated grand opening in June, its reach is already extending across the globe.
Click...
January 3, 2014
Knees by Lebolt
by Zinta Aistars
Ed DublisA patient story I wrote for one of Michigan's largest health care organizations about a man so grateful for his double knee replacement that he participated in a 5K race just a couple months later to say Thanks, Doc.
He was #40931, and Edward Dublis walked proud, wearing a bright blue shirt for all to read: “I got my knees from Dr. Lebolt on January 14, 2013.”
Today, that blue shirt hangs, framed and behind glass, among a row of similar sports shirts in the office...
Ed DublisA patient story I wrote for one of Michigan's largest health care organizations about a man so grateful for his double knee replacement that he participated in a 5K race just a couple months later to say Thanks, Doc. He was #40931, and Edward Dublis walked proud, wearing a bright blue shirt for all to read: “I got my knees from Dr. Lebolt on January 14, 2013.”
Today, that blue shirt hangs, framed and behind glass, among a row of similar sports shirts in the office...
January 2, 2014
What biblical characters were thinking: my interview with Exodus author Janet Ruth Heller
by Zinta Aistars
My interview with author Janet Ruth Heller will air at 7:50 a.m., 9:50 a.m., and 4:29 p.m. on Friday, January 2, 2014, on WMUK 102.1 FM on your dial or listen to the interview on the link below:
Kalamazoo, Michigan, native Janet Ruth Heller is a writer, playwright, and literary critic. In her third book of poetry called Exodus, Heller fills in the gaps in the lives of characters in the Bible, especially women. Exodus can be found at Kazoo...
My interview with author Janet Ruth Heller will air at 7:50 a.m., 9:50 a.m., and 4:29 p.m. on Friday, January 2, 2014, on WMUK 102.1 FM on your dial or listen to the interview on the link below:
Kalamazoo, Michigan, native Janet Ruth Heller is a writer, playwright, and literary critic. In her third book of poetry called Exodus, Heller fills in the gaps in the lives of characters in the Bible, especially women. Exodus can be found at Kazoo...
December 30, 2013
Blush: Mennonite girl grows up to be successful academic
by Zinta Aistars
My author interview with Shirley Showalter airs December 31, 2013, on WMUK 102.1 FM radio, Kalamazoo, Michigan's NPR affiliate station. We talk about Shirley's new book, Blush, and what it means to grow up in the Mennonite community. You can listen to the radio station tomorrow live (beginning at 7:50 a.m.), or click on "Listen" mid-page to hear the full interview.
As a young girl, Shirley Showalter never thought she would go to college, let alone become pre...
My author interview with Shirley Showalter airs December 31, 2013, on WMUK 102.1 FM radio, Kalamazoo, Michigan's NPR affiliate station. We talk about Shirley's new book, Blush, and what it means to grow up in the Mennonite community. You can listen to the radio station tomorrow live (beginning at 7:50 a.m.), or click on "Listen" mid-page to hear the full interview.
As a young girl, Shirley Showalter never thought she would go to college, let alone become pre...
December 24, 2013
Holiday Greetings 2013
Photos copyright Zinta Aistars
A day of blessing, waking to a bright sun on white snow, turning Z Acres into a land of winter wonderland. I race outdoors and find myself gasping in wonder ... the heart never tires of such beauty.
Wishing all: peace, love, contentment, and hearts that never stop opening to all the wonder and magic around us ... not just on Christmas, but every single day.
To learn more about Zinta, visit www.zintaaistars.com
A day of blessing, waking to a bright sun on white snow, turning Z Acres into a land of winter wonderland. I race outdoors and find myself gasping in wonder ... the heart never tires of such beauty.
Wishing all: peace, love, contentment, and hearts that never stop opening to all the wonder and magic around us ... not just on Christmas, but every single day.
To learn more about Zinta, visit www.zintaaistars.com
December 23, 2013
Winter White 2013 and One More Dream in the Making
by Zinta Aistars
Standing out in my back field and looking back at the farm, I make a wish ...
It's Monday morning in late December, Christmas just a few days away, and I wake up realizing all my work for the month is done. Amazing. I don't recall having this much time off from work since ... since ... I don't remember.
I'm beginning my third winter at Z Acres, my ten-acre farm in southwest Michigan. Although I moved into the little red farmhouse in March 2012, it was in December 2011 that I fou...
Standing out in my back field and looking back at the farm, I make a wish ...
It's Monday morning in late December, Christmas just a few days away, and I wake up realizing all my work for the month is done. Amazing. I don't recall having this much time off from work since ... since ... I don't remember.I'm beginning my third winter at Z Acres, my ten-acre farm in southwest Michigan. Although I moved into the little red farmhouse in March 2012, it was in December 2011 that I fou...
