Zinta Aistars's Blog, page 29
February 13, 2013
The Next Big Thing—A Meme for Writers
By Zinta Aistars
My desk in the Cottage on the HillWhen author Kristina Riggle approached me about participating in The Next Big Thing, a meme for writers, I said, "Huh?" And then I said, "What's a meme?" And then I said, "What's the Next Big Thing?"Kristina is a terrific author, very prolific, and she wrote about her new book coming out in November, The Whole Golden World, as her contribution to this meme. Meme, it turns out, means something like a game of tag for a cultural idea spreading in...
February 8, 2013
Forum finds common ground in the earth beneath our feet
by Zinta Aistars
Published in Southwest Michigan's Second Wave Media
Thursday, February 7, 2013
The board of SWMSBF (Photo by Erik Holladay at erikholladay.com)
What do Green Drinks and sustainable business practices have in common? Leaders of the Southwest Michigan Sustainable Business Forum tell Zinta Aistars all about it.
Businesses haven't always thought of "being green" as being profitable.
The Southwest Michigan Sustainable Business Forum (SWMSBF) is changing that perspective.
...
Published in Southwest Michigan's Second Wave Media
Thursday, February 7, 2013
The board of SWMSBF (Photo by Erik Holladay at erikholladay.com)What do Green Drinks and sustainable business practices have in common? Leaders of the Southwest Michigan Sustainable Business Forum tell Zinta Aistars all about it.
Businesses haven't always thought of "being green" as being profitable.
The Southwest Michigan Sustainable Business Forum (SWMSBF) is changing that perspective.
...
February 7, 2013
Aflame with Song and Scent
by Zinta Aistars
Published by Rapid Growth Media
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Aziza Poggi and Aria Flame (Photo by Adam Bird at adambirdphoto.com)
From pounding headaches and busted foot bones, good things are born. Really. Ask Aziza Poggi.
If pain is the mark of birthing art forms, Poggi has paid her dues. Headaches from the alcohol fumes in most perfumes led her to creating her own fragrances, and foot surgery from too many hours on too high heels put her in a wheelchair to brood and hea...
Published by Rapid Growth Media
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Aziza Poggi and Aria Flame (Photo by Adam Bird at adambirdphoto.com)From pounding headaches and busted foot bones, good things are born. Really. Ask Aziza Poggi.
If pain is the mark of birthing art forms, Poggi has paid her dues. Headaches from the alcohol fumes in most perfumes led her to creating her own fragrances, and foot surgery from too many hours on too high heels put her in a wheelchair to brood and hea...
February 4, 2013
Home Z Home in Winter White
by Zinta Aistars
My beloved Z Acres
Who can concentrate on writing when the world all around is wrapped in white? The woods are dripping with white lace, the hillside slopes are covered with white blankets, the pond is frozen solid sheets of white, and I am in up to my knees, and in places, mid-thigh.
I love snow. I was born in December, and I have never been able to get enough of winter since. For me, it is the most beautiful of seasons. Spring is lush with green and blossom, the autumn b...
My beloved Z AcresWho can concentrate on writing when the world all around is wrapped in white? The woods are dripping with white lace, the hillside slopes are covered with white blankets, the pond is frozen solid sheets of white, and I am in up to my knees, and in places, mid-thigh.
I love snow. I was born in December, and I have never been able to get enough of winter since. For me, it is the most beautiful of seasons. Spring is lush with green and blossom, the autumn b...
February 3, 2013
Memory Disorders Clinic Takes a Family Approach
by Zinta Aistars
Tom and his granddaughter Sophia
Until I was commissioned to write this patient story for the neurology department of a health care organization in Grand Rapids, Michigan, I had never heard of Lewy Body Dementia. I always learn something new when I write a new story. In this case, that LBD is the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer's, yet is often misdiagnosed.
Here's Tom's story:
Jessica Mix described what she witnessed in August 2011, when her family broug...
Tom and his granddaughter SophiaUntil I was commissioned to write this patient story for the neurology department of a health care organization in Grand Rapids, Michigan, I had never heard of Lewy Body Dementia. I always learn something new when I write a new story. In this case, that LBD is the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer's, yet is often misdiagnosed.
Here's Tom's story:
Jessica Mix described what she witnessed in August 2011, when her family broug...
February 2, 2013
Surgery That Straightens a Spine and Makes a New Dream Possible
by Zinta Aistars
One of my freelance "gigs" is to write health care patient stories, so that others who may be coping with similar situations can learn more about their options and know that they are not alone. Each and every time someone shares his or her story with me, I feel honored ... and I always learn something I didn't know before.
This is the story of Ceaira and her scoliosis.
Twenty-three years old, but Ceaira sometimes felt like she was 90. Her friends loved to go shopping...
One of my freelance "gigs" is to write health care patient stories, so that others who may be coping with similar situations can learn more about their options and know that they are not alone. Each and every time someone shares his or her story with me, I feel honored ... and I always learn something I didn't know before.
This is the story of Ceaira and her scoliosis.
Twenty-three years old, but Ceaira sometimes felt like she was 90. Her friends loved to go shopping...
January 31, 2013
Battle Creek elementary brings the community to school
by Zinta Aistars
Published in Southwest Michigan's Second Wave Media
January 31, 2013
(Photo by Erik Halloday, erikhalloday.com)
At Prairieview Elementary in Battle Creek, Michigan, a program called Developing the Community helps people and organizations make the connections students need for better lives and more learning. Zinta Aistars has the story of one school's holistic approach to education.
At first approach, Prairieview Elementary School in Battle Creek is like most any ot...
Published in Southwest Michigan's Second Wave Media
January 31, 2013
(Photo by Erik Halloday, erikhalloday.com)At Prairieview Elementary in Battle Creek, Michigan, a program called Developing the Community helps people and organizations make the connections students need for better lives and more learning. Zinta Aistars has the story of one school's holistic approach to education.
At first approach, Prairieview Elementary School in Battle Creek is like most any ot...
January 27, 2013
Latvian couple's love story is picture perfect
by Sherry Kuyt
Advance Newspapers: Penasee Globe
January 24, 2013
Reporter Sherry Kuyt interviewing Viestarts Aistars at Daily Brews Cafe in Wayland, Michigan
An article appeared in Penasee Globe about my parents, Velta and Viestarts Aistars, this week, in part about my father's art exhibit currently on exhibit at Daily Brews Cafe in Wayland, Michigan, but also in celebration of the upcoming Valentine's Day.
After years of marriage, wives sometimes complain that their husbands don't pay enou...
Advance Newspapers: Penasee Globe
January 24, 2013
Reporter Sherry Kuyt interviewing Viestarts Aistars at Daily Brews Cafe in Wayland, MichiganAn article appeared in Penasee Globe about my parents, Velta and Viestarts Aistars, this week, in part about my father's art exhibit currently on exhibit at Daily Brews Cafe in Wayland, Michigan, but also in celebration of the upcoming Valentine's Day.
After years of marriage, wives sometimes complain that their husbands don't pay enou...
January 21, 2013
Snow, snow and the snow, the snow
by Zinta Aistars
Snow today, snow and snow, and cold, bone chilling cold, a real Michigan winter, the one I've been missing. Bring it on. Oh bring it on.
The shiver, the shudder, the tingle, the jangle. Bring it on.
Winter, that season when I was born, squalling with hurrah, fist to the snow clouded sky, winter sun a pale day moon, misted in shimmer and silver glow, winter, that most astounding time, bring it on.
Snow in a swirl, snow sweeping over and over in rolling drifts and swooping up in wa...
Snow today, snow and snow, and cold, bone chilling cold, a real Michigan winter, the one I've been missing. Bring it on. Oh bring it on.
The shiver, the shudder, the tingle, the jangle. Bring it on.
Winter, that season when I was born, squalling with hurrah, fist to the snow clouded sky, winter sun a pale day moon, misted in shimmer and silver glow, winter, that most astounding time, bring it on.
Snow in a swirl, snow sweeping over and over in rolling drifts and swooping up in wa...
January 17, 2013
Word Power at K
by Zinta Aistars
Published in Kalamazoo College's "Be Light"
January 2013
Jessica Farmer, left, and Amy Newday, right
Amy Newday, director of the Writing Center (Room 110 in Upjohn Library Commons) at Kalamazoo College, curls into the corner of the red couch and lifts a hand as if to punctuate her words, and says: “You WILL be judged.”
Yet it’s not Newday that will do the judging. She will tell it to you straight: it’s the world out there that will judge you, outside of Kalamazoo College...
Published in Kalamazoo College's "Be Light"
January 2013
Jessica Farmer, left, and Amy Newday, rightAmy Newday, director of the Writing Center (Room 110 in Upjohn Library Commons) at Kalamazoo College, curls into the corner of the red couch and lifts a hand as if to punctuate her words, and says: “You WILL be judged.”
Yet it’s not Newday that will do the judging. She will tell it to you straight: it’s the world out there that will judge you, outside of Kalamazoo College...
