your october annogram

Hello everyone, it’s autumn--at right, in Vermont! We’re feeling it here in New York this week where temperatures have become chilly and brilliant multicolored leaves are starting to drop….

WAA members’ night
In September, my husband Michael Cefola (lower left) spoke to the Westchester Amateur Astronomers about how he created a roll-back observatory out of a garage rooftop in New England. Mike Virsinger shared dramatic video he and his filmmaker-wife, Angela, took of the next-to-last shuttle launch; John Paladini discussed a uniqueome-method for making a telescope lens, and Larry Faltz described star gazing from the Colorado mountains where he and his wife Elyse encountered almost as many sheep as stars.

The November 6 star party will be at Ward Pound Ridge (poor weather cancels: 877-456-5778); and on Friday, November 5 at 8 p.m.at Pace University, Caroline Moore will speak on discovering a rare supernova—see web site for details.

Avanti Popolo reading
The Avanti Popolo (Manic D Press, 2008) poetry anthology celebrates Italian-American experience. Contributors, including award-winning poet Linda Simone, will read on Tuesday, October 5, 2010, at 6 p.m. at the Calandra Italian American Institute, 25 West 43rd Street, 17th floor, New York, (bet. 5th and 6th). Free but call 212-642-2094 to preregister and bring a photo ID to show the building concierge.

Boo at the Zoo
Gigi and the Lend-Me-A-Hand Band, which includes my favorite lead guitarist Michael Cefola, are performing at the Bronx Zoo every Saturday and Sunday this month at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Gigi leads the daily Halloween parade into the Grizzly Goodies Picnic Area. Discover children’s music with a grown-up rock edge and why WNBC-TV calls the band a “Best Bet” in family entertainment.

Racoco wine-tasting
A wine-tasting will take place Tuesday, October 5, 7-9 p.m., to benefit Racoco Productions, innovative dance reviewed by The New York Times. Suggested donation is $45; click here for tickets to the 25 W 54th Street Penthouse. Tell the doorman you're visiting Shaun Smith.

Purchase Writers Center
Purchase College has a new Writers Center: On October 13, the Writers Center will host a reception, 4:30-6 p.m., to welcome its new fellows, poet Pamela Hart, memoirist Sarah Bracey White (left) and novelist Christine Lehner. Congratulations to this year’s talented fellows, who’ve won a stipend and office space to pursue their projects.

Have you read your smory?
Smories are stories written for kids, read by kids. Congratulations to Linda Simone on winning fourth place in the top-five smories viewed in September! Discover the magic of a smory—for grown-ups too—by visiting Linda’s October smory, “Starry Night.” And pass it along to the kids in your life.

Toadlily at Poets House
Thanks to founders Myrna Goodman and Meredith Trede, Toadlily Press gives many talented poets exposure in its annual quartet series. On Saturday, November 6, 5-7 p.m., Toadlily will celebrate its fifth anniversary with a reading and launch of Sightline, at Poets House, 10 River Terrace, Battery Park City in New York City. Congratulations Myrna and Meredith, and keep up the good work!

'Round the Net

Thanks to the following people for these great links:

· Sarah Bracey White for this profile of her writing career

· Jeanette Briggs for this video about elephant-dog friendship

· Alice Orr for her valuable writing workshops in the beautiful northwest

· Jackie Sheeler for her new book, An Earthquake Came to Harlem (NYQ Books, 2010)

· Linda Simone for Paragraph, work space available for writers in Manhattan.

· Russell Valentino for this interview with translator Esther Allen (scroll down).

Wishing everyone warm quilts, homemade pies and the brisk energy of this beautiful season….

Ann