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A perfect weekend at CCFF

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Khalid

Captial City Film Festival logo

Last weekend the two of us (Khalid and Shannon) jam packed our schedules with Capital City Film Fest fun, and for anyone who says there is nothing to do in Lansing, well, I call your bluff! We took advantage of the $50 festival pass deal and were able to come in and out of various films, parties, and shows for the festival’s four day entirety. There was so much to do this year that we had to carve out unique paths through the weekend festivities to make the most of all CCFF.

I went to see a bunch of the films and as you may have read in my previous post, I was especially anticipating the series of films directed by women. – Shannon

For me, the film festival was more of a music festival. I came out of the CCFF weekend with wonderful concert memories and new musical crushes. – Khalid

This is how we spent our weekend….

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Posted in Music, Organizations and Clubs, The Arts | Leave a comment

There IS film in Lansing! And some of it is directed by women!

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Shannon

I had the rare opportunity to view the line up of films from the Directing Workshop for
Women (DWW) Showcase for this year’s Capital City Film Festival over the last few weeks and saying that I was impressed is an understatement.

According to the Celluloid Ceiling 2007 Report, women accounted for only 6% of directors of the top 250 domestic grossing films released in 2007, a decline of 1% since 2006. This figure is approximately half the percentage of women directors working in 2000 when women accounted for 11% of all directors. While these statistics are dated by a few years, it is apparent that the role of women as directors is on the decline. Women in roles of leadership in general are scarce; just look to the role of women in U.S. Congress for example, where they hold approximately 17% of the elected seats, according to the Center for Women in Politics, yet make up about 51% of the United States population as of the 2010 U.S. Census. It is obvious that women are underrepresented, but what can be done about it? In my opinion the first step is to support the women who do take on leadership roles. Continue reading →

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Posted in Events | Tagged #CapitalCityFilmFestival, #lovelansing, #movies, #TedXLansing, women | Leave a comment

Loving, Living and Leaving Lansing: Week 2

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Anika

What’s better than living and loving in Lansing?!?!

Nothing.

But visiting Lansing to see why we all love it so much comes close.

I tell everyone to come visit me in Lansing. Friends from all over the country. Just to see if one day, somehow, they will decide to make the trek to the mid-mitten, assuming I was worth it–even if the only thing they knew about Lansing was that it is the capital of Michigan.

I was about to leave Lansing without ever having the chance to share the benefits of living in a small city to some of my big city friends. And then it happened.

As I come to week 2 of my reflections, I’d like to tell you how sharing my love for Lansing was one of my favorite moments…..

My fellow social workers, my favorite couple and my dearest friends, Seva G. and Pita Pocket arrived in REO Town at the stroke of midnight from the windy city of Chicago. Now you may think, that’s not that far–but hey, I was thrilled.

I wanted to show them a day in the life of Anika in Lansing. Or rather, a weekend in the life of Anika in Lansing. I wasn’t worried about entertaining them, something is always happening in Lansing and I was sure fun times were upon us. Because I am fun. And Lansing is great.

SaturDAY: My friends may not consider themselves regular yoga practitioners, but I knew Just B Yoga would be a welcoming and safe place for them to explore their practice. And just as I had imagined, Belinda facilitated an environment that was warm and compassionate. Allowing them to be in their space amidst the beautiful community we have here in Lansing. Continue reading →

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Posted in City Life | Tagged #CAWLM, #JustBYoga, #lovelansing, #REACH | 1 Comment

You Made What from Flaxseed?

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Lisa

Awhile back, I attended Michigan State University where I had a friend with whom I shared many classes. It took a few years post-college for Facebook to reunite us, and some time after that to physically run into each other, but we did just that at a Grand River Connection networking event. Grand River Connection is actually a really great way to get involved in Lansing and meet other young professionals, however, this time, I had an alterior motive. Held in Old Town at the beautiful old building that is home to MessageMakers, Terry Terry did a beautiful job reinvesting in this historical Lansing location over many years, and until this point, I had never been inside. Deciding to feed my inner architecture loving graphic designer geek, I ran into Adriane, who was feeding her inner architecture real estate loving geek.

MessageMakers - Old Town

I learned that Adriane and her husband were near neighbors on Lansing’s Westside, adding to the list of amazing and talented people I know all making homes near mine. Later that summer, she started a book club and filled it with a random group of clever and fun women who brought their clever and fun friends, resulting in a wine club with a book problem. Continue reading →

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Posted in City Life | Tagged #beautyproducts, #DoItYourself, #Flaxseed, #GRC, #lovelansing | 3 Comments

The Car Insurance Experiment

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Pam

Photo by Eat Pomegranate Photography

Car Free for a Month

Deciding to go carless usually is not a very common thing to do in Michigan. That whole unpredictable weather situation was also something to consider. Still, I decided to live car-free for four whole weeks, which then turned into nine weeks of adventure and realization.

As it was, I had a trip scheduled for a few weeks during Christmas break, so the decision to halt my car insurance was a little easier to make. I learned that my insurance company would put a hold on my car insurance for a period of time, and then restore it when I decided to reinstate it. All it took was a simple, “Hi Janet, could you take the insurance off my car starting in December?” She happily responded with, “Sure thing, but we will keep the ‘storage’ coverage active (i.e. if a tree falls on it, or that tornado rips through town). Call us when you want it back on.” Simple. But then, the realization that now it was illegal to drive my car hit me.

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Posted in City Life | Tagged #lovelansing, CATA, Smart Commute | 2 Comments

A perfect weekend at CCFF

There IS film in Lansing! And some of it is directed by women!

Loving, Living and Leaving Lansing: Week 2

You Made What from Flaxseed?

The Car Insurance Experiment

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