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Great Expectations was designed to help people who grew up in foster care get their two-year degrees. And unlike many programs for former foster youth, there are no age limits.

Join us for an evening celebration of poetry and nonfiction! Twelve graduate students from PLNU’s M.A. in Writing program will read nonfiction or poetry (3 minutes apiece). Headliners Mac Crane (nonfiction) and Kazim Ali (poetry) will each read for 7-10 minutes to close out the evening. Mac Crane and Kazim Ali will sell and sign books post-reading. PLNU M.A. in Writing Program Readers: Carol Blessing Sophie Cornwell Aliah Fabros Meghan Coley Abigail Franklin Jaden Goldfain Ell Huang Tony Le Calvez Denise Magloire Emma McCoy Josiah Roberts Jessie Taylor Headliners: Nonfiction: Mac Crane is an author, sweatpants enthusiast, and basketball player. Their debut novel, "I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself," was a NYT Editors' Choice and the winner of a LAMBDA Literary Award in Speculative Fiction. Their second novel, "A Sharp Endless Need," which is a queer, yearning coming-of-age novel about ambition, basketball, and obsession, is forthcoming from Dial Press in May 2025. Poetry: Kazim Ali was born in the United Kingdom and has lived transnationally in the United States, Canada, India, France, and the Middle East. His books encompass multiple genres, including the volumes of poetry "Inquisition," "Sky Ward," winner of the Ohioana Book Award in Poetry; "The Far Mosque," winner of Alice James Books’ New England/New York Award; "The Fortieth Day"; "All One’s Blue"; and the cross-genre texts "Bright Felon" and "Wind Instrument." His novels include the recently published "The Secret Room: A String Quartet" and among his books of essays are the hybrid memoir "Silver Road: Essays, Maps & Calligraphies" and "Fasting for Ramadan: Notes from a Spiritual Practice." He is also an accomplished translator (of Marguerite Duras, Sohrab Sepehri, Ananda Devi, Mahmoud Chokrollahi and others) and an editor of several anthologies and books of criticism. After a career in public policy and organizing, Ali taught at various colleges and universities, including Oberlin College, Davidson College, St. Mary's College of California, and Naropa University. He is currently a Professor of Literature at the University of California, San Diego. His newest books are a volume of three long poems entitled "The Voice of Sheila Chandra" and a memoir of his Canadian childhood, "Northern Light."

The law is intended to help those who might not have the access or knowledge to use digital coupons. Many grocery stores offer deals through phone apps or otherwise online only.

Books "overtly promoting DEI, gender ideology, and critical race theory" are under new scrutiny following a memo issued by acting Assistant Secretary of the Army Derrick Anderson.

NPR has spent the past few weeks catching up with student loan experts and asking the Trump administration for clarity on some of borrowers' biggest questions.

After weeks of confusion, the Trump administration confirmed that it terminated visa records for thousands of international students because of past brushes with law enforcement, many of them minor.

Cinema Under the Stars presents "Conclave" Friday, January 24 at 8 p.m. Saturday, January 25 at 8 p.m. Cinema Under The Stars 4040 Goldfinch Street San Diego, CA 92103 (619) 295-4221 www.topspresents.com Cost: $17, $18, $20 "CONCLAVE " (2024. 120 min.) - The pope is dead. The throne is vacant. Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini headline a sinfully enjoyable tale of power, corruption, betrayal and a secret that can upend all Christendom. Father Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) must convene the College of Cardinals to select the papal successor. Cinema Under the Stars is an intimate outdoor movie theater in Mission Hills with single and double zero-gravity reclining lounge chairs, sky-boxes and love seat cabanas. Heaters, pillows and blankets are provided. A vintage cartoon is shown before most films. Seating is limited and reservations are recommended. Members may make phone reservations up to one week in advance. Online reservations for Members begin on Mondays at 9 a.m. Online reservations for Non-Members begin on Tuesdays at 9 a.m. The box office opens at 6 p.m, Fridays - Sundays. Admission Prices: Members - $17. Non-members (at the box office) - $18. Non-members (with online reservations) - $20. Annual Memberships - $125 (for two people). Pay with Cash, Checks, or Venmo. All concessions are $3.00 each Free popcorn for Members. Reservations must be cancelled by 5 p.m. online, or call the Cinema before 6 p.m. Come early to avoid a line. For more information, call (619) 295-4221, or visit the website (www.topspresents.com)

Pope Francis died Monday at the age of 88. He was the first Latin American pontiff, the first non-European pope in more than a millennium, and he left behind a legacy of service and compassion.

New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment, has quietly become a blue refuge in the MAGA red West for Americans who are fleeing extreme conservative strongholds.

Join us at Southwestern College Art Gallery for the opening of Movidas Razquaches and Other Cheap Thrills, a collection of new work by artist Perry Vásquez. The exhibition is open from February 4 - March 4, 2025. Regular Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 10:30 AM -2:30 PM or by appointment. ARTIST STATEMENT“As an artist I try to pay attention to things being created and consumed within my milieu along the San Diego/Tijuana boundary. I find inspiration by reframing and recontextualizing overlooked things I find here and there and on the margins. I chose Movidas Razquaches as the title for my show because I think it captures the spirit and methodology of what I want to accomplish as an artist.” – Perry Vásquez. ABOUT THE LANGUAGEAccording to Tomás Ybarra-Frausto, rasquachismo is a sensibility that gets expressed in Chicano cultural forms and practices. Ybarra-Frausto writes, “It is a sensibility that is not elevated and serious, but playful and elemental. It finds delight and refinement in what many consider banal and projects an alternative aesthetic, a sort of good taste of bad taste.” Like African-American funk, or the improvised inventions of Rube Goldberg, the emphasis is on wit, resourcefulness and working with what is at hand. The add-on word, movida, can be translated as a maneuver, or a play (as in a game). Poet Juan Felipe Herrera interprets movidas rasquaches as “cheap thrills”, linking it to a pleasurable activity open to anyone who cares to partake. While legal scholar Alfredo Mirandé offers the word “hustle,” suggesting an illicit or unethical way to make a living. Sociologist David Spener uses movidas rasquaches to describe the network of the ad hoc work-arounds and tricks employed by migrants to navigate the US/Mexico border. While no single one of these terms perfectly captures the full meaning, taken together they give a reliable framework for interpretation. ABOUT THE WORKOver the last year and a half, Vásquez has created new work that divides into four projects using different media and including collaborative and solo work. Some of the projects are well established while others are being presented to the public for the first time in this exhibition. Blankets Vásquez collects flyers advertising gardening services left on his driveway by workers seeking employment. The no-thrills graphic style and the not-so-subtle way in which they seem to copy each other caught the artist’s eye. The act of weaving the flyers into blanket designs celebrates the DIY approach while reminding us of the workers’ aspirations to provide warmth and shelter for their families. Le Voyage/El Viaje This is an AI imaging project whose goal was to rethink and replace the transactional language used to prompt and generate AI images. “The AI image making process is hyper-focused on the outcome as the only part of the process with artistic merit. The prompt itself is written to be transactional and limiting.” Vásquez turned the process of generating imagery into a Surrealist game by inserting lines from French poet Charles Baudellaire’s poem Le Voyage into the software. The resulting images were used as the basis for a series of oil paintings. Monopalms The presence of cell towers disguised as palm trees (monopalms) has become a common sight in Southern California. This series of paintings implies the link between palm trees and the myth of paradise. The paintings also offer commentary on the telecommunications industry and how it alters our perception of nature and our sense of public and private space. Mexus Nexus Fluxus Inspired by Mexican recording artist Esquivel and the German techno artist Señor Coconut, Vásquez arranged four traditional Mexican songs for the synthesizer. He then worked with visual artists Lianne Mueller-Thompson and Carlos Solorio to create video and animations for the music. The music will be presented as a video installation. RECEPTIONSSaturday February 8, 11 AM -1 PM. (free parking in Lot O for this event) Tuesday, February 11, 11 AM -1 PM.