Owl and Raven

May Schedule Changes and Weekend Reminders

manhan — Fri, 17 May 2013 22:25:19 +0000

Code-In! No code-in this Saturday. Code-in will now be meeting monthly on the second Saturday of the month. The next code-in will be happening Saturday, June 8 from 2-5pm. Save the date!

Game night! Thank you to everyone who took part in our game night survey. Based on your responses, we’ll be moving game night one hour later. Starting this Monday, game night will begin at 7pm instead of the usual 6pm. Game on!

Magic the Gathering! Join us this Sunday from 2-5pm for a special Magic the Gathering prize tournament. Cards will be provided for deck-building and all players get to keep their cards. Suggested donation of $10 for this special event.

Enjoy the marvelous weather.

O&R

WordPress clinic

CB — Fri, 03 May 2013 02:39:07 +0000

May is Tech Month this year at Owl and Raven!*

We will be holding a WordPress clinic to empower beginners who already have WordPress sites on Sunday May 19th, 12:15 to 1:30.

This event is designed to help people who already have a WordPress blog or website that is set up, practicing a specific skill they would like to feel more comfortable with. Call up your website onscreen, and a volunteer will help you get better at a basic WordPress function, or to gain more overall confidence editing your site. Make sure you come knowing the web address of your site, and how to log in to it for editing. Bring a laptop computer if you have one — we will have a few here.

Photo credit: Ed Yourdon

This event requires people to sign up beforehand so that we can have a good ratio of clinicians to people coming in with their sites.

(To sign up, all you need to do is click the link below and fill out the simple form:)

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1GhjflqLOGUBNQu2wcD7m7tAj1QKAWVh_FZzCN9Krmuk/viewform

*Tech Month is being held to help promote Hack for Western Massachusetts, a two-day event June 1st and 2nd, being organized by area folks for the very first time this year! See http://hackforwesternmass.org/ to get involved or to attend, non-techies and techies alike are all needed!

Talkin’ About Buffy

manhan — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:59:30 +0000

Wednesday, April 24th from 7-9pm

10 years later, Buffy the Vampire Slayer still attracts attention. The show draws in a wide audience: academic scholars, sci-fi enthusiasts, vampire fandom, and anyone with an appreciation for popular media.

Join us Wednesday, April 24th at 7pm for a moderated discussion on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its impact on popular culture. Come with questions and topics you’d like to discuss!

We can’t promise there won’t be any spoilers.

Tea and Game Design tomorrow– Sunday

CB — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 15:13:27 +0000

Photo credit: NinLuvs-SHM.

Tomorrow, Sunday, April 7, we will have Tea & Game Design at Owl and Raven! A random assortment of local game designers (aspiring, amateur, novice, and professional), players, and fans will get together to talk about the design, play, and publishing of games. It’s an open event that typically has between 4 and 20 attendees, so join us to become between 5% and 25% of our population!

We will make tea, hang out with people we like, and talk game design from 1:00 to 5:00. Come join in!

Diet Myth-busting March 21st

manhan — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 12:57:03 +0000

Thursday, March 21st (7-9pm)
with Deena Barselah, Holistic Wellness Coach

Paleo, vegan, low-carb, low-fat, raw, macrobiotic, calorie-restriction…the list goes on. There are so many diets out there today, it’s hard to sift through it all. We’re also told to stay away from eggs, saturated fat, gluten, dairy, grains and so many other foods!

Join Deena Barselah, Holistic Wellness Coach, to really break this all down. Deena will share her opinion on diet trends, myths and the conventional advice out there.

Deena Barselah is a wellness coach on a mission to empower people with real food. Forget the fad diets, quick fixes and trends. Looking at tradition and what has always worked throughout history, supporting the body with real food, and paying close attention to your body’s needs is Deena’s approach. She’s overcome several health and diet challenges herself and is excited to support you. Deena recently moved to The Valley after 10 years in NYC and is loving the slower pace, access to nature and wonderfully warm and welcoming people.

Eating for Hormone Balance in February

manhan — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 01:34:17 +0000

Wednesday, February 13th (7-9pm)
with Deena Barselah, Holistic Wellness Coach

Pre-registration required. Sign up here by Sunday, Feb 10th.

Hormone imbalance is something most people struggle with today. Extreme fatigue, low mood, weight struggles, skin issues, infertility, and so many more health issues have hormone imbalance at the root. The good news is that a short list of foods that could be causing all of these issues and a there’s a delicious list of foods to add in to support your hormones. These shifts are essential for long-term health, feeling vibrant and supporting your body to do what it is meant to do. During this interactive workshop, we’ll go into the most common hormone imbalances today, what’s at the root of most, and dietary guidelines that can make the world of difference.

Deena Barselah is a wellness coach on a mission to empower people with real food. Looking at tradition and what has always worked throughout history, supporting the body with real food, and paying close attention to your body’s needs is Deena’s approach. She’s overcome several hormonal imbalances herself including adrenal fatigue, hypothyroidism and polycystic ovarian syndrome and is excited to support you. Deena recently moved to The Valley after 10 years in NYC and is loving the slower pace, access to nature and wonderfully warm and welcoming people.

This workshop is not meant to diagnose medical conditions. All diet and lifestyle changes should first be discussed with your physician.

Feb 2nd 3D Printing Demo

manhan — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 18:25:55 +0000

Join us next Saturday, February 2nd at 12pm, for an Interactive 3D Printing Demonstration and discussion. Justin Leone will guide us through the process of designing in a 3D application, translating an object into printable format, and printing the object in plastic.

Because we won’t have time to design on-the-fly, Justin is accepting submission ideas for simple 3D objects. If you’d like your object printed, you can email your submission to Justin.

Any participants can come for the demonstration and take home a copy of something we make.

Suggested donation of $10 for Owl and Raven and to cover material costs. If you take home an object, you must donate for the cost of materials.

Disclaimers: There are some limitations regarding what can be printed, and how much time we have (large size increases print time, high complexity and detail increase design time, and severe overhangs might make an object difficult to print at all), so depending on attendance, we may not be able to print everyone’s model.

Upcoming Winter Events

manhan — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 21:02:20 +0000

This week at Owl & Raven:

Monday
(4:30pm, weekly) Ear Acupuncture
(6-10pm, weekly) Board Game Night

Saturday
(12-2pm, weekly) Drop-in Open Hours/Art Hours
(2-5pm, weekly) Code-in: An Open Group for Programmers and Developers

Sunday
(7-11pm, weekly) Go Club: Learn and play the ancient board game, Go. Beginners are welcome!

Upcoming Events at Owl & Raven:

Sunday, January 27th (2-5:30pm)
Magic the Gathering Tournament! Beginners, veterans, and all ages are welcome. All cards are provided and are yours to keep! $5 suggested donation.

Wednesday, February 6th (7-9pm)
Source Code Management Skillshare! How to use Git for effective version control!

Fertility Awareness in December

manhan — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 19:08:31 +0000

Fertility Awareness for Natural Birth Control and Reproductive Health
Wednesday, December 19th at 7pm. Led by Hannah Shaffer.

Join us for an evening introduction to the Fertility Awareness Method (FAM). FAM tracks a combination of natural body functions to determine when a woman is most fertile. It can be used for avoiding pregnancy, helping to achieve pregnancy, and for tracking gynecological health.

The focus of this talk is on using FAM as a hormone-free, device-free method of natural birth control. The talk will be conducted in an all-gender-friendly safe space and is open to anyone interested in fertility awareness and women’s health.

Register here!

Participants must pre-register by Sunday, December 16th. $10 donation encouraged.

Carboard Art on a Warm Early October Day

CB — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 20:40:51 +0000

A wonderful time was had by all on our first Cardboard Art Day, on October 6th.

See below for more photos…

Cardboard Day was a whole lot of fun. About 15 people came a pretty much everybody made something! There was an attempt at a squirrel-proof pumpkin, an Escher-like house of stairs, a nifty shingled abode, a faery house with sticks and moss and leaves, a dragon head for ejecting candy at trick-or-treaters from the third floor, a marble run, an apartment house for all of us, and a special ‘surprise’ environment for creatures to live in. There was also wonderfully warm weather and not a drop of rain fell on our creations.

Folks enjoyed the day and wanted to do it again, so keep your eyes peeled for Cardboard Day next year!