Shut Up & Write!

Come by for an hour of evening writing with fellow creative folks. Everyone works on their own thing, no obligation to share — just show up and make any kind of words happen. If you're spending too much time thinking about writing, join us for an hour of focused writing. Guidelines: * While some discussion is encouraged to get to know one another, strive for silent, focused writing from 6:45 PM - 7:45 PM. * Generally avoid disruptive sensory input/behaviors, such as repeated or unpleasant noises, smells, physical movements, etc. (if you have health-related reasons, or some other aspect out of your control due to which this could become an issue, show up anyway and explain that potential disruptions are not intentional.) * Repeated breaking of the above rules without a valid reason may result in dismissal from the group at any point during a session. **Why is Shut Up & Write(!) so effective?** [http://arsenalofwords.com/2015/10/14/why-i-shut-up-write/](http://arsenalofwords.com/2015/10/14/why-i-shut-up-write/) **LOCATION:** Gaithersburg Library, Study Room 2 (if we aren't in 2, check 1!) **SCHEDULE:** 6:30 \| Pre\-session check\-in \- What will you work on? 6:45 \| Shut up and write for 1 hour\! 7:45 \| Post\-session check\-in \- How did it go? Feel free to keep writing and finish your lingering thoughts past this point, but know that the library closes at 8 PM! **BRING:** Whatever you need to be able to write! ***If you are interested in a more collaborative and discussion-focused writing group, the Gaithersburg Library hosts such a group on Sundays from 4:00 to 5:30 PM! Ask Chris or the library staff for more details.***

Today's meetup is limited to 12 BB and above only players and 2x2, 3x3 or 4x4 play only. Please help us keep this day limited and enjoy the open play on the other days if you or your friend are not BB or above. People make plans and travel to show up on limited days for limited play because it is limited to experienced players. Please do not show up if you are on the waitlist without checking first, or try to play 5's or 6's, with your friend that is learning how to play, or because it is not full with 12 players if you or your friend are not BB or above. We’d rather play with 9 experienced players on these limited days than open it up to beginners, friends that are learning, etc. There are other open days for that, and they are fun too.

We are looking forward meeting up with filmmakers in DC! Register so we know how many seats to save. Use the galleries exit at Gallery Place Metro and you will be about a block from Maman. Organized by Anna Griesshammer and Melissa Houghton. You MUST register here: https://www.wifv.org/calendar/#id=32405&cid=783&wid=401&type=Cal

This game is located at the DC/Maryland Border in Silver Spring. We'll use the Tennis Courts across Juniper-Blair Park where there are Night Lights shining on an enclosed arena. This area is enjoyable because it allows for more touches on the ball, with more movement around the field. THIS IS ON A TENNIS COURT. WE DO NOT WEAR CLEATS. WE WEAR FUTSAL SHOES, TENNIS SHOES; ANYTHING WITH NO SPIKES. Pinnies and goals will be provided. Bring a ball if you have one. We usually get 10+ more players not on meetup — we'll add those to whatever we get here and see if we can have a game. More than competitive, we all want to play good futsal and make it fun and entertaining for all. No warm sided matches here — new and advanced players are welcomed. Here, we want to get active and have fun in the evenings after work

Treat your children to GALita’s ***Séneca, ratón de biblioteca (Séneca, The Library Mouse)***, a bilingual play by Chilean playwright Jorge Díaz with original music by Iván Navas. Directed by Elena Velasco, this fun-filled play touches on the importance of reading and respecting differences, and runs March 14 through March 28, 2026. When a brainy library mouse meets a swaggering crew of street mice, sparks fly and stories take off—spilling from the shelves into a world of comic chases and big laughs. Along the way, unlikely friendships form and lessons unfold about listening, learning, and belonging. Brought to life through imaginative puppets and original music, ***Séneca, The Library Mouse*** invites young audiences to celebrate difference, delight in the joy of books, and discover confidence and pride in who they are—proving that brains, creativity, and curiosity can be just as powerful as bravado. **PERFORMANCES:** Weekdays from March 16-20 and March 23-27 at 10:30 am, and Saturday, March 14, 21, and 28 at 3 pm. This family show is about 60 minutes long and suitable for ages 5 and up! **TICKETS:** General admission tickets are $10 children and $12 adults. **[GET TICKETS HERE](https://ci.ovationtix.com/35923/production/1245619)** **CAST:** Daniela Lock as Séneca, Delbis Cardona as Rafael, Ramón, and Raúl, Máximo Cáceres as Benigno (Dog), Rachael Small as Bellaco (Cat), and H. Christian Aguilar as Ensemble/Understudy. **CREATIVE TEAM:** Scenic Design is by Gisela Estrada with Lighting Design by Luis García, and Costume Design by Rukiya Henry-Fields. Iván Navas is Composer, Angélica Huertas is Sound Designer, and Properties Design is by Isabel deCarvalho. Solis Pettitt is Stage Manager and Sherry González is Assistant Stage Manager. Ilyana Rose-Dávila is Production Manager, and Anson Stevie is Technical Director.

This is the sign you've been waiting for. Come write with us Sunday at 7:30 am at Kaldi's Social House in Arlington. Kaldi's opens at 7. Grab a coffee and join the group! We generally have 10 to 14 writers attend each week, and new folks are welcome to drop in anytime. Intros start at 7:30 am. We will write for one hour. After writing, feel free to debrief, share thoughts or get advice. Our meetups are a safe space for writers to work on their craft. No one will read or critique your writing. Kaldi's Social House website: https://www.kaldissocialhouse.net/ \* Resource \* Many thanks to Justin for putting together a shared file of resource discussed at the meetings. Feel free to add to it! [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13LONNjZvsO5hEXM7NsBnWCgy3GgPgjAbQxE0lPxp7hc/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13LONNjZvsO5hEXM7NsBnWCgy3GgPgjAbQxE0lPxp7hc/edit?usp=sharing)

is is an In-Person Writing Event at Three This is an In-Person Writing Event at Kaldi's Social House in Clarendon! Please join us. This is not a critique session or discussion event. If you're interested in attending one of our regular meetings to discuss the art and craft of writing or to review another's work, please join us for a regular meeting on Wednesdays from 7p-9p.

Our story starts with a littering aviator. Luckily, he was just gracing us with his existence long enough to reveal the main catalyst of this story is a glass soda bottle. This bottle arrives like a divine prank from the heavens, bonking its way into a quiet, unsuspecting world where life was previously running on a perfectly reasonable “no flying trash” policy. It’s philosophy. It’s slapstick. It’s a reminder that humanity can be undone by something as simple as a soda bottle and a lack of instructions. Come for the comedy. Stay for the existential crisis. ■ Title — **The Gods Must Be Crazy** ■ Director — Jamie Uys ■ Cast — N!xau, Marius Weyers, Sandra Prinsloo ■ Rating — PG ■ ©1980 \| 1h 49m \| Comedy\, Satire\, /Desert Adventure

[Profs and Pints Northern Virginia](https://www.profsandpints.com/washingtondc) presents: **“Digital Device Detox,”** a guide to breaking free from the addictive and destructive powers of social media and apps, with Jillian Tucker, licensed clinical social worker in private practice, adjunct professor of clinical social work at Columbia University and New York University, and therapist with nearly 15 years of experience in addiction treatment and behavioral change. [Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at [https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/northern-virginia-digital-detox](https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/northern-virginia-digital-detox) .] Many of us have had the same experience: We’re trying to get things done and stay focused on the positive in our lives, but we can’t stop looking at a cell phone that tells us that we live in troubled times, that everyone else is better looking and having more fun, and that escape awaits in the worlds of Candy Crush or Pokémon Go. Maybe it’s time to find effective ways to loosen the grip of that cell phone and rediscover the happiness that comes with using digital devices less. Join Jillian Tucker, who previously has given several excellent Profs and Pints talks related to mental health, for a crash course on how to restore balance in your relationship with digital devices to ensure they’re simply tools you use rather than instruments through which other people use you. She’ll start by discussing social and mental-health trends connected to the use of digital devices. We’ll delve into the specific ways that their overuse can be biologically and psychologically harmful and leads to division, depression, anxiety and anguish on an individual and societal level. Professor Tucker also will look at why digital habits are hard to break, citing neuroscience and what we know about behavioral addiction. You’ll learn the many ways in which devices and apps are deliberately designed to be hard to stop using. You won’t be urged to just chuck your cell phone, though. After all, such devices can keep you socially connected, be sources of joy and learning, and even save your life if you need to summon help in an emergency. Instead, we’ll look at effective strategies for reducing digital device use, considering approaches that treat the overuse of such devices as “addiction” but moving beyond them to consider more nuanced ones as well. We’ll explore how to find our core motivation to change and how to carry out a change plan. We’ll consider how those who failed in past attempts to reduce digital-device use can overcome impasses in their effort to change their behavior. We’ll discuss ways to minimize the feelings of inconvenience and withdrawal that might come with reducing digital-device use, and we’ll discuss strategies for regaining the social skills and reviving the in-person strategies that our device use had compromised. You’ll learn how the same conditioning and power of habit that got us using our devices so much more also can be harnessed to help us use them much less. You’ll learn how to curate and enhance the positive aspects of digital devices, to help maintain them as a source of connection, joy, humor and learning and keep them from causing you unhappiness or stress. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later.) Image: Photo by Japanexperterna (Creative Commons).

The DC Environmental Film Festival is one of the best film festivals of the year here - maybe THE best. Many of the films are free - you can browse the schedule [here](https://dceff.eventive.org/). We always like a reception for the socializing so we'll see Yanuni on Closing Night. From Variety: "Few environmental documentaries begin with quite the urgency that “[Yanuni](https://variety.com/t/yanuni/)” does. Even fewer blend political thrills with meditative visual poetry, but Austrian director [Richard Ladkani](https://variety.com/t/richard-ladkani/) strikes this balance with an even hand in his intimate chronicle of Juma Xiapaia, a brave Indigenous activist in Brazil and the first woman elected chief in the Amazon’s Middle Xingu region. **It will sell out at some point. The cost for the film and reception is $25. (The director will also be there.) [Here's the link](https://dceff.eventive.org/schedule/6991e0a0afc3abbb6802f1b3) to purchase tickets**. **Shared Earth Foundation Award for Advocacy and Closing Night Presentation** Followed by a filmmaker conversation and the DCEFF 2026 Closing Night Reception. Yanuni. **Winner, 2026 Shared Earth Foundation Award for Advocacy** YANUNI is a cinematic portrait of Juma Xipaia, an Indigenous chief from the Brazilian Amazon who rises from a remote village to the frontlines of climate justice. After surviving six assassination attempts, she is appointed Brazil’s first Secretary of Indigenous Rights —while her husband, a federal IBAMA agent, leads dangerous operations against illegal gold miners. As Juma navigates political power, growing threats, and impending motherhood, she is forced to confront the personal cost of resistance. At once intimate and epic, YANUNI is a powerful story of Indigenous sovereignty, love, and the urgent fight to protect the planet we call home.

We'll meet at The Capital One Café, 167 Easton Town Center, Space A-103. This is in the main mall where the Microsoft store used to be, on your left if you're standing at the bottom of the AMC Theater escalator. Join us on Saturday for an hour of uninterrupted wordmaking! • What we'll do Join us for an hour of writing! We’ve discovered that it’s strikingly helpful to write with other writers. See if it’s true for you at 10AM on Saturday mornings. Be it a book, blog, script, essay, dissertation, resume, melody, poem or just plain work stuff, you are invited to write it with us. No one will see what you've written or give you unsolicited advice. Instead of just thinking about writing, come and get some real writing done. SCHEDULE: 10:00 - SESSION 1: quick intros. 10:10 - timer starts: write for 1 hour. 11:10 - chat / take off / keep writing. OPTIONAL SOCIALIZING happens at 11A-11:30ish. Writing is very solitary. Connecting (and sometimes even commiserating) with other writers is a cool thing. BEING LATE IS OKAY: just show up and get settled, then check-in with me after the session. (I’ll be the person with the Shut Up & Write! sign.) If you were on time, please be willing to make room for the friendly latecomer. Happy writing and I look forward to seeing you! • What to bring Whatever you need to be able to write! Bring earbuds/earplugs if you want to block noise or the occasional conversation by other patrons. Electrical outlets are limited, so charge your devices before whenever possible. See you at The Café on Saturday!

Greetings writers! Come down and join your fellow wordsmiths for one hour of uninterrupted writing time in the upper level of the Market District Supermarket in Upper Arlington. The main entrance of the shopping center opens onto stairs/elevator leading up to the 2nd floor cafe section where we will have a table displaying a sign with the Shut Up & Write logo. Writing is largely a solitary craft. Practicing with others in a community setting may be the thing you need to fire your own routine. We’ll meet on Wednesday evenings, starting the clock at 6:30, following a brief period of introductions. This is solid writing time and all inclusive. Any project is acceptable, be it fiction, non -fiction, work or homework assignment. All is welcome and will remain private to you. The market boasts a Starbucks, a full service bar and various affordable food options. Parking is plentiful, free Wifi is provided as well as outlets for charging your devices, though they are somewhat limited, so plan accordingly. Show up as early as you like, or stay late. This group tends to socialize some, both before and after the alloted time, but this is not mandatory to you. Feel free to come and go as you please and late arrivals are welcome. The cafe may be noisy on occasion so headphones/ earbuds are reccommended as you see fit. Please try to RSVP if possible so that we may grab enough seats for all—the venue can be busy at times. Feel free to message me privately wth any questions and/ or concerns you may have. Happy writing!

Join us as we get together for a Discount Tuesday / Choose Your Movie event to see your choice of two great films! Option 1 is the dark comedy/drama based on a true story TOW! The film stars Rose Byrne as a homeless Seattle woman how battles a towing company. Option 2 is the off-the-rails, over-the-top, action-comedy-horror THEY WILL KILL YOU! The film stars Zazie Beetz as a woman who answers a help wanted ad to be a housekeeper in a mysterious New York City high-rise not knowing its mysterious past! Here are details, trailers and our plan for this event: TOW: This dark comedy/drama is based on a true story and follows a homeless Seattle woman who fights her way out of "tow-company hell" to reclaim the car that had held her life together after receiving a tow bill for $21,634. The film stars Rose Byrne, Ariana DeBose, Demi Lovato, Octavia Spencer, Dominic Sessa, Elsie Fisher and Simon Rex! The film premiered to solid reviews at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival where critics declared, “TOW is a winner!” It’s “a story of perseverance, heart, and real fight, the kind of small human story we see less frequently these days, but need now more than ever.” TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdkpcsuPAhA THEY WILL KILL YOU: A woman takes a job as a housekeeper in a NYC high-rise, unaware of the building's history of disappearances. She soon realizes the community is shrouded in mystery. The film is directed by Kirill Sokolov and Zadie Beetz, Myha'la, Paterson Joseph, Tom Felton, Heather Graham, and Patricia Arquette. The film is being released immediately following its premiere at this year’s SXSW Festival earlier this month. Early reviews say it’s “an adrenaline rush of action-packed fights, tons of blood and gore and plenty of laugh-out-loud moments” and a movie that’s “unafraid to march to its own campy, violent, and clever little drummer!” TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYqQPiXpi4w PLAN: Not exactly a “Choose Your Movie” event, more like an early show and a late one (or both if you’re feeling sparky)! \* If you’d like to see TOW, please purchase your ticket for the 5:00pm showing and meet in the upstairs lobby between 4:40 and 4:50pm! \* If you plan to see THEY WILL KILL YOU, please purchase your ticket for the 7:45pm showing and meet in the upstairs lobby between 7:25 and 7:35pm! \* Tickets for both films on sale now and advance purchase is advised! Tickets just $5.00 ($6.50 after online fees when purchased via the GFC website). Once you have yours, please list your movie of choice and seat number in the Comments section of this event. \* Also, as a reminder, close, convenient parking available in the nearby garage (Between 9th and 11th, just off High) and just $2 when you have your ticket validated at the theater! Look forward to seeing you there, Dan

Join us for an hour of writing! We’ve discovered that it’s strikingly helpful to write with other writers. See if it’s true for you at 7:00pm on Wednesday, April 22 at Streetlight Guild. Be it a book, blog, script, essay, dissertation, resume, melody, poem or just plain work stuff, you are invited to write it with us. No one will see what you've written or give you unsolicited advice. Instead of just thinking about writing, come and get some real writing done. **SCHEDULE:** 6:45ish - Quick introductions 7:00 - Timer starts: write for 1 hour 8:00 - The End **OPTIONAL SOCIALIZING** happens before and after the writing hour. Writing is very solitary. Connecting (and sometimes even commiserating) with other writers is a cool thing. **BEING LATE IS OKAY:** just show up and get settled! If you were on time, please be willing to make room for the friendly latecomer. Happy writing & I look forward to seeing you at Streetlight Guild! **WHAT SHOULD I BRING?** Whatever you need to be able to write! You're welcome to bring earplugs/headphones if noise will bother you! **OTHER IMPORTANT DETAILS:** * **RSVP:** Please RSVP by 6:00pm the evening of the meeting. This helps me know how many to expect, and if we'll need additional space! * **COVID:** While masks are not required, please be mindful of the other writers around you and their comfort levels. * **WIFI/OUTLETS:** Outlets are limited, so please ensure your devices are charged when you come! But Streetlight Guild does have free WiFi! Yay! * **PARKING:** There is free public parking at Streetlight Guild.

Join us as we get together for an Arthouse Movie Friday event to see the A24 dark comedy /romance / psychological-thriller, THE DRAMA! The film stars Zendaya and Robert Pattinson as a happily engaged couple whose relationship is challenged when one discovers unsettling truths about the other. Here are details, a trailer and our plan for this event: DESCRIPTION: The film follows a happily engaged couple whose relationship is put to the test when an unexpected turn sends their wedding week off the rails. The film comes from A24, is written/directed by Kristoffer Borgli stars Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Mamoudou Athie, Alana Haim, Hailey Gates and Zoë Winters. QUICK WORD OF WARNING: The film hasn’t screened for critics yet and most of the details are being kept tightly under wraps. But, early buzz (possibly promotional) says the film is a brilliant psychological thriller/romance but also provocative, twisty and some contains occasional uncomfortable viewing! I love the cast and trailer, so look forward to seeing for ourselves! ZENDAYA-PATTINSON TRIFECTA CHALLENGE: Robert Pattinson and Zendaya will star in THREE movies together this year, including THE DRAMA, Christopher Nolan’s THE ODYSSEY this Summer and Denis Villeneuve’s DUNE: PART THREE at Christmas! TRAILER: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zmKcUa4Xxk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zmKcUa4Xxk) PLAN: We’ll plan for 7pm-ish showing and will meet in the lobby area about 30 minutes before showtime! Advance ticket purchase not required for this theater but early arrival is advised. Possibly post-movie get-together at the nearby Rusty Bucket! Complete details will be confirmed/announced as the date gets closer. Take care and look forward to seeing you there, Dan

This 1967 film is widely regarded as one of the best American movies ever made. Now remembered almost as much for its Simon and Garfunkel music as its deadpan comedy and being the role that established Dustin Hoffman as the hottest actor in Hollywood. It became a cultural icon for capturing the spirit of 60s angst of a young man on the make, while garnering a batch of Oscar nominations. After watching the movie on your own, join us to relive (or experience!) those feelings at our discussion.