Wow. I’m having a really hard time this August. I would like to blame it on other people’s entitlement, but I think it might be my own that’s bugging me. I feel invaded, overwhelmed by the traffic and the crowds. Where has all my good humor gone? Why do I have such a bah humbug attitude? Maybe I’m working too much. Or maybe I’m just becoming a Vineyarder.
This is a big weekend for the Aquinnah Cultural Center. On Friday there will be a craft-making event starting at 1 pm. Kids of all ages are invited to come over to the Vanderhoop Homestead and make a sailor’s valentine and learn their history and relation to the whaling industry. On Saturday at 5 pm the ACC will hold their annual fundraiser. Tickets are $100 per person. Call 508-645-7900 to purchase a ticket and get more information. At the benefit there will be a two-man performance titled, “Epenow’s Return” about a Wampanoag captured by the English and how he outsmarted them. The performers are Annawon Weedon, a Mashpee Wampanoag, and Christopher Hall, a Plimoth Plantation English role player.
“Antique Aquinnah,” an exhibit of antique postcards of the lighthouse, also opens Saturday and runs through September. You can see it during museum hours, 11 am to 3 pm.
News from the library: we have a temporary library associate, Missy Smalley; she is the wife of Jay, who works for the town of Aquinnah, and the mother to Faith, Zac, and Tiffany. Come on by and welcome her to her new position.
The first speaker of the library’s speaker series will be economist Perry Mehring, a professor at Barnard College. He will be speaking on “After the Financial Crisis — Could it Happen Again?” The talk will be held at the old town hall on Tuesday, Aug. 17, from 5 to 6 pm, followed by lemonade and snacks.
The second talk will be given on the following Tuesday, Aug. 24, by art historian, Peter Miller, son of Edward Miller and Monina Von Opel. His topic is the artist Philip Guston, who was a key artist in the abstract-expressionist and neo-expressionist movements.
On Saturday from 9 to 10:30 am at Howes House in West Tisbury, the monthly meeting of the M.V. Democrats will be held. You can come ask questions of Sheila Lyons and Dan Wolfe, who are competing for the Senate seat of Rob O’Leary. Representatives for Steve Grossman and Steve Murphy, who are competing for State Treasurer, will also be there among other candidates or their representatives.
On Sunday, stop by 5 Moshup Trail between 3 and 7 pm for “Books in the Bindery, Music Under the Trees” hosted by Mitzi Pratt and Flip Scipio. I want to go solely because their names sound like characters out of a 1940’s movie.
I saw Diane and David Jensen at the Playhouse last week and they are soon to be happily inundated with children and grandchildren. Their son Danny is pursuing acting in L.A. Diane, who did a book signing at Chilmark Tavern this week, will be going on a more extensive book tour in the fall.
Only two films left for the M.V. Film Festival’s Summer Series and Cinema Circus. This week’s film is the critically acclaimed, “The Kids Are All Right.” Director Lisa Cholodenko and producer Jeffrey Levy-Hinte will be present afterwards for a Q&A. Come at 5 pm for Cinema Circus, 7 pm for dinner and to get your tickets to the feature at 8 pm.