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I hope everyone is feeling okay this morning; lots of fun was had throughout town yesterday. Please be aware that schoolchildren are celebrating Nevada Moves Day today, and there will be several little ones walking or biking to school.

Enjoy a nice dinner tonight, complete with live music, if you head to Sassafras Eclectic Food Joint, Glen Eagles, or Living the Good Life. The Carson City Symphony is looking for bassoons, French horns, and violas to join them at rehearsals tonight.

It’s finally here, Nevada’s Big Give. Nevada’s Big Give is a 24 hour online donation push for non-profits, charities, and causes around the state. Plus, a world record attempt at the longest speech is taking place at the Brewery Arts Center. Ian Hill is raising money for the girls of CPAC soccer; they have been invited to represent the USA in a competition being held during the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada.

It’s finally here, Nevada’s Big Give. Nevada’s Big Give is a 24 hour online donation push for non-profits, charities, and causes around the state.

The middle of the week, and if you’re like me, you are still adjusting to the time change. Get the blood pumping with some live music. Head to Sassafras for a Jazz Jam headed by Tom Miller, or maybe to Living the Good Life where Mick and Lynne will entertain you. Cowboy boots are not required if you want to get in on the country line dance lessons at Carson Lanes. If you’re a musician, the Carson City Symphony is looking for violinists and French horn players to join them at their rehearsals.

We have almost made it to the weekend. Let visions of the Downtown Wine Walk, CASI’s Woof, Wine, and Whiskers, and the kick-off of Carson Comedy at the Carson Nugget keep you buoyant until then. Just don’t be in such a hurry to enjoy the weekend that you miss out on what Thursday in Carson City can offer.

National Grammar Day is celebrated across the United States each year on March 4, as established in 2008 by Martha Brockenbrough, founder of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar. I've attached a Weird Al Yankovic song that I believe best pokes fun at the sentiments of the day.

Once upon a time in Nevada, a Reno tailor named Jacob Davis wrote a letter to Levi Strauss about his pocket rivets, and thus the blue jean was born. Coincidentally, today is Strauss’ birthday. Once upon a time in Nevada, Buffalo Bill Cody was just a kid riding for the Pony Express. It’s his birthday, too. Fun fact: Cuba Crutchfield, a trick-rope cowboy with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, is buried in Carson City’s Lone Mountain Cemetery. Once upon a time in Nevada, a man was shot in Reno.

Applebee’s is the place to be for dinner tonight if you want to help the 2015 Carson City Leadership Class raise funds for the children’s area of the Carson City Library. You do need to bring the flyer with you if you want Applebee's to donate a portion of your bill. Print it out or grab a copy at the Library’s youth desk.

Gung Hay Fat Choy! Happy Chinese New Year; welcome to the year of yang, which could be a goat, a sheep, or a ram, depending on the translation. Time to reunite with family and loved ones and celebrate spring. New York City got in on the festivities with its first ever fireworks display for the Lunar New Year; I've included a YouTube video, just in case fireworks really are lucky.

The Pizza Factory on Hwy 50 East is holding a fundraiser for Eagle Valley Middle School today. 20% of the day’s proceeds will benefit their Parent Teacher Organization.

It’s a great day for the arts in Carson City today. An artist reception honoring Sarah Lillegard will be held at the Nevada Arts Council where her exhibit ‘Second Skin’ is on display. Sande Rowan will share knowledge about baskets around the world in the first of six ‘The Work of Artists’ SENarts events. The Galaxy Theatre brings the Metropolitan Opera back to Carson City this week with an Encore showing of Duke Bluebeard’s Castle, the live showing occurred Saturday morning.

First things first. Valentine’s Day is rapidly approaching, so I’m reminding you to make reservations for your favorite restaurant if you haven’t already. Check out the Carson Mall’s Craft Fair and Gift Sale or any of Carson City’s great shops like Artsy Fartsy Art Gallery, Evergreen Gene’s, Morley’s Books, the Artisan Store at the Brewery Arts Center or Purple Avocado for something special for that special someone.

If you are looking to take advantage of National Make a Friend Day, try one of our many art galleries to spark up a conversation with a stranger. You may also strike it rich while listening to Dave Leather play the blues at Comma Coffee, or tonight, during the first of many Jazz Jams that Sassafras will be home to. It’s also National Shut-in Visitation Day, so you could always make a new friend at one of Carson City’s nursing homes.

Today kicks off the second annual International Film Weekend in Carson City. The main event is this evening in the Bob Boldrick Theater at the Community Center, a free showing of “Boy.” “Boy” is about a youth coming of age in the Maori culture in New Zealand in 1984.

Some of Northern Nevada's finest traditional, folk and contemporary artists will appear at the 2015 Nevada State Legislature in “The Work of Artists,” a series of interactive talks and demonstrations that bring a personal side to exhibited pieces. Designed to create an opportunity for artists to engage with community members and people working in or visiting the Nevada State Legislative Building, the presentations are at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 18 and 24, March 19 and 30, April 17 and May 7. All are free and open to the public in Room 3100.

Wonderful Wednesday is upon us, and one way to get over the hump is to head out for a good meal. If you haven’t heard yet, Sassafras has returned and is serving up its Eclectic fare in its new location right next to the Carson Hot Springs. Downtown, the Lake Tahoe Brewing Co. will be hosting the Chamber of Commerce for its Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting. Capital Eats inside Westside Pour House (former home of Mo and Sluggo’s) always has some tempting dishes. A little further north on Carson St., Living the Good Life Nightclub and Bistro has live music this evening and a delicious array of options on its menu.

This may be ‘the day that music died’ back in 1959, but Carson City wants you to find your dancing shoes tonight. Beginning swing dance lessons will be held at El Charro Avitas; go check out their brand new dance floor. Country Line dancing is taught at the 11th Frame lounge at Carson Lanes every Tuesday and Wednesday. Jimmy Mallett and Jack Clifton will be at Living the Good Life Nightclub and Bistro channeling all the swank of the rat pack.

Sarah Lillegard works in what she calls second skin. The Reno artist featured in the latest show at the Office eXhibition Series Gallery works in fabrics that explore group identity, belonging and symbols, in garments sometimes called clan jackets.

The attire is said to communicate meaning, cultural legacies and myths. The OXS exhibit “Second Skin” is free at the Nevada Arts Council, 716 N. Carson St., in Carson City, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through April 17. Lillegard will discuss her work at a public reception from 5-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 18, with an artist talk at 6:15.

A flurry has blown into town: not of the snow kind that we so sorely need, but one of Legislative activity. The 2015 Legislative season starts today, so please keep an eye out for increased activity in our downtown crosswalks.

Words become pictures, framed art in their own right, as poetry and prose by beloved local writers are exhibited at the Nevada Arts Council’s OXS Gallery in Carson City. In “Words + Images: Broadsides from the Black Rock Press,” 34 one-sided printed pages show the work of noted authors, produced with handset type and relief plates. The exhibit runs Sept. 8 to Oct. 31.

Henderson artist Robin Stark’s ceramics are featured in the Nevada Arts Council’s OXS Gallery in Carson City from Dec. 9 through Jan. 31.

The work featured in Robin Stark: Ceramic Reflections represents a recent trend in which the artist’s ceramic forms become entirely sculptural. From the time spent in her first ceramic class in college, the material continues to engage Stark with its versatile and aesthetic qualities.

“The work fluctuates, presenting the viewer different considerations of what can be made in clay,” Stark said.

Las Vegas artist Suzanne Hackett-Morgan’s paintings and prints are on display at the Nevada Arts Council’s OXS Gallery in Carson City beginning August 5. The Arts Council will host an artist talk at 6:15 p.m. and a reception from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 15.

“A Western Dependence” features two series of paintings and prints created over the last 14 years by Hackett-Morgan who is drawn to neglected billboards, closed roadside attractions, and other evidence of abandonment in the desert west,” said Susan Boskoff, executive director of the Arts Council.

The Nevada Arts Council will host an artist talk at 6:30 p.m. and a reception from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 27 in Carson City for Las Vegas artist Matthew Couper, the most recent artist to be displayed at the Arts Council’s OXS Gallery.

Las Vegas artist Matthew Couper is the most recent artist to be displayed at the Nevada Arts Council’s OXS Gallery in Carson City beginning June 3. Couper came from New Zealand to explore periods of Western art history. Through what he calls painterly investigations, he said, he has discovered that history often repeats. In the series, Valley of The Dry Bones, Couper uses the established Spanish Colonial narrative traditions to discuss the space between myth, religion and art politics. The Arts Council will host an artist talk at 6:30 p.m. and a reception from 5 to 7:30 p.m.

Photographs by Reno artist Peter Goin featured in an exhibition called Arboles de Cholula, Spanish for Trees of Cholula, are on display at OXS Gallery through March 22. The award-winning artist and local professor will discuss his work at a free public reception hosted by the Nevada Arts Council from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7. The OXS Gallery is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 716 N. Carson St. in Carson City.

Prints by artist Eunkang Koh makeup the latest exhibit at OXS Gallery in Carson City. Within the offices of the Nevada Arts Council, OXS provides a public space for talented Nevada artists to share their work. The new exhibit is now open and runs through Nov.16. The Arts Council will sponsor an artist talk and free reception from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 27 at 716 N. Carson St. Guests are welcome.

Some Nevadans are trying to start a new political party called the "DuoFreedomists" which they claim would serve moderates put off by the Republicans and Democrats. The group's policy goals to “freeze, shrink and shift” taxation and spending is very similar to those of the Tea Party.

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Artist Brent Sommerhauser will be showing his work "Brushing the Firmament" at the Nevada Arts Council's OXS Gallery, 716 N. Carson St., through Feb. 10.

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Carson High School teacher Erin Been's passion for fitness has made her a Healthy Schools Program Champion, a recognition awarded by Alliance for a Healthier Generation. She has worked to make CHS students and teachers make fitness more fun with programs like morning yoga classes, incorporating dance into phys-ed classes and offering after-school programs to promote nutrition and healthy cooking.

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Carson High football coach Blair Roman recognized the seniors on his team at the season-ending awards banquet Monday night. The team has won a share of the league title three straight years, including this season's 10-2 record.

Geographical Divides: Finding Common Ground, featuring 16 Nevada printmakers, is on display through Dec. 2 at the OXS Gallery in the Nevada Arts Council's Carson City office at 716 N. Carson St., S...

By Teresa Moiola / Nevada Department of Cultural Affairs
The Nevada Arts Council presents "Thick Dreams," a series of mixed media artwork by Nick Larsen, in its Carson City office now through June 3 as part of the Office eXhibition Series. An artist talk and reception will be held Thursday, April 14 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.