Marriage Equality USA needs volunteers to help with phonebanking at 301 University Ave. in Hillcrest on Sunday, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m. The state of Maine will vote on same-sex marriage in just a few days. Protecting marriage equality in Maine is really critical to our national movement, organizers say. Marriage Equality USA is asking everyone to join them for the phonebanking event. Event organizers suggest bringing your own phone and, if you want to use a predictive dialer, your own laptops.

Are you interested in online social networking but not sure how to navigate Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and more? “Me & Social Media: Tools to Empower Your Passions” is a series for beginners to Social Media and Social Networking on the internet. No prior experience needed, but you should be comfortable browsing the web and using email. If you have a laptop with WiFi capability, please bring it. Workshop facilitators are Suzanne Aurilio and Liz Lemesevski. This is a free series and all sessions will take place in the library at The Center (3909 Centre St., Hillcrest). For additional information on the curriculum, visit http://sites.google.com/site/meandsocialmedia.

Learn about Meetup Groups and Google docs at Social Media for beginners – personal and business uses on Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 7 p.m. You’ll see how these tools are being used to meet people and collaborate with others. We will also show you tips and tricks on how people are using all the tools we’ve learned about, for personal and business use. The session includes an overview of social media, walk-thru of Meetup and Google docs, discussion and hands-on practice on either your laptop or a friend’s laptop.

Learn about wikis and RSS feeds at Social Media for beginners – activism on Wednesday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m. You’ll see how these tools are being used to collaborate with others and filter information. We will also show you tips and tricks on how people are using all the tools we’ve learned about for politics and activism. The session includes a review of social media and networking, walk-thru of wikispaces.com and RSS, discussion and hands-on practice on either your laptop or a friend’s laptop.

For more information on this series, please contact Women’s Resource Coordinator Abby Schwartz, at 619-692-2077, ext. 212, or women@thecentersd.org.

The San Diego Women’s Chorus is busily preparing for its 22nd annual holiday concert, “Through the Eyes of a Child.” SDWC will perform on Saturday, Dec. 5, at 7:30 p.m. and again on Sunday, Dec. 6, at 3 p.m. “Through the Eyes of a Child” will be an uplifting show featuring the women of the Chorus raising their voices and singing songs of joy and peace.

Both performances will take place inside the beautiful Mission Hills United Church of Christ located at 4070 Jackdaw Street. Tickets are $15 for general admission with discounts available for seniors, students, and military. Children younger than 12 will be admitted for free. The concert will be ASL-interpreted and tickets can be purchased online at SDArtsTix.com and SDWC.org.

Selections for this concert will include festive favorites such as Annie Lennox’s “1,000 Beautiful Things,” “No Mirrors in My Nana’s House” as made famous by Sweet Honey in the Rock, and “Where Are You Christmas?” from Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Other seasonal songs will include “This Holiday,” “Someday at Christmas,” and “We Are Lights” – a Chanukah piece written by Stephen Schwartz who also composed the music for Wicked, Pippin, and Godspell.

SDWC General Manager Carin Scheinin explained, “These are songs we would want our children to hear with messages we hope our children could know. This is music we would have liked to hear as children ourselves, or perhaps songs we would love to sing to our children. Many of these pieces were written for children’s choirs, but their important words and the transformative power of music will touch everyone who attends our concert. In a world full of war and troubling times, we choose to sing songs about beauty and hope, of light and change, about miracles and love.”

This special concert will also feature noted San Diego musician Jeff Davis playing piano before the shows in addition to SDWC’s annual silent auction during intermission of both performances. Numerous items donated by Chorus members and other local merchants will be available for bidding to help eager audience members cross a few items off their holiday shopping lists.

For even more information about SDWC’s holiday concert, “Through the Eyes of a Child,” requesting a special performance, joining SDWC, or anything else about the San Diego Women’s Chorus, please call 619-291-3366, send an email to Info@SDWC.org, or go to www.SDWC.org.

Why is the issue of same-sex marriage bubbling over in the media and in the minds of Americans today? With Maine poised to vote on rescinding the right of same-sex couples to wed in that state in just a few weeks, internationally syndicated gay horoscope columnist Jack Fertig (whose column runs in San Diego’s Gay and Lesbian Times) offers a little-explored answer: Uranus!

Using astrology as a tool to reflect mankind’s image of itself, Fertig looks at Uranus, the planet associated with both shaking up the status quo and with homosexuality, and its role in current circumstances. Fertig will present his insights at a talk for the San Diego Astrological Society titled “Uranus, the Queer Planet,” in which he will address the issue of Marriage Equality. The presentation starts at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13, at the Joyce Beers Community Center in Hillcrest, located at 3900 Vermont Street in the Uptown District Shopping Center (next to Aladdin’s restaurant).

“Astrology has long traditions,” Fertig explains. “When the planet Uranus was discovered, it signaled all sorts of revolutions and revolutionary ideas. Now is a time where again ideas regarding marriage and who can participate in marriage is revolutionizing our courts, laws and daily life.”

Jack Fertig has been studying Astrology since 1969 and practicing professionally in San Francisco since 1977. A long-time columnist in the San Francisco Bay Times and then the San Francisco Spectrum. He teaches classes and offers both personal and business consultations, but his principle interest is in planet motions and their correlations to social and historical changes.

Jack is a member of the San Francisco Astrological Society, the International Society for Astrological Research, the National Council for Geo-Cosmic Research, and is a founding member of the Association for Astrological Networking.

In collaboration with the San Diego Food Bank, The San Diego LGBT Community Center will host a food distribution on Tuesday, Nov. 3, at 9 a.m. The distribution will take place at The Center’s parking lot. Receive emergency food, pre-screen for Food Stamps and sign up for a range of other services, including employment and medical as well as low-cost utility programs. For more information, visit http://sandiegofoodbank.org/programs/communitycares or call 858-527-1419.