Photo by Yonas Hassen

BOOK TALK: Get 2014 off to a positive start with Gretchen Rubin tonight. She will speak at Sixth and I Historic Synagogue about Happier at Home — a follow-up to her 2011 bestseller The Happiness Project — newly out on paperback. 7 p.m. $15 admission, $20 admission and a book, $30 admission for two and a book. — Nicole Dubowitz

LECTURE: Shane Harris, author of The Watchers: The Rise of America’s Surveillance State, “discusses how a small group of government officials built the vast national security apparatus that is at the center of our present debate over surveillance and privacy” at the Corcoran (500 Seventeenth St. NW) tonight. 7 p.m. $10.

MUSIC: “Grammy-nominated, Ethiopian-born, singer/songwriter” Wayna performs at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage (2700 F St. NW) this evening. 6 p.m. Free.

PHOTOGRAPHY: Stay home and sort through your photos to submit your best to the 2014 Exposed DC photography contest (formerly DCist Exposed). Contest closes 11:59 p.m. $10 to submit 3 photos.