Readings for the End of the World

So I tagged Gary Shteyngart, one of my favorite authors, a tweet yesterday. And he responded!

Plywood Tennis

Again, we are always trying to find new ways to entertain our kids once they complete their daily remote school work. Here's a ping pong table we made of a cheap piece of plywood and a cheap portable table tennis net. Cheap, but provides hours of fun!

Tree Swing

We are doing everything we can to keep variety in the lives of our kids during The Quarantine. At least we can go outside in our current Quarantine situation. I know many are trapped in their apartments. My daughter was begging for a swing to hang up in the tree in our front yard. This was an easy project that has provided her hours of entertainment over the past week. It took me longer to wait in line at Lowe's to buy the wood and rope than it did to saw the wood, drill the holes and hang the swing up.

Intense

Put up the tent in the backyard. Kids needed a new scene. I like how it adds square footage to our modestly sized house. I'll have to move it around every few days so it doesn't kill the grass. But it's nice to have another space to escape to, even if it's temporary.

More Background

How boring are blog posts about Zoom backgrounds? The Quarantine has changed my views on things that in the past I would have found boring. Here are some of the virtual backgrounds that I have been using for my Zoom Meetings...

My favorite bookstore (although I've only been there once)...Shakespeare and Company in Paris. 

The Royal Tennis Court near the Palace of Versailles where the French Revolution started. 

The cockpit of the Millenium Falcon

The Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles

Some Background

I've been conducting a lot of Zoom Meetings during The Quarantine as I teach my high school classes remotely. I've started using virtual background to change things up as we are now in our fourth week of online classes. StarWars.com made available some hi-res backgrounds of iconic Star Wars imagery for this purpose. I've also used some of my favorite landscape photos in my phone as backgrounds. I'll post some of those later.

Recently I began using a short one minute video loop as my background. I created this loop from the classic 1902 silent film, Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon). This film is often credited as being the first science fiction movie. Directed by Georges Melies it was a major blockbuster in it's day. The film is about twelve minutes long and it's available on YouTube to stream. I captured a minute of the footage and created a loop to use on my zoom meetings.

Quarantine Reading Material

 Inspired by an old friend who asked the following question...

“I'd love to learn more about what you're reading during quarantine and why?”

I’ve been reading two pages a day (all I can handle in a single sitting of this book) of Ulysses by James Joyce for several months now. I’m on the 19th and final episode. Should be done by the end of May. I still don’t understand much of what I read of it. Have to use online resources to make head or tails of it. But I will be very happy to finally conquer this literary white whale! I will consider it a literary equivalent of making the pilgrimage to Jerusalem or Mecca! 

Re-reading The Plague by Albert Camus. Always a good read. I have been amazed at the parallels to today’s crisis. On Part Four now. Society’s denials of the reality of their plague rings frighteningly close to our denialists today. Quiet heroism of individuals doing their jobs in difficult situations reminds me of our health care workers, grocery store clerks, first responders, etc today.

On the Kindle, I’m reading Left Bank: Art, Passion, and the Rebirth of Paris, 1940-1950 by Agnes Poirier. A great history of the lives of artists, philosophers, writers and other creatives during the dark days of the Nazi occupation of France. How they managed to keep culture alive in the underground is fascinating. I’m only on Chapter Three but fully engrossed! I applaud and encourage those amateur and professional artists sharing their creative endeavors online during this quarantine. Staying creative helps maintain our sanity.

Cushing

I never knew how important Cushing, Oklahoma was to the global economy. I'm not sure if I've ever been there. I've seen it on highway signs and heard of it but don't think I've ever passed through. It's a little out of the way from the Will Rogers Turnpike.

According to Business Insider: "World oil prices are controlled by the amount of crude oil stored at Cushing, Oklahoma. That’s because Cushing is the pricing point for WTI (West Texas Intermediate) oil prices, the most-traded oil futures contract in the world."

Decades ago they used to call Tulsa the "Oil Capital of the World." I guess it's actually Cushing now. Storage capacity in Cushing is apparently at max meaning energy companies now have to pay to store it somewhere else. This has led to oil being worth negative dollars on the world market. Never thought I'd see that happen. Cushing, wow.

More Live Quarantine Concerts

Another one of my favorite performers, Colin Meloy, frontman for The Decemberists, is also conducting live weekly quarantine concerts. I find these live concerts very comforting.

Lola and the Quarantine

If I recline for just a second, Lola has me trapped. Makes it hard to get back up again and get to work.

Masks

Mowing during a high pollen day sometimes requires extraordinary measures of protection.

Bob the Duck is Back

Last week Bob made his first appearance of the season in our yard. He lives year round at the little farm across the way. But during the spring and summer he comes to our yard at least once a day for some fresh bird seed. His partner Joyce has not shown up as of yet and we have not seen her at the farm. Joyce may no longer be with us or maybe she's just not into leaving the barn these days. Good to see Bob during these days of pandemic. Bob does not understand social distancing.

Virtual Martial Arts

The Pandemic won't stop Master Li from conducting her Taekwondo sessions! Zoom is an amazing thing.

More Moments of Respite

It is indeed a strange time we're living in. I couldn't sleep the first couple of weeks of the Quarantine. I finally have developed the bare bones of a routine. I have kind of figured out how to continue teaching my classes remotely.

I am enjoying many of my favorite artists who are performing from their own quarantined situations. David Arthur Brown, of Brazzaville, has begun holding live online mini-concerts from his living room in Barcelona. He his holding them every Saturday at 1:00 central time (8 pm Barca time). I find these little casual concerts very refreshing.

Moments of Respite

Stressful times we're living in. Sometimes I have to break away from all the horrible news and find a moment of respite. This live mini-concert performed by M Ward of material from his new album he released this week gave me some peace.