Practically overnight, normal life has changed from one of routines for work and school, eating out, movies, spring break travel, concerts, plays, sporting events, shopping and seeing our friends and neighbors to a hermitic home life of family game nights, e-learning days and “what can we watch on Hulu?”
We are worried about health, money and the future — and we are bored. We need a distraction. We need something to focus on. We need something to do.
A small silver lining to the COVID-19 virus that is keeping so many of us isolated at home is the vast scope of entertainment, creativity and activities suddenly flooding the internet. Live-streamed concerts and plays, exercise classes, crafting sessions, ideas for home-schooling, virtual museum tours, groups for encouragement, reading, making or just venting. And not to be forgotten is the humor — it’s what we as Americans do — we poke fun at ourselves, the situations we find ourselves in and the human condition. We laugh as we try to lift each other up enough to get through this.
With "Staying Connected," we will try to gather a variety of ideas for entertainment, activities and group meetings so we can connect to our creativity, our need to be doing something and with each other. What are you doing at home? Share your ideas with us by email at [email protected] or email me directly at [email protected]
Tiffany never has been more relevant
Kathryn Ray and Vixens — a group of Wilkerson Dance Studio instructors and students — have assembled a hilarious lip-sync video to the 1987 song "I Think We’re Alone Now," by Tiffany. The video by the veterans of the Psi Iota Xi Lip Sync War is worth a look, and it might even inspire some other quarantine-inspired videos. You can watch it by going to Ray’s Facebook page. We’ve also shared it on the Daily Reporter Facebook page. If you produce something similar, share it with us.
Virtual open-mic poetry night
TruConnection, a holistic services network in Indianapolis, will have a virtual open-mic poetry night from 7 to 10 p.m. March 30. A live event was planned, but due to the pandemic, the event will now be held through the event page at facebook.com/events/504359737133477/. If you want to post a video of yourself reading a poem or just share the text of your poem, post it to the page at the above link any time between now and March 30. If you would like your poem to be read live on March 30, email it to [email protected]. Hate speech will not be tolerated ,and poems containing any will not be approved to share. Explicit and/or dark content is permitted and accepted, as poetry exists to represent all emotions and experiences.
Museum coloring book pages available for printing
Thanks to a fan of the Daily Reporter’s Just4Fun page, here’s a fantastic link to color book pages from literally hundreds of museums at library.nyam.org/colorourcollections/. Full disclosure: Accessing some of the museum’s color pages took quite a bit of clicking around, but I was able to download pages from the African Studies Centre, the Medical Heritage Library and the Onslow County (North Carolina) Museum. Pro tip: Be sure that you’re clicking on the 2020 color pages (rather than 2019 or 2018), and if you get an error message, try again.
Write it down, write it all down
IN YOUR HOME — Given that we all might be relegated to home creativity options for at least the next several weeks, it might be an opportune moment to start that journal you’ve always wanted to find time for. Check out skillshare.com and search “Creative Writing for All: A 10-Day Journaling Challenge.” This free online video class is divided into six lessons all of eight minutes or less in length. The site includes a discussion board for each class to share your opinions and progress as you work through the sessions. Along the way, you may notice that the SkillShare site has a monthly fee for premium users, but this journaling class — along with dozens of other options for learning — is offered for free.
Christine Schaefer is the arts and entertainment editor of the Daily Reporter when she’s not busy directing productions for KidsPlay. You can write to her at [email protected]
