What were some of your highlights this week? We went on some great nature walks, finished puzzles (well, one only had 999 pieces out of 1000, but close!), caught up on some favorite TV shows, and baked. Wendy Mac (a national treasure, along with Mac Barnett, in my opinion) streamed into our home and I read Little House in the Big Woods aloud. The sun is out and I’m going to trim the kids hair and then we’ll go for a bike ride. This week was “spring break” so Aron had the first half of it off from work and it was such a nice change to share the days with him.
On the other hand, a friend I follow on Instagram posted today about missing the eye-contact, the “smile eyes” (smize? Tyra?) in the grocery store—even when standing apart—and it got me a little down: The NIMBY (Not-in-My-Backyard) callouts on the Next Door App are getting nastier. I see policing for such a range of benign activities on social media. It’s not exactly an encouraging environment for sharing. And the backlash against (sure, sometimes tone deaf) celebrities who try too hard to commiserate feels so yucky. Thank goodness there has been no social unrest along the lines of that in movies like Contagion, but I feel like I’m starting to see little bits of unrest in how people are treating and judging each other.
So I needed this lovely pick-me-up today. I’ve seen so much goodness and generosity around the world, but all it takes is a few grumps to make the situation seem sour. Cheers to kindness!
What links are you enjoying this week? Here are some of note…
Speaking of good news: This comes out today!
Also, we all watched Some Good News together and Hudson & Skyler were blown away by the Hamilton zoom call (around minute 12). For some reason this song comes on every time I plug my phone into the car radio so they know it really well.
I mentioned how we do the mini-crosswords each night with friends? Very excited about this.
This “Ski Movie” is an incredible illusion! I wonder how long it took him to put this together. Looking forward to showing the kids.
“It’s Okay to Be a Different Kind of Parent During the Pandemic”
Did you know that Dyson started releasing science experiments for families in 2016? A great resource for budding engineers.
The kitchen “appliance” I’ve found myself wishing we had. Finely chopped salads for the kid-win.
The Getty asks patrons to recreate classic works of art from home.
Because nothing says Easter like “Tiger King.”
Dove’s new video salutes health care workers.
Creative Morning fieldtrips: We did an origami one this week—the whole family (but mine appeared to be the only kids).
Bob Dylan’s “Murder Most Foul” Is His First No. 1 Song on Any Billboard Chart (and it’s 17 minutes long).
Inside the White House Press Briefing.
For fellow comfort-carb-loaders.
I know it’s silly to think about makeup right now, but I’m really excited to try this.
In less good news: The situation in Wisconsin was horrifying. Take a look at this tweet thread. (And from a NYT op-ed: “The voting debacle in Wisconsin on Tuesday was further evidence of an incontrovertible reality in American politics: The Republican Party does not believe in free and fair elections, where free means equal access to the ballot and fair means equitable rules and neutral procedures.”)
Elizabeth Warren has unveiled a massive set of proposals to overhaul voting in the U.S. “The chaos and the attempt to suppress the vote in Wisconsin should be a wake-up call for the United States Congress. We need to act immediately.”
So the question is: Are you registered to vote absentee?
On February 13th, the Center for Global Development, a nonpartisan Washington think tank, warned in a report about the “urgent but closing window” for the U.S. government to prepare [for the pandemic], including specifically recommending an immediate review of the P.P.E. supply chain. What happened?
And there are signs that social distancing—illustrated in this genius Ohio ad—is working. Stay strong!
P.S. In case you missed it this week, ways to color Easter Eggs (instead of quick-and-easy, this are slow and methodic) and a homemade doughnut cheat.
[Photo via Aimee Song]
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