7:12am Wake up.
7:12am-7:45am Check Instagram.
7:45am Alarm goes off. Run upstairs to turn it off.
7:47am Put on pants because I'm already upstairs anyway.
7:50am Put the beginnings of oatmeal in the microwave.
7:55am Take out un-finished oatmeal from the microwave.
7:55:30am Put oatmeal back in the microwave.
7:57am-8:10am Eat oatmeal.
8:10am-8:30am Do the homework I forgot to do the night before.
8:30am-11:45am School. This is a blur. Did I even learn anything?
11:45am-12:25pm Lunch. FaceTime and complain and play the WikiGame.
12:25pm-3:30pm School again. Instagram makes a lovely distraction.
3:30pm-4:30pm Watch TV or YouTube. Think about doing homework.
4:30pm-5:00pm Do some of the easier homework. Think about TV.
5:00pm-5:45pm Spend more time melting away in front of a screen.
5:46pm Casually check your grades and realize you have more homework than you thought. Panic.
5:47pm-6:55pm STRESS. HOMEWORK. WHY, TEACHERS, WHY?
6:55pm-7:15pm Nightly plank challenge. Painful, but fun I guess.
7:15pm-7:45pm Dinner. Yay food!
7:45pm-8:00pm Back on that homework grind.
8:00pm-8:15pm Olaf makes you do some dishes. You do more than your fair share.
8:15pm-9:00pm More TV. Pretend you do not see the homework.
9:00pm-9:45pm Homework again because the stress hit.
9:45pm-10:00pm Instagram. Again.
10:00pm-10:20pm Brush my teeth. Think about showering, but say I'll do it tomorrow. Good night chat with Becky!
10:20pm-10:45pm Read. Look at me, all reading and stuff.
10:50pm Turn out the light. Realize you do not want to wake up early to shower tomorrow. Tell yourself it will be tomorrow night.
Thursday, June 11, 2020
Monday, May 25, 2020
"An Exploration of Intricacies" and Foreword by Finn Verdonk
Foreword
At my school, VCS, we have a triannual, week-long, multigrade trip known as Encounter Week. These weeks cover many themes (sustainable art, the local political sphere, hiking, back-country skiing, etc.) and take place anywhere from right at the school to the North-East Kingdom to Belize to China. I was part of a trip to Peru that was going to take place this May, but alas, ye olde 'Rona struck. In place of Eweek, our school invented Encounter Experiences, a shortened Eweek via everyone's new best friend, Zoom. I participated in a Creative Writing Encounter Experience, and this is one of the pieces I wrote. It was inspired by Edward Gorey's absurd and surrealist stylings, specifically this video: https://vimeo.com/23504205
An Exploration of Intricacies
Edith wouldn’t have been seen if it wasn’t for the wart.
She had grown accustomed to the dark must of the closet he kept her in, but she hadn’t grown to enjoy her time among the cobwebs. His Grace, the Duke of Matchbox, would often pass by, smelling of yesterday’s lunch and tomorrow’s umbrellas, but much to Edith’s chagrin, she could only spy a little circle of his waistcoat through the brass keyhole. Eventually, though, Edith grew bold.
She wanted out and she wanted out now. The trumpets originating from somewhere deep in the air vents had grown difficult to ignore, and besides, the spiders never invited her to their weekly tea parties. Alas, she knew His Grace would never let her out, not unless it was their anniversary, so she would need to escape. She remembered, from the joyous days that their anniversary did come around, that His Grace kept the key braided amongst his uvula. And everyone knew where he kept his uvula.
She first tried boring the door open. Not with a drill or some sort of awl-like-tool, but with a lengthy and lugubrious recounting of the birth of her most recent child, Bronwyn Pencil Case. Bronwyn wasn’t birthed so much as launched out of her mother’s uterus bedecked in aviator’s goggles and matching helmet. From then on, Bronwyn’s feet— That was as far as she got before the door stopped her and informed her that he was far too old to be bored open by some old wives’ tale. After huffily reminding the door that Bronwyn was, in fact, a very real little girl, and not a figment of her imagination, Edith set about constructing a secondary strategy. Preferably one that involved calisthenics.
After much internal debate, and another week sans spider-tea-party-invitation, Edith had brewed up her most outlandish plan since her solution to the Suspicious Lack prowling the neighborhood and terrorizing Mrs. Linty-Downtown’s begonias. This new plan was big. It was bold. It was brave. One could say it was large. It put her cat-like reflexes to good use. It stunk vaguely of mothballs, but that was to be expected having been created in the cozy nook between the late Duchess of Matchbox’s ancient fur coats. The plan relied, however, on the cooperation of a certain avian member of His Grace’s circle of friends, so Edith bided her time.
After one more unbearable week of abysmal arachnidian gossip, the day arrived when His Lordship, Prudence Petticoat Peacock arrived on the Estate of the Duke of Matchbox. It was go time for Edith.
Now, for a bit of context. His Lordship, Prudence Petticoat Peacock is a bird. A large and rather grandiose bird, but a civilized bird, nonetheless. He wore only the most bespoke tailored suits and the most suede shoes with the curliest tips. He left his bottom half bare as was customary for birds of high aristocracy, and good thing, for he often ruffled up his opulent tailfeathers into their upright, peacock shape. (Yes, in what may have been the ultimate act of vanity and narcissism, His Lordship had gotten his lustrous tail trimmed into the shape of himself. The poor barber tasked with that endeavor came down with a fit of laying after all was said and done. Blamed it on the multitude of feathery particles lodged in his lungs). With his feathers standing at attention, he would wander about the property he was currently occupying, dragging along his trusty grand piano behind him. As His Lordship always said, “One can never know when a concerto might strike.” Strike they often did, and with such frequency that Mrs. Linty-Downtown began to suspect His Lordship was paying a concerto breeder to set them loose on his command.
Today was no different. His Lordship, Prudence Petticoat Peacock, wore a smart, three-piece, velvet number with color-coordinated top hat. The deep crimson rested deliciously against the jeweled blue of his feathers. His grandest of pianos was rolling obediently a few feet behind him as he walked below the Book Trees with The Duke. Their pages rustled like a smattering of hearty heifers and whispered little blue stories about rats and poor scullery maids and men living in pumpkins and babies. The two Gentlemen—or Gentleman and Gentlebird, rather—engaged in polite conversation, nodding along as the other commented on the weather, both knowing he had mentioned the weather not but five moments before. They talked stalks: which were going up, going down, the greenest ones, the browner ones, the ones with lots of leaves, the ones with those damned thorns that kept scratching up His Grace’s favorite pair of perambulating trousers. Finally, the pair retired inside for a delicate, but sufficiently masculine platter of cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off.
From Edith’s limited vantage point betwixt gossiping Gladiss Grass-Spider and blabber-mouthed Bessabell Brown-Recluse, she caught an occasional garbled bit of dialogue.
“...were simply divine,” Lord Peacock was proclaiming when Edith managed to tune out the mudslinging eight-leggeds.
“I can’t help but agree, Your Lordship. And the way they incorporated those Prisoners of War? Simply above.” His Grace kissed his bundled fingers.
His Lordship humphed.
“What?” queried His Grace.
“I actually found it egregious and rather distasteful. They were only foals for heaven’s sake.”
“Oh.” The pair fell silent. Even Edith, from within the wardrobe, could tell it was a Most Awkward Silence. This couldn’t have played out better for her. As everyone knows, once a Most Awkward Silence is begun, it can only be ended with an Apology of Utmost Sincerity. And as everyone knows, His Lordship, Prudence Petticoat Peacock, and His Grace, the Duke of Matchbox were both far too toffee-nosed to apologize first. That meant this Most Awkward Silence would drag on. Perfect.
A while back, Edith had observed that, while it may not have been all that large, the keyhole was the perfect size for her nose to poke through. As of yet, she had only used this lovely fact to catch a whiff of His Grace’s cologne (canvas and teakettles) as he walked by, or even a small aroma of dinner. But now she could use her svelte nose poked through the keyhole as a lure.
For whom? For whom? I can hear you hungry, greedy audience members crying. Well, as everyone knows, a svelte nose looks nearly identical to a pinky fat, delicious, long worm. And who likes worms? Birds. And who is a bird? His Lordship, Prudence Petticoat Peacock.
To Be Continued...
Perhaps, we'll see.
At my school, VCS, we have a triannual, week-long, multigrade trip known as Encounter Week. These weeks cover many themes (sustainable art, the local political sphere, hiking, back-country skiing, etc.) and take place anywhere from right at the school to the North-East Kingdom to Belize to China. I was part of a trip to Peru that was going to take place this May, but alas, ye olde 'Rona struck. In place of Eweek, our school invented Encounter Experiences, a shortened Eweek via everyone's new best friend, Zoom. I participated in a Creative Writing Encounter Experience, and this is one of the pieces I wrote. It was inspired by Edward Gorey's absurd and surrealist stylings, specifically this video: https://vimeo.com/23504205
An Exploration of Intricacies
Edith wouldn’t have been seen if it wasn’t for the wart.
She had grown accustomed to the dark must of the closet he kept her in, but she hadn’t grown to enjoy her time among the cobwebs. His Grace, the Duke of Matchbox, would often pass by, smelling of yesterday’s lunch and tomorrow’s umbrellas, but much to Edith’s chagrin, she could only spy a little circle of his waistcoat through the brass keyhole. Eventually, though, Edith grew bold.
She wanted out and she wanted out now. The trumpets originating from somewhere deep in the air vents had grown difficult to ignore, and besides, the spiders never invited her to their weekly tea parties. Alas, she knew His Grace would never let her out, not unless it was their anniversary, so she would need to escape. She remembered, from the joyous days that their anniversary did come around, that His Grace kept the key braided amongst his uvula. And everyone knew where he kept his uvula.
She first tried boring the door open. Not with a drill or some sort of awl-like-tool, but with a lengthy and lugubrious recounting of the birth of her most recent child, Bronwyn Pencil Case. Bronwyn wasn’t birthed so much as launched out of her mother’s uterus bedecked in aviator’s goggles and matching helmet. From then on, Bronwyn’s feet— That was as far as she got before the door stopped her and informed her that he was far too old to be bored open by some old wives’ tale. After huffily reminding the door that Bronwyn was, in fact, a very real little girl, and not a figment of her imagination, Edith set about constructing a secondary strategy. Preferably one that involved calisthenics.
After much internal debate, and another week sans spider-tea-party-invitation, Edith had brewed up her most outlandish plan since her solution to the Suspicious Lack prowling the neighborhood and terrorizing Mrs. Linty-Downtown’s begonias. This new plan was big. It was bold. It was brave. One could say it was large. It put her cat-like reflexes to good use. It stunk vaguely of mothballs, but that was to be expected having been created in the cozy nook between the late Duchess of Matchbox’s ancient fur coats. The plan relied, however, on the cooperation of a certain avian member of His Grace’s circle of friends, so Edith bided her time.
After one more unbearable week of abysmal arachnidian gossip, the day arrived when His Lordship, Prudence Petticoat Peacock arrived on the Estate of the Duke of Matchbox. It was go time for Edith.
Now, for a bit of context. His Lordship, Prudence Petticoat Peacock is a bird. A large and rather grandiose bird, but a civilized bird, nonetheless. He wore only the most bespoke tailored suits and the most suede shoes with the curliest tips. He left his bottom half bare as was customary for birds of high aristocracy, and good thing, for he often ruffled up his opulent tailfeathers into their upright, peacock shape. (Yes, in what may have been the ultimate act of vanity and narcissism, His Lordship had gotten his lustrous tail trimmed into the shape of himself. The poor barber tasked with that endeavor came down with a fit of laying after all was said and done. Blamed it on the multitude of feathery particles lodged in his lungs). With his feathers standing at attention, he would wander about the property he was currently occupying, dragging along his trusty grand piano behind him. As His Lordship always said, “One can never know when a concerto might strike.” Strike they often did, and with such frequency that Mrs. Linty-Downtown began to suspect His Lordship was paying a concerto breeder to set them loose on his command.
Today was no different. His Lordship, Prudence Petticoat Peacock, wore a smart, three-piece, velvet number with color-coordinated top hat. The deep crimson rested deliciously against the jeweled blue of his feathers. His grandest of pianos was rolling obediently a few feet behind him as he walked below the Book Trees with The Duke. Their pages rustled like a smattering of hearty heifers and whispered little blue stories about rats and poor scullery maids and men living in pumpkins and babies. The two Gentlemen—or Gentleman and Gentlebird, rather—engaged in polite conversation, nodding along as the other commented on the weather, both knowing he had mentioned the weather not but five moments before. They talked stalks: which were going up, going down, the greenest ones, the browner ones, the ones with lots of leaves, the ones with those damned thorns that kept scratching up His Grace’s favorite pair of perambulating trousers. Finally, the pair retired inside for a delicate, but sufficiently masculine platter of cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off.
From Edith’s limited vantage point betwixt gossiping Gladiss Grass-Spider and blabber-mouthed Bessabell Brown-Recluse, she caught an occasional garbled bit of dialogue.
“...were simply divine,” Lord Peacock was proclaiming when Edith managed to tune out the mudslinging eight-leggeds.
“I can’t help but agree, Your Lordship. And the way they incorporated those Prisoners of War? Simply above.” His Grace kissed his bundled fingers.
His Lordship humphed.
“What?” queried His Grace.
“I actually found it egregious and rather distasteful. They were only foals for heaven’s sake.”
“Oh.” The pair fell silent. Even Edith, from within the wardrobe, could tell it was a Most Awkward Silence. This couldn’t have played out better for her. As everyone knows, once a Most Awkward Silence is begun, it can only be ended with an Apology of Utmost Sincerity. And as everyone knows, His Lordship, Prudence Petticoat Peacock, and His Grace, the Duke of Matchbox were both far too toffee-nosed to apologize first. That meant this Most Awkward Silence would drag on. Perfect.
A while back, Edith had observed that, while it may not have been all that large, the keyhole was the perfect size for her nose to poke through. As of yet, she had only used this lovely fact to catch a whiff of His Grace’s cologne (canvas and teakettles) as he walked by, or even a small aroma of dinner. But now she could use her svelte nose poked through the keyhole as a lure.
For whom? For whom? I can hear you hungry, greedy audience members crying. Well, as everyone knows, a svelte nose looks nearly identical to a pinky fat, delicious, long worm. And who likes worms? Birds. And who is a bird? His Lordship, Prudence Petticoat Peacock.
To Be Continued...
Perhaps, we'll see.
Sunday, May 24, 2020
Catch Up Post #3: Food
While this time has been challenging for us in some ways, mostly we feel lucky: We are still employed, we are healthy, we were able to stay home when the virus seemed all over the community. While I always feel bad saying this, there are also so many things that I have truly enjoyed—family time, not racing around trying to get my kids places, not worrying about what to wear to work!! I also have had time to cook more—nothing fancy, but we have certainly branched out. Finn has been baking quite a bit too. He has made an amazing coffee cake a couple times, we made s’more cups, and potatoes over the fire. Enchiladas! Indian food! Latkes! The pizzas have gotten much better. And last Finn made amazing baked mac and cheese. In our previous life, my bar was pretty low: I tried to keep it healthy, and I made sure there were protein and vegetables. It has been fun to find the time to try some new things.
Catch Up Post #2: Easter
We decided to go all out for Easter—it felt important to somehow distinguish this day from the day before and the day after (even thought Easter was not really otherwise a big deal for us). We all dressed up, and we had ham, fancy rolls, and fancy drinks. The Easter bunny came, with weird treats from Amazon as well as normal treats because we discovered Snowflake Chocolates had a curbside option!!
Catch Up #1: Continuing to find ways to entertain ourselves
Ooof. I guess it has been a while! Distance learning (or, more accurately for me, distance teaching) took up more time than I anticipated. And as we adjusted to quarantine living, our “new normal” became, well, normal—so much so that I forgot I should be documenting this time in history.
While I am going to (hopefully) post a few things from the last month, we are right now experiencing quite a loosening of quarantine rules. This began on April 17 and continued as VT didn’t quite see a spike in cases. While so far, things seem to be going well (and I actually went INSIDE a store for the first time in two months), I am right there with Health Commissioner Mark Levine that we need to be careful of complacency.
While we have been getting out more, and there may be some kids’ activities starting up, we have still had to be creative to stay entertained. I am going to steal from Facebook for this example:
My kids aren’t particularly compatible when it comes to playing outside, so we created a game that combines creativity and athleticism. It is a badminton/volleyball/tennis/racquetball mashup. But here’s the kicker: Anyone who was 5 points ahead received a new racquet, including (but not limited to) a crock, a sprinkler, and a yoga ball. Both players received a new racquet if there was a 10-10 tie. Feel free to suggest a name for this game. It was a huge hit!
We even had a tournament with friends, complete with a winners bracket and a consolation round. There were even prizes that were given away Yankee Swap style. While rules were loosening at this point, I still made everyone sanitize their hands and the ball all the time!
While I am going to (hopefully) post a few things from the last month, we are right now experiencing quite a loosening of quarantine rules. This began on April 17 and continued as VT didn’t quite see a spike in cases. While so far, things seem to be going well (and I actually went INSIDE a store for the first time in two months), I am right there with Health Commissioner Mark Levine that we need to be careful of complacency.
While we have been getting out more, and there may be some kids’ activities starting up, we have still had to be creative to stay entertained. I am going to steal from Facebook for this example:
My kids aren’t particularly compatible when it comes to playing outside, so we created a game that combines creativity and athleticism. It is a badminton/volleyball/tennis/racquetball mashup. But here’s the kicker: Anyone who was 5 points ahead received a new racquet, including (but not limited to) a crock, a sprinkler, and a yoga ball. Both players received a new racquet if there was a 10-10 tie. Feel free to suggest a name for this game. It was a huge hit!
We even had a tournament with friends, complete with a winners bracket and a consolation round. There were even prizes that were given away Yankee Swap style. While rules were loosening at this point, I still made everyone sanitize their hands and the ball all the time!
Oh, and we also joined the puzzle craze:
Friday, April 10, 2020
The Art Show II! Submissions from Far and Wide! A Shorter Introduction!
(Art Show #1 was a huge hit! Scroll for more.)
As famous kid wrangler (and brother-in-law) Nate McClennen once said, “boredom is the crucible for creativity.” I think many of us can relate to the boredom part right now (my big excitement for the day was driving on the highway for the first time in three weeks). But shape shifting that boredom into creative masterpieces while on lockdown is a little more complicated than just having the time. Many of us are moving through our COVID 19 days carrying an emotional weight that can make it hard to be productive at all, nevermind creative. And while quarantine life has gifted many of us a bit more free time, I find my time filled with unexpected tasks, like disinfecting groceries, tracking down yeast, unloading the dishwasher again, and simply just working out the details of how to coexist in a small space all day long with three other humans. And then there’s the millions of emails...
That’s why I was totally delighted when some of my favorite people responded to my second request for art with more really great art, and this time the submissions come from around the country: Napa, California; Jackson, Wyoming; and Madison Wisconsin (as well as good old Jericho, Vermont).
Featured Artist #1: Sydney Sears, Jericho, VT
Featured Artist #2: Delilah Kramer, Jericho, VT
Featured Artist #3: Taya McClennen, Jackson, WY
Featured Artist #4: Maia, Madison, WI
Featured Artist # 5: Jackson Waters, Napa, CA
Featured Artist #6: Donovan Waters, Napa, CA
Featured Scientist/Artist # 7: Ben Waters, Napa, CA
Featured Artist/Baker #8: Aidan Verdonk, Jericho, VT (the Scone/Donut—the Sconut)
Featured Artist/Baker #9: Kai McClennen, Jackson, Wyoming
Featured Artist #10: Finn Verdonk, Jericho, VT
Featured Artist #11: Local Vet Tech/Essential Worker Lupe Sears, Jericho, VT
Essential
I awake from a restless sleep, resisting to pull on my scrubs, can I handle another day like yesterday? I drive from the quiet comfort of home, my sleeping children. The dog yearning for another walk. The almost baron highway keeps me focused on the newest milestone of deaths in one day which saturates the channels I used to sing to.
My heart aches. I am considered an essential worker, a hero. This is not what I thought a hero feels like.
Work is bustling, not with the laughter of my co- workers telling funny stories of after work gatherings or new recipes they tried, but of cars parked in front, waiting anxiously for their pets to be seen. I dawn my mask and gloves and fear what lies beyond the locker room doors, only knowing all to well what the day will bring.
I wave to my co-workers, we are separated by invisible lines to avoid cross- contamination. Everyone scampering to do the work of five, knowing they are one.
I hear the fear on the Life's of the clients, see the desperation in their eyes as they hand me their pet not knowing if they will see them again.
I hurt, wondering if the tears they cried have evaporated enough to hug and comfort the frightened animal they're trusting me with In my arms.
Anxiety radiates; the receptionist fielding the multitude of concerned calls, the ICU caring for patients with multiple procedures and only one of them. The ER, Oncology. Internal medicine teams all in their bubbles trying not to implode, looking at the desperation but not being able to help.
We are the essential, we go home, wash our scrubs and hope tomorrow will not be like today.
Monday, April 6, 2020
The Art Show (and an extended introduction)
(Feel feel to skip to the end for some great art and poetry)
We are all feeling the weight of what is going on in our world and especially in our small community, and I thought it would be a good moment to share some art.
First, some backstory: Delilah alluded to this in her previous post, but I want to say a bit more. Once (or “Waaaanse” as Berkeley might say) I went to a baby story hour with Finn who was maybe eight months old. I met a few moms who convinced me to feed my tiny baby an entire piece of cereal (meanwhile their babies were eating full hamburgers). Finn didn’t choke, and our families have been fast friends ever since. These connections have really meant a lot over time, and I love seeing how all the the different relationships have evolved. One of our best ways of connecting lately has been game night (and a quick shout out to Delilah for keeping that going during quarantine).
It feels urgent to maintain these connections right now, and I am especially grateful for the ways in which we are able to transcend the limits of our quarantine. I am also grateful for the connections that are unconditional, not tenuous in the least. I saw this recently, and it seems appropriate to share:
We are all feeling the weight of what is going on in our world and especially in our small community, and I thought it would be a good moment to share some art.
First, some backstory: Delilah alluded to this in her previous post, but I want to say a bit more. Once (or “Waaaanse” as Berkeley might say) I went to a baby story hour with Finn who was maybe eight months old. I met a few moms who convinced me to feed my tiny baby an entire piece of cereal (meanwhile their babies were eating full hamburgers). Finn didn’t choke, and our families have been fast friends ever since. These connections have really meant a lot over time, and I love seeing how all the the different relationships have evolved. One of our best ways of connecting lately has been game night (and a quick shout out to Delilah for keeping that going during quarantine).
It feels urgent to maintain these connections right now, and I am especially grateful for the ways in which we are able to transcend the limits of our quarantine. I am also grateful for the connections that are unconditional, not tenuous in the least. I saw this recently, and it seems appropriate to share:
After one of our virtual game nights, I was thinking about all this and wrote a very quick poem. The others shared a few things. (And, by the way, this was also interesting: Social Distancing Haikus). So after a really long introduction...
Welcome to the first (of at least a couple, I hope) VFFC Virtual Quarantine Art Show:
First featured artist: Berkeley Sears with a poem and an drawing:
We Ask
the silent city streets, once bustling with life, sing a sorrowful lullaby, easing us into hibernation. how long? we ask, how long until we wake? how long until the earth may rise from its slumber? when? we ask, when will we be freed from these eerily familiar prison cells that isolate us from one another, prohibiting us from seeing the faces of our closest friends and family? Our own homes grow less and less comforting as days turn to weeks turn to months. This damned disease has taken too many, craving our attention until everything, media, news, all of it reeks with the same sickening smell, the same word echoes through our heads like an endless drum beat; coronavirus, coronavirus, coronavirus.
And her art:
Second Featured Artist: Delilah Kramer
Though Vermont is under house arrest,
We all are still doing our best!
We play games and bake food,
Spend more time slightly nude
Even though we are all kind of stressed.
Third Featured Artist: Me
Between Sleep One and Sleep Two: Thoughts at 2 a.m.
During a global pandemic
Too enormous to wrap our heads around
So much depends upon the little things
Discovering a forgotten box of mini ice cream sandwiches in the basement
And a meticulously designed Pictionary game on the internet
The details so carefully planned
So we could just see your faces, do funny hair, laugh,
And draw turtle horses and lizard zebras
Fourth Featured Artist: Finn Verdonk
Hemorrhage
a round ribbed mouth rejects liquid glass
a trickle of spit against brittle wintered stems
breaks and bends them
listen to the sound of melting
small stones have taken to littering their way along the underbelly of the creek
a damp underbelly already rife with sediment
smooth dirt like a slab of sooty marble
untouched by the water above in some strange act of naturalistic avoidance
but all at once a foot descends to unsmooth the marvelous polished flatness
submerged mushroom clouds ascend
fumes pour like the milk at the bottom of the cereal bowl
sludgy grainy farrago
tranquility snapped like uncooked spaghetti
sharp and uneven
the deep crater
the bullet hole
the wound
seeps thick brown blood sickly
diffuse ink like octopus
spiraling down the river
not necessarily pollution
but something more like the way my head is feeling these days
Fifth Featured Artist: Lupe Sears
Thursday, April 2, 2020
Online Activities by Delilah
Hi! Delilah here. Although I am not experiencing Quarantine Living at the Verdonk Family Fun Center, us Kramers, along with the Sears family, have been doing our best to stay connected. Since we cannot get together for our usual game nights, here is a list I made of some other fun games to stay connected with friends.
- Spyfall! Spyfall is a completely online game (similar to The Chameleon for those who know that game). It is free and requires no log-in or anything. Rounds are short, typically under 10 minutes, and it is easy to learn. Play it over a zoom call to be able to see and talk to everyone!
- Pictionary! This is playable simply by using the whiteboard feature on a zoom call. Pair it with an online word generator and a one minute timer and you are set! We played this the other night and laughed a lot.
- Although I personally haven’t played, there are a lot of sites to play online uno! Uno is a classic that everyone knows, and doesn’t require too much focusing. You can play with a zoom call to chat, or just with the game if you are more interested in winning than connecting, I guess?
- Although Bananagrams isn’t digital, it is possible to play with anyone that owns the game. Do a group video or phone call, and play with your own set. However, to end the game at the same time, either nobody dumps, or everyone has to. Also, make sure everyone has the same amount of tiles- if 2 people are playing with one set, and just 1 with the other set, that 1 person will need to split the tiles in half to have an equal amount.
- Secret Hitler is a favorite for our group! Although you need to create an account, it is free to play online! You should definitely pair this with a zoom call, as it relies heavily on being able to tell who is lying.
- If you are into all the board games ever, this website has a lot of online games, most of which are free. So far we have not played anything from this site, but it seems really cool!
- Forbidden island/desert is playable if one person has a board, since it is so collaborative that there aren’t really secrets, and one person can move all the pieces. Pair it with a zoom call, and a phone connected to the zoom call showing the board.
- My teacher played Settlers of Catan over a zoom call, where both people had the board and arranged it the same way. Sounds fun, but requires too much time/focus for me these days!
- Boggle! Online boggle exists, and use zoom to screenshare, or take a picture of a physical board.
- Authors are doing read alouds! Some go live on instagram to read, some have youtube videos up, some read full books and others just chapters. Books are usually middle grade or picture books. It is very calming to listen to a book, and the variety available is fun. Plus, it is cool to hear it read by the author! It would be cool to do a read-aloud zoom call with some friends where we read a few chapters out loud and then discuss. Like a book club, plus a read aloud!
- Instagram live videos have become more popular among my friends. One friend did a livestream while painting her nails and we all suggested how she should paint them and had a fun chat. I have occasionally been doing livestreams of goat kids. Also, a clothing brand that I follow is doing yoga class livestreams, which I would enjoy if I did yoga.
- Lunch chats! Both Asa and I have been doing occasional just for fun lunch zoom calls with our schools. It is nice to connect over lunch still.
- Lots of museums have virtual tours or lessons available online. I’ve only done one, but it is a neat thing to do when bored that kind of makes you feel like you’ve gone someplace!
Monday, March 30, 2020
A few more fun things I have been doing by Aidan
Hi y'all, we heard on Friday that all the schools are closed for the rest of the year. I’m a little sad but it will give me more time to do these things.
Bake and decorate cookies. Yes, we actually did that!
Bake and decorate cookies. Yes, we actually did that!
Watch the snowman melt. Yeah, we have some extra time.
More cookies. It is getting crazy here.
Even Finn came outside to jump on on the trampoline with me in a crazy, rainy windstorm.
And hanging out with Doops. I did not actually go on this walk. Mum did. But I still really like hanging around with Doops all day.
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