Some things I'm doing during the corona virus quarantine

Watching relevant movies

One of my former professors joked about watching Outbreak, so I watched it. It was pretty good and I decided to set a goal to watch one movie per day about quarantines and disease outbreaks.

Outbreak - 1995

Watched 3/18/20.

Dustin Hoffman, playing a military doctor, argues with Morgan Freeman, his higher up, about how to handle a disease outbreak. Unbeknownst to the doctor, it was due to the production of a top secret biological weapon. 
A monkey was one of the stars of the movie! 

The andromeda strain - 1971

Watched 3/19/20.

Based on a Michael Crighton novel, a mysterious substance from space kills a town upon contact, aside from an old man and a crying baby. Top scientists are brought to a secret underground lab to study the material and the survivors. There are some fun graphics and video editing. And again – monkeys!

Containment - 2016

3/20/20 – 3/22/20

A Netflix series set in Atlanta! In the first few episodes, this one concentrates on the politics of setting up a city-wide quarantine. No monkeys yet. 

Band Projects

My band is the Silkworm Smugglers. I play the flute with a mandolin player, cellist, and various guest musicians as they are available. 

ear training

One day, I heard my neighbor’s kid practicing his 4th grade clarinet skills. I picked up my flute to see if I could play those same beginner tunes by ear. Through our apartment doors, I was able to play London Bridge is Falling Down, then Mary Had a Little Lamb, but then he played a video game tune I had never heard. By this time he knew I was playing back his tunes by ear, and he could tell I was having trouble with that one. He repeated it over and over for me to figure it out. 
My boyfriend could tell I wasn’t quite getting one of the intervals, so he got his guitar out to figure it out for himself. Now we had a little band, with this 4th grader behind a door as a our leader. It was amazing.

Learning appliqué

I have a 4’x2′ piece of fabric that I am designing into a sign for my band, Silkworm Smugglers. I spent 5 hours at the craft store earlier this week to explore all possible options for decorations and read some books on appliqué. It turns out it’s a lengthy process involving stencils, marking, cutting fabric precisely, and embroidery techniques. Wish me luck!

Making Jewelry

For band merchandise – jewelry seems more viable than photography, so I’ve been transforming my photos into wearable art. It’s been a learning experience!

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