Getting to Know You: Sharing Finds of Our Times
On August 7 the Events Team held their second Social Hour on Zoom. As we did for the July Social Hour we created a topic of conversation for our participants. We decided on “Getting to know you: Sharing Finds of Our Times. Many of you, like us, have discovered new interests, new ways to spend time during these Pandemic times, so why not share recommendations and learn from each other about what we enjoy seeing, watching, doing.”
16 members and volunteers joined us for what turned out to be a really fun hour with lots of good ideas, stories and recommendations. Here is what we learned.
One member is making sourdough bread and was kind enough to share her recipe.
She also suggested to go to YouTube and check out exercise classes. They have classes for everybody and for all levels and ages.
A professor emeritus is engaged in a research project in philosophy broadly looking at “What are Relations”.
A member artist enjoys having time again for painting and exploring new ways. Together with her husband she also discovered a long-running TV show “Bones” which both recommend (available on Amazon Prime).
An avid reader of mystery books follows authors online (via Twitter). That is how she found out about “The Locked Up Festival - Presented by Two Crime Writers and a Microphone” with lots of different panels and interviews
and
“The Harrogate International Festivals” - Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival (includes musical offerings).
She also recommended the “Edinburgh International Book Festival” (200 authors and illustrators from 30 countries, all genres) that you can attend online for free. Finally, she let us know about a book she very much enjoyed reading, The Forty Rules of Love by Turkish author Elif Shafak.
Another member and well-known photographer enjoys walking and exploring new paths and neighborhoods and capturing them with her camera. She shares her pictures on her Facebook site and on Berkeleyside.
A member who is part of the Emery bunch, a very active AV neighborhood group, told us about a recently created interest group that, every month, decides on a documentary they watch and then discuss together online. The first documentary they chose was “Searching for Sugar Man” (available on Amazon Prime). The group is open to all and will be listed on the AV Calendar.
Helping “neighborhood libraries” by looking at the books, arranging them and sometimes moving them from one library to another is a job another member tackled and finds quite rewarding.
One member reads about 10-15 books per month through “Libby”, by Overdrive. This is an online service that offers free ebooks and audiobooks. He also has a library card that allows him, as a resident of CA, free access to all CA state libraries.
We got 2 movie recommendations: Swimming Pool with Charlotte Rampling and The Squid and the Whale (all available on Netflix).
We also heard about a particularly ambitious project. This member designed and built a kayak, something he has done his whole life. All in all he tries to stay active AND he is writing a diary and works on his memoirs.
And here is what the 2 hosts, Arlene Reiff and Sigrid Duesberg recommended:
Arlene finds a lot of pleasure in an online jazz improv site: “Learn to play Jazz, Blues & Rock with Flow and Fluency with Ron Drotos”. She very much likes the teacher. She also likes to watch movies and TV series. 2 of her favorites are “The Good Wife” and “The Good Fight” (both available on CBS All Access).
Sigrid enjoys having a bit more time to cook and bake. She likes food blogs and found one she now follows regularly. The name of the blog is “Cooking with Rosetta”. You can also follow her on Facebook and Instagram where she is on “live”. Rosetta is Italian, a wonderful cook, cookbook author, avid gardener (wait until you see her vegetable garden) and she is local. She lives in Oakland in the Rockridge area. Highly recommended!
Come and join us next time (every first Friday of the month, 4-5 pm, via zoom).