Positive Vibes & Feelgoods: Week of April 13, 2020
Look – the past few weeks have been weird and scary. We wanted to talk about some things that each of us are doing for a little extra peace of mind, personal development, or to help battle the blues.
Hang in there, everybody. <3
Video Call Backgrounds
Josh
🎵 Music & Playlists 🎵
Andi
I’m missing John Prine really hard, and found this 2018 article (with illustrations!) to be very charming and sweet. If you haven’t, give his debut album a listen.
Nico
My go-to playlist
8-Bit Big Band (and more specifically, this song)
Josh
There’s a song by Paul Simon, “Rene And George Magritte With Their Dog After The War,” in which he sings:
“Rene and Georgette Magritte
With their dog after the war
Returned to their hotel suite
And they unlocked the door
Easily losing their evening clothes
They danced by the light of the moon
To the Penguins, the Moonglows
The Orioles, and The Five Satins
The deep forbidden music
They'd been longing for,
Rene and Georgette Magritte
With their dog after the war.”
So I created a playlist made up entirely of the Penguins, the Moonglows, the Orioles, and the Five Satins. It is delightful.
Jess
This Max Richter playlist that I listen to every day while I work.
When I want to feel SO EPIC, I put on this hour-long version of Light of the Seven (Game of Thrones) by Ramin Djawadi.
Books
Faith
Forget about real life with a page turner like Behind Her Eyes, Sharp Objects, or The Silent Patient. Or get lost in great writing with Idaho, Topics of Conversation, or White Teeth.
Josh
When everything started to shut down I picked up a book I’d been meaning to get for Harper for some time: the first collected edition of Ironheart. It’s the story of RiRi Williams, the supergenius 15-year-old successor to Tony Stark. She’s awesome, and the stories are terrific. You can get it delivered (or shipped!) from the same place I got my copy: More Fun Comics and Games.
Other Good Stuff
Joan
Playing with clay and gardening.
Faith
Stephanie’s shelves
I’m mostly staying entertained by planning home renovations that will probably never happen. This includes a lot of Pinteresting, budget spreadsheets, and troubleshooting IKEA’s Home Builder tool. Lately I’ve been inspired by @sarahshermansamuel and @sophiecarpenter, and lusting after items from Block Shop Textiles, Pampa, and Semihandmade.
Also: Playing Trivial Pursuit, working on a puzzle, and lots of dog walks.
Stephanie
I’m teaching myself how to play video games. Good amount of Animal Crossing happening right now, which is fine, ’cause I needed to take a break from Stardew Valley. Inspired by some YouTube DIY-ers (looking at you DIY Dani, The Sorry Girls, Alexandra Gater), I put up shelves in the kitchen and repainted the dry bar to match the kitchen cabinets.
Andi’s pottery
Andi
To decompress, I’ve been making weird pinch pots in my free time while my pottery studio is closed. I prefer the wheel, but this is pushing me in a more experimental direction, which I appreciate.
Jess
Learning sign language on YouTube with Bill Vicars, who is super entertaining to watch, and swiping the stress away on Candy Crush.
Next week: we’re talkin’ top podcasts, TV/movies, food, and lots and lots of adorable animals.
