I made a list of possible topics for today:
Zoom and other substitutes, lighting
New phones we have and their options
The book "City of Girls" by Elizabeth Gilbert
Good movies and the history of film
"Wisconsin Life"
Since we are staying home most of the time, it might be expected that the themes relate to technology and the use of electricity. "Zoom" is just one of the computer programs, like Skype and Hangout, that enable video calls over the internet that include seeing others on a monitor and hearing them
We recently got several new Panasonic cordless phones. They and some of our older ones give us plenty of opportunity to call or be called. Of course, they also give us chances to be interrupted by robocalls and their unwanted intrusions, not to mention genuine scams that try to trick us out of money or privacy or safety.
I finished reading "The Body" by Bill Bryson and we did some searching and comparisons to find a new read-aloud book. We settled on "City of Girls" by the author of "Eat, Pray, Love" and other good books. I have now read 25% of the book aloud and it is good. It is not a book that young, red-blooded men would be charmed by, unless they are aware that more than half the human population is female and being female is somewhat different in the main from growing up male. In general, whichever side of the gender divide one is on, things could have been different. Besides, most of us are going to be very much concerned with the other gender much of our lives.
The book "From Gutenberg to Google" by Tom Wheeler and the book "Divine Art, Infernal Machine" by Eisenstein both look at the technology of the printed book from the development of printing in the West to today. However, I use a Kindle to get books like "City of Girls" and to read it. If our electricity is down, I can't obtain a book through the air like a cellphone call but most of the time, I can.
Several of my friends are interested in and knowledgeable about the history of film, of movies. At lunch today, we again exchanged insults and puns about my barbaric opinion that "Citizen Kane" and Jacques Tati and "The Big Sleep" are films of no interest, but that "The Russians are Coming!" and "In the Spirit" are wonderful and memorable. So, we used computer and internet technology to argue about film, a different technology.
The length of various tv shows and movies is such that we often have 30 minutes at the end of an evening to fit in an episode of "Wisconsin Life" on Wisconsin Public TV. This state, like all our American states, has a history and a population of interest and energy. Last night, we watched a segment about a Wisconsin artist who carves ducks from wood for both decoys for duck hunters and for those who appreciate good art. The man was struck with macular degeneration at the odd age of 9 but manages with what sight he has to make good art.
