Day 28, April 13, 2020

Flying Pyramids

Yesterday, I played with my bandmates from Vimana for the first time since the pandemic started. Not in the same room, of course, not even at the same time (I'm envious of seeing friends like Lloyd Miller, who create these neighborhood concerts of social distance with people hanging out of windows and out on the sidewalk, as he thumps the upright bass on someone's lawn). But Bruce recorded himself playing drums, Brian did a bass video, and I recorded myself playing guitar, mostly all on iPhones. I then spliced everything together into a passable semblance of playing together.

It wasn't really like playing together, of course. But it was nice to spend some time running through the tune and trying to get a clean enough take to use. Even after several hours, I think I still have room for improvement. I may even try to do one more take tonight and re-edit the video if I have the time.

But what was nice, was inhabiting that space, the focus on the music. Brian and Bruce are both marvelous musicians and we can hear our instruments breathe and speak to one another, the recoil of the drum sticks off the drum heads, the phrasing of Brian's bass. I can feel the room shift as we move into a new section, or return to a refrain. We play a kind of music that is equal parts complex and mapped out, but also loose and highly improvisational. It is something that allows for each musician to add flourishes of self expression, and rarely does the song come out exactly the same.

During the non-pandemic times, we would get together on Thursday nights. They both have fairly young kids, so after bedtime, around 9:30, they would roll into the driveway, and then we'd spend time catching up, talking about politics, the kids, hikes, the kinds of things that make you laugh, or grimace, or wince, but always it felt like a communion. And then, somewhere before 10 PM we would head to the basement to play our sonic mayhem until midnight, our cutoff.

We have played together for somewhere around ten years. Every week we would get together, except for short vacations, or when one of us was recuperating from surgery. We are like family, but in the weird way that toxic masculinity weaves its way into our psyches, we never really talked too much about it. It was what we did, like playing basketball, or bowling. But now, devoid of our weekly practice and the occasional gig, we feel the separation. Our texts to one another still have a tinge of ribald humor, but there is also an undertone of care and compassion. We are holding each other up. We are counting on each other to still be there when this is all done.

That is part of what exercises like putting together a social distance video do. Slightly off notes and all, it is beautiful. It is an expression of what used to exist every Thursday evening, and what will be waiting for us once social distancing is lifted. It is an expression of love.

Much love to you all.
Stay safe, and be well,
Leo

The Montague Sand Plains

From Our Friends:

From Lorena Nanez-Bonilla:

Lorena sends a Google Doc with a list of course reserve textbooks that are available for free in e-book format due to Covid-19. Thanks, Lorena!

From Assets 4 Artists:

A whole slate of workshops setup for creative people in the time of COVID-19. Look at the schedule of workshops here. 

From Teaching Tolerance:

Here's an article on "Supporting LGBTQ Students During Social Distancing" by Cory Collins.

Pandemic Easter Dinner

Today's Online Teaching Tips:

From Apple:

If you have an iPhone or iPad there is this: creating engaging videos using the app Clips. Seems simple and easy to use. Find the app here.

From AAC&U:

Friday, April 17th at 2PM: "Designing High-Impact Practices for Equity and Impact in New Contexts." Now that we've shifted to remote learning/online, how do we maintain a focus on equity in the new modality?

From Magna:

"Trauma Informed Pedagogy: Teaching in Uncertain Times." A free webinar with the coupon code:428MOS.

Franklin and June Bug say goodnight.