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Another Interesting Idea You Might Want to Try

I reported a couple of weeks ago that a few of my writer friends are meeting virtually every Friday night to “write together”. We do a couple of creative writing exercises each time, and it’s a combination of practising our skills and socializing.

Usually we choose random words from random books and use them as prompts to write one fiction and one non-fiction piece, each in ten minutes. Then we share what we’ve written. I have to say I am hugely impressed with what we have come up with in that short time.

This week, Cliff brought us an idea that’s a bit different, and you might even be interested in taking up the idea, either by yourself or with a select group of friends or family.

The idea was that we were to write a letter to ourselves one year from now. The exercise itself was challenging, and the four of us wrote completely different things. We found them so interesting that we decided to take the process one step further.

We will take a few days to polish the writing, because although we all came up with the ideas, the writing was a bit rushed and messy. Then, probably next week, we will share the final versions. But here’s the fun part.

We will set a date one year from now to meet and open our letters. Then we’ll be able to compare what we wrote with what will actually have happened, and how each person’s situation compares to what we were thinking when we wrote the letters. Interesting, eh?

Let me know if you decide to do it too.

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Fun Event for Lockdown

Last Sunday night I was invited to join a family Quiz Night on Zoom. My family in Scotland had done it the previous week and it was so much fun they decided to continue, and Alan invited me to join the fun.

Altogether, there were six households represented. Each household had to come up with six questions, everyone took turns asking the questions and then at the end the answers were revealed. My presence was to be a surprise, so some of the questions were Britain-centric. and I didn’t know them, so I’m hoping there won’t be as many of those tonight! (I have my questions ready, and I think a couple of them might be challenging!)

I’m passing this idea on just in case any of you might want to do something similar. Good luck and have fun!

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View from My Balcony

My building and the one next door share what is called a pulmon de manzana. Manzana usually means apple, but in this case it means a block. So the phrase means the lungs of the block.

It is a common garden, usually quite lush with palm trees and other greenery. This is the one I see from my balcony, and in fact from my living room window.

I’m on the 3rd floor, which in Canada would be the 4th floor as the street level is called the planta baja and doesn’t have a number.

There are quite a few dogs in the two buildings, and when I looked down this morning these three were relaxing in their personal backyard!

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Worth Reading If You’d Like to Know More about Argentina

This morning the BA Times featured a very informative interview with Alberto Fernandez, President of Argentina.

Let me say that if I had had a vote, I would not have voted for this man or his party. However, like many others, I have been very impressed by his handling of the Coronavirus situation here in Argentina. We all bitch and moan about quarantine, but there’s no arguing with the numbers — we are doing much better than many other countries, probably largely due to quarantine.

In this interview he talks about a wide range of things, and in a very conversational tone. He talks about other politicians in Argentina’s past, but interestingly not much about his Vice-President, Cristina Kirchner Fernandez (no relation), who was President for eight years before the last government of Mauricio Macri. Cristina brought corruption to new levels and she should be in jail. Instead, she is Vice-President, and I think it’s fair to say it was largely due to her supporters that this government won. If she wasn’t in the picture, I would feel even more positive about this government. Ah yes, Argentina!

It’s a long interview and you may not want to read it all, but skimming the headings will give you an idea which parts you might want to read. I hope many people outside Argentina will read it, because the rest of the world knows little or nothing about my adopted country. Here’s the link.

And if you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments and I’ll try to answer them in a future post.

 

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Well This Is a Bummer

I’m not one to complain much about the physical isolation, being quite content to do some work, read a lot and chat with my friends on WhatsApp and Zoom. But this morning’s news was definitely not welcome.

As of this Monday, all those over 70 in Buenos Aires will require a permit to go out of their homes. The only exception is going to the doctor or to get medicine. Nothing else. No grocery shopping. No dog walking. Nothing.

The good news is that there are lots of mechanisms in place to help — volunteers doing shopping and walking dogs etc. And even under normal circumstances, in Buenos Aires you can get pretty much everything delivered, and the delivery services are all working. So it’s not the end of the world, and I’m not worried about the practical side of it. But psychologically… well, that’s a different story.

When I read the report this morning I was still in bed. I stayed where I was and cried for a bit. But then I decided to snap out of it, do my meditation and exercises and get on with it.

After all, I can still do my work — and am fortunate to have work, I love my apartment and don’t feel at all cooped up in it, and one of these days I’ll get back to my art. As someone posted on FaceBook, “Our forefathers were called to war. We are being called to sit our the couch. We can do this.”

I hope the seniors lockdown won’t last too long — but you won’t hear me bitching about it any more.

 

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A Kind and Practical Gesture

Yesterday there was a knock at my apartment door — very unusual if I haven’t let anyone in downstairs. Looking through the peephole I saw the portero (our word for the superintendent of the building).

I opened up and he presented me with this mask. I think his wife made them, although I didn’t quite understand that part. He explained that I should fold up a tissue and put it over my mouth first and then the mask. I don’t know if he was giving them to everyone, or just folks of my vintage. In any case, I was very grateful.

Masks have now been made mandatory in Buenos Aires (not sure about the rest of the country) any time we go outside. The government has also asked us to make our own, leaving the real ones for medical and emergency people. I’m all in with that.

I posted a picture a couple of weeks ago of me in my black “terrorist” face mask. I won’t feel as conspicuous going into the supermarket wearing this one, thanks to my lovely, generous portero.

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Global Meetings Industry Goes for the Record

Yesterday I took part in an event whose organizers hope to break the Guiness Record for the largest virtual conference ever!

The Global Meetings Industry is an association for all professions connected with conferences, conventions and other large events. I was, as you may know, a professional speaker for many years and thus part of this world.

Given the situation we are in, many of the GMI members are cancelling meetings right and left, and this event was kind of meant as a word of encouragement to them, as well as a fun way of connecting. One of the organizers was my speaking colleague Jennifer Spears — well done, Jennifer!

They won’t know for a few weeks whether they broke the record, but the attendance peaked at 12,500, which is impressive whether a record or not. I think it will be.

Honestly, I could be online from dawn to dusk these days with all the events landing in my emailbox. I’m being a bit discriminating, but I’m glad I took part in this one.