Sunday, April 12, 2020

From Bloomingdale's Craig Bowman: "Our Special Digital CoronaCARE Package Just For You!"


From: Craig Bowman
Sent: Sunday, April 12, 2020 1:15 PM
Subject: Fwd: Our Special Digital CoronaCARE Package Just For You!

Hi Scott,

I hope you are doing well in the midst of all of this craziness.

I wanted to send this over in case you wanted to send it out to the listserv. There are a lot of fun resources and links and apps to help folks through quarantine. Part two is almost ready and I’ll send you that as well.

If it is easier, it can also be found online here: 


Stay healthy and see you soon!

Thanks,
Craig

Begin forwarded message:

From: Craig Bowman & Common Ground Consulting
Subject: Our Special Digital CoronaCARE Package Just For You!
Date: April 1, 2020 at 9:45:56 AM EDT


Common Ground Consulting LLC




We're All In This Together

I was chatting with a friend today and we stumbled into a conversation about the fact that …

every person we know, 
indeed every living person we know, 
and all of the living people we don’t know, 
any person alive today,
and any child born tomorrow,
is, has been already, or will be 
affected in some way by the novel coronavirus, Covid-19.

It’s staggering to think that in a matter of days and weeks, all of the people I know and all of the people I don’t know are experiencing the same thing at the same time. 

Think about that for a minute.

It’s incredible. It’s scary. It’s unfathomably sad.

And for the Unites States, at least, it is only just the beginning.

The virus doesn’t care …

where we live, 
or what we believe, 
or who we love, 
or what languages we speak. 

The virus doesn’t care if we are democrat or republican; rich or poor.

It doesn't care about our race or ethnicity.

It doesn’t care about walls or borders or egos.

The virus doesn’t care. It has arrived as a frighteningly powerful equalizer.

Yet, it’s also a powerful reminder of something I have always believed: 

All of our lives are bound up together, inexorably linked by a shared destiny. 

This belief serves as a founding principle for us at Common Ground.

Your health, my happiness, his security, her compassion, that guy’s access, this kid’s education, our economy, their revolution …

Those are all illusions. Those pronouns are all lies. 

Rugged individualism. Also a lie

Self-made. An arrogant lie. 

Autonomous. A dangerous lie.

There is no going it alone; no pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. 

Those are just more lies.

The truth is we need each other. 
We depend on each other. 
We can’t make it without one another.

Our world has become deeply, profoundly, astonishingly interconnected.

Maybe it always has been.

Maybe it’s just easier to see that now.


It's Here & We've Created It Just For You


Your Digital CoronaCARE Package!

Around the world, life has changed dramatically; and we’re all just trying to figure out how to navigate this new reality. As our team remains grounded, we’ve been discovering so many new sources of inspiration. 

We thought it would be fun to pull some of that together into a kind of digital care package that we could share with you! 

Below, you’ll find a mix of cool stuff that we hope will bring you a little bit of joy today. So sit back, relax, and have some fun!





For Your Kids (Or Dolly Fans Like Us)!



Read Something!

Did you know that Project Gutenberg is a free 
online library with more than 60,000 books.


"A book is a dream you hold in your hands." 
— Neil Gaiman


Try Something New!

Don't allow working from home to shrink your brain.

·        Aprende español hoy! Learn a language free, forever, with Duolingo.

·        Build your career. Get in shape. Learn a new skill with Coach.me.

·        LinkedIn Learning is the network’s platform for online courses, launched to help LinkedIn members educate themselves and better their careers.

·        Get the key ideas from bestselling nonfiction distilled by experts into bitesize text and audio on Blinkist.

·        MasterClass is an online learning platform where the world's most successful people teach the thing that made them successful (We're members!).

·        Download Yousician and you learn the basics of playing the guitar, the ukulele, the bass, or the piano. It will even teach you how to sing! 

·        Stress less. Move more. Sleep soundly. Mindfulness for your everyday life with Headspace.

"Go wide, explore, and learn new things. 
Something will surely have a kick for you.” 
 Mustafa Saifuddin


Play A Game!
It can't be all work, all the time.


A super-fun game from Ellen and it is FREE at the moment!
Not free, but the #1 game in app stores worldwide!
Pictionary-esque for mobile devices ... free this week!

"We don’t stop playing because we grow old; 
we grow old because we stop playing” 
 George Bernard Shaw


Tour A Museum!
How amazing is it that we can see such wonder ... from our couch?




"I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” 
 Michelangelo



Do Something Awesome to Help!


Dorot, an NYC-based organization whose mission is to alleviate social isolation among the elderly and homebound, is looking for volunteers to make weekly, friendly calls to their clients.
Be My Eyes is a really
cool app that connects blind and low-vision people with
sighted volunteers and company representatives
for visual assistance
through live video calls.
iCouldBe is a student mentorship program where you dedicate one hour each week for the school year. The program provides you with online activities and conversation starters.


Folding@home uses ordinary personal computers— like yours—to break down big digital simulations of the virus into millions of bite-size chunks in order to find weaknesses that medicines can exploit.
The HealthWell Foundation provides financial assistance to help with prescription co-pays, health insurance premiums, deductibles and coinsurance.
A Mutual-Aid Network is a kind of hyper-local COVID-19 Craigslist where neighbors are able to post their needs —groceries, translation services, pharmacy runs, even cash to make rent—and others can help.

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, 
nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” 
 Dr. Seuss


Take Care of Yourself!

Fall Asleep Easily. 
Take Better Naps!

We've been using the Pzizz app for more than a decade. The science behind ‘psychoacoustics’ is well-documented and it is fantastic. 
We won't travel without it.
Sleep at the push of a button!
Meditate.
Relax!

Calm wins awards year after year by helping users sleep better, boost confidence and reduce stress and anxiety, all with the help of guided meditations, soothing music, and bedtime stories. It slows us down.




Working out is one of those really personal things, so we don't have just one app to recommend. Instead, this great piece from Entrepreneurincludes a lot of great options.



Yes, it is ok to exercise outside during these times, BUT, only if you follow some important rules (and only if your local jurisdiction hasn't said no). This c|net piece contains great advice.

"We need to do a better job of putting ourselves 
higher on our own ‘to do’ list.” 
 Michelle Obama


Get In The Kitchen!
So much to cook. So much to eat!



Chef Kwame Onwuachi is offering up decidedly different recipes. His newly minted “Eat Clean While Quarantined”series on Instagram live features dishes made with limited fat and sugar, a “manageable” amount of carbohydrates, and a protein. Clocking in at under 400 calories per serving, they require roughly 20 minutes to make. “At a time like this you can watch Netflix and eat poorly,” he says. 
“This is an alternative.
Mark Henry and his 11-year-old daughter, Lizzy, are offering approachable recipe tutorials from their kitchen in Mount Zephyr, Virginia, which are streamed live and archived on his Island Bwoy Cusine Instagram. So far, they’ve made lasagna with jerk and Italian sausages, jerk pork dumplings, and pretzel-wrapped jerk sausages. The videos are fun and casual. During one cooking session they accidentally set off the smoke alarm. 


·        Lincoln Fuge collaborates with his wife, Lauren Brooks, on his series “Chronicles of a Quarantined Chef.” Stay sane and sated.

·        Ed Hardy’s cooking jobs are on hold because of the pandemic. The executive chef at Harlot and a chef instructor at Cookology culinary school is now live streaming free kitchen tutorials on the school’s facebook page.

·        Eva Kronenburg, a former pastry chef at Convivial, is turning out nearly a video a day for her YouTube channel, which concentrates on comfort foods, baked goods, and specialties from her native Philippines.

·        Chef Alex Belew from Dallas & Jane, is now teaching cooking classes online—where he’ll teach kids home from school and parents alike how to hone those now, much-needed, at-home cooking skills.

"Food may not be the answer to world peace, but it’s a start.” 
 Anthony Bourdain


Listen to Some Music!
There are playlists for every genre.

The most popular playlist to emerge from the outbreak thus far is "COVID-19 Quarantine Party," which boasts almost 500,000 followers at the time of writing. The tracklist conveys a sense of resigned acceptance with titles like "The Kids Don't Stand a Chance" by Vampire Weekend, "You Sound Like You're Sick" by The Ramones, and "Time Is Running Out" by Muse. 
If what you really need is something low-key without references to sickness and loneliness, check out this low-fi playlist, "Coronavirus Beats To Chill / Hide In My Room To.” You will feel like it's a rainy day at home with tracks like "The Places We Used To Walk" by Rook1e & tender spring, "Alone Time" by Purple Cat and "Fever" by Psalm Trees.

"Without music, life would be a mistake” 
— Friedrich Nietzsche


A Little Bit Random. A Whole Lotta Fun!

Let's not take ourselves too seriously.

·        Learn Michael Jackson's signature step, the Moonwalk, which he introduced to the world during a performance of “Billie Jean” in 1983.

·        About 80 percent of Americans have a bad back, and all that time spent on the sofa watching “Picard” is only going to make it worse. Learn how to stretch it out.

·        Keep your kids entertained by learning how to make edible slime!

·        Teach yourself how to juggle using toilet paper!

·        The holidays are less than nine months away. Let's learn how to knit a scarf!

·        Check out this cool list of 100 Useful Things to Do While Quarantined!


"Do not take life too seriously. 
You will never get out of it alive.” 
 Elbert Hubbard



FOLLOW US


Common Ground Consulting LLC | 1936 First Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001




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