Like most of us, I'm working from home these days, and generally am staying at home, except for the occasional trip for food or walk to get some needed exercise. Luckily, I'm stuck at home with my wife, so I have someone to talk to who I happen to love. But, like many of you, I've been looking for ways to connect with friends and family. So, I've been engaging a little more than usual on Facebook, for one thing.
But I've also spent a good part of my downtime trying to foster online engagement among my fellow members of the Princeton Class of 1982. I'm the class secretary, among other things, and so I've been posting information to our class Facebook group and through emails. But most notably, with a few classmates, we've been creating online gatherings. The first one, last Sunday, was keyed to our class' unofficial holiday, "'82 Day," which falls on the 82nd day of the year. The last few '82 Days were celebrated with gatherings of classmates around the country, but this year we moved online through the now ubiquitous Zoom platform.
The event was a huge success, despite a few technical glitches. Nearly 150 classmates participated, and we had a panel discussion about the coronavirus featuring a doctor, a journalist who has been covering the virus for months, and a classmate who wrote his senior thesis on the 1918-19 Influenza epidemic. Other doctors, including one who works at the CDC, also contributed. To keep things light, we also had a Hollywood studio executive discuss things to watch while stuck at home, and a prominent astrophysicist give us pointers on things to look for in the night sky. All of whom are classmates. We're shooting to have similar gatherings every two weeks.
In addition, I discussed a few playlists that I had created to circulate among the class (although I later posted them on Facebook and elsewhere). Keeping the "82" theme, I called them "COVID-82," and they each contain 82 songs. It's pretty clear why most of the songs were put on the list, although a few of them are a little outside the box. And I was focusing really on the titles, not the lyrics. But people seem to like them. Each of them have a bunch of songs that would fit this theme, so rather than try to pick one, I'm just going to share them here.
Enjoy--and there are more playlists coming!