W42ST Daily 4/11/2020 - How I got creative in the bedroom

It all began, as these things often do, on my unmade bed.

Then, at least, I’d make it first – pull the quilt up, stack the pillows, have it looking nice – before getting started.

But, dammit, I just couldn’t get comfortable. More creativity was required. More flexibility with my space. So … I opened the top drawer of my chest and found that, if I pulled my bed out by about a foot (and rolled back the bedding), I could sit on the end, with my knees just fitting under the drawer. I then placed the Wii platform on top of the drawer and, lastly, my laptop. Boom! I had a makeshift desk.

This WFH lark is no joke. You know how Shakespeare wrote King Lear while in quarantine? Isaac Newton came up with the theory of gravity while in isolation from the bubonic plague? I’ve basically become Thomas Edison mixed with James Dyson. Inventor/product designer. Necessity has revealed a talent I never knew I had.

This new arrangement still needs a few tweaks. If I’m honest, the bed/chair situation isn’t perfect, and my back is still in knots. But it’s a start.

My roommate is standing at the high top, his laptop resting on an old cardboard box that once housed the stockpot.

I’ve seen computers perched on piles of books, and one friend has fashioned a desk from floor tiles.

Send me photographs of your WFH situation – and any suggestions on how I can improve my own will be gratefully received.

SPREAD THE LOVE
We’re all about NOT spreading things around right now. But if you’re enjoying this daily newsletter – if it’s bringing you a little joy in these dark times and helping you feel connected to your neighbors as social distancing becomes the new normal – please tell your friends. They can sign up here and make us stronger together.

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NEW YORK STORIES
Like many of us, Elizabeth Moss was in denial as the restrictions on our movement began. Then it became clear that some creative solutions were called for … including washing her smalls in the sink. Read her story (and get her COVID survival playlist) at w42st.com.

RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS
Yesterday, I asked what selfless things people had done for you. Your responses filled me with joy. People are, indeed, good.

“My students sent me a thank-you video,” wrote Leanne.

“A friend knew I lost my grandpa last week,” wrote Jenny, “and I was too sad to figure out the covering my face and sanitizing ritual to go out for socially distant walks to the pier that had kept me upbeat and healthy at the start of quarantine.

“She hand-made face masks and mailed them to me with a nice card of encouragement and instructions.The masks give me more reason to leave the house — and my grandpa was a tailor, so it’s very meaningful to me that she sewed them herself.”

“Something good, you say? I can’t restrict myself to just one … the world is too full of amazing people,” wrote Henry.

“My friend in Wappingers Falls, a nurse, sent face masks for both my husband and I. She made them.

“A very casual acquaintance in the building slipped a note under my door with her number, and told me she would be happy to do my shopping.

“The two elementary age sons of my downstairs neighbors have taken to leaving treats outside our door, knocking lightly, giggling intensely as they run back downstairs – deliciously ripe mangoes, home-made jam, chocolate … I think I’m going to cry. Yup, people are good.”

DON’T CLIMB THE WALLS – DO THIS INSTEAD
Watch French film
Film at Lincoln Center’s Rendezvous with French Cinema has gone online. You can watch some the best contemporary films coming out of France, for free, here.

Join Kevin Kline in conversation
This new, free livestream series begins today at 8pm, with the Academy and Tony award winner (and psychotic star of A Fish Called Wanda). Watch here.

Dance alone – together
This is a source of fantastic, daily scheduled movement/dance classes, from hip hop and African to ballet and contemporary, all taught by professional dancers including Tyler Peck and Ryan Heffington. They’re free or pay-what-you-can. Tonight, there’s a salsa class at 10pm. Start dancing.

Bring the family
Rockefeller Center’s Spring Sunday activities have gone online, with craft ideas (make your own flip book), puppet performances, and yoga for kids. It all starts at 11am. Start crafting.

Go on a nostalgia trip
There will be a special Easter Sunday benefit reading of The Velveteen Rabbit tomorrow, live streamed at 2pm. Find out more.

Go on a Godspell reunion
The cast of the 2011 Broadway company of Godspell – including George Salazar and Telly Leung – will reunite this evening, raising money for The Actors Fund. Watch here.

NAME GAME
What’s your name, and what’s your top quarantine song? I’ll add it to the playlist as we go along. I’ll go first. Hello everyone, I’m Ruth, and Who’s Zoomin’ Who? gets my vote.

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