covidcoffeecorner | Recent Entries

Here at

covidcoffeecorner, we start to close down as other parts of life open up. We've reached the end of May, and as many parts of the world are beginning to open their doors again, we're closing ours. We're going to shut down our virtual coffee machine, lift the chairs onto the tables, wipe down the floors, and count our blessings.

It's been a comfort for me to have somewhere to turn for conversation while isolating in my apartment and a joy to meet new people and learn so much from your topics of conversation. I hope you all feel the same way.

A huge thank you to everyone who volunteered to host a conversation and kept us going for these past two and a half months:

smallhobbitt,

lashlarue,

usedsongs,

liv,

ng_moonmoth,

tozka,

cabepfir,

tielan,

glass_icarus,

liseuse,

verdande_ni,

redbird,

brumier,

pensnest,

z_badfaith,

glinda,

mothwing,

dine,

kat_lair,

aome,

rosefox,

write_out,

tjs_whatnot,

shadowhive,

highlyeccentric,

wpadmirer, and

therealsnape.

Thank you, too, to everyone who kept us going by stopping by to comment. I'm not going to list names here because I don't want to leave anyone out, but you've all been amazing--thoughtful, funny, bringing to so much life experience, large and small, to our conversations.

Thanks to

light_of_summer, who had the brilliant idea of a post to collect conversation topics, and

octahedrite, who made our banners.

And so much appreciation to co-mod

therealsnape, whose comments about sociability got us going, who lent us the name for the comm, and who's been a key source of moral and practical support and level-headed good sense.

We're going to close down conversation here for the moment and hope (hope!) there will be no reason to reopen. But if any of you live in places that start go through a second wave, drop on by, let us know, and we'll re-open the cafe.

Your mods,

magnetic_pole and

therealsnape

ETA: an old-fashioned friending meme. Folks, I didn't think of this earlier when I was posting, but because many of us didn't know each other before chatting here, perhaps we'd like to stay in touch? Please feel free to add a comment if you're looking to connect with others on DW. I'll leave a text box below to make it (hopefully) less awkward.

White text "Covid Coffee Corner: Stop by and Chat" over photo of two cups of cappucino in white cups and saucers

verdande_mi

I thought it would be nice to talk about hope today. What are your hopes for the future? Be as general or specific as you want. Which changes do you want to see in how we go about life and building our societies and communities? What dreams do you want to fulfil?

A few things from me:

I wish it were easier for humankind to live in accordance with the Cardamon Law. It’s simple and to the point: One shall not bother others, one shall be nice and kind, otherwise one may do as one pleases.

In the future I want to continue to take notice of the small wonders and joys of life. I hope I will have a small garden so I can keep learning how to tend one properly and be surrounded my flowers.

I dream of a stable full-time job, where I can feel secure and grow.

I hope the future will be kind to my nephew and niece, and all young people, that the natural environment and social environment will be healthy and stable. Meaning first we must be able to right wrongs and change how we go about a lot of things. A big one is learning how to coexist and live and let live, to see all human beings as humans and treat everyone accordingly.

I hope people in the future also have hope and can dream of better days and new horizons.

aome

I know it’s Saturday, but here I am, ready to chat. *g* And we can all stand to smile some more right now, don’t you think?

So. Tell me a funny story involving a child. If you don’t have one, then share your favorite joke with us!

Here’s one of my all-time favorite stories about my daughter (who is now almost 18). When she was about 21 months old, we’d just arrived at a shopping center, and I’d removed her from her carseat and set her down on the pavement. It had recently rained, and there happened to be an earthworm on the damp ground, right near where I’d set her. Trying to head off any chance of having a girl who was bug-squeamish, I really talked up the earthworm, pointing out how cute he was, how neat it was to watch him wriggle, how awesome the earthworm was. My daughter listened carefully until I was done.

Then promptly stomped on the worm.

And all I could do was just howl with laughter. I mean, it was just such a visceral response, and all my sweet-talking had done absolutely no good whatsoever. :))

(Alas, she did grow up to be extremely bug-squeamish, but, ironically, the one wriggly thing she can tolerate is: earthworms.)

And here is my joke.

A string goes into a bar and says, “Bartender, gimme a beer.”

The bartender looks him up and down, curls his lip and says, “We don’t serve strings here.”

The string goes out, finds a cowboy hat, puts it on, and goes back in. “Bartender, gimme a beer.”

The bartender tells him, “I said, we don’t serve strings here.”

The string goes back out, ties himself up at the bottom and undoes his fibers at the top. Then he goes back in. “Bartender, gimme a beer.”

The bartender looks at him and says, “Aren’t you that same string that was just in here?”

And the string says, “No, I’m a frayed knot.”

(Say it out loud if you don’t get it yet.) :-D

Your turn!

dine

I had a bad couple of weeks lately (things just finally got to me, and I was depressed and out of can) though happily things have brightened for me. when in the doldrums, I found myself frequently fixing things to eat that were "comfort foods" from childhood - hot cocoa, clam chowder, mashed potatoes, toast with lots of butter & marmalade or jam.

what about you? what are the things that a parent or loved relative/neighbor made that was comfort food for you? do you still eat it, and can it taste as good when you prepare it yourself? for example, there's no way I can make gravy half as good as my mom's was - but I still love mashed potatoes with butter & gravy (even if it's inferior to my memories).

wpadmirer

Okay, I'm Southern, and we have a whole passel of superstitions and good luck omens. I grew up hearing things such as, if your palm itches you're about to come into money, or if your nose itches you're about to kiss a fool.

My father always made an X on the windshield of the car when a cat passed in the road in front of him. (And I have to admit that I do this, too.)

Currently with the pandemic going on, I have found that I wear this earring that is my birthstone and was a gift from my dear hubby of 42 years. Somehow I have convinced myself that if I wear it every day, that we will both be okay. (Now we also wear masks and wash our hands and social distance like crazy, but it's just a little added extra luck.)

I won't walk under ladders, and my husband makes fun of me because I won't open an umbrella in the house.

And did you know it is bad luck to have anything that's the image of an elephant where its trunk is down? It is indeed. My mother owned a pitcher like that, and things did not go well in her life. She always told me about the superstition, and yet, she hung onto that damned pitcher. My brain still believes that it was part of the problem.

So do you have any superstitions or good luck charms?

highlyeccentric

Evening folks! Or morning, for some of you.

Today I can report that I purchased both some tasteful homewares on the cheap in the local opshop (which has recently reopened), and also a fairly hideous plant pot. I'm a long-standing afficionado of Hideous Homewares: some of my highlights have been a teapot with a worrying safari-theme, with a white man figure twice the size of the elephant and a pith helmet for a lid; an extremely ugly wooden cat that sat in the toilet room staring directly at the loo; violently bright cutlery... you get the idea.

For the amusement of the community, therefore, I propose that you tell us about:

a. the most pleasingly hideous item of homewares or clothing you own (or perhaps one of your relatives owns)

and/or

b. a particularly satisfactory impulse purchase, either recent or distant.

pensnest

I had a couple of different topics buzzing about in my brain, but I think I will pick something with the potential to be positive and satisfying, so here goes.

Do you grow stuff?

I have a huge and rather unmanageable garden, and I don't really do much in it for a variety of reasons, chief among which is that my father in law, who lives with us, likes to grow things to eat and has command of a certain segment of the garden (the agreement we made when he moved in). I have helped him a bit with some digging, and planted some tomatoes for him recently, but mostly I keep away from the 'productive sector' of the garden. My FIL also has an inability to throw away anything that might possibly be useful, plus no aesthetic sensibilities whatsoever, so that part of the garden resembles a junkyard and fills me with soul-crushing despair, which is another reason to stay away from it.

However, I have known the pleasure of growing vegetables. In our previous house, I remember one particularly glorious year when there were courgettes both green and yellow, sweetcorn, and a couple of truly mighty pumpkins (the sole butternut squash to turn up was a tiny little thing), and tomatoes. It was so satisfying, gradually consuming the pumpkin (lots of curries!), and being able to go out into the garden, pick a courgette or two, and eat them half an hour later. And of course tomatoes fresh from the vine are amazing.

This house came with a bunch of apple trees, which are capricious and unpredictable—possibly because I don't know enough about them—but which have once or twice produced many apples. This is My Kind Of Gardening, really, as all I have to do is pick the fruit if it shows up.

Currently, I am quite pleased to have several basil plants on the windowsill, because I bought a "living herb" from the supermarket, the kind of thing that you buy to pick from, and then it dies after a month. Well, I bought it last summer and am still able to pick basil leaves! It is very pleasing, particularly since my style is to water it when I happen to remember. I have facilitated this by putting a milk bottle of water next to the basil.

I haven't done much in the way of flower-growing, but there was a packet of cerinthe seeds, a few years back, which worked wonderfully well. After a while, I potted up a few of the self-seeded plants (the stuff got everywhere, including into the house gutter) and offered them at the top of our drive for the neighbours to take. Currently, though, I have faced the various challenges of this garden and fled into indoor pursuits like knitting instead. I do have a very realistic plastic orchid!

Do you grow things? Inside or out? What's the most memorable plant/crop/season that you've had? Do you have a black thumb? What would you like to grow if you had the space/strength?

therealsnape

Today's post is inspired by my modly screw-up, of which I feel most ashamed.

Now we've all on occasions done things of which we feel really ashamed. I don't mean big things - this is not the place to be if you want to confess to the murder of whatever highly annoying person you kicked to Kingdom Come.

I'm talking about the small things that still have the power to make your toes curl years later. Often, you're the only one that feels it that way. A friend of mine knocked over a glass of red wine on my large and lovely table cloth. The stain came out at the dry cleaners, and it didn't matter, and someone else at that dinner also knocked over a glass, breaking it in the process, but she still feels very upset about it. I whish she wouldn't. Because everyone had such a lovely evening, and for her that evening is forever tainted by the memory of that accident.

Here's my tale of woe.

I once had a student (I teach French to adults, among other things) who had a very fascinating job. He was chef cook on a luxury yacht (like this, and when he was taking his lessons with me, the owner had an even bigger yacht built, quite close to where I lived.

He supervised the building and did the interior decorating. He invited my husband and me for a tour of the yacht. The most impressive thing ever. Totally amazing, and such a unique opportunity to see something we normally never would have seen.

In return, we cooked dinner for them, and my student was very pleased to be invited to dinner. He being a chef, no-one ever asks him to dinner, because everyone feels their cooking isn't up to his standards. But we did, and it pleased him no end.

Now for the big OMG blooper. In the Netherlands, it's totally unusual to bring a bottle of wine to drink on that very evening. In other countries this is quite normal, but here the host takes care of the drinks, and if one gives the host a bottle of wine, it's just an alternative to a bunch of flowers - i.e., something the host will put away for later enjoyment.

Our student didn't know this. He brought a bottle of champagne. And we didn't serve it then and there as pre-dinner drink.

Later we realised that was what he intended. We had a wonderful day, and my husband and I often spoke of it, but always with "I'm still so ashamed we didn't serve that bottle of champers."

And I'm still ashamed today. Miserly Dutch living up to their reputation.

So, let's all get it off our chest, and let's all be very supported of one another, and let's find some comfort in what we didn't do. Tell us freely, what was your toe-curling OMG moment?

Whatever you did, at least you didn't forget about a com you mod, nor did you keep the champagne all for yourself.

therealsnape

The fabulous

magnetic_pole mailed me around April 13, saying she had a flue coming up, and would I look after her entry for her. She's the kind of lovely person who ensures everyone gets a reply.

Of course I was willing to do so. I checked and replied religiously, and read many interesting comments in the process. Maggie asked about superpowers, and what a group of amazing people you are. I've seriously considered starting the Superpowers R Us agency so that we could all make a fortune. Sadly I'm unable to run a com, leave alone an agency.

For after that day, like the idiot I am, I totally forgot about other modding duties. This is why, after May 15th, the

covidcoffeecorner went silent.

At the end of April Maggie said,

"Ideally, if there's interest, I'd like to continue through the end of the month and wrap up as summer starts in June."

All over the place things are opening up a bit more, and I think in quite a few countries June 1st is a day of new options - over here, cinemas and terraces will open again.

But not everyone is able to enjoy those things yet, so continuing until June 1st seems a good idea. Also, I've let Maggie down quite enough, and she's feeling better now, so I'd love to give her a decent final week to the come she worked so hard for.

I'm so sorry you lost 5 days of fun through my stupidity, but here are the sign ups until June 1st. And because of all the days you lost, I'll keep in the Saturday and Sunday, and write discussion posts myself if there are no volunteers. But I think there will be, you're all fabulous.

Read Maggie's instructions first: "Both newcomers and old-timers with an interest in hosting are welcome! All you need to do is post a discussion topic in the morning and check in during the day to make sure folks are enjoying themselves. If you're interested, please reply with comment and date preferences or general availability below. Thanks in advance!

Monday, May 25: TRS (this is the 'I'm so sorry' post, discussion to follow soonest.)
Tuesday, May 26:

pensnest
Wednesday, May 27:

highlyeccentric
Thursday, May 28:

wpadmirer
Friday, May 29:

dine
Saturday, May 30:

aome
Sunday, May 31:

verdande_mi

Just leave a comment if you want to take one of these days!

smallhobbit

Because I'm a Brit, and that's what we do.

It is a characature that whenever two Brits get together the first thing they discuss is the weather, we all know it and acknowledge it, and continue to do it. It's the easy ice breaker, the way of politely spending the first couple of minutes before moving onto something of greater depth.

And why not - we live in a country where one day it may be cold enough to need to put the heating back on and the next day all the windows are thrown open with the plaintive cry of 'it's too hot!' And where in one place it will be pouring with rain and a mile away it's still dry as a bone.

So, what about you? Do you live in a place where the weather is more guaranteed? Do you like it hot or cold, wet or dry, snowing or thunderstorms? And what is your weather like now?

***

Also, this month I'm taking part in the

story_works communications challenge and sending e-cards to anyone who requests one. Therefore, if you would like an e-card and are happy to give me your email address, please drop me a DM. Alternatively, if you live in the UK and drop me your address I will send an actual card to you.

write_out

I recently saw this question posted: Would you rather always be 10 minutes late or 20 minutes early? My immediate reaction was 20 MINUTES IS NOT EARLY ENOUGH.

For as long as I can remember, I've had high anxiety over being late- to class, to work, to a movie, to an appointment, to the airport. If I have to be somewhere at noon, chances are I'm lurking in the parking lot at 11:30 am. If my flight is at 3 pm, I'll be at the airport by 1. It gives me great comfort to be early, to know that I'm where I'm supposed to be with no surprises. I'm lucky in that my husband is similar (although not nearly as fixated as I am), but I have friends who are not as concerned about timeliness (especially when traveling together) and that's caused some stress over the years.

eta: This has come up comments already and I'm glad: this need to be Early does not apply to dinners/parties unless I've been tasked with helping with preparations. Being too early in that case would stress me out just as much as being way late would!

What about you? Are you an early bird or always running late? Why do you think that is? How does that fit with the people in your daily life?

As an aside, I've been mostly lurking here, but enjoying the posts a lot. Thanks to everyone for the interesting questions/responses you've shared!

magnetic_pole

Folks, what are your superpowers?

Before you protest that you don't have any, let me assure you that you do--you just haven't thought about them that way. My partner R, for example, can always spot an extra space between words in a page of text. On screen, on paper, doesn't matter. She's pretty amazing at catching typos, too. See? Superpowers.

I have the power of not-getting-lost. Drop me off in a completely new city, and I'll navigate with aplomb. An old housemate of mine has a favorite story about the time a long-distance bus dropped the two of us off at the side of the road in a remote part of Greece. The driver definitely knew where we were going, despite our embarrassing lack of language skills---I'd copied down the name of our destination and showed it to him, and he'd nodded and smiled and helped us put our luggage away. When he stopped the bus and gestured furiously for us to get off, I discovered a superpower I didn't even know I had: navigational skills for the win! We were going to a port city, so we just kept walking downhill until we finally met the water, and from there it was easy to see how to get into town.

I've also got the power to smell food that's bit off, but honestly, that's more a curse than a superpower, so best not to dwell on that one.

So, folks, what are *your* superpower? What can you do that your friends and family generally can't?

tjs_whatnot

I struggled for a long time about what to come here and discuss with you all today. All I’ve been feeling is a bit of regret, that as this isolation begins to wind down *fingers crossed* there are so many things I didn’t do, so many zoos and museums I didn’t virtually tour, so many Zoom Happy Hours I didn’t indulge in, so many face masks I didn’t make (I mean, I made some, but not enough, not nearly enough).

But, who wants to talk about regret?

Instead, I thought I’d start a convo about the one thing I have been doing pretty consistently: exercising--or more precisely--walking.

I grew up liking the idea of walking, of hiking, but as an asthmatic kid living in the Pacific Northwest where all hikes seemed to require a lot of mountain climbing, I wasn’t as active as I desperately wanted to be.

Then life happened. About 50 years of it, and even the idea of walking, of hiking had lost its appeal. Until about 8 months ago. It started with a tightness in my chest and a fear of cardiac arrest and a realization that I needed to change my life if I still wanted to have one. I started slow. Walking the three blocks to work (yes my commute is that short and yes, I did find excuses to drive there almost everyday), parking farther away from the door when shopping, volunteering to take my housemates’ dog on walks.

It was around Christmas, about the time I got a Fitbit as a gift, something just clicked and the love came back, this time without the asthma (and high altitude--I live on the East Coast now) stopping me.

Turns out, being quarantined can’t stop me either. Yes, I have to be creative in how I walk--I do laps around my kitchen/living room A LOT. I walk in place a lot too. I get outside as much as I can, and thankfully I live in a place that has a lot of walking trails.

So, how are you staying active? Do you feel it’s helping? Are you doing less or more? Any tips to make it fun? When we’re allowed to travel again, is there a place you’re itching to go for physical activity? Joining a gym isn’t top on my list of things I NEED to do the minute we’re allowed, but IDK, the Appalachian Trail is calling to me. And the present I was planning on giving myself to walk The El Camino Santiago de Compostela on my 50th birthday next year is still in the works. *fingers crossed*

highlyeccentric

One of my favourite non-english words is the dutch Knuffel, which I'm told means both cuddle and cuddly-toy.

A stuffed today Bernese Mountain Dog adopting the one-paw-on-you position of concern

Here is one of my greatest investments since I moved back to Switzerland: a stuffed toy Bernese Mountain Dog, who has eventually acquired the name Othon. I bought him when my immediate moving-countries financial aargh cleared up, because I had coveted ones like him in the airport as I was departing in 2018, but couldn't justify buying more knuffels at the time, what with wildly unstable career / housing / residency prospects. I didn't *expect* him to become a Quarantine Friend, but he has done a very good job.

(Lacking pets, I have to stage my own cute and/or hilarious tableaux with stuffed toys.)

A senior citizen teddy in a fashionable waistcoat, at the seaside

This is Brown Bear, who is nearly as old as I am. His snazzy little jacket is newer: a few Christmases back I got my mother to make him a new outfit as - well, it was supposed to be my Christmas present, but since I got other presents as well, I mother recognises bear's status in the family and gave him his own present that year.

He spent a couple of years back at my parents' place, because I thought he was getting too old to be squished in suitcases. Of course, *not two days* after I left him at my parents' house in 2018, as I was preparing to fly back to Europe, someone notified me my my home town was cut off by bushfires. I held off until the immediate danger was passed, but subsequently made Dad promise that Brown Bear goes in any evacuation bags that might be packed! Turns out the next person to have to worry about that was me, living at home temporarily last year, in charge of the house and contents during the first 'Catastrophic Fire Danger' day since NSW instituted the rating. (This photo is from the day after, at which point I was comfortable leaving the house, but carrying a backpack with all my ID and all the family's prescriptions + bear any time I did.) Brown Bear is now safely back in Switzerland, where we are unlikely to suffer from wildfires, and stuffed bears at least are safe from pandemics.*

Do you still have your childhood stuffies? Do you acquire new ones? If you have kids, do you have a soft spot for any of their bears in particular (we found my brother's Best Bear cleaning out a cupboard, and my mother definitely has a soft spot for him)? What about dolls? I had a few dolls, but only one I really loved, and I haven't stayed attached to them like I did the stuffed toys.

*I worry for people for whom a comfort stuffie is a functional necessity for getting out and about, rather than an optional extra - bears pick up germs pretty easily, as any parent of toddlers knows, and washing them is Quite A Production.

liseuse

Happy Friday! I thought it might be interesting to talk about music today.

I am, what one might call, an appreciator of music but not someone who should be encouraged to try and make music. As a child I had piano lessons but was never encouraged to take any of the exams because there is a dreaded singing element and I am entirely unable to replicate a note. I can hear the difference between notes but I cannot make my voice replicate them or anywhere near them. Ditto the years of playing the oboe. I was not bad, per se, at either the piano or the oboe. I was mostly competent if one defines competency as "able to replicate the notes, mostly in the correct order, but does not expect any interpretation to occur".

However, I do enjoy listening to music. I have music on in the background for a good portion of my day, and even more of my day now I'm working from home. I cannot listen to music through headphones at work. Not because it's forbidden, we're allowed to do so, but I can guarantee that the phone will not have rung all morning and the minute I put my headphones in it will leap off the cradle and ring incessantly and then three people will turn up needing to ask me a question and it's just not worth the interruptions. Mostly these days I set spotify off on an album and then let it just keep playing at me. It's interesting to see where you get when you start with Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

I am also a big fan of Night Tracks from the BBC. I never listen as it's broadcast, but it is, to me, the perfect soundtrack for Sunday afternoons and reading on the sofa. As is Early Music Now, again from the BBC.

So, are you a music person? Are you a musical person? Or does the sound of music playing in the background with no one paying attention to it infuriate you beyond all measure? Have you discovered any exciting new (to you) music during The Great Entroublement?

ng_moonmoth

Happy Thursday! Spouse and I are foodies, which means that whenever it's running, Thursday night belongs to Top Chef: the reality show where professional chefs, all high-level and some of them quite successful, square off in a weeks-long series of culinary challenges that allow them to showcase their skills across the entire range of what one needs to be a big-time, big-name chef -- and rewards the winner with the exposure and stake that they can use to do precisely that, if they wish. Many winners have indeed done so, while others have gone the media route and been successful there.

But today's post isn't about the show, other than using it as inspiration. Each season, the chefs are likely to face a challenge like, "Make the dish that convinced you to take up cooking as a career," or "recreate a treasured family recipe." And with lots more people doing lots more home cooking these days, I'd like to offer up a similar challenge.

What is/are your signature dish/dishes? Have you made any of them recently? Even if someone else in your household is the primary cook, there may be one or two things you make that are special; you are welcome to just share those. If making your best dish amounts to cutting things up, adding some flavors, and putting the result in a bowl, that totally counts, too. And, as an escape clause for those whose culinary skills include the ability to burn water, and the best thing they make in the kitchen is "reservations": pick exactly one dish from a restaurant you often order food from, that you wish you could make yourself.

aome

Do you like going to the zoo? Which zoo has been your favorite, of different ones you’ve visited? Do you have a favorite wild animal (or three) that you always prioritize seeing?

For me, hands down, the best zoo I’ve been to is the Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland. So many different viewing points, there were hardly any times when you couldn’t see the target animal at all, and the enclosures were spacious, natural-feeling, and generally thoughtfully done for the animal’s comfort. Pity it’s several thousand miles away at the moment. :-P

As for favorite animals – I’ll see pretty much anything, and usually go along for other people’s favorites. My teen son has always adored penguins, so if those are available, we have to see them. My SIL loves cats, so we always make sure to see those. (My favorite big cat is the cheetah.) But I also enjoy elephants, giraffes, strange little rodents, reptiles/amphibians, primates, otters, kangaroos – pretty much anything.

What about you?

shadowhive

Hi! So this is my first post here and I figured I should talk about something that’s helped to keep me sane these past weeks. That thing is Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

New Horizons is the latest game in the series and it’s already become one of the best selling games of the year, so chances are if you have a nintendo Switch you already have it. But for those that don’t you might be wondering what Animal Crossing is all about?

On this game you start out by going to a deserted island to start a new life. You’re not alone though, there’s Tom Nook and his nephews who run the shop and resident services and you also start out with two island villagers. These villagers come in the form of animals (the player character is the only human in the game) and as time goes on you can find and befriend even more. (At time of writing the total number of villagers you can have is 10, which I think is too few considering there are almost 400 different villagers.) After setting up the tents of yourself and the villagers and, choosing the island name, your island life begins.

So what does that entail? Well there’s a variety of things that you can do. You can catch fish and bugs (which can be donated to the museum) and, once your tent is upgraded to a house you can decorate it with furniture, carpet and wallpapers. New to this game is the option to craft things, tools, furniture even musical instruments!

Your starting island has native fruit and a type of flower, but you can gain others (if you have friends you can easily gain all the fruits and flower types by going to visit their islands!). As time goes on you get special visitors coming to your island, like Kicks (the skunk who sells shoes, socks and bags), Saharah (the camel that sells rugs, mysterious carpet and wallpaper) and Flick and CJ who buy bugs and fish respectively (and getting models of them too!).

I got the game on the day of release and my island (Eventide) is now completely full of villagers, including some of my favs like Lucky (a dog wrapped in bandages) and Julian (a stylish unicorn). My museum is filling up, with my fossil exhibit almost complete (with only two fossils short!). My shop has been upgraded and I also have a clothes shop. My house has all six rooms (that it can have currently), which includes a room I’ve got decorated with skull and horror stuff alongside one with sci fi stuff. My island is still pretty wild, unlike some who have it covered in paving and nicely ordered, but I like it that way. Even so I’m working on making a kitchen and diner area on a part of the island next to Julian’s house.

I’m so grateful that this game came out during this time. As someone who as anxiety and depression, this is helped distract me from my thoughts and help keep me sane. I know I’m not the only one that’s been helped by this game and it seems a lot of people are using it as a distraction or escape.

One interesting thing that’s come from the lockdown is the Monterey Bay Aquarium has been doing Animal Crossing streams every Monday. The focus has been on the museum and there’s been interesting facts about the various exhibits. They’ve even had guests on to talk about fossils and insects and it’s really fascinating. The link to their twitter is here which keeps an update on their streams among other things. (From the one last night I learned that diving beetles can fly, which I had no idea about!)

Do you have Animal Crossing? What are your native fruit and villagers? Let me know in the comments. And if you don’t, what games are you playing to help keep you sane.

Lastly here’s some pics from my island

( Read more... )

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Music: The Used - Gravity’s Rainbow

therealsnape

Hello, everyone at the coffee corner,

Today it's my turn to post an item. And as usual, it's a bookish one.

Are you a re-reader of books? If not, why not? And if so, which books in particular? And which is the book you've re-read most often, and why?

I am a great re-reader myself. My father, who was also a ~~compulsively-buying book addict~~ dedicated collectionneur, even had it as a criterium for his purchases: if it's a book you want to read more than once, buy it. If not, get it from the library.

Wise words, and he lived by them. Therefore his collection, after some thinning, fitted into three large Billys. In my case it was more difficult. Not because I lack self-control (which I do) but because I like to read lots of English books, and live in the Netherlands. While the English section of our library is largish and fairly well-stocked, it has its limitations.

Things are better now that I have a kindle. That allows me to read all the lovely bookses without actually buying them in paper. I only do that when I want to re-read.

The book I've read most often is Dickens's Christmas Carol. Every year, when the tree is decorated and the final lesson given, out comes my lovely copy, with Rackham's illustrations, and at that moment Christmas has truly started. The reading count is well over 30 times.

An other book I've re-read often is Terry Pratchett's Night Watch.

And how about you?

magnetic_pole

Folks, I keep hoping this comm will gradually become unnecessary, with real-life coffeehouses opening up again and restrictions lifted so we have more chance to talk during the day. We're not there yet, where I live at least. Shall we continue for a little longer, with the hopes that we'll be back outside, even if limited fashion, sometime soon?

Ideally, if there's interest, I'd like to continue through the end of the month and wrap up as summer starts in June. For the moment, though, let's say we'll definitely continue through mid-May. I'm going to post sign ups for the first two weeks in May below. Both newcomers and old-timers with an interest in hosting are welcome! All you need to do is post a discussion topic in the morning and check in during the day to make sure folks are enjoying themselves. If you're interested, please reply with comment and date preferences or general availability below. Thanks in advance!

Monday, May 4: TRS
Tuesday, May 5: shadowhive
Wednesday, May 6: aome
Thursday, May 7: ng_moonmoth
Friday, May 8: liseuse

Monday, May 11: highlyeccentric
Tuesday, May 12: tjs_whatnot
Wednesday, May 13:
Thursday, May 14: write_out
Friday, May 15: smallhobbit

And if you have an idea for a discussion topic but don't want to be a host yourself, consider adding your idea to the hopper over here. (And everyone: there are fabulous ideas over there--go take a look!)

Thanks in advance to everyone for helping keep the coffee corner lively!

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Covid Coffee Corner: Stop by to Chat

June 2020

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Page Summary

magnetic_pole - Thank you! Phase One closing-down commences and a friending meme to stay in touch
verdande_mi - Hope
aome - Have you heard the one about....
dine - daily discussion post: comfort food
wpadmirer - Superstitions and good luck charms
highlyeccentric - Op shops, impulse purchases and Hideous Homewares.
pensnest - Green fingers?
therealsnape - Today's Discussion Post
therealsnape - Note from a grovelling co-mod
smallhobbit - Daily discussion post: Let's talk about the weather
write_out - daily discussion post: early or late?
magnetic_pole - Daily discussion post: superpowers
tjs_whatnot - Daily Discussion: Let's Get Physical!
highlyeccentric - Monday is brought to you by: Knuffels!
liseuse - Daily Discussion Post: Ah, That's Music to My Ears
ng_moonmoth - Home cooking
aome - It's a zoo out there
shadowhive - Let’s cross some animals!
therealsnape - Read, Repeat
magnetic_pole - Continuing into May on weekdays?

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Resources: Melting Sigh

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