Hello Friends! It’s been a minute, hasn’t it? We, like most of you, I’m sure, have done very little eating, seeing, or going the last several months! Now, after over a year of pandemic, quarantine conditions, our lives have changed so much—some temporarily, some for good. Even now, things are still in flux, although with COVID cases falling and vaccination rates rising, hopefully we are trending in a more positive direction.
During this time, I have had a very hard time focusing on the things we loved to do here on the blog—eating out, exploring our community and traveling the world. Obviously, actually doing most of those things was not an option but even thinking about them and making plans was quite a difficult mental exercise for me. That, along with all the stress, sadness, anger, and upheaval happening in communities across the US, has made this year trying for everyone.
One thing I did do quite a bit of was to try to find ways to keep my mind engaged via virtual talks, lectures, exhibits, tours, etc. This kind of programing helped me not just travel or visit new places or old favorites but it also helped sometimes make some sense of all the other happenings in our world.
An upcoming special in KCET’s Emmy award-winning arts and culture series is “Artbound: Arts Education”, premiering on Tuesday April 28, 2021. It focuses on the importance of arts education for young people and our communities, particularly in these current stressful times.
You can see it on Wednesday, April 28, 2021 at 9 p.m. on KCET or Friday, April 30, 2021 at 8 p.m. on PBS SoCal or streamed on the PBS video app. Or join LACMA (The Los Angeles County Museum of Art) on Tuesday, April 27, at 7 p.m. for a virtual event debuting the episode and featuring a panel discussion as part of the Film at LACMA screening series. You can register to attend this at https://www.lacma.org/programs/film .
As for the blog, I’ve finally been to start thinking a little bit more about traveling and eating again, now that it is starting to feel a bit more realistic. I’m planning some new content, mostly travel-related, coming up so keep an eye out. In the meantime, maybe give this episode a look. KCET is one of my favorite places to learn about different facets of life in Southern California and this is another excellent thought-provoking program they’ve added to their line up!