LOCATION: SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA • July 24th, 2020
How are you doing? What is something that made you smile this week? I’m sharing a new post of things that inspired me, made me laugh, and brought me joy these past few weeks. In case you missed past month’s Positivity & Ways to Help posts, you can find them here, here, and here. Feel free to add yours to the comments!
CAUSES THAT ARE MAKING AN IMPACT
Donate Plasma or Blood - If you have fully recovered from COVID-19, please consider donating plasma! Convalescent plasma is currently being investigated for the treatment of COVID-19 and there is evidence that it might help individuals who are currently recovering. The American Red Cross and many hospitals are also offering free COVID-19 antibody testing to all donors due to the current blood donation shortages. The FDA has more information and resources listed here and you can also check with your local hospital.
Broadway Cares - We have been playing the cast album of Hamilton non-stop since the show’s release on Disney+ and we just watched it again last night too! Music theater has been on our minds a lot as a result so I wanted to highlight Broadway Cares’ COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund in support of those in the theatre community who are facing healthcare crises and other needs while Broadway remained closed due to the pandemic.
As the pandemic continues and schools are likely to remain closed for the fall, No Kid Hungry continues to provide free meals to children who are at risk of going hungry and have previously relied on school meals. They have also launched a texting hotline to let parents know about emergency food distribution sites within their neighborhoods.
FOR SOME JOY & INSPIRATION
Virtual Bouquet to Art 2020 - The de Young museum in San Francisco is currently hosting their annual Bouquet to Art event online now through Sunday, July 26th. The museum hosted their first Bouquet to Art event in 1984 and has become so popular that many museums have their own show too. This was one of my favorite events at the de Young last year and it even inspired us to become members of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. I will definitely be tuning into their Sunday event as they host a bouquet-building workshop! Their daily floral programming is also recorded and available if you missed the live stream.
The cover image of Viola Davis for Vanity Fair’s July/August issue was shot by Dario Calmese. He is the first black photographer to shoot a cover photo for the 106-year-old magazine. Vanity Fair publishes about 12 issues per year and has run since 1913. Long overdue? Yes, but the progress is newsworthy nonetheless. Davis will portray Michelle Obama in Showtime’s upcoming series First Ladies, you can read the full interview here. Dario Calmese’s interview on making history as VF and how his cover image is meant to be a protest with the Times here.
Speaking of Hamilton, I recently discovered this series of videos, How Hamilton Works, analyzing the music behind the hit show. The creator breaks down the chord progressions of various characters and discusses how rap, hip-hop, and theatre influenced Lin-Manuel Miranda to write Hamilton. I love how he explains the music theory in a really simple way and even shows you the chords on a keyboard as you follow along.
*Photos from Bouquet to Art 2019