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RAF Documentary Recommendations

Recently, the RAF team shared their favorite documentaries, and many team members had more than one! We thought it would be fun to share our favorite documentaries with you. If a documentary was available online, the link will take you there.

Kade: The Trials of Life Watch on https://ihavenotv.com/series/trials-of-life

Bria: Cheer on Netflix. So much work for a short time of activity.

Steph: Mad Hot Ballroom on Amazon Prime. 5^th graders learned how to ballroom dance. Waiting for superman on Amazon Prime. – education, charter school movement. SO hard to fire ineffective teachers that they were moved to worse schools and were paid to do nothing.

Nick: The September Issue – making the Vogue Sept issue. DVD has extra features, outtakes of Andre Leon Talley. Steph: You have to watch the Dior one! Wintour not cold, but not accessible to people she doesn’t need to be accessible to.

Sheena: Blackfish on Netflix. about Orcas. How unnatural it is to be cooped up.

Tyler: Icarus favorite one of ten: Jiro Dreams of Sushi, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, OJ: Made in America on ESPN, Dear Zachary: A letter to a Son about a Father on Amazon Prime, That Guy…Who was in that Thing, I Know that Voice, Boys State, The Standbys, Free Solo on HULU.

Julie: The Aquarium on Animal Planet. (Georgia aquarium) positive care of animals. Ryan and Julie want to take a trip just to see the otters. Let the penguins roam, cutest. Alone on History Channel – survival documentary, they only have a go pro and take 10 items with themselves. Shows need for mental health and connection.

Johnah: Becoming and AOC Knock down the house. The Call to Courage on Netflix by Brene Brown. Anything about female empowerment.

Christina: Crip Camp on Netflix. Many of the first helped found ADA. Run by a bunch of hippies who had no idea how to take care of these kids. Lots of drugs and sex, but first time that disabled kids were accepted.

Helen: anything Ken Burns, of Paradise Birds on Documentary Area (Attenborough) Tues Wed are good documentary nights on PBS. Frontline is more political, American Masters and Amer. Experience are docu series. Madagascar on this week’s Nature program.

Christa: Ken Burns Civil War on PBS documentary, 8 part series. Howard on Disney + ; Athlete A

 

Hello all!

I’m sure we have all had a chance to experiment in the kitchen. I discovered this recipe because it was what I had! But I love the flavor of this four ingredient margarita. Also, Coronarita was already taken.

Here is my recipe for a four-ingredient Easy Breezy Margareezy:
1 shot of tequila
1 shot of triple sec
3 oz. sour mix
a splash of ginger beer

Add ice and you have a delightful margarita! I’m sure you could add these in a blender and make a frozen, I haven’t tried that yet though. The ginger beer gives it a nice kick to balance the sweet and sour of the mix.  Enjoy with your take-out Mexican meals.

Hello all!  Here are my summary notes from an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

TITLE: Communicating in Times of Disaster
by Scott Cowen, President of Tulane during Katrina

1. Focus on the welfare and safety of your faculty, staff, and students; nothing is more important.
2. Make sure you focus on what you can control (e.g., online learning) and embark on extensive scenario planning for things you cannot control (e.g., the end of the crisis).
3. Continually communicate with the campus community in a way that balances reality with hope and empathy.
4. Seek feedback that can provide insight into how you are doing and what other things you could be doing.

The importance of actively creating a sense of community beyond living and learning in close proximity cannot be overstated. The college leadership has to establish a rhythm of communication that responds to the different needs of various stakeholder groups in terms of frequency, format, and channel of communication.

A lot of these will be guided by DAR leadership; however, we can keep these steps in mind as we are communicating with our donors. As the article said, Not only can we empathize with each other on a human level; we can also rest assured that resulting economic and operational challenges will apply to all. It will be a more or less level playing field of chaos, but also of co-learning and innovation.

For the full article, click HERE.

Good day to you!

I wanted to share some of my favorite fiction that you can read while you are practicing your #socialdistancing. The links go to the Goodreads pages where you can read a summary, or check out my mini-reviews below.

1. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russel.
2. Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum.
3. Less by Andrew Sean Greer.
4. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.
5. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead.
6. Reinhardt’s Garden by Mark Haber.
7. Atonement by Ian McEwan.
8. Metamorphoses by Ovid. I read the Charles Martin translation.
9. The Color Purple by Alice Walker.
10. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton.

THE SPARROW is a combo of sci-fi, spiritual quest, and low-key horror. Speculative fiction at its finest, and I haven’t met anyone who read it who didn’t absolutely love it.

HAUSFRAU tells the tale of an American housewife who is forced to live in another country and the isolation she feels. Good prose from a poet author, and appropriate for people who will be feeling isolated.

LESS is a lighthearted romp across the globe. A gay author who is turning 50 decided to deal with his crumbling life by avoiding it, traveling around the world. Pulizter Prize winner.

THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE is a sci-fi slash love story that will touch your heart. Audrey Niffenegger writes beautifully and keeps you engaged as you jump back and forth through time.

THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD is Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer-prize winning account of a young slave escaping to freedom, imagining if the underground railroad literally existed.  Beautifully written and haunting.

REINHARDT’S GARDEN is a surreal exploration of melancholy, and will have you laughing to yourself at moments. A warning- although it’s only 150 small pages, it’s dense–the book is one long paragraph. However, it’s really a great read and you can get through it in a couple of hours.

ATONEMENT might be the best-known book by one of my favorite authors, Ian McEwan. He’s from the Woolf Joyce school of stream of consciousness, where an entire book can take place in 30 minutes. If you like his writing, check out Saturday or his latest, Machines Like Me (which I haven’t read yet).

METAMORPHOSES is ancient literature, but is written in short stories that are really quite fascinating. Because it’s also poetry, there is a heightened style, but it’s very engaging writing. I read the Charles Martin translation.

THE COLOR PURPLE is one of the great American books of the 20th century. The story of Celie and her world is told through a unique voice, and is in turns heartbreaking, infuriating and humorous. It’s a short read for those of you with shorter attention spans.

JURASSIC PARK is a sci-fi classic. Michael Crichton builds tension so well that you will be riveted for the last half of the book, even if you have seen the movie a dozen times. Check this out for an intense page-turner.

If you want to get your body moving while you’re stuck working at home, yoga is a great way to stretch and strengthen. Here are a couple of videos to help with the basics.

Sun Salutation

If you wanna get started right away, jump to 2:00.

If you just need a reminder of the poses, jump to 10:00.

 

Next, add some warrior poses.

Hello all!

Many of us will be working from home over the next few weeks to help mitigate the #coronavirus_crisus. It will be a tough transition to a more solitary life for many of us, so I thought I would share some tips to combat the stir-crazies that are inevitably coming. Some of these are applicable for the workday, and some are for times when you are not working.

WHILE WORKING

1. Set miniature goals. If you’re having difficulty concentrating, set a timer for 20 minutes and let yourself have a snack, a sip of water, a walk around and then get back to it.
2. Take a ten minute yoga break to refresh your body, mind and soul. Check out this post for some basic flows to start.
3. You still have to eat, so cook. Try new recipes. Experiment with old ones.
4. Reach out to someone you love. A text to a family member or an old friend will be a welcome touch point.

 

WHILE NOT WORKING

1. Read fiction. It brings you into a different world when you are feeling cooped up. My recommendations are in this post.
2. Tackle a home project. Since you’ll be in the space for the next few days, make it more welcoming.
3. Memorize some poetry. Honestly, when was the last time you memorized anything? Probably elementary school. Here’s a chance to use a part of your brain that you haven’t used in a while.
4. Be creative. Do you like to paint, or draw? Is there a story you want to explore? How about singing a song or writing one?
5. Journal. This is an extraordinary time, and writing down your thoughts and feelings about it will be fascinating in three or four years when we’re able to look back on this time with more clarity and context.
6. Help someone else. It’s easy when you’re alone to start thinking mostly about yourself. If you can help someone else, you will feel better. Can you buy and take groceries to an immunocompromised friend’s doorstep?