Done Since 2020-03-08

You've probably seen COVID-19: Episode 3 already. If not, go back and read it and the preceeding two episodes. We've started "social distancing" ourselves (easier for introverts, of course); leaving the house only for medical appointments and urgent shopping (which there isn't much of -- we've been stocking up). You should, too. The important thing is to FlattenTheCurve. Island County has six confirmed cases as of yesterday; that's up from three the day before.

We've canceled this year's Rainbow Con, or rather moved it to next year. We're working with this year's guests to pick a date that works for all of them. Consonance has been postponed to sometime later this year; Norwescon has been canceled. The island's UU congregation held its weekly service via Zoom. Zoom also looks like a possible way of keeping in touch with your family and friends, though there are probably better apps for home use.

I have been spending way too much time tracking the pandemic; I'm going to try to cut back on that. Presumably in favor of the other certainty: taxes, although my track record on that is pretty poor.

Take care of yourself. The immediate future is looking very bleak. For longer-range bleakness and some compensatory optimism, read Our Future on Earth (more info under Tuesday's notes) and The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis (more in this post.)

( Notes & links, as usual )

Songs for (oops)Sunday: Songs to wash your hands by

(Aside: I meant to post this yesterday, but got distracted)

It wasn't hard to figure out what to write about today -- everybody's writing about using a song chorus to time your 20 seconds of hand-washing.

The generic advice is to sing "Happy Birthday" twice. That works, I suppose, but my filker's mind immediately went to the other birthday song:

Doom destruction and despair People dying everywhere Happy birthday (ugh) happy birthday. Now that you're the age you are Your demise can not be far Happy birthday (ugh) happy birthday.

Two verses is about right, and those were the most appropriate ones I could come up with on short notice. Feel free to sing whichever inappropriate verses you want to. I mentioned it in (of course) my birthday post yesterday.

When I linked to the FlattenTheCurve page on Thursday, it immediately inspired Song: Flatten the Curve by The Mad Filkentist. Because filkers.

For those who are more into more recent music, the Seattle Times recently published a list of "Coronavirus prevention: 10 awesome songs to sing while you wash your hands", complete with official videos. Try not to get your phone wet while you're singing along. Naturally, I'd only ever heard one of them. "Jolene", in case it matters.

In case you prefer cute, there's Wash your hands, Brother John! - YouTube. There seem to be quite a few different versions out there. I like the idea of making a kids' game out of it.

( lyrics, if you don't want to click through: )