COVID friendly novel experiences / artist dates?
August 21, 2020 11:43 PM Subscribe
lockdown (amongst many, many other things) has been getting to me -- novelty and excitement revives me and makes me happy. all my old favorite things to do are off limits because of covid -- do you have ideas for bringing in novelty within limits?
i'm a big believer in the artist dates / novel experiences to make me happy...pre-covid, i was in nyc, where it was very, very easy to find novel experiences. even something as simple as going on a walk meant exploring and noticing and eavesdropping on interesting people. i loved to just go wander around a bookshop or go to a museum or eavesdrop at a cafe -- all of which i no longer can do. i'm in san diego, california, which is far far less interesting of a city, aesthetically and culturally. everything requires a car, museums and cafes are off the table...and i still find myself craving that novelty and excitement i used to find in new york.
here, there's a lot of hikes, beaches and nature - and i've been trying to explore as many as i can. hikes are reviving but even the outdoor stuff is getting a little old, and lately it's been too a little hot for hiking. what other covid friendly new experiences are there?
i've tried some virtual theater / zoom escape room stuff, which has been pretty fun but not super fulfilling...other things i have tried and liked: cooking a complete meal from a new cuisine (but the problem lies within in buying a bunch of new ingredients i may not use often..on a budget while i'm still unemployed), driving to out of the way bakeries/plant nurseries to buy just a few things, looking at houses in random neighborhoods, catching up with old friends on zoom. do you have any other ideas, especially some that might tap into creative impulses?
i'm a big believer in the artist dates / novel experiences to make me happy...pre-covid, i was in nyc, where it was very, very easy to find novel experiences. even something as simple as going on a walk meant exploring and noticing and eavesdropping on interesting people. i loved to just go wander around a bookshop or go to a museum or eavesdrop at a cafe -- all of which i no longer can do. i'm in san diego, california, which is far far less interesting of a city, aesthetically and culturally. everything requires a car, museums and cafes are off the table...and i still find myself craving that novelty and excitement i used to find in new york.
here, there's a lot of hikes, beaches and nature - and i've been trying to explore as many as i can. hikes are reviving but even the outdoor stuff is getting a little old, and lately it's been too a little hot for hiking. what other covid friendly new experiences are there?
i've tried some virtual theater / zoom escape room stuff, which has been pretty fun but not super fulfilling...other things i have tried and liked: cooking a complete meal from a new cuisine (but the problem lies within in buying a bunch of new ingredients i may not use often..on a budget while i'm still unemployed), driving to out of the way bakeries/plant nurseries to buy just a few things, looking at houses in random neighborhoods, catching up with old friends on zoom. do you have any other ideas, especially some that might tap into creative impulses?
Have you tried doing something more attention-demanding within nature? Bird-watching is pretty popular but like, trying to identify trees or flowers, hunting for mushrooms, catching frogs, visiting the same place across different seasons, these are all ways to become more aware of the novelty and variety in a new environment kind of like your walks in New York.
posted by Lady Li at 12:07 AM on August 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by Lady Li at 12:07 AM on August 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
Growing plants from seed, especially ones you have no experience with. Plants are so weird, and quietly do such strange, unexpected things, that spending a little time observing them carefully often leads to unexpected discoveries.
Then depending on your neighborhood you might be able to ramp that up by trying to collect seeds or cuttings from the local plants where you live, which can require learning a lot about them and their lifecycles and weirdnesses and make walks more interesting. You could also try things like time-lapse photography on your seedlings, or science fair-type experiments with growing conditions.
Other things: exploring a neighborhood with the goal of making some kind of map of it, maybe one of the graphic-designy types that's showing up a lot these days. Or taking up needlework and working up to something like this. Reading up on local history and going to see the sites where something interesting happened in 1901. Driving to some park where you can sit and people-watch.
The zoo is still open, right? Maybe a membership would be worthwhile if you like watching animals. Or if going there is a problem, maybe animal webcams would be an interesting substitute.
On youtube there's a genre of people doing walkthroughs of their cities all across the globe. Or any number of other rabbitholes - recently I got sucked into watching videos of people playing musical instruments I'd never heard of from around the world.
In general taking up almost a new hobby is a source of novelty as you learn. Is there anything you've been wanting to try?/
posted by trig at 12:26 AM on August 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
Then depending on your neighborhood you might be able to ramp that up by trying to collect seeds or cuttings from the local plants where you live, which can require learning a lot about them and their lifecycles and weirdnesses and make walks more interesting. You could also try things like time-lapse photography on your seedlings, or science fair-type experiments with growing conditions.
Other things: exploring a neighborhood with the goal of making some kind of map of it, maybe one of the graphic-designy types that's showing up a lot these days. Or taking up needlework and working up to something like this. Reading up on local history and going to see the sites where something interesting happened in 1901. Driving to some park where you can sit and people-watch.
The zoo is still open, right? Maybe a membership would be worthwhile if you like watching animals. Or if going there is a problem, maybe animal webcams would be an interesting substitute.
On youtube there's a genre of people doing walkthroughs of their cities all across the globe. Or any number of other rabbitholes - recently I got sucked into watching videos of people playing musical instruments I'd never heard of from around the world.
In general taking up almost a new hobby is a source of novelty as you learn. Is there anything you've been wanting to try?/
posted by trig at 12:26 AM on August 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
I find there is SO MUCH going on online view that anything I choose to intentionally participate in has that "artists date" factor.
Most specifically, I have been thinking of doing one of Alisha Sadikot's virtual art walks around Bombay architecture / galleries.
I have also now participated in THREE food conferences over zoom and twitter. So maybe devote a day to a digital symposium of some kind? Check to see if museums or institutions you would like to visit are hosting any virtual events. It is my fervent wish that this shift makes certain aspects of academia more publically accessible: for food studies, this has definitely been the case.
posted by athirstforsalt at 3:11 AM on August 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
Most specifically, I have been thinking of doing one of Alisha Sadikot's virtual art walks around Bombay architecture / galleries.
I have also now participated in THREE food conferences over zoom and twitter. So maybe devote a day to a digital symposium of some kind? Check to see if museums or institutions you would like to visit are hosting any virtual events. It is my fervent wish that this shift makes certain aspects of academia more publically accessible: for food studies, this has definitely been the case.
posted by athirstforsalt at 3:11 AM on August 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a game for the Nintendo Switch, has been scratching the novelty and creativity itch for me during lockdown. A core part of the game is finding different types of fish, sea creatures, bugs, and fossils, and I definitely feel a little rush when I catch something new. There are also lots of little surprises to uncover, like NPC dialogue, items you can interact with, etc. The creativity aspect comes from terraforming and decorating your own in-game island. Also, if you're into pixel art, you can create custom designs for items and upload them to the game.
posted by neushoorn at 4:43 AM on August 22, 2020
posted by neushoorn at 4:43 AM on August 22, 2020
Tour foreign cities using Google Street View. My recently sister reported that she has finally explored Venice and no longer needs to go there in real life.
Go back to your old neighborhoods and explore what they look like now using Google Street View. Do a nostalgia trip. If there is a location where you always used to stop for ice cream gets some ice cream into the house ahead of time and have a bowl at the time when you reach that location in your virtual exploration.
Use a treadmill or stationary bike to tour foreign cities watching walk through videos.
Get a good magnifying glass, go outside, lie belly down on the lawn and explore.
Find an open-ended alternative life computer game such as Eve on Line, or Haven and Hearth.
Sit down and figure out your current skill set and hobby interests and figure out what they have in common and how the relate to each other and then figure out which hobbies and interests do not have any of those features. For example my hobbies and interests lie in history, sociology, socio-biology, and biology. I do auditory and visual arts. So mathematics and astronomy are pretty much outside of my ordinary field of interests and would be a good place for me to explore for things that are completely different. I could either throw myself right in the deep end - quadratic equations and pulsars - or I could start with the history of astronomy and mathematics. I'll remember more if I wade in cautiously because I'll have a framework ready to access the entrance links of memory but starting a brand new memory path would be another challenge
Have you done anything with music? What about learning a simple instrument? Your cheapest would be percussion if you have an old plastic pail.
Watch movies with subtitles or strong accents that require you to listen closely.
Immerse yourself in some other culture and time, such as war time Britain by reading, watching War Time Farm and other documentaries and then experimenting with the various cultural features of the time - cook a war time recipe (wartime recipes are cheap and familiar ingredients) tie on one of those headscarves they wore to protect their hair, listen to the era's music.
Go to the local park that has grass or paving and practice some solo sport there, ineptly. Tai Chi, pitch and catch, gymnastics, basketball - start with a cheap ball from the dollar store that has just enough bounce to use and reward yourself with a more expensive one if you do three sessions with the cheap one - dance or yoga are all possibilities.
Look for a cheap eavesdropping device and bring it to the park or on a walk and use that - do not stalk anyone, just see what you hear as it picks up the ambient noises.
Get a pen pal.
Join a group that requires a weekly check-in or meeting.
Do a sensory walk: As you walk down the street concentrate hard on what you are hearing. Think about what you are hearing and describe it to yourself. Hear the difference in white noise and volume in different areas and concentrate on the tiny hard to define noises. Then concentration of your kinetic and tactile senses: walk around feeling the ground rise and fall with driveways, the difference between sidewalk and floor and grass, the sensation of your clothes at your wrists, arms, shoulders, chest, etc. any pain you feel, any itches, the sensations of moving air etc. Then do an olfactory walk: What do you smell? Do you smell anything different? Move from item at smelling level to item, sniffing any roses of course, but also testing if you can smell the bricks of the buildings, different smells in doorways etc.
Concentrate on something you normally ignore when out walking, such as identifying and observing each and every car you can, specifically stating the brand and the logo, and the make. Honda, four door, hatchback. Ford, pick up truck... walk around it until you see the marking f250. Pontiac. Hyundai. Nissan. Another Ford. Observe the colours, which colours are most common and what hues there are and what colours are missing. Do you ever see turquoise cars? What about pink? How common is red? Is it a real red or muted?
Now do the same but with architecture.
Observe the demographics of the people around you. Don't just let them wash by noting the ones that are attractive or threatening to you. Make mental notes of the gender presentations, ages, apparent social class, activities, how many people are in groups versus alone, what people are carrying and how. Note the traffic flow. Observe until you can make guesses as to what they are doing and where they are going. Walk at a different time and observe the differences.
Set yourself a scavenger hunt: Feather, woman with shopping bags, yellow car, boy under the age of fifteen, shop that sells apples. Do the same scavenger hunt and see if you are luckier or not the second time. Then set yourself a different one.
Wander around leaving chalk markings on things.
If you know anyone in your area who has a dog, ask if you can walk the dog so he/she gets more exercises. Most medium sized breeds could really use more exercise, and most large breeds are really significantly suffering from lack of exercise. If you have a friend who is happy to let you do this, don't just amble around but look up best practices and work on training the dog to do things like stop and sit at every intersection.
Get some millet and feed the pigeons, if it's nt prohibited in your region. Millet is much better for pigeons than bread.
posted by Jane the Brown at 6:28 AM on August 22, 2020 [10 favorites]
Go back to your old neighborhoods and explore what they look like now using Google Street View. Do a nostalgia trip. If there is a location where you always used to stop for ice cream gets some ice cream into the house ahead of time and have a bowl at the time when you reach that location in your virtual exploration.
Use a treadmill or stationary bike to tour foreign cities watching walk through videos.
Get a good magnifying glass, go outside, lie belly down on the lawn and explore.
Find an open-ended alternative life computer game such as Eve on Line, or Haven and Hearth.
Sit down and figure out your current skill set and hobby interests and figure out what they have in common and how the relate to each other and then figure out which hobbies and interests do not have any of those features. For example my hobbies and interests lie in history, sociology, socio-biology, and biology. I do auditory and visual arts. So mathematics and astronomy are pretty much outside of my ordinary field of interests and would be a good place for me to explore for things that are completely different. I could either throw myself right in the deep end - quadratic equations and pulsars - or I could start with the history of astronomy and mathematics. I'll remember more if I wade in cautiously because I'll have a framework ready to access the entrance links of memory but starting a brand new memory path would be another challenge
Have you done anything with music? What about learning a simple instrument? Your cheapest would be percussion if you have an old plastic pail.
Watch movies with subtitles or strong accents that require you to listen closely.
Immerse yourself in some other culture and time, such as war time Britain by reading, watching War Time Farm and other documentaries and then experimenting with the various cultural features of the time - cook a war time recipe (wartime recipes are cheap and familiar ingredients) tie on one of those headscarves they wore to protect their hair, listen to the era's music.
Go to the local park that has grass or paving and practice some solo sport there, ineptly. Tai Chi, pitch and catch, gymnastics, basketball - start with a cheap ball from the dollar store that has just enough bounce to use and reward yourself with a more expensive one if you do three sessions with the cheap one - dance or yoga are all possibilities.
Look for a cheap eavesdropping device and bring it to the park or on a walk and use that - do not stalk anyone, just see what you hear as it picks up the ambient noises.
Get a pen pal.
Join a group that requires a weekly check-in or meeting.
Do a sensory walk: As you walk down the street concentrate hard on what you are hearing. Think about what you are hearing and describe it to yourself. Hear the difference in white noise and volume in different areas and concentrate on the tiny hard to define noises. Then concentration of your kinetic and tactile senses: walk around feeling the ground rise and fall with driveways, the difference between sidewalk and floor and grass, the sensation of your clothes at your wrists, arms, shoulders, chest, etc. any pain you feel, any itches, the sensations of moving air etc. Then do an olfactory walk: What do you smell? Do you smell anything different? Move from item at smelling level to item, sniffing any roses of course, but also testing if you can smell the bricks of the buildings, different smells in doorways etc.
Concentrate on something you normally ignore when out walking, such as identifying and observing each and every car you can, specifically stating the brand and the logo, and the make. Honda, four door, hatchback. Ford, pick up truck... walk around it until you see the marking f250. Pontiac. Hyundai. Nissan. Another Ford. Observe the colours, which colours are most common and what hues there are and what colours are missing. Do you ever see turquoise cars? What about pink? How common is red? Is it a real red or muted?
Now do the same but with architecture.
Observe the demographics of the people around you. Don't just let them wash by noting the ones that are attractive or threatening to you. Make mental notes of the gender presentations, ages, apparent social class, activities, how many people are in groups versus alone, what people are carrying and how. Note the traffic flow. Observe until you can make guesses as to what they are doing and where they are going. Walk at a different time and observe the differences.
Set yourself a scavenger hunt: Feather, woman with shopping bags, yellow car, boy under the age of fifteen, shop that sells apples. Do the same scavenger hunt and see if you are luckier or not the second time. Then set yourself a different one.
Wander around leaving chalk markings on things.
If you know anyone in your area who has a dog, ask if you can walk the dog so he/she gets more exercises. Most medium sized breeds could really use more exercise, and most large breeds are really significantly suffering from lack of exercise. If you have a friend who is happy to let you do this, don't just amble around but look up best practices and work on training the dog to do things like stop and sit at every intersection.
Get some millet and feed the pigeons, if it's nt prohibited in your region. Millet is much better for pigeons than bread.
posted by Jane the Brown at 6:28 AM on August 22, 2020 [10 favorites]
Do you have any friends in the same boat? It might be fun to organize a swap of art supplies/collage materials where everyone bags up some things that they are not using and drops them off at a friend’s house, then uses the supplies to create something. This would be just for fun, not A Serious Display of Artistic Skill. It could be anything—yarn, magazines, paint, paper, stickers, items from the kitchen junk drawer. Formal Artist’s Way groups might be into this idea also, if none of your friends are on board.
Look for a cheap eavesdropping device and bring it to the park or on a walk and use that - do not stalk anyone, just see what you hear as it picks up the ambient noises.
Before you do this, consider how it would feel if you were having a conversation in a park, with a reasonable expectation of privacy because of social distancing, and someone felt entitled to listen to your conversation without your consent.
posted by corey flood at 7:48 AM on August 22, 2020 [4 favorites]
Look for a cheap eavesdropping device and bring it to the park or on a walk and use that - do not stalk anyone, just see what you hear as it picks up the ambient noises.
Before you do this, consider how it would feel if you were having a conversation in a park, with a reasonable expectation of privacy because of social distancing, and someone felt entitled to listen to your conversation without your consent.
posted by corey flood at 7:48 AM on August 22, 2020 [4 favorites]
Everybody talks about learning something new during Pandemic. Do it. Learn to play ukelele, paint, sew something, or build something. It's good for your brain.
posted by theora55 at 7:48 AM on August 22, 2020
posted by theora55 at 7:48 AM on August 22, 2020
Join protests? At the moment, it's the only thing that passes my personal risk test and also leaves me feeling like I've actually done something satisfying at the end of the day.
posted by eotvos at 8:03 AM on August 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by eotvos at 8:03 AM on August 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
Tide pools demand close attention. Look at the ocean.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 8:38 AM on August 22, 2020
posted by Lawn Beaver at 8:38 AM on August 22, 2020
"Airbnb Experiences" are offering a ton of online options now, some as cheap as $2. Lots and lots of Olympians giving talks, but many people in different countries doing virtual walks through tourist sites, or historical presentations. Some yoga and dance and sports experiences, and lots of cooking classes. It's worth taking a look at least! (I've done 4 AirBnB experiences this summer, but all in person, not online)
posted by hasna at 8:43 AM on August 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by hasna at 8:43 AM on August 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
Listen to an entirely different genre of music than you usually do. Be as deep or shallow about it as you want. You could listen to a different radio station every day just for the variety and stimulation. Or, if you hear something you really like or that intrigues you, see if you can find out more about the artist, see who else is popular in that genre, read up on the culture surrounding it, etc.
Take up photography as a casual hobby. Use the camera on your phone to get various kinds of shots and Take different kinds of pictures than you normally do. Plants, nature and architecture are obvious choices, but also think about taking close-up shots of interesting textures, fun color schemes or weird still lifes. Then play around with them on a photo editing program and see if you can make them even more interesting or arty with cropping, color adjustment, special effects. Or use your shots as reference material if you do other visual arts such as drawing or painting.
Go on YouTube and search for "free art lesson" or "free tutorial". This will start you down a rabbit hole of how to videos on a variety of topics. Skillshare has tons of free classes, go browse and see what catches your interest.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 8:46 AM on August 22, 2020
Take up photography as a casual hobby. Use the camera on your phone to get various kinds of shots and Take different kinds of pictures than you normally do. Plants, nature and architecture are obvious choices, but also think about taking close-up shots of interesting textures, fun color schemes or weird still lifes. Then play around with them on a photo editing program and see if you can make them even more interesting or arty with cropping, color adjustment, special effects. Or use your shots as reference material if you do other visual arts such as drawing or painting.
Go on YouTube and search for "free art lesson" or "free tutorial". This will start you down a rabbit hole of how to videos on a variety of topics. Skillshare has tons of free classes, go browse and see what catches your interest.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 8:46 AM on August 22, 2020
I know what you mean and for me, online doesn’t cut it. Biking has really helped me both in terms of the immediacy of the experience and in getting my kids and I to outdoor, street-level experiences like found art, back corners of parks, etc. If you don’t have a bike, in my area neighbours have been swapping use of bikes from their garages for muffins and things.
We’ve also been dragging curbside garbage home and repurposing it, and the painting of furniture and shelves and boxes is soothing. Cost: can of paint.
posted by warriorqueen at 8:49 AM on August 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
We’ve also been dragging curbside garbage home and repurposing it, and the painting of furniture and shelves and boxes is soothing. Cost: can of paint.
posted by warriorqueen at 8:49 AM on August 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
I don't crave novelty in the same way but I do need some new things in my life to keep me from despair. Here are a few things that I did.
- writing letters to friends. Good for communicating with friends and hey, saves the post office a little. Can do mail art, get cool stamps, make envelopes, whatever you want
- "virtual" comedy rooms. I really enjoyed seeing some stand-ups who I'd admired in a really small Zoom room for relatively cheap. When someone's doing crowd work and there are only 20 people, it's a really different thing, and I enjoyed it (you could opt out of crowd work too - this is the place I "went" to they send SO much email but have some real people you've heard of)
- learning some crap! I took a Library Carpentry class which is about learning some data skills that are helpful for library work. It makes my brain hurt but passes the time well and I feel smarter than when I went in
- list-making and -completing. I have been a member of VTs 251 Club since forever, people who want to visit all of VT's 251 towns. It's a thing you can do while social distancing. My partner has decided he is doing a MA 351 project and every weekend he goes out and visits towns in MA he hadn't been to and colors in a little map. So in your locality, maybe there are non-car options like visiting little free libraries, all the historic markers, something like that. Your library might have ideas.
posted by jessamyn at 8:51 AM on August 22, 2020
- writing letters to friends. Good for communicating with friends and hey, saves the post office a little. Can do mail art, get cool stamps, make envelopes, whatever you want
- "virtual" comedy rooms. I really enjoyed seeing some stand-ups who I'd admired in a really small Zoom room for relatively cheap. When someone's doing crowd work and there are only 20 people, it's a really different thing, and I enjoyed it (you could opt out of crowd work too - this is the place I "went" to they send SO much email but have some real people you've heard of)
- learning some crap! I took a Library Carpentry class which is about learning some data skills that are helpful for library work. It makes my brain hurt but passes the time well and I feel smarter than when I went in
- list-making and -completing. I have been a member of VTs 251 Club since forever, people who want to visit all of VT's 251 towns. It's a thing you can do while social distancing. My partner has decided he is doing a MA 351 project and every weekend he goes out and visits towns in MA he hadn't been to and colors in a little map. So in your locality, maybe there are non-car options like visiting little free libraries, all the historic markers, something like that. Your library might have ideas.
posted by jessamyn at 8:51 AM on August 22, 2020
Latest updates for Balboa Park
Things To Do While Social Distancing SD has ideas, online tutorials, live-cam links, etc.
Actually Cool Things You Can (Still) Do in San Diego Right Now (Thrillist, 8/17/20)
MetaFilter itself is a resource for me, so thank you for posting this question, lightgray. Last month's "Tired of the view..." post linked to window-swap.com's "Open a new window somewhere in the world" generator; writing exercises often include a 'describe ___' prompt, and now that site is fodder. I'm getting new ideas from this 'Good Things on the Cheap' MeTa thread, and added my own burgeoning watch-repair hobby. A patio-chair question has "Kentucky stick" as one answer, and at the moment I have a few DIY Kentucky stick chair tabs open.
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:45 PM on August 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
Things To Do While Social Distancing SD has ideas, online tutorials, live-cam links, etc.
Actually Cool Things You Can (Still) Do in San Diego Right Now (Thrillist, 8/17/20)
MetaFilter itself is a resource for me, so thank you for posting this question, lightgray. Last month's "Tired of the view..." post linked to window-swap.com's "Open a new window somewhere in the world" generator; writing exercises often include a 'describe ___' prompt, and now that site is fodder. I'm getting new ideas from this 'Good Things on the Cheap' MeTa thread, and added my own burgeoning watch-repair hobby. A patio-chair question has "Kentucky stick" as one answer, and at the moment I have a few DIY Kentucky stick chair tabs open.
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:45 PM on August 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
Try a new language on Duolingo and maybe offer a language tutorial on one of the many language exchange apps in exchange for learning a few phrases/some pronunciation. Just Google "language exchange apps" and there are tons.
Draw/collage a postcard to send to a penpal.
Cooperative board games online? I'm sure someone here knows where to find such things.
posted by liminal_shadows at 7:56 PM on August 22, 2020
Draw/collage a postcard to send to a penpal.
Cooperative board games online? I'm sure someone here knows where to find such things.
posted by liminal_shadows at 7:56 PM on August 22, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
Watching documentaries about processes also ticks the boxes for me. Think of the show - How'd they do that?
posted by teststrip at 11:51 PM on August 21, 2020 [1 favorite]