Virtual Gatherings

Jill and I spent a quiet Thanksgiving Day with just the two of us. Brian and TJ could not travel--nor did we really want them to. However, we were not completely isolated over the long weekend. As noted in the two previous postings, I made a trip Saturday morning to the Brandywine Museum, and we had delightful Zoom gatherings on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon.

Saturday evening was a "virtual cocktail hour," organized by our friend Cat, with a group of SF fans from various parts of the country: Pennsylvania, New York, Chicago, and other areas. There's just one rule in these "parties"--no politics. So, for about 90 minutes, we discussed food, family, entertainment and other hopefully non-controversial topics.

The three-hour gathering on Sunday was all family: Brian and his wife, Heather, "zooming" in from Connecticut, and TJ from Brooklyn. Lots of catching up on work, social life, etc. was on the agenda. At the end, it was almost exactly like a conversation we would have had post-dinner had we all been in the same room.

We will definitely be doing more of these until the pandemic eases.

Background Info

So, I finally have a web camera to use in all the Zoom meetings I'm doing these days. Lots of people create CGI backgrounds for themselves for these meetings (my wife uses the ceiling from the Library of Congress sometimes) and I'm trying to decide what I should pick.

A few of my ideas:

1. The TARDIS interior (maybe a classic one from Tom Baker's era, or the one Matt Smith had)
2. The Adam West Batcave
3. Some version of Superman's Fortress of Solitude.

Any other suggestions?