That was my pantry and fridge, eyeballed, on March 28. I have far too many cardboard packages stacked outside my apartment door at the moment—letting them breathe overnight—and have fresh-er groceries on the way this weekend.

What’s the first thing you’ll eat when you get a vaccine?

I can’t wait to throw down at a restaurant or bar or the Bills bar with crispy hot wings and a pitcher of brew. Or maybe I’ll hit up the Alamo Drafthouse and dine while watching a goofy blockbuster. Hmm, possibly some shaved brisket from the Tam O’ Shanter with my animator buddies & Walt.

Likely, though, it’ll be a Philly cheesesteak from Boo’s.

Cat Corner

That’s Samoa! She’s the Barkin’s new foster baby. Hi, Samoa!

Lollypop Farm created this art from a photo my mom provided of Mowgli & Cadence. They even made Mo smile! (Special shoutout to Julie Ann West for donating to animals in need.)

Social distancing with the Yoyo man.

Some Good News from the Youth Movement

• First up, Zachary “Zacharia the Grey (or is it Gray)” Barkin got into grad school for real estate development! (Or maybe… landscape architecture, because cities are… not so great at the moment.) Congrats to the young buck!

• Secondly, Yung Ray Ray has some news. Big, happy news in these bleak times!
  
  Raychel has been offered a prestigious graduate research fellowship from the National Science Foundation.
  
  Her research will focus on teaching math to low-income children by engaging the students’ motor skills, which open them up to problem solving. (Children that struggle with early education are better able to grasp new knowledge when they get their hands involved.)
  
  It’s a three-year fellowship that covers her tuition and fees and effectively doubles her salary (not too shabby!). To put it in perspective, the National Science Foundation is the only source of nationwide funding available to doctoral students who have not yet begun their dissertation. Raychel is one of four individuals in her field nationwide that was awarded this fellowship.
  

• Give it up to Zach and Ray! We’re proud of you whippersnappers.

Learning Is Sexy Again

• Watching MasterClass videos (Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, Margaret Atwood, David Sedaris, the designer of The Sims and Sim City! Hell, learn how to do a backflip from Simone Biles.)

• Thinking about learning to code? Look into websites like freecodecamp.org

• Also, classcentral.com has a list of more than 400 Ivy League accredited courses that are available for free, right now, online!

How We’re Keeping Busy Under Quarantine

• Watching movies: (1917 & Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood — Non & Pop), (Portrait of a Lady on Fire — Now streaming on Hulu), (Little Women — Now available to rent OnDemand for $5 or $6)

• Watching TV shows: Little Fires Everywhere (Les), Bosch (coming April 17 to Amazon), Any and all Guy Fieri content

• Painting (Barkin clan)

• Gaming (Cities: Skylines, Civilization 5 & 6, Nintendo Switch, Madden with Stefon Diggs on the Bills catching two TDs in his first game)

• Listening to More Jazz (Charles Mingus, Dave Brubeck)

• Seriously watching so much Guy Fieri content

• Virtual game nights (via Zoom and the like)

• Watching concerts through social media

• Reorganizing the layout of the whole damn apartment (Zach & Cass)

• Sorting through old photographs (Hannah)

• Going through the job-application process and new-hire conferences, remotely (Hannah)

• Going through the worst time to graduate college since the 2008 recession (Hannah)

• We feel your pain, Hannah.

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Euchre Tally

The Randman and his bro beat Non & Me in best outta three. We’ll get them back… some day. Jeff’s bedtime is 8:30 p.m. ET, though, so it’ll have to be some afternoon.

If you have any ideas for this newsletter—sections, fun bits, stories, updates—please send me a note at bjbeatson@gmail.com

Stay safe and healthy!

Brad