My Life on Zoom

Starting in the mid-80’s, I thought much, wrote much and spoke much about the dangers of too much screen time, be it TV, computers or video games. And now, Zoom is one of my best friends! In just the past three weeks, I’ve…

 

• Had a board meeting with the Orff-Afrique folks.

• Had a board meeting with SF International Orff Course.

• Gave a workshop to folks in Iran.

• Gathered with American Orff teacher elders.

• Gathered with the family-reunion folks on my wife’s Dad side.

• Gave a workshop on games.

• Sung New Year’s and protest songs with school alums.

• Sung the same with my granddaughter’s 3^rd grade.

• Talked (with my family) and interviewed my wife’s 94-year old aunt who worked for women’s rights. 

• Attended an interview with jazz violinist Regina Carter.

• Gave a private Orff lesson to a man from Iran.

• Took a poetry class with David Whyte. 

• Met with my Men’s Group.

• Gave a 5 hour Orff workshop (my longest) to folks in Orange County and beyond.

• Took a class about dance in Orff Schulwerk from my colleague Christa Coogan.

• Was a surprise guest in my daughter’s 5^thgrade class (well, technically that was Google Meet).

 

In the next few weeks, I will:

 

• Meet up with my jazz band for the first time since the pandemic.

• Teach a guest college class for University students in Texas. 

• Interview Kofi Gbolonyo for an article about African music and Orff Schulwerk.

• Teach an Orff workshop to folks in Verona, Italy.

• Teach the first of my 6-classes on Jazz History: The Be-bop Years.

• Teach two benefit workshops for the Orff Forum with teachers on every continent.

• Meet up with the New Year’s Walk group of family friends who have walked and dined together for 39 years.

• Meet up again with old college friends who Zoomed in the Fall.

• Meet up again with old students and teachers from the Arthur Morgan School where I taught in 1972-3 who also Zoomed in the Fall.

 

Thanks to Zoom, this retired teacher in a sheltered pandemic can enjoy his solitude walking and biking in the park while still keeping connected to others and his lifelong work on a screen. Whoever imagined this former Luddite thanking an electronic delivery system? 

 

But I do.