Virtual attendance part whatever

When I wrote this, I had it divided into paragraphs, with indentation and everything. Is there some way to do it so that such niceties don't disappear? I am sad about all the sick and dead from Covid, the incompetence and prejudice revealed, etc. I am continuing to enjoy being able to be places without actually going there. This has always been true with books, then movies & TV, but seeing stuff as part of a live online audience is something I have been enjoying, and hope that it won't go away. I'm sure I will eventually start going to public gatherings, but I hope that many things will be hybrid in the future, so that folks at home are also included. Today we watched the last bit (maybe fifteen minutes) of a zoom to youtube livecast of an SCA event. If the world were as before, would I have driven to Western Mass to be there? Nah. Would I have travelled to Devon last week to hear a talk about the bells in National Trust buildings? Nope. Would I have even known how to attend a live talk by Melina Pendulum about *good* queer representation and fandom yesterday? No. Maybe she doesn't normally talk in public venues. At least in that case, it is archived online. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuEAFf-CBFo Archiving is good. When I was watching it live yesterday, there were a few hundred others. In twenty-two hours, more than fifteen thousand additional people have seen it. I feel so lucky to be able to have done those things online. Our small local movie theater is open on weekends, and they are showing Summerland now, something that I want to see. Are we going? Heck no. A windowless room with other people for two hours? Not my current idea of fun. The SCA, like many organizations, is running quite low on funds, because many members have not renewed. We are fully paid up in that way, but I am planning to make a small donation after having watched today's event, the same way I have been donating to theaters when I watch plays. I just need to decide level should be the recipient (local group that sponsored it, larger relevant subdivision, organization as a whole). Also, free-associating from that, I've been meaning to donate to NPR, which has lost a lot of corporate sponsors, but when I've tried to do so, the site shuffles me back to the Boston NPR stations, which we already support. Arthur is not in Milan. He is sort of there virtually, and will be participating in a huge conference live (partly) starting on Monday. I have to think that there will be many extra attendees who could not normally afford the travel. There are zoom networking sessions scheduled. It probably isn't the same for that kind of thing, but better than nothing. I suggested that I make him a fake ID to wear, and serve Italian food all week (within my limited skills). He wasn't amused. He misses travel. Right now, I don't.