April 2020 - Neighbors - lists.buenavistasocialclub.org

USPS
by rryals＠comcast.net 23 Apr '20

23 Apr '20

I support this 100%, and the ability to mail in our ballots during a pandemic, or any time that a ballot is requested absentee (without limits), for that matter.Please sign! And forward it on/post it. If Bernie is not your cup of tea, seek out one of the many other such petitions being circulated.Ruth From: Bernie Sanders <info(a)berniesanders.com> Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2020 3:11 PM To: Ruth Ryals Subject: USPS If we can bail out large corporations, we can damn well help the Postal Service — the most popular government agency in America — from going bankrupt because of this horrific pandemic. Ruth - In the midst of the pandemic and economic collapse, it is easy to forget about a major and vital American institution that is under attack by the Trump administration and on the verge of collapse. And that is the United States Postal Service. Today, while more than 600,000 postal workers in the U.S. are putting their lives on the line delivering mail and packages, the institution itself is at risk of going bankrupt as a result of the coronavirus crisis. The USPS is expected to lose about 50% of its revenue due to a loss of mail volume during the pandemic. And what most people do not know is that the USPS does not run on taxpayer dollars — it relies completely on revenue created by postage and postal services. With such a significant drop in revenue, the USPS will be unable to carry out its work. If we can bail out large corporations, we can damn well help the Postal Service — the most popular government agency in America — from going bankrupt because of this horrific pandemic. That is why I am asking you today: Add your name if you agree that Congress must act now to save the United States Postal Service and protect its workers. It is an outrage that Trump recently blocked an agreement to save the Postal Service. If Trump had it his way, he would allow it to go bankrupt and then privatize it, jeopardizing more than 600,000 decent paying jobs. We absolutely cannot — and will not — let that happen. The Postal Service is our country's only universal delivery network that employs hundreds of thousands of people. For so many families, a job at the USPS has been their path to the middle class. Unlike privatized delivery services, the Postal Service is required by law to deliver all mail and packages to everyone nationwide, regardless of where they live. And each year it is responsible for delivering 1.2 billion packages of medicine to those who need it. How will people get their prescription drugs and, once they become available, their coronavirus test kits? How will we allow people to vote by mail in an election that is facing unprecedented hurdles to getting voters out to the polls? How will these things be possible if we do not have a fully functioning Postal Service? Without relief or intervention, the United States Postal Service will not be able to sustain itself for the long term, which means it will not be able to deliver mail and packages to 160 million addresses all over the country. That is why we must do everything we can to protect the Postal Service, which is at serious risk as a result of the economic crisis created by the coronavirus pandemic. Please add your name: Tell Congress to provide urgent financial support to the United States Postal Service during the coronavirus pandemic. If the Postal Service goes under, universal and affordable delivery would no longer be a guaranteed public service. During this public health emergency and horrific pandemic, the Postal Service is needed now more than ever. Thank you for adding your name to demand immediate action from Congress. In solidarity, Bernie Sanders ADD YOUR NAME Paid for by Friends of Bernie Sanders PO BOX 391, Burlington, VT 05402 This email was sent to rryals(a)comcast.net. If you need to, unsubscribe here. You can also sign up to receive fewer emails. We hope you'll stay, because emails are such an important part of how we organize and how we raise money. In fact, there is no single greater source for our campaign's fundraising than emails like this one. And that's important, because no one person, not even Bernie Sanders, can take on the billionaire class alone. Before you go about the rest of your day, help power our fight against the billionaire class by making a contribution today. Submit this form to update your contact information.

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The Arts Are Worth Saving!
by Ruth Ryals 23 Apr '20

23 Apr '20

Check out the Weight Band down below! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ9VfUObM34&feature=youtu.be “People squeezing lies till they sound like truth, pitting me against you and your against me….” And catch some Broadway in the time of COVID. https://www.bochcenter.org/about-us/news/2020/theatre-viewing-from-home And yes, check out the Arts closer to home. From: Boch Center <wangtheatre(a)bochcenter.org> Organization: Boch Center Reply-To: Boch Center <wangtheatre(a)bochcenter.org> Date: Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 2:35 PM Subject: The Arts Are Worth Saving! Feel good news from the Boch Center Since 1988, we have been committed to igniting a greater appreciation for art, culture, and creativity through our education and community outreach initiatives. These initiatives strive to make the arts more accessible and to highlight their tremendous impact in our everyday lives. Check out the video of of our City Spotlights Teen Leaders performing their original song, "Grow"!.Arts & Culture Are Worth SavingDid you know that the arts contribute more than $800 billion to the U.S. economy? Check out this article from the Boston Globe that shows just how important the arts are to our society. Read here SUPPORT HERE Announcing #ArtWeekAtHome, May 1 - 10!The reimagined format replaces the original ArtWeek that would have featured almost 800 creative events in over 170 communities across the state. For more details and to find out how you can participate CLICK HERE. Be sure to follow ArtWeek on social for the latest updates here. The Weight Band Performs Tribute to FARHOF Board Member, Larry RaskyCheck out their tribute performance of single, "World Gone Mad" here. For the latest updates and news on the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame follow us on Facebook here. Theatre Viewing From HomeMissing out on Broadway and musical theatre? We sure are. Here's a list of shows you can watch, many of which have graced our stages! Enjoy and remember, this is #onlyintermission. VIEW HERE Proud Sponsors: Boch Center | 270 Tremont Street | Boston, MA 02116 | bochcenter.org | Email Preferences

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LivelyHood
by rryals＠comcast.net 23 Apr '20

23 Apr '20

From a friend. I hope they get it together soon. And I would like to know why not Specifically Cambridge, instead of Boston Area?Anyone know anything more?Ruth Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2020 2:48 PM Subject: LivelyHood Thought you guys might find this interesting. Some MBA students in your neighborhood started LivelyHood, a platform connecting healthy, younger volunteers with the elderly and immunocompromised individuals in their local community for contactless deliveries. It seems like the website is still being built out, so check back, but this could be handy for you or neighbors. May be handy to flag to the Porter Square Neighbors Association. You can find more details in the links below: https://www.hbs.edu/mba/blog/post/harvard-mba-students-found-new-companies-… https://www.livelyhood.io/home

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2nd round: Do you need masks?
by Ruth Ryals 23 Apr '20

23 Apr '20

They will go fast! ************* Dear all, I still have some masks left - enough for 40 people - happy to give to anyone in the community who is interested. To keep it simple, each household can get 10 masks (2 people) if you contact me. Email me: yingburkedong(a)gmail.com Thanks. Ying ---------------------------------------- Dear neighbors, For those who don’t know me, I live on Buena Vista Park with my husband and daughter. In the past few weeks, through friends and connections in China, I have acquired some supply of face masks. We have far more than what my own family would need. I would like to share those masks with you. They are more effective than the cloth masks as they are made with polypropylene materials. Figuring five masks for each person, I have enough for about 100 people. I don’t know how many people are on this mailing list, but I will start with the group that is most vulnerable. If someone in your house is over 65 years old, or has underlying medical challenges, and you are interested, please email me. After 3 days, if there are still any left, I will give the rest to everyone else. My email: yingburkedong(a)gmail.com In the email please tell me how many people in your household need the masks. Either you can come pick them up from our porch or I can drop them off at yours. They are free. Be safe! Ying 11 BVP If you worry about competing with hospital resources The masks I am giving out look like surgical masks but they are not. Surgical masks, often used in the hospitals, come with higher filtration standards. They are good at stopping particles as small as 0.1 micrometer. My masks are one grade lower, but they are still good enough to protect you and me going to the stores. We have also given masks to the City of Cambridge for their essential workers, in case you worry about that too. Here are some safety features of the masks, and some tips for testing their effectiveness: Waterproof: To test, hold the mask by the ear-loop like a bucket, then pour some water inside. The water should not penetrate. Resistant to air flow: To test, put the mask on your face as you normally do, then hold a candle in front of the mask and try to blow the candle--you should not be able to. Filtration efficiency >= 95% with 1 micrometer bacteria/particles. The middle layer of the mask is made of a fabric called MeltBlown nonwoven, which is responsible for the filtration. The best way to test at home is to put a lighter to the middle layer. You should see the fabric melting without catching fire.

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Tune in to Central Square Theater's ON(line) Gala 🎭
by Ruth Ryals 23 Apr '20

23 Apr '20

>From our friends in Central Square! From: Central Square Business Improvement District <hello(a)centralsq.org> Reply-To: Central Square Business Improvement District <hello(a)centralsq.org> Date: Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 9:42 AM To: <info(a)portersquare.net> Subject: Tune in to Central Square Theater's ON(line) Gala 🎭 View this email in your browser Tune in to Central Square Theater's ON(line) Gala! Tuesday 4/21 — Sunday 4/26 While Central Square Theater's stages remain closed, they've created a way to continue to provide educational programming that will change our perspectives, and move us to action — now and through the coming year. Join them on Facebook & Vimeo everyday this week through Sunday for new performances with guest appearances, songs to make you joyful and programs to inspire you. More Info Youth Underground's Act Up and Vote! Play Youth Underground, CST's award-winning education program, is a socio-economically, culturally, and ethnically diverse ensemble of young people ages 13-25. Today's production features a sneak peak of Youth Underground's Act Up and Vote to support youth activism on stage. Act Up and Vote! was created from the voices of youth in our community. This original play shares their stories, debates about whether their votes matter, and highlights their work to make a better world. With your help, we can ensure that Youth Underground is ready to take the stage once again in October 2020. You can donate directly to the Betsy Bard Youth Underground Fund by clicking here. Donate to Central Square Theater Your gifts today ensures we can light the stage tomorrow. Donate Copyright © 2020 Central Square Business Improvement District, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you subscribed to receive newsletters from the Central Square Business Improvement District. Our mailing address is: Central Square Business Improvement District620 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite 3 Cambridge, MA 02139 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

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Join us for today's community conversation and comedy fundraiser!
by Ruth Ryals 23 Apr '20

23 Apr '20

From: Cambridge Local First <theodora(a)cambridgelocalfirst.org> Reply-To: Cambridge Local First <theodora(a)cambridgelocalfirst.org> Date: Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 11:10 AM Subject: Join us for today's comedy fundraiser! View this email in your browser Comedy Fundraiser with Jimmy Tingle Looking for some relief? Need a quick escape? A message from Jimmy: Many of you, like me, are working from home, which carries its own array of challenges. I'm trying to figure out how to do stand up comedy from my basement. It's a little demoralizing really, performing to an empty room while wearing a face mask. So, I am in the process of launching live events on Zoom! If you're growing a little weary of the news, Netflix, or the Presidential press briefings, join me and Humor for Humanity and 20/20 Vision for online events as we use humor to raise spirits, funds and awareness for non-profits and political groups who can really use the help. Today, I am hosting an online fundraiser for Cambridge Local First using some video clips from my last show "20/20 Vision" at Harvard's Sanders Theatre. I'll be combining the clips with live chats and interviews of the people and organizations we are trying to help. The show aspires to entertain, enlighten and inform viewers on how they can laugh, ask questions, and support organizations as we navigate the present moment and the future of the country together.Tickets are pay-what-you-can, with an option for a free guest ticket. We encourage everyone to join us!Date: Today Time: 7:30-8:30 PM RSVP here Copyright © 2020 Cambridge Local First, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you expressed an interest in hearing from us in the past. We don't sell anything, but we do strive to keep Cambridge fair, cool, and friendly to Locally owned Independent businesses. Thank you for reading our informative newsletters. We are champions of local business. Our mailing address is:Cambridge Local First988 Memorial Drive Apartment 185 Cambridge, MA 02138

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FW: Cambridge officials urge public compliance with mask guidance
by Ruth Ryals 23 Apr '20

23 Apr '20

From: Cambridge Chronicle <noreply_cambridge(a)wickedlocal.com> Date: Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 7:04 AM Subject: Cambridge officials urge public compliance with mask guidance News and updates from Cambridge Chronicle View email with images Thursday, April 23, 2020 SUBSCRIBE FOR ALL ACCESS > Cambridge officials urge public compliance with mask guidance City Councilor Marc McGovern is planning to propose a policy order asking the manager to require that people wear masks … Read more >> Thousands of meals delivered to medical workers with help from Cambridge businesses Boston-based nonprofit Off Their Plate delivered about 10,000 meals as of this past weekend to frontline COVID-19 medica… Read more >> Massachusetts schools closed for rest of academic year as coronavirus cases surge BOSTON - Schools in Massachusetts will remain closed for the rest of the school year, Gov. Charlie Baker announced Tuesd… Read more >> Cambridge hospitals turn to community for supply donations Cambridges hospitals have turned to the community for supply donations to help alleviate shortages caused by COVID-19.B… Read more >> Food For Free delivers over 11,000 bags of food to 1,800 Cambridge households Food For free has delivered more than 11,000 bags of food to residents facing food insecurity during the COVID-19 crisis… Read more >> Victim identified in Cambridge fatal stabbing The victim of Tuesday's fatal stabbing in Cambridge has been identified as Danilo Perez, a 33-year-old homeless man, the… Read more >> Emergency eviction moratorium stalls following one rep's objection All of our coronavirus stories are being provided for free as a public service to our readers during the coronavirus out… Read more >> Cambridge will look into expanding jobs programs during coronavirus crisis Cambridge officials will consider expanding the city's jobs programs to help those who lost work in the wake of COVID-19… Read more >> Cambridge looks to form advisory group to prepare businesses for reopening All of our coronavirus stories are being provided for free as a public service to our readers during the coronavirus out… Read more >> Baker taking surge-first, economy-later approach APRIL 16, 2020.....Before participating in a conference call with other governors and President Donald Trump, Gov. Charl… Read more >> http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com Connect with Us! Cambridge Chronicle 15 Pacella Park Drive Randolph, MA 02368 © 2020 Cambridge Chronicle. All rights reserved.

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FW: Bluetooth contact tracing needs bigger, better data
by Ruth Ryals 23 Apr '20

23 Apr '20

I do not know if you can open/read these, but worth trying. Ruth From: The Download from MIT Technology Review <newsletters(a)technologyreview.com> Reply-To: The Download from MIT Technology Review <newsletters(a)technologyreview.com> Date: Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 7:52 AM Subject: Bluetooth contact tracing needs bigger, better data California aims to quintuple its coronavirus testing Sponsored by BBVA OpenMind The Download Your daily dose of what’s up in emerging technology 04.23.20 Good morning! Today: we need more data to make Bluetooth contact tracing work, and California aims to quintuple its coronavirus testing. Get your friends to sign up here to get The Download every day. Bluetooth contact tracing needs bigger, better data In the spotlight: You might know Bluetooth best for helping you pair your headphones and smartphone, but the 21-year-old wireless technology is getting a new wave of attention now that it’s at the heart of contact-tracing apps designed to show whether you might have been exposed to coronavirus. It’s at the core of Google and Apple’s system, for example. The idea is simple: since Bluetooth is constantly scanning for other devices, your phone can use wireless signals to see who you’ve been near. Somebody who gets a positive diagnosis can tell the app, which will alert everyone else who has been in proximity.A major challenge: In reality, though, getting the right information is going to be difficult. Even getting accurate measurements from Bluetooth signals is a very hard problem. Many things can mess it up and make the data incorrect—for example, whether your phone is horizontal or vertical.How to overcome it: Engineers will need to take more data into account, for example from other phone sensors, and learn more about how to properly interpret signals. Read the full story. —Patrick Howell O’Neill California aims to quintuple its coronavirus testingThe news: California plans to significantly ramp up its coronavirus testing and tracing efforts, as it strives to reach a point where it could relax stay-at-home rules implemented to contain the outbreak. Yesterday, Governor Gavin Newsom said the state intends to increase testing capacity from about 16,000 per day to 25,000 by April 30, and reach between 60,000 and 80,000 in the weeks after. As part of that effort, California will open 86 new testing sites around the state. What else: The state plans to build up “an army of tracers,” starting with some 10,000 people dedicated to interviewing infected patients and contacting those they may have exposed. It will be made up of existing public health workers, volunteers, and reassigned state workers, who will rely upon online tools for training and tracing. Wider context: California took early and aggressive steps to contain the outbreak, which helped to keep cases and fatalities relatively low. But last week, Newsom laid out six key goals the state still needs to achieve to begin significantly modifying restrictions, which included greater testing and tracing capacity. Depending on the level of progress, he said he may be able to provide firmer details on when some rules could be eased at the beginning of next month.—James Temple Would you volunteer to get the coronavirus? In the latest episode of Radio Corona at 4pm ET today, Gideon Lichfield, editor in chief of MIT Technology Review, will discuss volunteer initiatives that might accelerate the development of a coronavirus vaccine. He’s chatting to Josh Morrison, the Executive Director at Waitlist Zero and part of the team at 1 Day Sooner, and Arthur Caplan, a professor of bioethics at New York University Langone Medical Center, who will discuss the ethical questions surrounding the trials. Tune in and submit your questions here. We can still have nice thingsA place for comfort, fun and distraction in these weird times. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet 'em at me.) + Missing the office? You can enjoy the background ambiance at home. + See if you can see the Northern Lights. + A book club, but for short stories. And it’s on Zoom (of course.) + Speaking of which, get artistic with your Zoom background. + A pair of elderly lovers have found a way to keep seeing each other across the closed Germany/Denmark border. + The Welsh Parliament moved online and the health minister, um, forgot to mute himself. Sponsor Message The Must-Read Book on Data and AI's Impact on the Labor Market Looking for top quality material to read these days? How about getting up to date on how digitalization, automation and AI affect productivity, growth, and employment? In BBVA OpenMind’s new book, “Work in the Age of Data”, 19 world-class experts shed light on these vital issues which are shaping the world today and provide ideas on how we can ensure that technological advances will lead to better jobs for everyone. The book is available for free download in different electronic formats as well as audio. Click here to download your free copy. The top ten must-readsI’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.1 Blood clots complications are killing coronavirus patients Worryingly, doctors don’t know why. (WP $) 2 How we can test everyone for coronavirus Drastically ramping up testing capacity is a herculean task for governments everywhere. (The Economist $) 3 Courts are moving online due to covid-19 This feels like another shift that might outlast the pandemic. (The Verge) 4 At least seven people got coronavirus during the Wisconsin primary Predictable and totally avoidable. (Reuters) + America might survive the pandemic. But will the election? (TR) 5 Zoom calls are making people feel inadequate 🤳 It’s hard not to get self-conscious when you spend all day having to look at your own face. (The Information $) + People are having to come up with creative new excuses to get off video calls. (The Atlantic) + Deepfake yourself, live on Zoom. (New Scientist $) 6 Instagram is speeding up plans for a new memorialization feature The pandemic has added urgency to the need to better manage the accounts of people who have died. (Buzzfeed) + Funeral homes and morgues are struggling as the death toll rises. (New Yorker $) 7 Air quality in nine major cities is way better post-lockdown 🏙️ If only we could go outside to, y’know, breathe a bit more of it. (The Verge) 8 How the Chinese government is trying to control the narrative on coronavirus But people in Wuhan aren’t going to forget what happened. (FT) 9 The scientific discoveries made during the 1656 plague in Italy Athanasius Kircher is believed to be the first to study infected blood through a microscope. (Public Domain Review) 10 “Name and shame” groups are thriving on Facebook In case you were under the illusion we’d progressed from villagers with pitchforks and torches. (Wired UK) Plan for the future of business EmTech Next is a must-attend virtual conference for thought leaders, especially those who need to maximize employee retention and upskilling in a time of evolving technologies and robot/machine integration in the workplace. Learn more about the conference program here. Quote of the day “The coronavirus has been anything but a great equalizer. It’s been the great revealer, pulling the curtain back on the class divide and exposing how deeply unequal this country is.”—Asha Jaffar, a volunteer in Nairobi, Kenya, tells the New York Times about the impact of the pandemic. Top image credit: KE ATLAS | UNSPLASH Please send quality air to hi(a)technologyreview.com. Follow me on Twitter at @charlottejee. Thanks for reading! —Charlotte Was this newsletter forwarded to you, and you’d like to see more? Sign up for free Get unlimited access to online stories.Subscribe to MIT Technology Review today. View this in a browser You received this newsletter because you subscribed with the email address rryals(a)comcast.net Follow us: MIT Technology Review One Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142

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Upcoming Virtual Events, April 19-May 9
by Ruth Ryals 23 Apr '20

23 Apr '20

From: "Porter Square Books, Inc." <ellen(a)portersquarebooks.ccsend.com> on behalf of "Porter Square Books, Inc." <leila(a)portersquarebooks.com> Reply-To: <leila(a)portersquarebooks.com> Date: Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 7:42 AM Subject: Upcoming Virtual Events, April 19-May 9 Porter Square Books' Virtual Events Offerings Open for Shipped Orders!Our physical store is closed, but you can still get many books shipped to you directly from our warehouse. Here's how: 1. Only order titles with an inventory status of "Available at the Warehouse" 2. Select the "UPS/USPS Ground Shipping" option 3. Pay with a credit card We are happy to fulfill other orders, but will not be able to process them until at least May 4. Other options: try Indiebound.org or Bookshop.org - keep it indie! Open 24/7: Click here to visit our website & place an online order! Upcoming Events: April 19 - May 9 “A good book is an event in my life.” – Stendhal Hello readers, It's been quite some time since we've seen your faces (38 days since we officially closed our doors to customers, but who's counting). We miss them terribly. Here at Porter Square Books, the absolute most important thing to us is our community. When we closed our doors, it was a deliberate decision to keep our customers & staff healthy and safe. But closing our physical store front didn't mean we were going to sit back and twiddle our thumbs - not when there are books to champion, readers to provide for, and friends to connect with. Instead, we've become resourceful. As we hope you know, our website is open for your orders! We're handling your orders from home and shipping them directly to your doorstep. We've got puzzles and games galore, though they fly off the shelves. And we're trying new things: if you love Josh's staff picks, we're offering bundles of 3 "Josh-Approved" paperbacks - he'll choose what you get! For the kids stuck at home - and the parents looking for ways to distract them - we're offering kid's book bundles hand-picked by our expert booksellers, for a variety of age ranges. Or, you can choose to *donate* a bundle - we're partnering with Shape Up Somerville who will deliver these donated book bundles to Somerville students alongside free meals - that's especially exciting to me, as a born and raised Somerville kid. (Keep your eye out for Mother's Day bundles to come, too!) And now, we're excited to bring you a growing line-up of virtual events in lieu of our in-person programming. Join us for an hour: ask questions, see some familiar bookseller faces, and hear about some remarkable books from some truly fantastic authors. No, it's not the same as attending one of our events--sitting elbow-to-elbow with your neighbors, joining the queue of excited readers to get your book signed, picking up a latte from Zing on the way to your seat. But if you're there, and we're there, then we're together again - and that's what's keeping us going, knowing that even though we're in separate homes, watching on separate screens, we are still a community. Remarkably--amazingly--not even a pandemic can stop us. And we are so, so thankful for that, and for you. We hope to see you soon. Stay connected, stay well, and keep reading. --Leila @PSB PS: Looking for more ways to stay in touch? Sign up for Shelf Stable, our almost-daily quarantine newsletter, filled with notes from our booksellers, resources & recommendations, polls, updates and bookish fun! Join us at our upcoming virtual events! Friday, April 24, 7PM ETJennifer Finney Boylan with Jodi Picoult Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs: Memoir We are so excited to present our event for Jennifer Finney Boylan's new memoir Good Boy in virtual form, taking place on Friday, April 24th at 7pm, right on your computer screen. And Jennifer will be joined in conversation by no less than Jodi Picoult!! >From bestselling author of She’s Not There, New York Times opinion columnist, and human rights activist Jennifer Finney Boylan, Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs, is a memoir of the transformative power of loving dogs. Good Boy is a universal account of a remarkable story: showing how a young boy became a middle-aged woman—accompanied at seven crucial moments of growth and transformation by seven memorable dogs. “Everything I know about love,” she writes, “I learned from dogs.” Their love enables us to pull off what seem like impossible feats: to find our way home when we are lost, to live our lives with humor and courage, and above all, to best become our true selves. Professor Jennifer Finney Boylan, author of more than a dozen books, is the inaugural Anna Quindlen Writer in Residence at Barnard College of Columbia University. Her column “Men & Women” appears on the op/ed page of the New York Times on alternate Wednesdays. She serves on the Board of Trustees of PEN America. From 2011 to 2018 she served on the Board of Directors of GLAAD and also provided counsel for the TV series Transparent and I Am Cait. Her 2003 memoir, She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders was the first bestselling work by a transgender American. A novelist, memoirist, and short story writer, she is also a nationally known advocate for human rights. She lives in New York City, and in Belgrade Lakes, Maine, with her wife, Deedie. They have a son, Sean and a daughter, Zai. Jodi Picoult is the #1 bestselling author of twenty-five novels including My Sister's Keeper, Nineteen Minutes, The Storyteller, Leaving Time, the acclaimed #1 bestseller, Small Great Things, which explored the issues of power, privilege and race, and has sold more than 1.5 million copies. Picoult's most recent novel, A SPARK OF LIGHT., published on October 2, 2018, was her tenth consecutive instant #1 New York Times bestseller, and was praised as “Picoult at her fearless best” by the Washington Post. This event takes place on Friday, April 24, at 7PM EST. The event is free to attend (although if you love us and want to support more virtual programming, you can contribute a few dollars!) and hosted on Crowdcast. Register to join the event here! Buy Good Boy for 20% off here! Thursday, April 30th, 7pmJoseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your House: Fiction Porter Square Books is pleased to bring you a *virtual event* with Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, brilliant co-creators of Welcome to Night Vale and authors of The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home! Watch the event from the comfort of your own home (the secret faceless old woman who lives there is also invited). >From the New York Times bestselling authors of Welcome to Night Vale and It Devours! and the creators of the hit podcast, comes a new novel set in the world of Night Vale and beyond. In the town of Night Vale, there’s a faceless old woman who secretly lives in everyone’s home, but no one knows how she got there or where she came from...until now. Told in a series of eerie flashbacks, the story of The Faceless Old Woman goes back centuries to reveal an initially blissful and then tragic childhood on a Mediterranean Estate in the early nineteenth century, her rise in the criminal underworld of Europe, a nautical adventure with a mysterious organization of smugglers, her plot for revenge on the ones who betrayed her, and ultimately her death and its aftermath, as her spirit travels the world for decades until settling in modern-day Night Vale. Interspersed throughout is a present-day story in Night Vale, as The Faceless Old Woman guides, haunts, and sabotages a man named Craig. In the end, her current day dealings with Craig and her swashbuckling history in nineteenth century Europe will come together in the most unexpected and horrifying way. Part The Haunting of Hill House, part The Count of Monte Cristo, and 100% about a faceless old woman who secretly lives in your home. Joseph Fink created the Welcome to Night Vale and Alice Isn’t Dead podcasts. He lives with his wife in the Hudson River Valley and Los Angeles. He is the author of the novel Alice Isn’t Dead. Jeffrey Cranor co-writes the Welcome to Night Vale and Within the Wires podcasts. He also co-creates theater and dance pieces with choreographer/wife Jillian Sweeney. They live in New York. Together, they are the authors of the New York Times best-selling novels Welcome to Night Vale, It Devours!, and four Welcome to Night Vale episode script books: Mostly Void, Partially Stars, The Great Glowing Coils of the Universe, The Buying of Lot 37, and Who’s a Good Boy? In 2016, Fink and Cranor announced their podcast network “Night Vale Presents” which has produced 14 original fiction and non-fiction podcasts. For more on Welcome to Night Vale, upcoming events, and the books, visit: www.welcometonightvale.com. This event takes place on Thursday, April 30th at 7pm. The event is free to attend (although you can donate a few dollars to support us if you choose!) and hosted on Crowdcast. Register for The Faceless Old Woman event here! Buy your copy of The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home here! Featured Staff Pick For Kids My Friend Earth by Patricia MacLachlan and Francesca Sanna With its tender, lyrical text, gorgeous illustrations, and fun die-cut windows on each page, this book is the perfect reminder that the earth keeps turning and spring will come again. Send it as an Earth Day present to someone you love, or pick it up for yourself and let it transport you to prairies, mountains, forests, and oceans. --Kate Buy My Friend Earth for 20% off this month Monday, May 4th, 7pmChristopher Moore Shakespeare for Squirrels: Fiction We're so excited to bring our event with Christopher Moore for Shakespeare for Squirrels to your computer screen! This event is ticketed, and your ticket includes a copy of the book shipped to your home, with a personalized book plate. Tickets may be purchased at the Crowdcast link below. Your ticket includes cost of shipping and handling ($40 total). We want everyone to have a chance to ask questions and say hi to Chris, so space is limited - don't wait to buy your ticket! Shakespeare meets Dashiell Hammett in this wildly entertaining murder mystery from New York Times bestselling author Christopher Moore—an uproarious, hardboiled take on the Bard’s most performed play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, featuring Pocket, the hero of Fool and The Serpent of Venice, along with his sidekick, Drool, and pet monkey, Jeff. Set adrift by his pirate crew, Pocket of Dog Snogging—last seen in The Serpent of Venice—washes up on the sun-bleached shores of Greece, where he hopes to dazzle the Duke with his comedic brilliance and become his trusted fool. But the island is in turmoil. Egeus, the Duke’s minister, is furious that his daughter Hermia is determined to marry Demetrius, instead of Lysander, the man he has chosen for her. The Duke decrees that if, by the time of the wedding, Hermia still refuses to marry Lysander, she shall be executed . . . or consigned to a nunnery. Pocket, being Pocket, cannot help but point out that this decree is complete bollocks, and that the Duke is an egregious weasel for having even suggested it. Irritated by the fool’s impudence, the Duke orders his death. With the Duke’s guards in pursuit, Pocket makes a daring escape. He soon stumbles into the wooded realm of the fairy king Oberon, who, as luck would have it, IS short a fool. His jester Robin Goodfellow—the mischievous sprite better known as Puck—was found dead. Murdered. Oberon makes Pocket an offer he can’t refuse: he will make Pocket his fool and have his death sentence lifted if Pocket finds out who killed Robin Goodfellow. But as anyone who is even vaguely aware of the Bard’s most performed play ever will know, nearly every character has a motive for wanting the mischievous sprite dead.With too many suspects and too little time, Pocket must work his own kind of magic to find the truth, save his neck, and ensure that all ends well. A rollicking tale of love, magic, madness, and murder, Shakespeare for Squirrels is a Midsummer Night’s noir—a wicked and brilliantly funny good time conjured by the singular imagination of Christopher Moore. Christopher Moore is the author of the novels Secondhand Souls, Sacré Bleu, A Dirty Job, and Lamb. He lives in San Francisco, California. This event takes place on Monday, May 4th at 7pm ET, via Crowdcast, and tickets are required. Your ticket includes a personalized book shipped directly to your doorstep! Space is limited. Buy your ticket with copy of Shakespeare for Squirrels included here! Featured Staff Pick For Adults If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha Frances Cha's debut is completely transporting. Featuring four women who live in the same building in Seoul, it's a glimpse into four very different lives intertwining as each faces the challenges and expectations of social and economic hierarchy in modern Korean culture. Fascinating and vivid. --Leila Buy If I Had Your Face for 20% off this month Thursday, May 7th at 7pm ESTTell-All Boston with Maya Lang What We Carry: Memoir Porter Square Books is pleased to bring you Tell-All Boston--virtually! With special guest Maya Lang and featuring a lineup of other great local readers to be announced. In caring for her aging mother and her own young daughter, writer Maya Shanbhag Lang—“a new voice of the highest caliber” (Rebecca Makkai)—confronts the legacy of family myths and how the stories shared between parents and children reverberate through generations: a deeply moving memoir about immigrants and their native-born children, the complicated love between mothers and daughters, and the discovery of strength. How much can you judge another woman’s choices? What if that woman is your mother? Maya Shanbhag Lang grew up idolizing her brilliant mother, an accomplished physician who immigrated to the United States from India and completed her residency, all while raising her children and keeping a traditional Indian home. She had always been a source of support—until Maya became a mother herself. Then, the parent who had once been so capable and attentive turned unavailable and distant. Struggling to understand this abrupt change while raising her own young child, Maya searches for answers and soon learns that her mother is living with Alzheimer’s. When Maya steps in to care for her, she comes to realize that despite their closeness, she never really knew her mother. Were her cherished stories—about life in India, about what it means to be an immigrant, about motherhood itself—even true? Affecting, raw, and poetic, What We Carry is the story of a daughter and her mother, of lies and truths, of receiving and giving care—and how we cannot grow up until we fully understand the people who raised us. Featuring a host of fantastic local co-readers, to be announced shortly! Tell-All Boston is brought to you by GrubStreet and curated by alumni of GrubStreet’s Memoir Incubator and Essay Incubator. For one night per calendar season, we host a creative confessional. Award-winning writers, best-selling authors, and emerging stars share first-person stories that make meaning from lived experience. Our goal is to foster a community of honesty and discovery, through the power of memoir. Join us! This event takes place on Thursday, May 7th at 7pm ET on Crowdcast. The event is free to attend although there's an option to donate a few dollars toward sustained virtual programming! Register for Tell-All Boston with Maya Lang here! Purchase your copy of What We Carry here! Find Your Next Great Read & Support Your Local Bookstore! The Power of Preorders Preorders are a great way to support PSB while we're not able to actually be at the store.You can see all of the books from the future we're excited about here. But you can preorder more than just what we're excited for. Any book with an inventory status of "Coming Soon--Available for Pre-Order Now" or "On the Horizon--Available for Pre-Order Now," is, uh, available for preorder now. Digital audiobooks - a great way to support us! Love audiobooks? Libro.fm is a fantastic way to discover and buy digital audiobooks while supporting your local independent bookstore! Virtual Bookseller Looking to get some good book recommendations, personalized just for you? Check out our Virtual Bookseller! Just fill out the form with your likes and dislikes, genres and favorites, and we'll crowdsource a bunch of great picks for you with our crack team of real life booksellers. Give it a whirl! Virtual Bookseller April Staff Picks Are you missing out on our recommendations, pining for our Staff Pick display?? Our April crop of staff picks is now live on our website! We'll feature titles throughout the month, but you can browse the full list at the link below. As ever, all staff picks are 20% off - so go crazy! Shop April Staff Picks for 20% off! Support Cafe Zing baristas! Although Cafe Zing is its own business separate from ours, we really don't see it that way: Zing workers are part of the Porter Square Books family. They keep us well supplied - very well supplied - with caffeine, kindness, and some great tunes. Sometimes they give us staff picks; sometimes we give them exact change because we've bought the same, perfect, comforting, delicious beverage twice a day five days a week for how long, now? They're our family, and they could use a hand. If you are able, please considering donating to the Cafe Zing GoFundMe; 100% of proceeds go to baristas. What might you have spent at Zing over the past weeks if it we were in normal times? If that $10 is still in your wallet, consider putting it in their tip jar. We love you, Zing! Audio Book Of The Month Deacon King Kong by James McBride “Deacon King Kong is a quintessential New York story. Set in the Brooklyn projects in 1969, a perpetually inebriated deacon called Sportcoat aims a gun at the neighborhood’s main drug dealer in the public plaza and pulls the trigger. Incredibly well-constructed and hilarious at times, McBride’s story entwines a number of storylines that are kickstarted by this central event. The local Italian gangster, the veteran cop, the meddling churchgoers, and the drug pushers all have their own agendas, hopes, and dreams that are affected. And though Sportcoat doesn’t remember his actions and is always under the influence of gut-rot moonshine, I couldn’t help but root for him as I was reading this. His delightful ineptitude and absence of clarity made this book impossible for me to put down. If you’ve never read McBride before, this is a great introduction.” --Stuart McCommon, Novel. Buy Deacon King Kong from Libro.fm More virtual programming is in the works! In the meantime, don't forget about all the other places you can catch up with us from afar, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube: ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ Porter Square Books25 White St. Cambridge, MA 02140617-491-2220 Visit Us Online! Porter Square Books, Inc. | Porter Square Shopping Center, 25 White Street, Cambridge, MA 02140 Sent by leila(a)portersquarebooks.com in collaboration with Try email marketing for free today!

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Lost Cat Emergency
by Ruth Ryals 23 Apr '20

23 Apr '20

Lost Cat on Walden St Indoor Cat Cat is Timid. Do not chase Call or text Brian 781.771.7607 From: Brian Aurilio <brian.aurilio(a)gmail.com> Date: Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 10:19 AM To: Liz Vandermark <wdchp123(a)aol.com> Cc: "sonia.hamel(a)gmail.com" <sonia.hamel(a)gmail.com>, Ruth Ryals <rryals(a)comcast.net> Subject: Re: i live in the neighborhood- happy to put up fliers I volunteer for Melrose Humane Society. The owner lives in Texas and we're trying to help. Attached is a Word document that you can print in black/white. We do have flyers up. If you can post more in the surrounding area that would be great. Please put the flyers in plastic sheets upside down. This will protect from the rain. The address is 136 Walden St. Thank you. B. On Thu, Apr 23, 2020 at 10:06 AM Liz Vandermark <wdchp123(a)aol.com> wrote: Hi Brian, I am so sorry about your cat. I live at 33 Cambridge Terrace which is several blocks away. I go out walking every day and will keep a look out. I've also sent this to the woman who manages our neighborhood listserve (ruth ryals, cc'd above) so hopefully it will be posted there. If you send something in black and white that i can print out, i am happy to post on area telephone poles etc. All the best, Liz Vandermark cell ph if texting better: 617-902-8300

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