Constant Reader discussion

On Thursday Jane hosted our latest Zoom. I entered on time, which was late in this case because almost everyone was already there, already discussing sleep challenges. For Ruth, magnesium helped ease her rest. Very interesting, since my daughter's neurologist suggested the same for her migraines, and it seems to be helping.

I misplaced these notes for a couple of days so this report will be sketchy and probably suspect, but everyone has a better memory than me so they will correct my errors.

We talked about the heat, the wildfires everywhere. Sheila highly recommended the show that made her miss last month's ZOOM. Lynn's grandson has 2x attended Concordia German Camp--sounds intense! And Jane spoke a little bit about AAUW's STEM camp.

Biting and stinging mystery bugs! There is a new biter in Sheila's neighborhood driving her nuts, and I got a sting a while back by an unknown that knocked me for a loop. (Also, I realized I was wrong in saying nothing has ever stung me that made me yell--when I was 11 or 12 I was stung by a scorpion and I yelled then, too.)

AI, and how AI steals everything.

All right then, the real test of my abilitites! Books that came up:
-So Far Gone
-Tom Lake
-Whistler
-All the Precious Moments (?, I wrote that down)
-Slow Gods

Movies and shows mentioned:
I Jack Wright (BBC murder mystery)
The Undeclared War (BBC, Peacock)
The Odyssey
Hadestown: the Musical
Patience
The Golds (? messy notes)
New Tricks
Gone (Brit Box)
Project Hail Mary

Next time, September 3!

Thanks for taking notes again, Tonya! The other Patchett book we talked about was These Precious Days: Essays. (That's the source of your "All the Precious Moments" note.)

Sorry I issued it again but I definitely should make it on Sept 3rd. No appointment or shot to interfere that day thankfully.

The show Sheila recommended was the stage adaptation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) from the novel of the same name, source of a couple of movie adaptations as well. (I think the play was the source of one film, and the novel was the source of another.)

And you almost got the TV series right—it was The Gold. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the...

Also, Sheila—I have to thank you for the recommendation of I, Jack Wright. We finished the season finale last night, and we’ll be looking forward to season 2!

spoko wrote: "Also, Sheila—I have to thank you for the recommendation of I, Jack Wright. We finished the season finale last night, and we’ll be looking forward to season 2!"

Thanks for the second to Sheila's recommendation. I added it to my watchlist after the Zoom meeting, but haven't started watching yet.

Thanks Lynn and spoko! When I can't 'get' the notes I wrote myself I always think of the hilarious "you had one job" memes. Then again no one said I had one job all by myself--I know somebody else will know the answers.

I’m glad I went to the trouble to find the RT link for The Gold, because I hadn’t realized the second season was complete. We loved the first season. We usually wait for a whole season to be available before starting it, though, so we haven’t yet started S2. That will probably change this evening!

I take a gummy most evenings that helps a lot with sleep, 25 mg CBD, 5 mg THC,

Lyn wrote: "I take a gummy most evenings that helps a lot with sleep, 25 mg CBD, 5 mg THC,"

DITTO

Is there a September zoom? I haven't received an invite (or it got lost when my computer was at the Geek Squad clinic for two weeks (just got it back on Monday).

Book Concierge wrote: "Is there a September zoom? I haven't received an invite (or it got lost when my computer was at the Geek Squad clinic for two weeks (just got it back on Monday)."

I'm sorry I didn't see this before the meeting started, but it looks like you were able to find the link eventually. It was good to see you!

Why do we not use the same link every time? You don’t actually have to schedule Zoom calls; you can just re-use the same URL. That way once someone’s invited, they’d have the link for future calls.

spoko wrote: "Why do we not use the same link every time? You don’t actually have to schedule Zoom calls; you can just re-use the same URL. That way once someone’s invited, they’d have the link for future calls."

That's a good question, Matt. I suppose it's just habit - we started in the summer of 2000, at the beginning of COVID, when we couldn't get together for our usual convention. I didn't really have much experience with hosting on the Zoom platform then. I would never have guessed we'd still be doing it monthly six years later.

Lynn wrote: "spoko wrote: "Why do we not use the same link every time? You don’t actually have to schedule Zoom calls; you can just re-use the same URL. That way once someone’s invited, they’d have the link for..."

Might be worth making that switch—it would be nice to just have a link we could bookmark & continue with. Especially if it's now tougher to do the scheduling, as Jane mentioned on the call today.

spoko wrote: "Lynn wrote: "spoko wrote: "Why do we not use the same link every time? You don’t actually have to schedule Zoom calls; you can just re-use the same URL. That way once someone’s invited, they’d have..."

I am not sure how to do that. Are you able to explain?

Jane wrote: “I am not sure how to do that. Are you able to explain?”

Sure. The most straightforward way is actually on the Zoom website (https://zoom.us/signin), if you’re able. But you can also do it from the Zoom app.

Let me know whether you’re able to use the web interface, or if you need to use the app, and I can post instructions.

spoko wrote: "Jane wrote: “I am not sure how to do that. Are you able to explain?”

Sure. The most straightforward way is actually on the Zoom website (https://zoom.us/signin), if you’re able. But you can also d..."
spoko, I am reconsidering doing what you suggest. Many people don't keep track of the Zoom links, so I think it is good to send the link out a couple of days before our meeting.

Jane wrote: "spoko wrote: "Jane wrote: “I am not sure how to do that. Are you able to explain?”

Sure. The most straightforward way is actually on the Zoom website (https://zoom.us/signin), if you’re able. But ..."

You can still send the monthly email with the link to remind people, Jane. The only difference is that you're sending the same standard link each month. That way the people who keep track of it don't have to look up a different email each month.

Lynn wrote: “You can still send the monthly email with the link to remind people, Jane. The only difference is that you’re sending the same standard link each month. That way the people who keep track of it don’t have to look up a different email each month.”

Precisely.