We are in a time when people are looking for a miracle treatment or something out of the ordinary to stay healthy. Please be careful and check the source before you try something new.

There are some proven things you can do to help keep yourself healthy. One thing is to take efforts to keep your immune system working properly. Your immune system helps your body fight against infections and illnesses. There are some steps you can take to give your immune system a boost.

Eat healthy foods consisting of fruits and vegetables. You want to eat foods high in antioxidants. These foods include: artichokes, beans, beets, blueberries, dark chocolate, pecans, spinach, sunflower seeds, walnuts, sweet potato, broccoli, and garlic. Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water and try to stay away from or reduce the consumption of drinks high in sugar.

Stay active with exercise. You do not need to run a marathon. A 30 minute walk will work wonders. The belief is that exercise increases the circulation of cells and helps our bodies fight off viruses. Your goal should be to get 150 minutes of moderate activity in a week.

Don’t skip on sleep. It is recommended that adults get between 7 to 9 hours of sleep daily. Sleep gives our bodies a chance to restore and rejuvenate.

Try to reduce stress. I understand that the time we are currently in it may be difficult to reduce stress. I don’t watch hours of the news because I know it will give me anxiety. I just watch enough to stay informed. I take time to relax. I pray and meditate.

We can do our best to live a healthy lifestyle. However, if are experiencing unusual health symptoms, please see a medical professional.

“The Bad and the Beautiful” movie poster

With so many of us now under shelter-in-place orders due to the coronavirus pandemic, I have a recommendation for a stay-at-home movie you can easily rent through YouTube for a mere $2 or so: “The Bad and the Beautiful,” a 1952 Vincente Minnelli drama starring Kirk Douglas as a scheming, charming movie producer hated and loved by his screenwriter, his director, and his star.

Kirk Douglas

Douglas, a veteran actor of the old Hollywood model, dominates this picture as Jonathan Sheilds, the type of handsome young go-getter we have all run into in our lives. He’s charming, good-looking, and smart, and he sees a goal in the distance in his chosen field, not caring too much about who he needs to step on in pursuit of his dream.

When Douglas died in February in Los Angeles at the age of 103, I realized it had been a long time since I had seen one of his films. “The Bad and the Beautiful” is a great showcase for Douglas. His Jonathan is quiet and playful when that’s called for, loud and bold when that’s appropriate, and generally a compelling presence in the story.

Kirk Douglas and Lana Turner

In the film, the movie producer Shields at one point gives a screen test to an aspiring actress named Georgia, played by Lana Turner. When the screen test is done, all of the top executives at the studio, including Shields, agree that Georgia’s acting misses the mark.

He signs her anyway. “When you’re on screen,” he says to her, “the audience can’t take their eyes off you. That’s what I want in a star.”

The same could could be said about Kirk Douglas. When he’s on screen, whether playing it low, medium, or over-the-top, your eyes gravitate towards him.

Vincente Minnelli

“The Bad and the Beautiful” was directed by ace Hollywood director Vincente Minnelli. There’s not a slow sequence in the film. It moves like a champion race horse trotting around its course. The film’s excellent black-and-white cinematography was by Robert Surtees, another Hollywood veteran, whose films include 1967’s “The Graduate.”

Based on a story by George Bradshaw, the screenplay for the film was written by Charles Schnee. Schnee won an Academy Award for his screenplay.

Have you seen “The Bad and the Beautiful”? Have thoughts about Kirk Douglas, Vincente Minnelli, or anything else movie-related? If so, I invite you to leave any thoughts or reactions in the Comments section.

Happy movie-watching, during these unusual times.

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I’ve been taking a break from education news for, well, obvious reasons. So lately in CPF Insider, instead I’ve been trying to highlight some of the great things that people are doing in the face of this pandemic. We have to focus on those things because every day it seems like the news can’t get any worse, except then it does.

The president lies without ceasing and threatens states that don’t show the proper obeisance to him. Many states still have made no good plans for what happens when the pandemic comes to them. An infant right here in Illinois died today of COVID-19–a so far unprecedented occurrence.

I know that we will need to talk about and lobby for good public education policy again–perhaps soon. But not today. Today we’re anxious, in mourning, and hardly know what day it is. It helps adjust my priorities–which can be too driven by my own neurosis and phobia–that there are folks right here in my neighborhood that have far greater needs than my own, and I’ve been sharing about those needs in the newsletter as well.

And I’m sharing this newsletter here so that you can decide whether and how you want to help too. For those Chicago Public Fools subscribers that have already received this edition of CPF Insider, apologies for the repetition. I think the causes I’m highlighting in this newsletter are important enough to share a little more broadly.

Thanks ever so much for reading, for caring about our schools, and for doing all you can for your neighbors at this time. Click on the link below to read this edition of CPF Insider, and follow me on twitter @JulieVassilatos.

https://cpfinsider.substack.com/p/bright-lights-bleak-country

Sometimes a disaster or an enemy unites people often divided and at odds with one another over ideology, politics and social standing.

The threat can be from an adversary that desires to enslave or as we’ve seen a mysterious biological infectious disease that ravages a county, a continent, a world.  In either case, survival from such a conflagration requires team work, unity and individuals that sacrifice on behalf of their community.

The nurses and doctors are on the front lines of this war.  In order to protect them from becoming one of the fallen, the public, be they young or old have taken it upon themselves to ingeniously sew masks or medical garb with materials one wouldn’t expect used for a PPE (personal protective equipment).

And since ventilators have been in short supply, essential for afflicted patients, it was refreshing to see a doctor figure out how to convert a scuba mask and turn it into one of those lifesaving machines.  This kind of thinking out of the box was necessary due in part to America’s lack of vision compared to South Korea which was ready a day after their first confirmed case with tests administered at the rate of 10K per day and more than enough ventilators to handle the apex of the curve.  Part of the reason why SK was able to do that is that they took seriously a World Health Organization report issued globally in October 2019 that a possible epidemic might occur in the first quarter of 2020.

Retired nurses and doctors who know the threat of this virus better than most, have bravely allowed themselves to be recruited to return to the fight on behalf of their fellow citizens. Money is not their incentive since most medical professionals have made significant money during their careers and afforded them the opportunity to have outstanding pensions or 401K savings.

Celebrated athletes and entertainers have also stepped up to the plate making contributions in the hundreds of thousands or even millions to help those affected by the need  to shutdown America to suppress a virus that can be transmitted by even the asymptomatic.  COVID-19 not only threatens America’s health but also its economy.  Millions find themselves unable to work in an effort to suppress and flatten the curve of the ascendancy of the pandemic which South Korea has successfully contained …so there is hope for us all.

The good news is that people like Drew and Brittany Brees, who have been blessed are addressing the hunger that those without employment face.

What we need are those who inspire, those who unite, those who respect science and those who find a way to provide that which we or our fellow Americans require during this time of crisis.  Kudos to the nurses, the doctors, and the medical care givers but let’s not forget all those who contribute in their own way…they all can GO DO GOOD and help us win the battle against COVID-19.

SELF-ISOLATION, DAY 12

I intend to keep this up. I am tired today, but not sick.

12 is a good number; a dozen, a number divisible by itself, 6,4,3,2 and 1.

I realize my attitude is changing. A week or two ago when I saw the isolated customer with a mask, I thought they were maybe overdoing it. I was of course wrong. Even though the average surgical style mask is of limited value, it might help, and there are many people with some respiratory illness or immune compromise, on chemotherapy for malignancy; likely millions in the US, not to speak of the really elderly. So, now, when I see someone wearing a mask, more than just a week ago, I am jealous. Maybe we should all wear them but they are not available for most of us. There was a note on the breakroom door from the headquarters, that they are negotiating with the government to get masks for us, the employees. My thought was, “good luck with that.”

Excuse me, I was just giving my dog a little treat. If one lives alone with an animal, dog, cat, bird, boa constrictor, whatever, there is a tendency to give some of what one is eating to the pet. Well I do anyway, might be just me. My dog is spoiled. Imagine if you have a boa constrictor, it’s name is Bobo. You just bought a rotisserie chicken at the store and are having a few slices of it for dinner. Bobo slides over onto the table, sticking his tongue out at you the way they do. So, you look at Bobo, Bobo looks at you, and you decide to let him have the rest of the whole chicken.

Well, work was slower again and folks seem to be getting the hang of keeping their space before the cash register, giving each other room as they walk by each other, saying excuse me and thanks for your help and “be safe; stay healthy”. In my situation at least there is a lot of this kindness and acts of caring between people. Does make me feel like there are good things about all this big situation, with no knowledge of how it all will turn out. But we never know how it will all turn out. Like, Life in general. Uh,oh, I am getting religious spiritual again. Sorry. But in the long run; the long, long run, what we do about our souls and where we go on our journey and how we treat others, is truly the bottom line. Right? No? I do not want to start sounding like a televangelist. No offense to them. They are also trying to do what they believe in. I am just being myself, David.

Well, I have an idea for a short, small story, related to pandemics, thought about it while wandering aimlessly around the store. Also, I HAVE TO DO MY CENSUS! I promise myself I will do it tomorrow night after work. No more procrastinating. It is important and I do not want them coming after me.

So, be safe, stay well, believe in the higher powers. We can do this.

David, March 28, 2020

The world in general is still working out how to carry ob while hunkering down during this COVID-19 crisis. There are very few events, but as we can see below, they have been adapted for beer releases for carry-out or growler fills, or even carry-out dinners with growler fills. Many of these events may pop up last minute, and I will try to keep them updated here.

I am also trying to keep up with the current status of local breweries and beer bars, on the four articles pinned to the top of my home page. I am starting to see a few places planning to close down that had been offering delivery last week. Let’s do what we can to keep our friends in business.

Monday, March 30

Tuesday, March 31

Wednesday, April 1

Thursday, April 2