Work From Home Soul Stew

In 1967 King Curtis released "Memphis Soul Stew".

"Great song. Wonderful song. Good friend of mine. Tremendously talented. Visited me many times in Mara Lago. Many times." - Trump

(Correction Mr. President, that was Don King . . .)

I digress.

The song was immortalized in the 1990 cover by Marge Simpson and modified to honor her home town as "Springfield Soul Stew" featuring Lisa Simpson on sax.

During times like this it's worth a listen.

{pause and listen}

The song begins with Marge, "Um, today's special is Springfield Soul Stew. We sell so much of this, people wonder what we put in it. Well, we're gonna tell ya right now."

Recipes of all types help us to re-create those things that we know to be successful. Each chef adds their own touch but the basic ingredients remain similar.

In that spirit . . .

Um, today's special is Work-From-Home Soul Stew.

I've done so much of this, people wonder how I do it.

Well, I'm gonna tell ya right now.

Gimme about a half a teacup of wi-fi.

Now I need a pound of fatback determination.

Now, gimme four tablespoons of boilin' video conferencing... this is gonna taste alright.

Mmmm, zoom.... delicious.

Mmm, now just a little pinch of chat services.

Now gimme half a pint of file sharing.

Place on the burner and turn off on-screen notifications.

Yeah, that's it, schedule check ins and breaks, that's it... right there.

Now grit...

Woah...take it lists...

Ooh, woo-ooh!

Mmmm that's it... systems make you accountable.

Ooh, woo-ooh!

Ooh, thank you!

Mmmm...now let's take it on home!

'Cause, uh, we gotta go home!

That's our world!

Arches

Clip art images like to highlight the keystone as the one stone that finally makes an arch. This suggests that it's the leader. It's the bipartisan connector that brings an arch to life. It's the one that finally connects both sides.

It's not entirely true.

For example, the left side of the arch would not be connected to the right were it not for the lowly second stone on the lower right side.

In a stone arch every stone counts.

Mathematically the stones in arches of shapes other than semi-circular arches all experience different shear forces. Regardless, without every stone doing its part, big or small, the arch fails to exist.

The COVID19 curve is same same but different.

A curve is not an arch, but the pressure on each part of the curve is a result of the shear forces between coordinates. The line moves up and down relative to the force of the previous coordinate and the space between the bases. Additionally, the line moves up and down the same way on both ends.

This is like building a small stone arch in a back yard stream. We can quickly make two tall piles of rocks close together and then tip them towards a perfectly weighted keystone and call it an arch. Gravity and friction--without a supporting structure--allow for this.

If we were to attempt to build a long, low and flat arch without support, the forces of nature would get the best of us.

Long flat arches are possible but require removable scaffolding and more careful calculations of friction from stone to stone.

Sunglasses

Eye contact is tricky. Too much is creepy. Too little is unsettling.

Just the right amount is a moving target depending on the accompanying length of silence.

Now add to those anecdotal challenges the science behind sayings like 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder.' [We are], "more likely to interpret happy faces as looking at [us] as compared to angry, fearful, or neutral faces." In other words, perceived eye contact also changes relative to the observer's understanding of a person's emotional disposition.

Sunglasses make all of this even harder.

During this moment where appropriate social distances are expected and it's suggested that we gather outside, people in sunglasses challenge the 'eye of the beholder.' Beholding a sunglass-clad face, especially from a distance, requires us to form judgements about a person's emotional state using cues other than eye contact. This slows the time of understanding between people at time when we are yearning to be understood.

Who ever thought a day would come when sunglasses and Corona wouldn't go well together?

Tricky indeed.