May 19, 2020

Hi Gang,

Sometimes, the best response is a simple hug. Even if you haven’t experienced tragic death or frightening illness recently, you’ve inevitably felt frustrated, worried, exasperated, inadequate, confused, sad, angry, overwhelmed… what am I missing? Out of shape, tired, annoyed, distracted, Zoomed out, drunk, hungover… it’s a long list. I’ve been able to find a sufficient emoji to convey all of these states of mind, but there’s one glaring omission: There’s no good emoji to send in response. Facebook has scooped Apple on that front, earlier this month adding a new hug emoji. Hopefully whoever makes these decisions at Apple will agree that a hug emoji is far more useful than, say, a ball of yarn or an ear of corn (neither of which I’ve had the occasion to use). So, while I can’t text it to you, I’m emailing all of you a virtual hug. Email or text me back with your state of mind. Tomorrow, we’ll reveal the results of our Pulse Check survey, including the “how are you feeling” word cloud. Maybe we’ll make an emoji version!

News & Resources

• An Illustrated Guide To Showing Up For Yourself – practical (post-hug) advice for how to get re-centered

• COVID Patients Testing Positive After Recovery Aren’t Infectious – very encouraging news out of Korea

• Forging a New Future: Post-Pandemic Transition Tips – your team may fall into one of three buckets: first-in, last-back, bit of both

From the Community

• Roche taps Vividion in $135M protein degradation deal – Wow! Congrats Diego Miralles & team!

Food Fight – send me yours!

Today’s winner is a cheerful entry from Carol Gallagher, Partner at New Enterprise Associates! Thanks for including the recipe, Carol. We will include in the Vital Signs Cookbook and I can email it to anyone interested!

Chef’s comments: “I love chicken pot pie, but I needed to modify the recipe for only two people. I make the pie filling per the recipe and then freeze what we don’t use for quick dinners in the future. Instead of a full pie crust, I buy Pepperidge Farm tartlets in the freezer section and use one tartlet per person for the pastry. It turns out sort of deconstructed. The salad is spinach and mixed greens out of my garden with roasted beets, Gorgonzola cheese, walnuts, and red wine vinaigrette.”

Btw, Who else is gardening? Perhaps we need to add a segment called, From the Garden, in future issues. (Send photos!)

A Little Levity

• Papyrus – I’ll watch anything Ryan Gosling does, including this skit on SNL… who knew this little font could be so menacing!

• Best in Show - Judging the Hounds – in honor of the late Fred Willard, one of the most hilarious movies (and clips) of all time

Be well,

Jackie