Best Bets for the Break: A quick guide to online entertainment and virtual experiences

This is a continuing series of online activities to undertake on your computer or tablet during your quarantine quandary.

Lectures & learning

• Adventures by the Book presents Ordinary Heroes: A Virtual Adventure and Mini Concert at 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 16, featuring New York Times bestselling authors Paula McLain, Kristin Harmel and Jeffrey Blount, with a mini concert by San Diego singer Moriah Angeline. Free. Register at bit.ly/adventuresbythebookAug16.

• Warwick’s bookstore presents the Couch Surfing Book Tour at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18, free via Zoom. Bestselling author Claire Mackintosh will discuss her book “After the End” in conversation with Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke. warwicks.com/event/mackintosh-2020

• The La Jolla Community Center continues its weekly online gathering called Wednesday Connect at 10 a.m. Aug. 19, featuring “Time to Refresh Your Garden” with Jackie Seidman of horticultural design firm Jackie & the Beanstalk. Free and open to the public. Register at ljcommunitycenter.org/wednesday-connect.

• The San Diego-based National Conflict Resolution Center hosts “A Path Forward,” a national online conversation about race, at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 20. The event will feature a discussion with Ibram Kendi, author of “How to Be an Anti-Racist,” and Robin DiAngelo, author of “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism.” Free. Register at bit.ly/ncrcpathforward.

Family & children

The San Diego Model Railroad Museum will present Thomas Celebration Week virtually Aug. 17-23.

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• The San Diego Model Railroad Museum this year has turned its annual Thomas Family Day into Thomas Celebration Week virtually Aug. 17-23. The museum’s website and social media channels will feature train-themed crafts and activities, videos of the museum’s Thomas models riding the rails and a live story reading exclusive to museum members. Free. sdmrm.org/thomas-and-friends

Art & culture

• The Angelika Film Center will offer virtual movie trivia from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 13, about Academy Award winners. Register in advance to receive a Zoom link and an answer sheet. Participants also may order Angelika concessions for takeout or delivery via UberEats. Free. bit.ly/angelikatrivia

Actress Lynn Griffin will participate in North Coast Repertory Theatre’s “Theatre Conversations” on Monday, Aug. 17.

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• North Coast Repertory Theatre presents Theatre Conversations via its YouTube channel, with one or two conversations posted weekly and previous posts available for viewing. Friday, Aug. 14: Elijah Rock; Monday, Aug. 17: Lynn Griffin and Sean Sullivan. Free. bit.ly/3anjurp

TwainFest continues online through Aug. 16 via Write Out Loud.

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• Write Out Loud presents the 11th annual TwainFest virtually this year through Sunday, Aug. 16. New content is shared via email daily along with video updates added to the Write Out Loud website. Free. Sign up at writeoutloudsd.com/twainfest.

• Vanguard Culture presents “Momentum: A Creative Industry Symposium” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday, Aug. 17, and Monday, Sept. 7. Area creative leaders, from film and theater professionals to dancers and visual and culinary artists, will share how their industry has effected positive change or has the capacity to do so. $10 for both sessions. bit.ly/vc-momentum

• The La Jolla Community center presents “The Harp: An Ancient and Modern Beauty” at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18. The music appreciation class, taught by Chris Burns, will feature the history and diversity of the harp. Free. Register at bit.ly/ljccharp.

• The San Diego Museum of Art continues its online video series in partnership with Art of Elan at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18, featuring trumpeter Stephanie Richards paired with the artwork “Circle, Blue-Violet” by DeWain Valentine. Free via the museum’s YouTube channel, youtube.com/user/SanDiegoMuseumofArt.

• The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego continues its online programming related to themes of Chicanx, Latinx and border art in conjunction with the virtual exhibition “To Tame a Wild Tongue: Art after Chicanismo.” The next talk is at 11 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 20, with Claudia Cano exploring issues of labor, gender and inequality through photography, film and performance. mcasd.org/events/charla-claudia-cano

Virtual galas & events

• The fifth annual Zero Waste Fair will be held virtually from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 15. The free event, presented by I Love A Clean San Diego and the city of Encinitas, aims to help create a road map for people interested in living a waste-free lifestyle. Registration is open at CleanSD.org for the day’s live interactive webinar.

• Miracle Babies will hold its 12th annual Superhero 5K virtually from Sunday, Aug. 16, to Monday, Aug. 31. Participants can walk, run or skip to support families with critically ill newborns in the neonatal intensive care unit. The virtual event allows anyone anywhere to participate in this year’s 5K. The community is encouraged to post on social media with the hashtag #MB5K. Registration is from $30 at miraclebabies5k.org.

What have you found for entertainment and other activity from a (social) distance? Email your leads to efrausto@lajollalight.com. ◆