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 “Prose & Pairings” at 5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 7. The virtual event features authors Christina Baker Kline and Heather Morris with Vintage Longbottom Winery owner Kim Longbottom. Admission is free with a book purchase and includes a wine presentation. bit.ly/bookandwineadventure

• The La Jolla Community Center’s Distinguished Speaker Series continues at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8, as travel writer David Swanson presents favorite spots in San Diego, including many in La Jolla. He compiled his list in his newly published second edition of “100 Things to Do in San Diego Before You Die.” Free. To register, email deborah@ljcommunitycenter.org.

• The UC San Diego visual arts department presents an online series called “Design Fictions: Future Epidemiologies, Ethical Responses, Public Health” from 1 to 3 p.m. Wednesdays through Sept. 23. The Sept. 9 session is “Omnipolis, Social Trust, Planetary Health” with Ponar Yoldas. Free. Register for some or all sessions at bit.ly/ucsddesignfiction.

• Warwick’s bookstore presents local author and teacher Adam Davis at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9, online. Davis will discuss his debut collection of poetry, “Index of Haunted Houses,” with poet and UC San Diego professor Kazim Ali. Free. warwicks.com/event/davis-2020

• Congregation Beth Israel holds a San Diego mayoral candidates forum from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9, online. Candidates Barbara Bry and Todd Gloria will answer questions from moderator and Beth Israel member Jason Bercovitch. Free. Register at bit.ly/cbimayoral.

• Scripps Research presents the next session in its Front Row Lecture Series at 1 p.m. Thursday, Sept 10. Andrew Su’s lecture titled “Citizen Science: Empowering the Public to Help Solve Biomedical Challenges” will discuss recent discoveries that were only possible with involvement by the citizen scientist community. Free. frontrow.scripps.edu

• San Diego Repertory Theatre, along with The Old Globe and La Jolla Playhouse, present “We Are Listening,” a live online salon about Black artists’ experiences in the industry, at 7 p.m. every other Thursday. Sessions feature a discussion followed by a brief question-and-answer session. The Sept. 10 episode will feature director Sheldon Epps. bit.ly/wearelisteningnew. Past episodes are at bit.ly/wearelisteningpast.

Family & children

• The La Jolla/Riford Library offers a virtual Teen Council Meeting at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 5. Teens in grades 9-12 can earn service hours and help the library make decisions about serving teens in the community. For more information, email sanchezdm@sandiego.gov.

• The San Diego Youth Symphony presents its Virtual Birthday celebration Sunday, Sept. 6. Seventy-five years after the symphony’s first public concert in 1945, the online retrospective video commemorates founder Leo Scheer’s vision. sdys.org

Art & culture

• San Diego Repertory Theatre and Amigos Del Rep’s Latinx New Play Festival returns for its fourth year Sept. 4-6 online. It will include staged readings of four new plays and a performance by Latinx comedian and playwright Marga Gomez, plus panel discussions and other events. A festival pass is offered at a “pay what you can” price (suggested value is $50). sdrep.org/Latin_New_Play_Festival.php

• Vanguard Culture presents “Momentum: A Creative Industry Symposium” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday, Sept. 7, including film, music, dance, visual and literary artists sharing how their industry has effected positive change or has the capacity to do so. $10. bit.ly/vc-momentum

• The La Jolla Playhouse Without Walls series presents “Portaleza” online starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8. The production by David Israel Reynoso and Optika Moderna is designed to provide an inventive, multi-sensory journey without leaving your living room. $20. lajollaplayhouse.org/portaleza

• North Coast Repertory Theatre premieres “Necessary Sacrifices” online Sept. 9 to Oct. 11. The full theatrical production, written by Richard Hellesen and directed by Peter Ellenstein, is a drama featuring portrayals of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. $25. northcoastrep.org

BalletCollective will livestream a drive-in performance from New York Sept. 10-12.

(Courtesy)

• BalletCollective presents “Natural History” Sept. 10-12 in a live drive-in event in New York livestreamed for free at balletcollective.com/live.

• The Athenaeum Music & Arts Library’s 29th annual juried exhibition ends Sept. 12. Forty-six local artists have contributed 92 pieces. Free. ljathenaeum.org/juried-exhibition

• The Adam D. Kamil Gallery at UC San Diego has added an online exhibit from its summer undergraduate class. Titled “Special Projects in Visual Arts — Love, Crush, Anger, Institution,” the production explores what filmmaking looks like as a daily practice. visarts.ucsd.edu/kamilgallery

Virtual galas & events

• The nonprofit Clearity Foundation holds its Teal Woman Celebration virtually at 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13. The livestreamed event will include entertainment with proceeds funding Clearity Foundation’s programs for women with ovarian cancer. Register at clearityfoundation.org/tealwoman.

Pattie Wellborn, Barbara McColl and Karen Bowden, longtime La Jollans and founding members of the San Diego chapter of Achievement Rewards for College Scientists, toast its 35-year history.

(Courtesy)

• Achievement Rewards for College Scientists, a local nonprofit, holds its Scientist of the Year fundraiser at 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13, online. The event will highlight Paul Schimmel, a biophysical chemist and translational medicine pioneer at Scripps Research. $100. Register at san-diego.arcsfoundation.org/currentevents.

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