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

• Bon Vivant cooking school offers online cooking classes with chef Tori Sellon. Upcoming classes include “Butternut Squash Lasagna” at 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 22. $25. bit.ly/bonvivantsched

• UC San Diego continues its weeklong series of virtual events focusing on service, dialogue and training through Jan. 23 as part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Week of Service. Events include a Black-owned business panel Thursday, Jan. 21, a LGBTQIA+ community organization panel Friday, Jan. 22, and more. For more information and to register for the events, visit mlkday.ucsd.edu.

• Adventures by the Book presents “Book Bingo (New Year: New Reads)” at 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23, online. The event will feature authors Kristina McMorris, Claire Fullerton, Ellen Meeropol, Marco Rafala, Deborah Goodrich Royce and Isla Morley. Free. bit.ly/bookbingojan21

• Warwick’s bookstore presents author Julia Kelly at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26, via Facebook Live. Kelly, also an Emmy-nominated producer, journalist and marketing professional, will discuss her new book, “The Last Garden in England,” with Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke. Free. warwicks.com/event/kelly-2021

• San Diego County Credit Union and the San Diego County Library system present “Financial Wellness Wednesdays” online through March. The webinars, held at various times on a variety of topics, are designed to improve financial health. Topics on Jan. 27 will include “Scams and How to Protect Your Finances” at 9 a.m. and “Elder Fraud Prevention” at noon. Free. View the full list and register at sdccu.com/fww.

• The La Jolla Community Center continues its “Wednesday Connect” series with “Introduction to Memoir Writing” at 10 a.m. Jan. 27 (postponed from earlier this month). Author Kay Sanger will preview an upcoming four-part LJCC class designed to offer tools to begin telling one’s life story. Free. ljcommunitycenter.org/wednesday-connect

• The League of Women Voters of San Diego presents “How Your Vote Counts” at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 27, online. The webinar will feature speakers Mary Thompson, chairwoman of the Civil Engagement Committee for LWV of North County San Diego; Jeanne Brown, LWVSD Criminal Justice Committee chairwoman; and Pam Wilmot of Common Cause. bit.ly/lowvjan27

• Gelson’s supermarket presents “Firestone Walker Beer Tasting” at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 28, online. The event will feature brewmaster Matt Brynildson leading a tasting of three beers that are available for pickup at Gelson’s Pacific Beach, Del Mar and Carlsbad locations. RSVP by Tuesday, Jan. 26, at gelsons.com/firestone.

Families & children

• The Nature Collective presents “Virtual Connections: Dunes” at noon Thursday, Jan. 28, online. Join the online guided tour of the Cardiff Beach Living Shoreline, where rare birds and plants are able to thrive. Free. Register at thenaturecollective.org/events.

Art & culture

• The Athenaeum Music & Arts Library continues its “Rembrandt & Vermeer: The Golden Age of Dutch Art” lecture series at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21, online. Linda Blair will discuss Johannes Vermeer and his use of space and meditative, solitary women. On Jan. 28, Blair will cover Rembrandt’s arrival in Amsterdam in 1631 and the next decade. Lectures are $14 each for Athenaeum members and $19 for non-members. ljathenaeum.org/art-history-lectures

• La Jolla Playhouse’s all-digital Without Walls Festival continues with the opening of “A Thousand Ways,” a new immersive theater piece created by Brooklyn’s 600 Highwaymen theater company. In Part 1, which runs at various times Jan. 21 through Feb. 14, audience members will be paired in a 45- to 60-minute phone call to create a story inspired by a set of prompts. $25. lajollaplayhouse.org/wow-goes-digital/a-thousand-ways. Part 2 will take place in a few months, and Part 3 will be held when the coronavirus pandemic ends.

• The Old Globe continues its eighth annual Powers New Voices Festival online Jan. 21-24. At 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 22, the festival will feature “Fuente Ovejuna,” translated and adapted by William Gregory and Daniel Jáquez. Free; reservations are required. theoldglobe.org

The Athenaeum Music & Arts Library continues its art history lecture series on Albrecht Dürer online Tuesday, Jan. 26.

(Courtesy)

• The Athenaeum Music & Arts Library continues its five-week art history lecture series on Albrecht Dürer at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26. Art historian Victoria Martino will cover the artist’s wedding, first trip to Italy and early career from 1490 to 1505. Future sessions are Feb. 2, 9 and 16. Individual lectures are $14 for Athenaeum members and $19 for non-members. ljathenaeum.org/art-history-lectures

Ovation Theatre in Encinitas will stream four shows of the musical “All Shook Up” on Jan. 29-30 and Feb. 5-6.

(Courtesy)

• Ovation Theatre in Encinitas will stream four shows of “All Shook Up” starting at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 29. The live musical production, filmed outdoors, is inspired by the songs of Elvis Presley and loosely based on Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.” Future shows will be streamed at 5 p.m. Jan. 30, 7 p.m. Feb. 5 and 4 p.m. Feb. 6. $40 for a group pass; $25 for single tickets. ovationtheatre.org

• North Coast Repertory Theatre has extended “Necessary Sacrifices” online through Sunday, March 7. 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

Virtual galas & events

• Area nonprofit St. Madeleine Sophie’s Center holds its annual “Tea by the Sea” event at noon Saturday, Jan. 23, online. Guests are encouraged to dress in their favorite tea-time attire during the event, which will benefit the organization’s efforts to help adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Tickets are $135 and include a tea set gift basket, recipe cards, an opportunity drawing and a virtual cooking demonstration. smscteabythesea.org

• The Scripps Institution of Oceanography presents “Fishing for the Future,” a sustainable seafood event benefiting the institute’s Marine Conservation and Technology Facility at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 28, online. The two-part program features both paid and free-to-the-public experiences: a virtual VIP reception with a sustainable seafood dinner and drinks from The Fishery in Pacific Beach and Cutwater Spirits (guests can pick up their orders in advance), and a virtual live event including a short film and a Q&A panel with experts in sustainable seafood, including scientists, policymakers, advocates and supply chain specialists. VIP admission is $150. act.ucsd.edu/sustainableseafood

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