Ready, set, STAY – here we are heading into another month of staying inside and trying to figure out how to balance, work, play and sanity. I hope all of you are healthy and staying put. Here at the Three Tomatoes, we can help with the sanity part via virtual activities that we have culled for you!  So many creative ideas are popping up, and although we miss our in person weekly finds, some of what the bay area businesses are doing are ingenious. And tune in to this week’s Happy Hour Podcast with uplifting advice from husband and wife reverends.  Read on for the scoop, wash and moisturize!

The Winchester Mystery House

If you have never been to The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose (I haven’t!) here is your online chance. Coronavirus has prompted museums, zoos and celebs across the US to put on all kinds of virtual shows, but (as far as we know) this is the first virtual tour from the beyond. California’s most famous haunted home, the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose is now offering free video tours while the mansion is currently closed due to the virus who shall not be named.

Once the largest private residence in the United States, the bizarro began when the lady of the house, Sarah Winchester, inherited a vast fortune from her father-in-law, Oliver Winchester, manufacturer of the famous rifle, and she moved from New Haven, Connecticut to San Jose. Winchester came to believe her family and fortune were haunted and started to build a house as a way to elude the ghosts of all the people who had fallen victim to the Winchester rifle. From 1886 until her death in 1922, construction never ceased on the strange new mansion, which at its peak included 200 rooms, 10,000 windows, 47 fireplaces and 2,000 doors, trap doors and spy holes. The house is designed to confuse—staircases lead nowhere and end at ceilings; cabinets and doors open on to walls; small rooms are built within big rooms; balconies and windows are inside rather than out; chimneys stop floors short of the ceiling; and floors have skylights. Get the details.

Spirituality and Healing in Times of Crisis

Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway and Rev. Victor Fuhrman, who also happen to be husband and wife, share some great advice for this trying time. And you’ll hear their fascinating backgrounds. Rev. Laurie Sue is known as the “romance” reverend and has married hundreds of couples. She is also a journalist and the former Editor-in-Chief of Playgirl Magazine. Rev. Victor was an armed forces broadcaster and is known as “Victor the Voice,” and has a radio show called, “Destination Unlimited.” He is a healer and spiritual counselor and post 9-11 he was a volunteer chaplain for the Red Cross. Listen in here.

Full Moon Friday’s on Facebook Live

The talented folks who are a part of 42nd street Moon, want to keep you engaged and entertained. This Theatre and its band of merry actors are offering Full Moon Fridays at 8 p.m. on Facebook Live. The series will feature live cabaret style performances from talented Moonies of shows past. This Friday, three of the talented folks who were most recently seen in “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” share their vocal gifts. Next Tuesday tune in as they launch Tuesday Talks over the Moon, a series featuring live interviews with the staff, creative team and moonies from favorite shows. 42ndstmoon.org

Berkeley Rep

Theatre lovers have certainly discovered Broadway HD by now, where you can find Broadway classics and hits to stream anytime, anywhere. Right now you can get a 7 day free trial – awesome. So why not check out Berkeley Rep’s recent shows “School Girls and “Culture Clash”, entertaining and thoughtful shows, as are all of their performances. Let’s support our local theatres if we can. Stay tuned also as they plan on presenting online classes as well as play reading groups. Let’s keep them in business! Berkeleyrep.org and BroadwayHD.

The National Emergency Library

Already demolished that stack of novels on your bedside table? Good news— you can now access more than a million books for free as part of a ‘National Emergency Library” launched this week.The Internet Archive, a non-profit organization best known for creating the way back machine archive, has removed waiting lists from its comprehensive assortment of digitized books and other materials donated by libraries and universities around the world.

Usually you’d have to join a queue before being able to ‘borrow’ anything from its collection. But now you can just dip into whatever you want, whenever. The library will close on June 30th or at the end of the US National Emergency, whichever comes last. Here’s to becoming incredibly erudite over the next few months, hey? Archive.org

April 8. ZOOM Seder

As families are apart during this holiday season of Passover and Easter, celebrating the way we did just last year is no longer an option. The JCCSF will be holding its first-ever Seder using ZOOM. If that doesn’t sound traditional enough to you, the JCCSF assures that they are taking it all the way back to the first Passover, when ancestors were stranded in their homes, isolated, biding their time for the perfect moment to leave.

Along with traditional songs, storytelling and asking questions, there will be new rituals that will make Passover 2020 a year to remember. Wednesday April 8th at 6 p.m. Space is limited, and advance reservation is requested. Chag Pesach Sameach. Get the details.