Hey, hey, what's up? It's Gustav Ariano. Instead of our usual today, we're channeling our inner holiday spirit and sharing stories from some of my awesome colleagues from across the newsroom.

We started this show back in May, and because of the pandemic, we've been producing each episode from our basements, our childhood bedrooms, even our closets, if we can convince reporters to do so.

And while it's been great to see the ingenuity of our team and putting a show together remotely, no, seriously, it's been incredible to see this. It's also been, well, lonely. I mean, our team at the times hasn't had one get-together in person. And with Omicron now happening, who knows when that'll happen. So for our last new episode of 2021, we reached out

to our colleagues in the virtual newsroom to ask them what's kept them grounded through all this.

They submitted stories about losing loved ones to COVID-19 and finding new ways to bond

with family, about reconnecting with bandmates after months of virtual performances, and the

hilarious exploits of one seriously sassy pet rabbit.

These stories made us at the times feel as if our colleagues were chit-chatting in the office with us.

We felt good and cheery hearing them, and I hope they do the same for you.

First up, we have Steve Padilla.

If you've been missing live performances after the pandemic shut down theaters, dance halls, and music venues for much of the last two years, then Steve feels you. He's an editor for column one. It's a longstanding front page feature where the best of L.A. Times storytelling lives. Remember our episode about Rosario, a central American migrant, or the one about the Santa Monica gambling boats, Steve edited those

when they came out in print. He's got a great eye for stories, and that's not his only talent.

Can you hear me singing here? I'm one of the tenors, and this is the Juicants' early music ensemble.

I like to say Juicants performs 50s music, as in the 1550s.

Well, sometimes the 1450s, also the 1350s, anything from the Middle Ages and Renaissance, really.

For nearly 20 years, my Sunday nights have sounded like this.

Even now, the music remains vibrant, whether bawdy tavern tunes or ethereal religious works like this motet.

They embody something the American composer Aaron Copeland once said.

To stop the flow of music would be like stopping time itself, incredible and inconceivable.

Well, Aaron, that's exactly what happened. To avoid the loss of potentially

tens of thousands of lives, we must enact an immediate stay-at-home order, so that is the action

that I'm announcing today. I can't stress enough of practicing social distancing and really,

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