We're past the mid-point in May, folks. People are starting to emerge from their homes and resume their lives. I'm still as hunkered down now as I was in late March and all of April, but one way or the other, this will end for me at the end of the month. June 1, I will go to my library for the first shift I've worked there in almost three months. At that point, maybe I'll be willing to spend time with friends. Outside. Six feet away from them. With masks. Bright side: at least the masks will give us some sun protection?
Sunday was my second day of birthday; to celebrate, I treated myself to a Get Your Shit Together (Gyst) Day, which basically translates into a day of gentle, but not ambitious, productivity. Dishes were washed, laundry was folded, cats were cuddled, storms were watched from my balcony.
Today, Monday, was the third day of birthday; in celebration, I made a donation to Planned Parenthood. And then realized I accidentally opted to make a monthly donation, which I totally can't commit to, so I'll probably have to spend an annoying amount of time trying to undo that clusterfuck. The only other thing of note that occurred today was that I had the best power nap ever.
Exciting times here at The Haggery, folks, let me tell ya.
Within the last few days, I've learned that two of my closest friends in Bloomington are moving away--one to Ohio, the other to Alabama. These are two of the first friends I made when I moved home in 2016. Hopefully I will have a chance to see them before they leave/ When talking to Middle Sister today, and telling her about this, she asked me, in classic LCSW fashion, "What do you feel about this?"
I paused before answering. "Hell if I know," I finally responded. "I've not seen them in months. And at this point, it's not like I can even go out and make new friends." I suppose I'm numb. I would like to process this, but I think it's beyond me at this particular moment. It's strange; I feel that my life and existence have been in some sort of suspension these last couple of months. And I assumed that others' have been, too. But I have this dreadful feeling that when I emerge from isolation, I will be coming back into a world in which everything, and everyone, is different. Possibly gone.
It's a REALLY slow news day around here, clearly.
Current Indiana COVID-19 Counts:
Total Number of Cases: 28,255 (up from Saturday's 27,280)
1,621 people have died.
Nationwide, 89,407 people have died.
Showing posts with label 12 days of birthday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 12 days of birthday. Show all posts
Monday, May 18, 2020
Saturday, May 16, 2020
Plague Diaries, Issue 60: May 16, 2020
Driving over to The Prof's yesterday, I noticed that the delicate green of spring foliage is yielding to the rude, thrusting, vibrant, deeper green of summer. While we hunkered down and hid in our homes, an entire season passed us by. We're halfway through May, and then, soon, we will be halfway through this cursed year. One way or another, whether we are living or waiting, time marches on.
In another way, things are shifting and changing: I spent a large portion of this past week hard at work, helping plan our phased re-opening. Countless hours I've spent in my home workspace, making calls, attending meetings, writing notes, composing and abandoning schedules, firing off emails, shooing my cats off the table, and wondering how far we will get in this process. Will there be some resurgence of the plague that sends us all scuttling back into our homes? Or will we just...power through, and ignore any potential risks, and give a half-hearted nod to precautions, but somehow just resign ourselves that COVID-19 is our unwelcome bosom companion for the foreseeable future?
I went to Target the other day, for my one weekly allowed supply run. Of the people I saw there, only about half of them were wearing masks. And as for people ignoring social distancing protocols...well, let's just say that if there was a Venn diagram of social-distancing and mask-eschewing people, that diagram would be one fucking circle. I try not to be one to be snooty and dismissive of "the masses" or think that the majority of people are stupid (they may very well be, but I believe we all have been one of those stupid people at some--or many--points) but jesus h. christ, folks. Let's at least try, okay? The country is re-opening so we can have our Chili's and haircuts and mall excursions, but it doesn't mean we have to be utter, insouciant chumps about things.
How else have I spent the last several days? Eating, like always, of course. I'm really, really, really proud of a vegetarian (and vegan? although unintentionally) curry recipe that I made earlier in the week:
I don't know what it is about this particular place... Mother Bears and Avers are both great local pizza restaurants, too, but Wheel Pizza is the closest I've come to a New York Style pizza.
But perhaps the highlight of my week was this evening, The First Day of Birthday. (Yes, you read that right: if I cannot have the 40th Birthday Blowout, by god, I'll do my best to celebrate it with flair in quarantine.) So anyway, this evening I celebrated The First Day of Birthday enjoying a glass of champagne, chomping down on a charcuterie board, and binge watching The Great, this obnoxiously delightful, absurd costume drama about Catherine The Great. It's a production from Hulu, and you can tell everyone seems to take great joy in rendering everything as inaccurate as possible. It's the ridiculous you didn't know you needed in your life...
Oh wait, sorry, I guess you'd rather see a picture of the charcuterie board, huh?
So, anyway. As time marches on, and 'Murica starts to re-open and resume life, I'm going to get more and more wrapped up in my work, which usually sucks up the majority of my time and attention and energy. I'd like to say that I'll continue blogging on the regular, but if this last week is any indication, that might not be a likelihood. I've often struggled with blogging--coming up with subject content, which is hard because my daily life is pretty humdrum; pondering, why am I doing it, anyway? Is anyone reading? And if I think it's possible that people are reading, am I writing this in some sort of performative, and therefore not entirely authentic manner? And why the hell should it matter anyway? It's my life, humdrum though it is, and I like to document it.
At least I've gotten into something of a habit of blogging more than before. All it took was a pandemic.
Current Indiana COVID-19 Counts
Total Number of Cases: 27,280 (up from the 25,473 noted on my post on 13 May)
1,596 people have died.
Nationwide, 87,315 people have died.
In another way, things are shifting and changing: I spent a large portion of this past week hard at work, helping plan our phased re-opening. Countless hours I've spent in my home workspace, making calls, attending meetings, writing notes, composing and abandoning schedules, firing off emails, shooing my cats off the table, and wondering how far we will get in this process. Will there be some resurgence of the plague that sends us all scuttling back into our homes? Or will we just...power through, and ignore any potential risks, and give a half-hearted nod to precautions, but somehow just resign ourselves that COVID-19 is our unwelcome bosom companion for the foreseeable future?
I went to Target the other day, for my one weekly allowed supply run. Of the people I saw there, only about half of them were wearing masks. And as for people ignoring social distancing protocols...well, let's just say that if there was a Venn diagram of social-distancing and mask-eschewing people, that diagram would be one fucking circle. I try not to be one to be snooty and dismissive of "the masses" or think that the majority of people are stupid (they may very well be, but I believe we all have been one of those stupid people at some--or many--points) but jesus h. christ, folks. Let's at least try, okay? The country is re-opening so we can have our Chili's and haircuts and mall excursions, but it doesn't mean we have to be utter, insouciant chumps about things.
How else have I spent the last several days? Eating, like always, of course. I'm really, really, really proud of a vegetarian (and vegan? although unintentionally) curry recipe that I made earlier in the week:
The third Friday in May (yesterday) was National Pizza Party Day, so I ordered a pie from Wheel Pizza, my favorite local pizza joint.
But perhaps the highlight of my week was this evening, The First Day of Birthday. (Yes, you read that right: if I cannot have the 40th Birthday Blowout, by god, I'll do my best to celebrate it with flair in quarantine.) So anyway, this evening I celebrated The First Day of Birthday enjoying a glass of champagne, chomping down on a charcuterie board, and binge watching The Great, this obnoxiously delightful, absurd costume drama about Catherine The Great. It's a production from Hulu, and you can tell everyone seems to take great joy in rendering everything as inaccurate as possible. It's the ridiculous you didn't know you needed in your life...
Oh wait, sorry, I guess you'd rather see a picture of the charcuterie board, huh?
This layout of delicacies came from a local business called Blooming Boards, courtesy of--who else?--my sisters, who, had COVID-19 never fucked up our lives, would now be packing their bags to come see me. Anyway, of course the food was amazing, but there is still so much of it sitting in my fridge. It's the kind of thing meant to be enjoyed with others. Sisters, specifically.
So, anyway. As time marches on, and 'Murica starts to re-open and resume life, I'm going to get more and more wrapped up in my work, which usually sucks up the majority of my time and attention and energy. I'd like to say that I'll continue blogging on the regular, but if this last week is any indication, that might not be a likelihood. I've often struggled with blogging--coming up with subject content, which is hard because my daily life is pretty humdrum; pondering, why am I doing it, anyway? Is anyone reading? And if I think it's possible that people are reading, am I writing this in some sort of performative, and therefore not entirely authentic manner? And why the hell should it matter anyway? It's my life, humdrum though it is, and I like to document it.
At least I've gotten into something of a habit of blogging more than before. All it took was a pandemic.
Current Indiana COVID-19 Counts
Total Number of Cases: 27,280 (up from the 25,473 noted on my post on 13 May)
1,596 people have died.
Nationwide, 87,315 people have died.
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