Yesterday really was a slowwwww news day. Other than sampling The Durrells in Corfu, reading portions of six different books, taking the recycling to the center, and going on a Beefheart binge (yes, I’m an old ‘fheart-heart), I was in a bit of what I think they call stasis. Thus, it’s list time.
The 10 Hardest Things About The Pandemic (So Far–I’m Braced 24-7):
- Mourning without proper closure.
- Missing friends’ handshakes and embraces.
- Having to regularly confront how much I am my job (occasional self-loathing and sadness stemming from the fact that I’m not in a catalytic in-person classroom several days a week).
- Trying and failing to sleep seven hours / at least five consecutively. (Bad this week.)
- Sitting on my ass far more than I prefer.
- Adjusting to an almost totally immutable routine (teaching is hard but always unpredictable).
- Falling into a self-involved thought-whirlpool far too often for my liking.
- Slipping into cynicism about human beings in general (was it Charles Schulz who quipped that he liked people, it was the human race he couldn’t stand? “You stupid a**h**e / Baby, I’m one, too!” – Angry Samoans) since the great corrector (a public school classroom) isn’t available.
- Experiencing moments, even days, when I look at stacks of books and records and have no enthusiasm for plunging in.
- Resisting the charms of a well-made martini or a perfectly toxic margarita.
Tomorrow: The 10 BEST (?) Things About the Pandemic.
Streaming for Strivers:
Mood these times can bring…
The Overeem Farewell Tour: Dispatches from the Public School Trenches 