Cloister Commentary, Day 62: Spartan Strong, Class o’ ’20!

Well, we didn’t go on a Vehicular Victory Tour for Battle Valedictorians yesterday–but we did mirror the InnerTubes to our TV and admiringly watch the school’s virtual academic awards assembly. Besides getting to celebrate the recipients of a nursing scholarship we’ve given for seven years in Nicole’s mom Lynda’s memory, we were gobsmacked by the sheer brains, skill, and diligence of the Spartan Strong Class of ’20. Through the storm, they (the kids and the school) DID IT.

Also, watching the show reminded me how much I miss teaching high school and attending such events. Jacob Biener, my former student Adam Taylor dubbed you a rock star for making the assembly a reality, and he is quite correct.

I continued inching through my book stack. Reading 20 pages a piece of Yuri Herrera’s Transmigration of Bodies and João Ubaldo Ribeiro’s Sergeant Getulio felt like a major accomplishment, and those very engaging books are ones I could normally burn through in a day. By the way, the world fictionally presented in the former title resembles, too closely for comfort, our own, with its denizens either masked or striving to find one.

I spent the afternoon setting up my summer class’ Canvas site, shooing cats from between me and my computer monitor and keeping them from burning their fur on my trusty work candle. Anyone else have a work candle? Or work cats?

If you haven’t checked out Mrs. America and you’re able to, I ask you, why not?

Streaming for Shut-Ins:

I’m not sure this is a “full album,” but Brother Cliff, thank you for inspiring its posting here.

Cloister Commentary, Day 60: Magic and Loss

Today I rose with a surer sense of peace and control than I have had in several days. Getting back to simple rituals grounded us right when we needed it.

I have happily watched my former student Jaymee Thomas organize parades for kids during this pandemic and admired it from afar, but now I appreciate her efforts even more after, for the second time, joining Battle’s vehicular celebration of its highest academic achievers and chauffeuring Nicole from house to house. It struck me that, even after we emerge from this mess, it may be a ritual to retain. The third and final Battle High School valedictorian celebration is today, and we’re going.

The intense but intermittent reverberations and impacts of sudden loss have affected my concentration on any but the most urgent tasks. I tried to read (for comfort, edification, and escape), but as Lou Reed once sang, “I couldn’t get to page 17.”

The day ended with us sitting on the couch, looking into each other’s eyes and both reflecting and laying out a near-future path. We’re worried about each other, if only because it’s been powerfully demonstrated to us that tomorrow is not guaranteed.

Streaming for Shut-Ins:

Ken Shimamoto knows, and Reed surely did.

Cloister Commentary, Day 58: Party Out of Bounds

Patio party at distance, with Henry and Linda Landry? CHECK. Mexican Mules, crackers and cheese, and, as Linda said, “Wide-ranging conversation.” Sanity-enducing. Yep, I said that–think about it.

Zoom double date, with Vance and Liz Downing? CHECK. Our first-ever two-hour-plus Zoom, but that’s how smart and cute these two are.

A bowl of Ramen noodles, and we hit the pillows.

Cloister Commentary, Day 55: The Thing with Feathers

Talked to my mom on the phone, and I am trying to sketch out a plan to safely visit her and Dad–I can barely remember when we last saw them in person. They’re 3.5 hours away, we’ll need to kennel the dog, and we feel an overnight stay is pushing it: we’re not putting anyone at unnecessary risk. Also, we’ll need to think out our distancing, dining, and rest stops very carefully in advance. It’s enough to break the brain. My dad’s also made me two much-needed record crates, so that just increases my desire to visit. Any advice or ideas? It seems like the masses are just relaxing and rolling out, but my mind and gut are telling me to hold steady. It’s enough to wake you up at 3 am.

We’ve been trying anything Jamestown’s Happy Hollow Farms has to offer. They deliver to Columbians via our Farmer’s Market. Our recent experiment, after devouring their purple radishes, was with black radishes. Damn. Talk about strong. VERY strong. Nicole soaked ’em in sugar water and vinegar to tone them down after we tried them raw and discovered their health benefits, and that helped, but, when we opened the container they’d been marinating in, we were tempted to look askance first at the dog, then at each other.

Hope is indeed the thing with feathers; every day the news seems to bring more proof. A step forward, three steps back, each a slap of insult, degradation, and smugness upside the head. But it was fun, on Hulu’s enlightening limited series Mrs. America, to see Phyllis Schlafly (played astonishingly by Kate Blanchett) get a pie in the face. Did it really happen? Yes, it did. See the link in the comments below. The only issue I have with the series–it’s really my issue–is it helps explain a bit of where we’re at right now, and while that’s helpful, that’s also somewhat depressing.

Streaming for Shut-Ins:

NEVER depressing.

Cloister Commentary, Day 54: Stuff

School stuff: Nicole worked on enrollment and I laid out an Excel schedule for assignments and activities for my upcoming virtual dual-credit comp class. I’ve never had a more mysterious picture of my audience so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Food stuff: I bet we’re not alone in this mess in preparing big batches of food to be eaten across several days. We were sad to see the end of a stellar pot of red beans and rice. Also, we both recommend the Burmese restaurant Tiger Chef to Columbians searching for good curbside.

Cat stuff: Since this pandemic started, we’ve watched our kitten Junior, who turns one in a couple weeks, become the longest, tallest, leanest cat of the bunch–and we have a bunch. If he grows into his tail…

Clothes stuff: We’re still not comfortable going into a store and shopping for clothes (I’m not comfortable shopping for them period), so we ordered some items on-line. My favorite going-on-20-year-old slippers bit the dust yesterday after we determined the strange here-and-gone funk we’d been sniffing was emanating from them. They’d also worn through in three places. But that’s a sign they were just getting perfect.

Music stuff: Nicki Minaj is on point on the new Doja Cat remix.

Book stuff: I awakened having cleared the reading decks, so I read the first 20 pages of each of four new ones. Octavia Butler and Louise Erdrich are the level of writer that you can (if you have no obligations) read all day long. Butler’s Kindred and Erdrich’s new The Night Watchman have their hooks in deep already.

Film stuff: Inspired by weird Facebook prohibitory actions, we spent two powerful hours remembering the great and painfully missed Molly Ivins in a Hulu documentary called Raise Hell! Do we need her, but are we also glad she didn’t have to see what she predicted. Reading her kept us sane during the last half of the ’90s and the beginning of the ‘Oughts.

Streaming for Shut-Ins:

I’ve been staring at a compilation of this band’s work from our couch every morning. Time to act. Their debut album wastes no time kicking butt.