sharing too much?

 Worried that my workplace is running out of luck health-wise. Two weeks ago the girlfriend of the son of my nearest coworker had her entire family test positive for Covid after Thanksgiving. My coworker and his wife both got tested and came out negative.

But this week at work, someone thought it would be a great idea for a holiday potluck tomorrow and as I was leaving tonight, one of the production workers exiting with me said she was on her way to a funeral immediately after work. None of the production people downstair wear masks or practice social distancing. I think I'm going to have to shower with disinfectant and burn all my clothing when I get home from work tomorrow.

Adventures in Online Retail Therapy

 I am isolated here in High Point, North Carolina but that's actually not an unusual feeling for me here. These quarantine times make the experience common for more people. The shops are too packed with people unmasked who refuse to believe Covid19 is more than a common cold. Outside, the only signs of life are large construction projects taking place on the roads that promise good transportation in the future. 

Sometimes I get too anxious or depressed and I give in to the temptation of online shopping, the traditional entertainment of the women of my people, people who no longer speak or write to me anymore. My friends - my chosen family - are still there and still constant and I am thankful every day for them. 

This week I gave into temptation and purchased the NPR wine club package. The box of wine arrived today and it looks like a year's worth of vino. It's a lot of wine, all with labels that mention NPR and various shows they have. The box they came in had a Virgin logo on it. It's probably good that I didn't know they were the source or I might not have purchased it. I love you, Richard Branson, but Virgin Wines is not your best project. Still, I will remain open minded and sample everything over the course of the following months before judging them. 

life in the void

I've been lonely and crazy-bored ever since moving to North Carolina. Constant twittering existential angst is my normal mode and I have not grown to enjoy the silence. Most days, I mourn the dead brain cells and atrophed creative mind I used to have. I am lucky enough to have made friends with two very lovely people who live just 19 miles away in Greensboro. She is an artist and her husband is an engineer. They interface very well with us but now this quarantine life has stopped most of our contact with them. We've pushed the envelope a couple of times and, at a safe distance, gotten together with them in our backyard to hang out and chat by a fire and show them MonsterMustDie's latest home project, a Japanese garden.

Most people I know are in Atlanta, working remotely or in reduced hours. I am completely without work or activities now. All of the things I wanted to have time to do - ceramics and studio classes, repairs and renovations on the kitchen and bathrooms of this house, require places and services that are not available now. My brain is not made for online courses where I have no interaction with other human beings to keep me alert. Sleep is weird these days. Most nights I can't go to bed until after midnight and dreams are usually vivid collages of mundane things I do all day. Sometime I dream of people who are dead. Sometimes I dream of ideas for movies or other projects that I can't make alone. Cooking is frustrating when we don't eat the same things. I give MonsterMustDie has priority use of the TV to avoid conflict and we don't like the same shows usually. He spends his evenings watching nothing other than Japanese animation and old SciFi that he's seen dozens of times. I like some of that but I can't stand seeing the same thing all the time. He fills his days between the new garden project, selling antiques online (the only income in the house now), and far too much time on Facebook getting angrier at the world outside.

I spend most of my days cleaning house, making odd lists, shopping online, and trying to stay out of the way.

The highlight of today for me was lunch. I had a bit of salmon with a honey mustard sauce and a nice arrugula salad.

food friends holidays

Monday, May 4th, was the StarWars May the Fourth Be With You geek holiday. Because MonsterMustDie was busy with his online shops most of the day, we did not spend the entire day on a StarWars marathon. Instead, we ended our day by watching the final movie The Rise Of Skywalker.
I had tried to schedule an online conversation with a couple of friends for the early evening but no one showed up, explaining last minute errands or simply being in a very bad head-space.
For dinner, I made orzo + feta + spinach with sliced cherry tomatoes on top and a lemon juice & olive oil dressing. 

Tuesday, May 5th, I wanted to have the Atlanta tradition of dinner from an Irish Pub (we got to Mexican restaurants on Saint Patrick's Day) but the only local pub here did not have their act together for ordering pickup online. I could not even find a complete menu posted anywhere for them so I took a look at DoorDash and found the Mexican restaurant closest to us was taking orders for delivery.
While we waited for dinner, MonsterMustDie prepared a margarita for me and both of us joined in on a Zoom meetup for the Art+Tech group. This was the first of the formerly monthly meetings we had online and I'm happy with the small success of it. We can do better next time but we had enough people participating for a good conversation.

Tonight, we've scheduled a different conversation with friends in Atlanta online that I hope works out. Now, we always have the question of what format to choose, which depends on the length of the meeting, the technical ability of participants, and who aligns themselves with what services or platforms.