Skip to main content

Pause





So much of what I used to do still isn’t available. That’s not a complaint. I don’t plan on protesting, as I feel Ohio, while making restrictions, has been pretty generous (maybe too generous) as far as being able to get out and about. Most of us wouldn’t have survived China, Italy, or the UK’s real lock-downs.
I have found other ways to fill up my days, but not necessarily all that productively. There have been some virtual film festivals that I might not have been able to attend that I was still able to either see the films or watch interviews with the filmmakers, which has been a nice upside to this insanity.
Mostly, though, I just feel stuck. That’s not anything new for me. I tend to stay stuck (in the past it was in toxic workplaces) until I just can’t stand it anymore and have to do something.
I’m trying to find that something.
There are two experimental sketches this time. The first illustrates my stuckness, or the pauses so many of us are enduring. The second required using “found footage.” A Creative Mornings Fieldtrip reminded me that the CDC has videos that are freely available for use (and, at least to my eyes, seem very creepy), and the Library of Congress has ample audio royalty-free. 
Once again, I really didn’t put in the effort I know was needed, hence the “sketches” note. I’m still getting back to doing creative work again, re-remembering my tools. Technically, the flowers aren’t found footage – I took it on one of my walks. The strong wind blowing the flowers down, but not completely, reminded me of how I feel when I watch the news these days – overwhelmed, occasionally calmed by either Dr. Fauci or Dr. Birx, then exhausted and fearful by agent orange. 

Popular posts from this blog

Men

 I’m starting to enter the next stage of grief – anger . I ended up canceling my reservation for this morning’s Pilates class because the new instructor is a man. He may be a Harris supporter and an ally to woman, but I knew I’d wonder the entire time if perhaps he really wasn’t. If perhaps he was like my now dead father who registered to vote for the first time in 1984, not to support Reagan, but to vote against Geraldine Ferraro who was Mondale’s VP running mate.  My mother made light of the situation, but I knew as a teenager that it was a crappy thing for him to do. It was certainly not the worst thing he ever did, but I remember it the clearest. My father had four daughters, and, at that time, three granddaughters, yet he couldn’t stand to have a woman, even a far more competent woman, be allowed to serve at that level.  I’ve turned off the news and haven’t been reading the papers, so am missing ( not missing ) the chatter. My guess is that my fellow white women will...

IndyShorts

I was at IndyShorts last weekend, which was the second year Heartland Film Festival has provided a separate four-day venue for short films. It’s always hard to get back to real life after being away, but, for me, it seems especially hard after being at film festivals. Whether you’re a filmmaker or a film lover, the atmosphere at a film festival becomes contagious. At times I daydream about just going from one to another, constantly watching films that I might not get a chance to see otherwise (although with streaming that’s becoming less true). Of course, I know I’d get tired of the constant need to search for food I might actually be able to eat, and would miss my husband and cat, but for brief periods of the year, it’s not a bad time to spend away from home. I particularly like the set up of this festival with most of the films and programs taking place at Newfields , with beautiful grounds that are accessible to clear your head and move your body, ample ...

November 6, 2024

Despair doesn’t even begin to explain my current mood. I keep thinking I’ll wake up and this will be some terrible dream. Then I become more despondent wondering how this can possibly be my life now, how millions of voters could choose a convicted sexual abuser and convicted felon for the highest office in the land. It’s unlikely he’d be able to get a job at McDonald’s. Then my head fills with conspiracy theories. In normal times I wouldn’t believe them, but reality seems far too unbelievable at present.  Instead, my mind begins creating a 1970-ish political thriller. It’s bleak, yet an image of a noble and handsome man, looking much like a young Warren Beatty with great wavy shoulder length hair, who is working to figure out what happened. The plot includes a cabal of wealthy industrialists with a puppet politician at the ready who will be put in place after the more troublesome winner is disposed of. There’s fraud by various accomplices along the way. Of course, to stay true to t...