Reflections on films, politics, and everything else.

Two months ago, when the seriousness of the pandemic finally hit Ohio, I didn’t know how I’d fill my days with so much closed. There were fitness and leisure companies offering their website’s paid content for free, but I couldn’t seem to be bothered. With the weather turning warmer, I went out on long walks. I tried buying a few crafting kits at JoAnn Fabrics online, but they sold out before I could go pick them up. Maybe embroidery and latch hook just weren’t meant for me. The one thing I did connect with was Creative Mornings virtual FieldTrips . I had never used Zoom before, but now two months later I’ve been on probably a hundred of these sessions. I did follow-up with what seems like a more knowledgeable dermatologist, who prescribed a face cream that is helping my skin condition slowly, and hasn’t sent me to urgent care. Still, I’m a bit sensitive about how I look, so have alternated between the standard black screen on Zoom with my name, sometimes the full name, other times...

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 s...

Like many of us, I haven’t been very productive lately. I tried signing up for Coursera classes, which have been a mixed bag, but also haven’t spurred me on to do anything. Creative Mornings is now offering Zoom fieldtrips, but I’m beginning to feel meditated out. I finally managed to finish reading a book, but Emily St. John Mandel’s apocalyptic story, Station Eleven , may not have been the best choice right now. Granted the book didn’t become a Hollywood disaster/zombie film (thankfully no zombies in the book or in real life yet), but it added to my melancholy. I tried to convince myself that reading about the worst/or quasi-worst outcome (99% of the population dies due to the swine flu in the book, and within 48 hours of developing symptoms) would make what we’re dealing with easier somehow. Instead, I keep thinking we may end up like that outcome thanks to our incompetent and impatient government. I’m still spending too much time on Facebook posting anti-Trump articles to ...