Day seven already?

So I was a sleepless wreck for a few days. Finally last night I enjoyed a couple decent little sleep sessions and am feeling motivated today. I put all the garbage and recyclables out to the curb and am now still basking in the glory of this accomplishment.

But I have also committed to writing for the rest of the day and evening except for a skype break with my dear family and have invited my writing buddies to a virtual write-in on our google hangout. Two have joined so… here we go. Wish me luck.

Day three

The housemate and I hit the grocery store first thing after they opened. I managed to score a 12-roll pack of poop tickets. So hooray. What little was there will not have lasted long. Or maybe they cleverly held more in the back? Sadly there were only a couple boxes of instant noodles remaining, which I grabbed. And I noticed the egg section was barren. Everything else looked fine that I noticed.

The cashiers were already stressed though their shifts had just begun. They were not pretending they wanted to be there. I thanked mine and wished her luck. She appreciated that and softened and connected.

Trust me when I say that this is the time to be grateful and not to bitch to cashiers about your dissatisfactory shopping experience. But if you are a special kind of out-of-it and do choose to bitch about your dissatisfaction to the cashier, have a look around at the human beings in line and notice the complete revulsion in their eyes. This is because you are the new terrorist/pedophile/drunk driver of the pandemic era.

We lugged our treasures back to the car, attacked the hand sanitizer and retreated back to the sanctuary, prepared for the siege.

With regards to the egg section, here's a short message from Lachlan Patterson:

Y is for YouTubers: Day two

Well, no breakthroughs yet. Only day two and I spent the whole of it fighting against solitude. I actually spent some time up on the second floor while the roommate came down from the third. We had a good chat and she even let me eavesdrop on a skype with her dad.

I had my own family skype in the evening, followed by a catch-up on my fave youtubers; Smosh Pit, Ozzy Man, SciShow, Miranda Sings, Fail Army…

Outside of that I made a rare plunge into facebook, trying to catch up on everyone. And guess what? That’s impossible. I spent hours and hours and there were many good friends I didn’t get to at all. Facebook is a full time job - times three.

Oh and watched a few effective documentaries including: All Governments Lie - about I. F. Stone and those devotees who followed, on Kanopy.com and The Fruit Machine on TVO.

As for the super-important to-do list, I didn’t even get around to taking my blood pressure pill.

Smosh Pit

Ozzy Man Reviews

SciShow

Miranda Sings

False start: Day 1

Here’s a little suggestion for the few of you who still come peeking around here now and then: If you’re home from work now or otherwise diminished from the COVID19 business, keep a little isolation diary. It’s a healthy pursuit for different reasons, and a chance it will help you learn from the experience by facilitating reflection. Solitude is critical to real learning.

The virus has stormed into my life like Ganesh and bulldozed nearly everything in sight:

My security shifts
Circle meetings
Dismas gatherings
“Poetry Corner”
Write-Ins
Movie Club
Regular visits with Gramps and the Flaming Liberal
“Tigers” training camp
Scheduling and preparation of video shoots and Trivia Night fund-raisers
Sponsorship endeavors
Family gatherings
A paycheque...

Oddly my cell phone has been simultaneously knocked out of commission which prohibits still other activities!

It has not bulldozed:

Work on the kids easy-reader storybook.
Work on the Crazy Legs race horse novel
Blogs (I have another anonymous blog)
A ton of other writing and research projects
Work on Tigers web site, social media, articles, research etc.
Prep for April A-to-Z, Camp NaNo and Story-A-Day-In-May
Reading
A plethora of video pieces and board game projects
Bedroom restructuring
Sleep improvement project
Diet change
Exercise (no pools though)
Several other self-improvement endeavors…

Somehow it has forgotten to knock out Mindcrack and the youtubes. Day-one I did too much of these things. My only productivity was in correspondence and failed attempts to fix the cell-o-phone.

Perhaps it is up to me to manage the distractions and diversions and to make use of this golden opportunity to put some of my life back on the rails.

And I wonder… I dare to wonder… could solitary confinement be part of the answer that allows me to re-engage spiritually again; to value people again; to retreat from some of this contempt, back toward pity, back toward love. I know the wisdom of it. I have not forgotten.

Absence has made the heart grow fonder before.