Anatomy practice continues. One of my favorite practice pages from the last week is this one:
I really do think I’m getting better at drawing people.
March is chugging along despite the incompetence of our federal government and the spreading plague. At the moment, Ithaca is still mostly open for business: the colleges have asked students not to return from Spring Break, but they’re still staffed and running at the moment; the k-12 schools haven’t announced that they’ll be closing; stores are out of the expected stuff (toilet paper, hand sanitizer) but stocked with everything else. We’re not yet where a lot of bigger cities already are.
Give it another week.
Feeling and Thinking:
I’m still sick, which frustrates me. It’s not as bad as it was a few weeks ago but I have something squatting in my chest. I cough all day and all night – it’s kept contained by hot tea, Nyquil, and several bags of cough drops – and the other day when I had the hiccups I sounded as if I’d swallowed a dog’s squeaker toy. No fever, not really any congestion, I’m able to do more than I could last week… just this dry cough and lung inflammation.
Because my autoinflammatory disease overreacts to any illness by causing more inflammation like Oprah giving away free cars, it’s possible this is simply my underlying disease, and I’ve actually been over the original flu for a few weeks. That’s why I waited it out and practiced social distancing (didn’t visit friends, eat out at restaurants or go to coffee shops, only saw a few movies at matinee times when I could sit more than 10 feet from anyone else, used the self-checkout lane at the store and limited my shopping trips to the essentials) until now. I guess it’s been long enough but I’m now at the point where I’m ready to make an appointment with my gp to be sure it’s “only” inflammation and not anything treatable.
Having a chronic, lifelong, genetic illness means I’ve gotten used to feeling terrible on any given day. Waiting out colds to see if they get worse or if it’s just my usual fever, aches, and fatigue. Taking extra precautions and doing extra things to work around my body deciding to get in my own way. Giving up on plans, canceling things I really wanted to do. My disease means I’m both in more danger from the novel coronovirus than most people, and I’m also probably better prepared for the changes we’re all going to have to make – not just this week, but very likely for the next several months. I’ve already been living this way.
Watching:
- I saw both Sonic the Hedgehog and Onward last week with my son. (Matinees, social distancing.) I reviewed them both here but the short version is that Onward was much, much, better, and if you have to wait to stream it before you can see it in your area, it will still be worth watching.
- Did you know that HGTV does marathons of home shows during the day? You can sit on the couch and watch hours of Home Town, Love it or List it, and Good Bones. I’m not saying this as a recommendation. It’s more of a warning. If you’re not careful, you’ll get sucked in, and then you’ll know what I know: people mostly buy new houses because they can’t bear to part with the stuff they already have, and apparently don’t understand things like “storage” and “organization”. No, Bob and Ellen, you don’t really need a 5 bedroom four bathroom house with a two car garage and a bonus space. You only have two kids and they’re both toddlers. You just have a lot of junk you really ought to get rid of.
Reading:
I read The Eyes of the Cat, a graphic novel written by Jodorowsky and drawn by Mœbius – hands down one of my favorite artists. I’m going to post a full review of it on Friday.
I also started Kate Wilhelm’s Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, a 1976 novel about the collapse of the world: extinct specials, global pandemic, a government cheerfully promising everything would be fine while the rich holed themselves up in bunkers. (I’ve been warned it’s got some problematic bits coming up, which I haven’t read yet.) I picked it up because I’m doing some research for the novel I’m currently writing. It’s just luck that I’m reading it as the world falters.
I really do think I’m getting better at drawing people.