Weeknotes 3.3 (March 25, 2020)

Still drawing when I can, which is more than nothing, but not nearly as much as I want. Making progress, though.

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Having everyone here, staying at home, staying in place, isn’t much different from my life before, except there’s no opting out. My son’s not going to school. My partner isn’t leaving for work or going out to do his own thing. I don’t have the uninterrupted hours I had before to do my own work. I can’t even run errands to get out of the apartment by myself.

But I like these people, my cats, my little home. We already split our time together on the weekends between actually being together and doing our own activities by ourselves in separate corners of the apartment. We’re still doing that, but for more days at a time. I cook more, because three people x three meals a day, and clean more, and I’m keeping my son on a loose schedule that has us doing art and schoolwork all throughout the day, but in between, we have chunks of time for ourselves. My son plays games or watches videos, and I spend a little time on my computer, or – whenever possible – draw. An hour later we’re doing the next activity together.

He comes with me to go to the laundromat (though he stays in the car because he doesn’t quite grasp all the new rules of no touching everything and stay 6 feet from other people), and we go out every day it’s not raining to go for a walk, or for him to ride his scooter in the parking lot, so we are getting fresh air and Ithaca’s version of “sunlight” (it’s still winter here, until May). And after Don’s work hours, we do family things, like watching movies, playing a game or doing a puzzle (one of my son’s favorite ways to interact with us). So we’re settling into a routine we can maintain for as long as we need, until we’ve flattened the curve.

I knew, once we got to “global pandemic” that sheltering in place wasn’t going to be for just 15 days, or until Easter, or whatever other bullshit date non-doctors are arbitrarily trying to declare as the end of staying at home. I’ve been reading books about pandemics and watching movies about zombies since I was a kid – and in life as well as fiction, nothing hits this hard this quick without doing a lot of damage before it’s gone. It’s going to take, conservatively, 8-10 weeks of widespread physical distancing to get a handle on what we need to do next. It won’t be over then, not until someone develops both a cure and a vaccine, but two or three months is a start. If you’re not already expecting that too, it’s time to get used to the idea. Now.

Watching:

Did you see my review of Pride (2014)? I also reviewed the Stretch and Bobbito documentary, which you can read here.

I binged the entire 3rd season of The Expanse on Saturday. Did nothing but watch that show, all day. I regret nothing. (It’s amazing, it’s on Amazon Prime for free, you should definitely be watching it.)

Reading:

My review of Mœbius & Jodorowky’s The Eyes Of The Cat (Yellow Edition) is up too, here if you haven’t read it yet. I also reread Lost at Sea, which I still love. I’m going to be rereading all the comics in my apartment, which is going to take a looooong time, and posting reviews most Fridays.

Extra bits:

I’ve got feet to go with those hands, if you’re interested.

Notes and References:

• Flatten the Curve has updated medical advice and information about Covid-19, the novel coronovirus, in plain, easy-to-understand language.
• I’m doing some site redesign, which includes rearranging some old posts. Trying to decide on a new WP theme too, since I’ve had my current one forever and it’s not updated for new tech. Not there yet.

Just as I was about to hit “publish”, the agency that manages state services for my son called today. They’re moving to telework & asked when I expect my son to work with his community buddy in person again. “End of summer,” I said. “September? This won’t be over next week.”

“Oh good,” they said. “You understand”.