(Contagion, 2011. A true movie for the times!)
It feels almost hack-ish to start publishing a journal titled something like “The Corona Diaries” and THAT is why I preeminently got in on the content/oversharing/newsletter train before Covid-19 was even born.
But it’s a great time for sharing.
What have you been working on? How are you holding up?
I can’t remember where I read about how people with any sort of mental health issues can actually feel more calm during times like these, and it was confirmed a lot more when I came across this from the Daily Beast last night.
And yet, when I wake up, I don’t feel as sluggish as I normally do. I find it easier to get out of bed. The intrusive thoughts that normally buzz around my brain like flies on a feeding frenzy have disappeared. My family is healthy, I tell myself. I am healthy. We are all doing what we can. And for whatever reason, that has been enough.
A big part of anxiety, Cohen pointed out, is the anticipation of the unknown—worry about something bad that will inevitably happen. With the outbreak, she said, “a lot of people are saying, ‘The terrible thing happened.’ So in a lot of ways you’re not in the anticipating state.”
As a representative from the mild-to-more-severe-anxious faction, I’ve felt a sense of serenity when I turn off the news and take stock of what’s important and how well I have it and how appreciative I am for that.
We realize too how many (sometimes overwhelming) options we have in the outside world so to really hunker down and distill it to a few things (what do I watch, what should I make for dinner, what do I want to drink, where/when am I going to go walk/run) has really served as the ultimate mental vacation I just would like to see people stop dying and for the federal government not to be something out of a dystopian nightmare and when this is all said and done, for us to go to the negotiation table with all of the holes in our “safety net” exposed and to say, never fucking again.
Traffic is dead which is huge here and we’ve been having some pretty good spring weather in Austin - mostly sunny but also really overcast and sometimes rainy for those days when I don’t want to actually leave and I don’t have to feel bad about sitting inside all day.
And despite our dense population, we’ve been fortunate to see a fairly low amount of cases *knocks vigorously on wood*.
TLDR; I’m doing great right now. However, if you yourself aren’t or are feeling lonely or bad - I wanted to extend the Ol’ Homie Hotline. DM me, email me, text or call me - you probably have my number. I’m wide open. I’m willing to listen and talk. Always.
Listen:
I know we’ve all had an abundance of Corona-content but for everyone looking for new Podcast recommendations, I started listening to TrueAnon and keep coming back to these three episodes below. The first one was released in like the first week of March which is around 10 years ago and it’s eerie to see everything they predicted from the jump essentially come true but it’s not full-on doomer as they also offer a reprieve of all the negativity around it and provide some hopeful messages about togetherness. I think I’ve listened to each Episode at least three times by now which is a lot more than I can say for other pods.
Episode 51: Moronavirus II: Epidemic Flu-galoo
Episode 52: Love in the Time Of Corona
Episode 53: Love in the Time Of Corona Pt. 2
It’s amazing how quickly commercials have adapted to pick up/carry out. When I took an internship in an ad agency, I saw the schedules and now am thinking of all the people who probably had to work crazy hours around the clock to get through 20 levels of internal approval before sending to the client for another 50 rounds of review who hopefully were remotely and not in some cramped New York or Chicago sweatshop coughing covid all over one another at the round-table.
Read:
While I’m sure you’ve been thinking about everybody who has been taking a hit in the pocketbooks, please don’t forget the New York Mafia.
Pandemic Puts the Screws to New York’s Mafia. In Italy, the Mobs Are Thriving.
“The New York gangs might soon be forced to go back to their old ways to keep up. They are already reportedly considering a return to the narcotics trade, which has been sidelined in recent years for more lucrative rackets, according to the New York Post’s police source.”
Another place I worked at, Whole Foods, has been facing scrutiny in the wake of this and much to no surprise, the at-risk employees who deserve better have been striking. Luke of Welcome to Hell World, a top-tier Substacker, spoke to one employee organizing a walk out and what they need to feel safe.
I don’t need to keep telling you how badly our elected officials fucked this whole response thing up and I’m asking them to do a better job of keeping us safe but then there’s almost over-corrections like this that sets the government up to spy on us (Patriot Act anyone)?
A Growing Number of Countries Tap Phone Data to Track COVID-19
Anyways, here’s how one management company helped accidentally rally all of their tenants together for a rent strike. Lmao.
Probably not the best idea but I already knocked Contagion and Carriers off my list.
The Only Thing I Want To Do Is Binge-Watch Apocalypse Movies
I keep reading and thinking about what life will be like after this when it’s all said and done and I really just keep going back to the show The Leftovers and depending on how bad this gets will basically determine how cuckoo we become and the intense measures we will see. If we hit +200k deaths, I have no doubt we will get some makeshift version of The Guilty Remnants and if you don’t know what I’m talking about just watch the Leftovers maybe if I know you closely enough and you are nice I’ll even float you my HBO password because you’ve made it this far it’s the least I can do.
Watch:
Whitmer Thomas: The Golden One on HBO.
Better late than never.
Ozark Season 3 on Netflix
Probably not the best idea but I finally watched Contagion and this clip especially shows how crazy it is this movie came out almost 10 years ago.
Stay safe friends.