In the Year of our Lord of COVID Issue #14 Songs to sing when you make sandwiches
Days in lockdown: 345
Mood: I have songs I sing when I do stuff so I reckon pretty good
The business that owns the parking lot behind our building, which is thusly our path to take Thursday to do her business, has been lackadaisical in keeping the parking lot clear of snow. It was not until we were three days into the storms that someone came out and plowed. No one, not the city or surrounding businesses, give two fucks about the sidewalks. It’s a treacherous dance on those plains so I’ve taken to walking on the grass in my heavy winter boots, the leaves more like shards than safety, while carrying Thursday. TEH has tamped down a section of grass her highness can safely, more or less, do her thing.
Next week it will be in the 50s and this pitiful nightmare will be over.
It is agreeable in this household we have become massive wussies in terms of winter weather. We mock the fuckers who wear puffy coats when it’s 50F outside but once it gets in the teens, we’re talking of long and faraway places that do not get snow. This is only a couple of weeks! How have we born months of this in the before?
Nonetheless, given the opportunity, I’d move back to Michigan in a heartbeat.
As we come up to a year since we went into lockdown, I find myself bored of everything. I’m tired of video games. I’m tired of TV. Podcasts are merely meh, but listening to music has become a small salvation. I found The Sound of Scottish Rock and The Sound of Scottish Indie on Spotify and discovered, HEY! I know a lot of these bands! I have fallen in love with Aidan Moffat, the lead singer of Arab Strap. This fine gent’s lyrics are more of a spoken word than what we would typically consider standard lyric development. I love this man whole heartedly. I recommend The Copper Top and The First Big Weekend as introductions.
(Aside: TEH bought me a record player for Xmas which has yet to arrive though I do have a piece of furniture to put the player on as well as amp and speakers. For the moment, we Bluetooth Spotify in while we wait. TEH did earnestly asked me if I knew how to use a record player. I thought he was joking. He was not.)
Audiobooks have become my thing and so has reading print and digital again. I find myself back to my old ways of finishing stories at the breakfast table, reading while my head nods off to sleep, or in places where I am waiting for long periods. I used to carry paperbacks with me but now I have everything synced across my phone, ipad, and kindle. I am keeping a paper journal over using LibraryThing or Good Reads to track my progress. Title, author, date start and end, five-star ranking, and a two-sentence sum. The notebook is divided by months. I ran across a website where the author keeps track of their media consumption (books, tv, movies, music) by day as well as by month. That’s a little too intense for me so I am compiling it by month to see how much I have consumed. I’ll be sending these out quarterly so if anyone is looking for recommendations, you’ll have some.
Thus, I find myself adrift of things to do which never seemed possible before as I have eyes that are clear and words that need to be read. I have not been to a mall, seen a movie, and only had dinner out twice in the last year. (But my take-out game remains on point.) Parks and hiking trails became dangerous because people were not adhering to wearing masks because, twirls hair, we’re outside, duh! But then, there was no social distancing going on. “Hi, yes, I contracted COVID while I was out hiking” is not a good look on anyone. Mini-trips have been cancelled and the only thing I am looking forward to is our sojourn up to the cabin in the spring. As long as we’re in lockdown, we can quarantine in N. Michigan during spring and summer. It’ll be glorious.
Wonderful Thing
I have two wonderful things this week:
I’m feeling the glare of Brendan as I write this because he’ll say I know better but nonetheless, with TEH becoming more cognizant of his health and diabetes, sweets, with some exceptions, are off limits. One of those that are accepted is hot chocolate, and in this case, Ghirardelli Hot Chocolate. The specific reason this is “bad” is that it is made with hot water and not milk but I give no fucks. I take what I can get.
Everynoise.com is insane. It is a algorithmic website that breaks down music into genres, gives you who those top artists in those genres are, and then links to playlists on Spotify for you to listen to said genres. This site is fucking amazing and if you have any curiosity about finding new music, tada!
Interesting Things (or things to buy)
Still hawking my Pops on eBay if you are so inclined to shop
A friend reached out that they were into buying the TomboyX bras I mentioned a couple of episodes back and wondered if I had a referrer code. Turns out I do! ($20 off your first order!)
Links to Read That are Not Depressing
How the Trapper Keeper Took the ’80s by Storm — Then Suddenly Disappeared
Eight-year-old girl grifts her parents, school, and even Zoom tech support into not taking class.
Digitally walk the entirety (70m) of the Bayeux Tapestry [Available in French as well as English]
As always, don't be an ass. Wear a damned mask.
lisa x
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Image depicting the black death in a book by French chronicler
and poet, Gilles Li Muisis (1272 - 1352). Artist unknown.