People. Hello.
This post was published June 18, 2020… so, 6 months into covid, shortly after George Floyd protests began… that’s the vibe here.
It’s been a while.
How are you?
I am… fine?
I guess?
Assuming we now define FINE, as: ever-escalating incredulity, and disbelieving rage.
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I have not been here since before Coronavirus… the past months, panic– my baby brother works in an emergency room, Paul cannot work from home.
I wrote 87,900 pages…
… summed up:
I did NOT expect the apocalypse to have infomercials.
SCIENCE IS STUPID.
LET’S GET THE MY PILLOW GUY.
This, out of all the– THIS IS SIMPLY NOT POSSIBLE YET IT IS HAPPENING ANYWAY… returns to me occasionally and I wonder if I HALLUCINATED that during a pandemic, the American people were addressed by THE MY PILLOW GUY.
Did that actually happen?
OR HAVE I TAKEN PEOYTE AND FORGOTTEN?
Then Armaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd.
I’ve been thinking how humanity is still in the middle ages… we think we are evolved, but it has only been 157 years since we ENSLAVED BLACK HUMANS.
That’s basically no time at all.
Black humans, alive today, remember not being allowed to drink out of the same water fountain as white people… we, the United States of America, did not even TRY to end this, until 1964.
1964 was YESTERDAY… 30 seconds ago— the humans who approved of this system, are still alive, they raised children. They voted. They RIOTED when we tried to change their mind.
WANNA TALK ABOUT #RIOTS?
This picture is from Levittown, Pennsylvania in 1957. As many as 600 RIOTOUS protesters gathered to terrorize the first Black family, Bill and Daisy Myers, to move into this all-white development.
White riots ≠ Black protests #BlackLivesMattter pic.twitter.com/LlLKFykPsi
— André Marcel Harris (@andreharris89) June 7, 2020
Now, the POLICE are rioting, as we lecture PEACEFUL protesters about how THEY must be CALM in response to police terrorizing Black humans.
Ummmm… no.
A TIDAL WAVE OF RAGE IS THE CORRECT RESPONSE.
Especially considering how humans will riot at ANYTHING.
Basically, we are all just sitting around waiting.
I am certain of this because when the Eagles football team won the Super Bowl a year and a half ago, Philadelphia’s response was to set the city on fire, flip cars, loot stores, and eat dog poop.
Oh, wait no, that’s fake news… sorry!
I googled it. It was HORSE poop.
AND APPARENTLY the city EXPECTED this— because ahead of time, they greased lamp posts with Crisco so nobody could climb them and HURT themselves.
The headlines were NOT: idiots riot, because idiocy.
The headlines were: celebrations turn rowdy.
So it makes me wonder– should the response to the public execution of a handcuffed man, lying immobile on the ground, be more, or less, rowdy, than when you win a football game?
Fun Fact: The first Pride was literally a riot against, you guessed it, POLICE BRUTALITY! ✨ HAPPY PRIDE MONTH pic.twitter.com/JQmz0t4HLF
— tim hell. (@itsTimHell) June 1, 2020
I’ve been thinking that MAYBE Coronavirus isn’t just a weird timeout in human history… MAYBE it will be the impetus that shifts our collective perspective… MAYBE NOW, a radical transformation of a system that gives safety, only to those born with privilege.
For months now, every day, I think about the people who are existing in a place of enormous stress, financial insecurity, housing, food, SCARCITY… panicked, just surviving.
We force the least-privileged, to scramble, just to endure a HARD existence… we gesture to their bootstraps.
WHERE IS OUR EMPATHY?
It’s literally ALL we need.
My initial response to Coronavirus was to re-read And The Band Played On, and Polio… both survived my decluttering phase— they are excellent.
And The Band Played On, by Randy Shilts is an extraordinary documentation of the Aids epidemic— the first time I read it, I literally COULD NOT BELIEVE how INEPT AND BLIND AND DELIBERATELY STUPID our government was… and even while I KNEW the outcome, my brain STILL could not process such disbelieving horror… like, MAYBE I’m wrong! Maybe this will be FINE because SURELY we would not have been like— the blood supply is killing people? Bummer for THEM!
Polio: An American Story, by David M. Oshinsky, is a less-dementing book; because not only did we get a vaccine, it turns out people are SUPER into their children, so nobody was like— OH WELL SHRUG EMOJI.
I have a lot to catch up on here… Yes. I have a kitchen update.
Figured I would first say hello and confirm that I am alive, and thank you for your messages… I am sorry I could not respond… my catatonia has been REAL, YO.
But I guess I’m adjusting to the dystopian sideshow that is now our existence because we have a sample cabinet door, (Paul is not doing the drawer fronts) and I’m finally finding a stain place… Weirdly, I haven’t felt like emailing around, being like— hi, I know it’s the apocalypse but are you available to stain some drawers?
I am thankful this started in spring— getting the garden in has been a great distraction; and especially at the beginning, helped alleviate my fear that the food supply would be affected… we have a LOT of kale for End Times, and this is very reassuring to me.
Ok. That’s it.
I’ll go write a kitchen post.
ALSO the post about what I bought on Craigslist*… NOT giant, or fancy, just a smallish box… but still!
*driveway pickup, masks
I HOPE YOU ALL ARE WELL AND SAFE.
xo
June 18, 2020 @ 2:51 pm
So wonderful to hear from you again!!! And I might add, as I would expect, you are one hundred percent truthful, correct, and outstanding in your thoughts and words!!! Please keep it up!! The world longs for truth in this horrble Fake News society that we live in, and have to put up with. Let us all VOTE like our lives depend on it in November………..because they do!!!! Thank You.
June 18, 2020 @ 2:52 pm
I’ve missed you; I completely share your feelings and opinions on the stupidity in our world; I need the insanity that your kitchen updates somehow makes things easier; I’m so grateful for knowing you and the enjoyment of your blog. Thank you.
June 18, 2020 @ 2:55 pm
I have been thinking about you and hoping you, Paul, and cat babies are doing well. I miss your sense of humor, your fluff balls, and your kitchen. But I can no longer deal with the endless pop ups on your blog. so I must unsubscribe. I am sad about this. You, I’m sure, are not bothered in the least. I’ll drop back in occasionally to see how you’re doing (I really do care). Wash your hands. Snuggle fur. Find another fabulous mirror. Stay well and thank you for your POV.
June 18, 2020 @ 2:59 pm
I was worried about you, but I should have known you’d be doing GOOD reading. Agreed about The Band Played On, plan to read Polio, but I read or re-read books called “Pandemic,” “The Stand,” “The End of October” and something else about ebola. Fine fiction all.
June 18, 2020 @ 2:59 pm
I just checked here yesterday because I wondered if I’d missed a post or 20! It’s good to know you’re well and that your family is surviving during this pandemic. As an older woman of color, I appreciate your words and your thoughtfulness regarding where we are as a nation. As another commented earlier, you’ll probably have some lost of followers because of speaking your truth, I will continue to read your blog, support your love for GFT, and most importantly your, to paraphrase Maya Angelo, desire to know better and do better! Be well and keep writing! xo
June 18, 2020 @ 3:03 pm
Read a new book. And because (as my wife points out) your head space seems to be very similar to my head space. You might enjoy as well. Lulu Miller’s “Why Fish Don’t Exist” . Might be a little different than the books you usually mention, but I still think you might get something out of it. Or a lot out of it.
June 18, 2020 @ 3:06 pm
Thank you for this post! I agree wholeheartedly and really appreciate the humorous delivery. Occasional laughter and music are the only things keeping me sane. I would love to see the kitchen update and maybe some kittens? Any cat would do, actually.
June 18, 2020 @ 3:08 pm
Glad to hear from you! Crazy, rage-inducing times indeed.
June 18, 2020 @ 3:13 pm
So good to hear from you-truth I was a little worried!
This is a crazy world and it has been scary and overwhelming:you are not alone.
June 18, 2020 @ 3:14 pm
So happy to know you and Paul are well! I’ve missed your posts.
June 18, 2020 @ 3:26 pm
OMG YES – ALL THE RAGE!!!
(also all the WTF, all the time, like holy hell is this the Twilight Zone??)
But your strawberries are mouthwatering! 😀
June 18, 2020 @ 3:28 pm
Missed you, hear you, and agree with you. Thank you for your post and glad to hear you’re doing … fine. It’s something. Stay safe.
June 18, 2020 @ 3:37 pm
Thank you, thank you. You voiced what I was thinking, what I have been thinking, including the dream sequence! I am glad that someone who has a talent that I love also has the honestly and morality that I love too. No complaints here. Now go enjoy those strawberries before I come through the screen and steal them!
June 18, 2020 @ 3:41 pm
This is a good post.
June 18, 2020 @ 3:41 pm
Thank you for throwing caution to the wind. It’s incredible how you are able to weave levity into soul crushing realities–what a precious gift you have. Sorry to hear Paul can’t work from home–I hope you/your family stay safe/healthy. “Stitch a new garment”… I vote for a rainbow-colored, super power cape made of fake fur with french terry lining…
June 18, 2020 @ 3:47 pm
So glad for this post of yours specifically. Activism and DOING SOMETHING is necessary. Empathy and common decency and love for fellow man are crucial. Gardening has been therapeutic and necessary for my mental health, and it made me feel like I was helping in some small way to share my produce and my hens’ eggs with people. My Master Gardening group has been working in the closed high schools’ raised garden beds and donating all the produce to the local food pantries. There has been so much weirdness and heartache and uncertainty, but all these things have created a strong clarion call that we must do better; we must do more. Take care.
June 18, 2020 @ 3:53 pm
Drugs? Oh, I thought I was in The Twighlight Zone. Make it stop! I am trying to open a brand new preschool. I did get to adopt an awesome dog who is great company. But really, income would be pretty sweet at this point. Sigh.
June 18, 2020 @ 3:55 pm
Thank goodness you are still here! We NEED your sane voice online. Missed you terribly.
June 18, 2020 @ 4:25 pm
It’s SOOOOOOOOOOO good to hear from you (weird because I don’t even know you). Your post were (and are) soothing and comforting to read. Can’t wait for more – be well and keep on writing 😘
June 18, 2020 @ 4:34 pm
Thank you for sharing what so many of us are feeling. I feel as though I were in some alternate universe or in the Twilight Zone. Please everyone VOTE this November – wear a mask and a full body biohazard suit but VOTE!!!!!!