Isolation - R.A. Young - Feb. 20, 2024
Thank You
Not many weekly newsletters start out and then quickly miss a month. Certainly, no successful newsletters do. So let me say straight away -- thank you for being patient and still being here. It's only a handful of folk, I know, but right now this newsletter is the only thing I can put my name on as creating and y'all are the only ones reading it. That means a lot to me.
Absence
It's now been around a month since my last newsletter and to say it has been a journey would be so gross a betrayal of reality that a black hole may form from the disturbance. What I'm trying to say is that I have been through it, my friends. 2024 is my nightmare.
My last update, if I recall, touched on some medicine I was taking that flipped my life upside down. It was supposed to help me with focus, concentration, and memory issues by treating a diagnosis of General Anxiety Disorder. It did no such thing, and in the process robbed me of my emotions and plenty else, too. The good news is I've since stopped that drug and gotten a second opinion. The bad news is I've spent the last month coming down from taking Lexapro, have had no actual psychologist follow-up, and -- oh yeah -- I caught COVID.
Before diving into that, let me quickly mention that I've now tested negative for COVID for the first time. I'm planning to schedule all the appointments I've missed soon. And, as this newsletter shows, I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things as soon as I can. Let's get the wheels back on this bus.
Isolation
It has been 11 days since my COVID-19 symptoms started and I tested positive. It's my first round with COVID, and will hopefully be my last. It started with fevers and choking lung phlegm, grew into throat and tonsil ulcers that may have been a second virus since throat ulcers aren't a COVID symptom, and progressed into a forever-running nose and dry cough. Oh, and don't forget the general malaise, fatigue, and aches. That's all there, too. I'm just happy to be on the tail end of it.
Dealing with the sickness itself has been awful, but involved little more than bed/couch loafing and keeping a steady stream of water going in one end and out the other. What's been just as challenging is the isolation. I live with my parents, both of whom are accurately labeled vulnerable to COVID. With their health my utmost priority, I've spent most of the past two weeks confined to my bedroom and office.
For an introverted homebody like myself, isolation is by no means a nightmare. But it is undeniably torturous. I don't pine to go out to the park or shopping. I do miss making espresso in the morning, petting the dogs each time I step out of the room, and the brief interactions I have with my parents throughout each day. The lack of those things has led to no small amount of disassociation, I won't deny. Days come and go. Just one more day until I can pet the dogs.
Lightning Round
Here's your weekly dose of all the random media that has kept me sane.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth -- I've probably put 100 hours into this game by now and I'm reaching my limit. The story has been an incredibly slow burn, the side stories don't reward enough money or experience to feel valuable, and you have to grind twice as much as a normal RPG. It's rough, but I'm dedicated to reaching the end (and maybe even getting a platinum trophy). Why? Brain problems.
Red Country (Joe Abercrombie) - After loving every second of The Heroes, Red Country has been a much slower burn. It's a Western, for one, which isn't my genre of choice. But Shy, Lamb, and Temple have won me over. There's blood in their future, and a happy ending seems unlikely, but I'm excited to see their desperate journey through to its end.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney 1 & 2 -- I'm revisiting these adventure games with some friends. The group play is an absolute mess, but the games themselves have been excellent. The writing is rich and rife with drama. Characters are weird and fun, but have a shocking amount of humanity. Games dealing with death toe a fine line between too serious and not serious enough. Somehow Phoenix Wright bounces between both extremes chapter to chapter.
Melvor Idle -- My COVID shame. With no energy to play games, I put a lot of time into an idle game. Let me say directly: this is an awful game. You watch numbers slowly increment. It's designed to take thousands of hours. But, you know, sometimes it's comforting to see numbers go up without requiring your direct interaction. There's not much else to say. I should quit immediately.
Wrestling -- I went to a live AEW show in Phoenix two weeks ago and had so much fun. I watched Hangmang and Swerve Strickland beat the crap out of each other. I watch Sting win the tag championships and then get brutally attacked by the Young Bucks. It was amazing. I couldn't afford it, but it was amazing. This is almost certainly where I caught COVID... but it was amazing.
This newsletter has gone from a writing blog to a summary of my ongoing psych med struggles and hobbies, but hey -- at least I wrote a newsletter this week! Hell yes! See you next week!
-Rory