the slow and unyielding march of time | episode 10
Yesterday was the first full day of spring, and it was 70+ degrees here in New York City. It was the first day I was able to break my self-imposed isolation because a test result (not mine) came back negative; I went on a long walk, gave someone a hug, was able to go into a grocery store and buy myself some chocolate milk.
Before that, I'd been holed up in my apartment for an entire week, with minimal physical contact with the outside world. I'm an introvert who loves her own company, but going a week without touching another human is ... a lot of time.
As most of you know, I'm pretty "into" the idea of community. I've been ruining parties by ranting about how the nuclear family was a mistake long before David Brooks stole that thesis. (I almost didn't read that article because David Brooks wrote it -- but it's good!) And I think our current crisis is really highlighting that. My community has stepped up hugely. Food delivery in NYC is still running, but it's hard to get groceries immediately, so Rebecca brought me supplies several times. I posted a picture on instagram of myself making coffee with a sock filter, which truly wasn't a cry for help, but several people reached out and offered to buy/send me a better coffee device. I've been scheduling phone, FaceTime, and TV-watching dates with all sorts of people. We're all getting creative about ways we can still engage in friendship and community. I'm so fucking lucky.
I don't want to bog down this newsletter with lots of suggestions, but if you have stable income, I highly recommend ordering food delivery and tipping a *lot*, searching for local artist and hospitality worker fundraisers in the area, and buying merchandise from your local favorite stores.
Debris
* Because I was self-isolating, I had to miss Sahar and Duncan's impromptu city-hall marriage. The pictures made me cry. I'm so, so happy for you both!
* Plucky is tired of me being home so much. Like in any relationship, she wants some space to miss me. Sorry, Pluck. (She's glaring at me from the rug right now.)
* My couch was delivered the same day I had to start working from home, thankfully. I now have a table and chairs as well. It's almost like someone lives here!
* I invented sparkling wine smoothies the other day. A local liquor and wine store does same-day deliveries. (I'm doing my part to stimulate the local economy.)
* My sister hounded me into watching the first episode of Lego Masters. IT'S VERY GOOD WATCH IT.
* I often say "Computers were a mistake." I stand by that sentence. However, I am very happy to have a computer right now!
What I've Been Reading
Ya'll! Reading has been very, very, very hard for me lately. This list will be short!
Recently Finished:
The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson: My daddo sent this to me after I read, on his recommendation, Wilson's most recent book Nothing to See Here. Thanks dad! The Fang Family has a strange dynamic; the parents are avant-garde artists who specialize in guerilla performance art that they enact onto unwitting audiences, utilizing their children, Annie and Buster, as actors in their art pieces. Child A and Child B (as they are referred to in the recorded artifacts that exist from their "happenings") distance themselves from their parents as soon as they're able. But now, all grown up, Buster moves back home after he makes the poor decision to let a drunk potato-gun engineer attempt to shoot a beer can off the top of his head; Annie, a movie star who has gotten herself into some PR hot water, follows shortly after. It's very weird to think about the kind of human you would grow into if you spent an entire childhood never certain if what you were experiencing was a genuine emotional experience or complete artifice.
Working on:
Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi: I saw Oyeyemi in Benaroya Hall a couple years ago as part of the Seattle Arts And Lecture series. She came out, introduced herself, and then gave a 20-minute talk on Korean dramas. The mostly older, mostly white audience had no idea what to make of it. She fucking rules. Her books are creepy and funny and imbued with a dark fairy-tale influence. I'll know a little bit more about what to make of it when I get a littler further.
Roadrunner by Bianca Brutaldo: The Seattle Review of Books, the only good website left on this godforsaken internet, is serializing a YA novel daily. Come read along with me! It's only four chapters in. (It is post-apocalyptic, so I totally understand if you are not feeling that right now!)
Please, everyone, take care of yourselves. I know we're all struggling right now in different ways, so find the heart to be kind to yourself. (Sorry if this is even more saccharine than usual!) If you need anything, reach out, and I'll do the best I can to help however I can. I'm even more available than normal for phone calls.
Love you all, truly, and can't wait to give you a huge.
-davida