Dispatches from Arm's Length, Part 1

I am an ambivert. For the unfamiliar, an ambivert is someone who shares traits with introverts and extroverts but doesn't really qualify as either. I find balance in alone time and human interaction, but do neither in excess. On Tuesday the 17th, I only interacted with my roommate and a six-month-old kitten. I did something similar on Thursday the 19th. With all due respect to them, this is gonna suck.

The government has to take most of the blame for failing to address COVID-19 until it was too late. As a society, we also have to take some accountability for not taking this seriously. Shutting down society as we know it is straight out of some young adult novel about a farmgirl who's also an above-average archer. Desperation moves are already happening.

I am mainly a substitute teacher, which have been mostly furloughed as regular educators are forced to teach online. I'm a Lyft driver over the summer, so my backup plan has faltered because no one is traveling or commuting. (Hooray for bailout money?) That's not to say I've been doing the best job at quarantining, either. During the first full week of staying at home, I made three trips back to the west suburbs to get mail, buy supplies, and see the dogs.

The experts say the United States needs to quarantine for at least another month. President Trump, someone who has repeatedly demonstrated a lack of empathy, wants businesses to reopen around Easter (April 12th, for the heathens). People are still getting sick, and efforts to "flatten the curve" are right now in a losing fight. In the meantime, I'm going to try and update everyone on my well-being on this blog three, maybe four times a month until things settle. Wash your hands, and take care.

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Hindsight/Foresight

(I wrote this first paragraph the first week of March)

As I write this, I'm catching my breath from a whirlwind weekend in the state of Texas. From Thursday the 27th to Monday the 2nd, I spent quality time in Dallas, Austin, Hornsby Glen, Huntsville, Willis, Navasota, and Bee Cave. "The Bob Zula," a small independent film that I partially financed two years ago, had screenings at two festivals in opposite ends of the state. That meant driving nearly 500 miles in the span of four days (I flew from Chicago to Texas) and an unintended scenic tour of the Lone Star State's rural areas. From what I saw, the view is beautiful, though I could have done without the Trump/KAG signs every 100 yards. More info on streaming soon.

(I wrote this second paragraph the third week of March)

My Austin trip was one of two major trips I'm taking this year. Later this month, I had hoped to cross off a bucket list item of sorts by visiting Los Angeles. I'll elaborate more on why (and I'm sure everyone knows why) in my next post.

Later This Month? Maybe April: my annual all-haiku baseball preview.

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