Tag: #coronavirus

  • America: A Long Way From Great Again

    I know, even as I write this, there is still a good chance that Biden will claw out a win, but that doesn’t make me feel better.

    Actually, I feel worse than I did in 2016.

    I can accept that good people voted for Trump that year because it was a change election, and what the Democrats we’re offering was just more of the institutional same, which wasn’t helping most people.

    After five years of being a public political figure, everyone knows exactly who he is. And still, at this moment, 45% of the voting public wanted four more years of it. Of racism, incompetence, self dealing, corrupt, misogyny, and I could go on, and on.

    That 45% of the country could look at a President like and somehow think a continuation is s as good idea.

    It makes me feel like what I was told about the greatness of America is a lie. That we are not a shining city in a hill, but a people who are giving to our base instincts.

    I now believe that change will come, but not for another generation. The Greatest Generation is gone, and no longer relevant to our body politics. We are dealing with yet another Boomer problem. The Boomers were the last generation to grow up in government sanctioned racism, and though they worked to stop it, a good number of them worked to keep it. It is that upbringing of “acceptable bigotry” is what is holding us all back. We have 20 more years of it.

    Only when Gen-X and the following generations come into political power, will we finally begin to seriously deal with this hate.

    Sadly, I don’t know if America has 20 years left…

  • Kids, Halloween and Covid

    Halloween is tomorrow, and we have a five year old who is super excited for, lets be honest, the best kid’s holiday. Sure, just about everyone will say Christmas, but think about Halloween; for a kid, all you have to do is put on a costume, knock on a door, and you get candy. You don’t have to be thankful for anything, or wish goodwill to your fellow man. It’s just pretending and getting candy.

    Sadly, this is the age of Covid, and we just can’t do what we want to do, which is visiting neighbors and getting the afore mentioned candy.

    I feel really awful for our kid, as she keeps getting the short end of the stick on Halloween. Three years ago, we were moving to California, and my mother had just passed away. We found ourselves on Flagstaff, AZ for Halloween. The city’s downtown had an awesome trick or treat path that took you to all the business in the square. It was not ideal, but it was good. Last year, we got evacuated from our home in northern California due to wildfires. We went to stay with friends in LA, and they helped us get a costume for the kid, and we trick or treated in their neighborhood. Again, not ideal, but we did have a really good time.

    This is yet another year that the kid cannot trick or treat in out NYC neighborhood. We are scrambeling again to come up with something that will be memorable and fun, and also where we can keep our distatnce.

    I look forward to a year when things are just normal. I have this feeling that when the kid gets older, Halloween will be the holiday that causes her a feeling of uncertainty.

  • Note Taking, Not Writing

    Last Friday when I was at the park with the kid, besides keeping an eye on her, I did some journaling with the intent of reminding myself of the story ideas that I needed to work on. Total, I have about four good ideas I want to flesh out.

    And that’s all the work I have done on the for four days. Just notes.

    I am beginning to get very frustrated at myself and my situation. Maybe I’m too ambitious or not enough of a realist when it comes to the world I inhabit. I keep thinking I can get it all done. Each day that goes by and I don’t work on these stories makes me feel like I’m flushing away my creative potential.

    I’m also tired of using COVID or the election as the excuse why I can’t work. I doomscroll and keep checking polls, but I don’t live like they cause an atrophy to my drive.

    It’s not working the way it should, and I feel like I have to go back to the drawing board.

  • What Have I Learned This Week?

    This has been a very political week for me, blog wise. I woke up this morning with the intention of not writing about anything political, and then I saw that Trump and the First Lady have tested positive for Covid.

    Proving that 2020 is the year when anything and everything will happen.

    But as it is Friday, maybe some self-reflection is needed.

    What have I learned this week?

    First, school teachers do not get the credit and pay that they deserve. I have said that many times before, but two weeks of home school/video chat has proved that to me, in a very crystal clear manner. I will commit now, and for the rest of my life, to ensure that teachers get the respect, pay and resources they need and deserve to do their jobs.

    Second, if doing the home school thing is my lot for the next eight months, then I have to come to terms that I will only have about an hour a day to write during the school week. And if I want more time, that will have to occur on nights and weekend. Just a fact.

    Third, as we enter October, I also have to come to terms that I will not being able to relax until the year 2020 is over. I thought 2016 was bad (except for the Cubs winning the World Series) and 2018 wasn’t a good year either. But, 2020 just won’t let up. The anxiety I have every day is relentless, and I don’t think I will be able to relax until the election is over, and a vaccine is out. I know there are a million other issues that 2020 has brought us, but I need those two things to happen.

    Here is to trying to have a good weekend…

  • The Algot Saga Continues

    To recap what is going on in my life; our daughter will be doing remote learning, and as such, we have made a corner in the living room to be her “school” area. We were planning on using the Algot series of shelves to complete this area, as that was what we had been using in our living room.

    But no, Ikea thought it best to stop making these shelves and not tell anyone.

    In the NYC area, we bought up what we could and have been trying to make something usable out of it. What we are left with is a mix match/mish-mash of braces, brackets and shelves that just can’t work together to give us a desk for the kid, storage for school supplies, and a place for books. We have been trying for months now, and nothing works.

    We gave up, and bought a wood wall mounted flip down desk, which looks awesome and the kid loves. We are hanging art in the corner, with the hopes that one day we will come up with something to do there.

    But we have all of this Algot stuff. There is nothing wrong with it, and could work in another space, if we ever get another space. It’s just here, mocking us in our futility to add pieces to make something else.

    Modular solution, my ass.