Friday, March 27, 2020

No
three
lines.

Thursday, March 26, 2020

I asked an artist friend what she learned today and she said: People in L.A. are dating now on zoom and they like it.
I read a colleague’s tweet thread today and they said: Getting emotional at how happy dedication makes me.
I asked a poet friend what he did today and he said: Drove out to the countryside and talked to cows.

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Less reading think-pieces on decontaminating the mail; more reading poetry.
Less listening to local news reports; more listening to the blues.
Less responding to messages; more responding to the dog.

I parked and left my car for half an hour in the 10-minute loading zone in front of the University and no one seemed to notice.
I drank a full liter of electrolyte water by refilling my coffee mug little by little.
I ate the biggest pile of sautéed onions I’ve ever seen.

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

I thought a lot today about emotional labor and how my capacity feels diminished.
I thought a lot today about grief and my slow movement toward envisioning a new normal.
I thought a lot today about the definition of “essential” and who gets to measure it.

The dog grooming place called; they were still closed,
but two employees remained. Would we like to bring in our dog?
As I made lunch in quiet, I could feel his absence at my feet.

Monday, March 23, 2020

While there may be no perfect time to transition yourself off an antidepressant whose main side effect is agitation, I can confirm that trying during a pandemic is very hard.
I watched an Agnès Varda featurette and she said something beautiful about the act of looking, but I can’t remember the idea because I didn’t write it down at that moment.
A journalist interviewed me by phone today and she asked what advice I would give to artists; the only advice I had was: don’t wait, keep making, use whatever tools you’ve got.

My 76-year-old dad decided to drive 20 miles to a neighboring town to get his pickup’s oil changed.
He has lived through two cancer surgeries and he is still undergoing maintenance chemotherapy.
I asked him why he’d put himself at risk like this and he said without hesitation, “had to get ‘er done.”