Yesterday I went on an expedition for coffee. I feel guilty about doing so but I am careful while I’m out. There was a screen between Marie and me. I made the expedition because I’m now addicted to Marie’s Coffee Roasters. I never asked if she was actually Marie but every time I’ve been there she’s served me. The walk there was quite discouraging. By law now you have to wear a mask when you are out in New York City. So many people didn’t wear them. I didn’t count this time, but it was a much lower fraction than the last time I went out when more than two-thirds of the people had them on. A shocking number had masks on but not covering their nose and mouth. Many left the nose exposed. Weirder, so many had them pulled down, so it just covered their chins. Do they think the masks work like magic talismans to ward off evil? I was walking by these people so if they thought they’d cover themselves when they got near anyone they were fooling themselves. I gave them a very wide berth, often moving into the street. Some had their mouths exposed so they could smoke. The smoke lets them see where their breath is going but it didn’t stop them. I gave them an extra wide berth. Smoking is suspected to raise your risk of catching COVID-19.
What do many people still seem to not realize is that you don’t wear the mask to protect yourself. You wear the mask to protect others from you. That’s why you don’t need a medical grade mask. You just need something that will catch what’s coming out of your mouth and nose. Everything precaution you take is primarily for yourself not others. The anti-shutdown protestors say things like, “I’m not sick, I should be able to work.” What’s the problem with that? They don’t know they aren’t sick. They can’t possibly know that they aren’t sick. There are people that are asymptomatic. One of the people I saw with a mask but not wearing over their mouth and nose had an N95. Those are desperately needed by medical personnel and this person had one and didn’t even use it. As long as people are risking their lives to help the ill don’t have enough masks, they must be saved for them. Those that are not protecting themselves at all are putting the EMS specialists, nurses, doctors, and technicians who keep the rest of us safe, at risk. Think of them every time you think your mask is too uncomfortable, so you don’t want to wear it.
I came up with a useful mask wearing technique. I have one with the classic four strings you tie behind your head, Two on top and two on the bottom. I suck and doing things behind my head. I found that I had to keep tightening it up and each time I do that I have to touch my face. Then it dawned on me, use slipknots. I cinched it not in the back but towards the front of the mask. When it needed tightening I just pulled the long end of the string which was nowhere near my face I could also use the strings to adjust the mask. I’ll see if I can make a video to demonstrate.
I let my therapy session count as my daily phone call. I’m not sure if that’s good. I will have to call somebody today unless somebody calls me first. My therapist did a great job yesterday. She got me to do something difficult for me. I get credit too. I tricked myself into letting her to get me to do it. I said, “I need to do X but I’m not going to do it now when I’m talking to you.” That led to me doing it while talking to her. Our minds are so complex and compartmentalized that we can play these games with ourselves. My therapist was so good. We joked about it instead of making it serious and boosting my anxiety. We also took the metaview of it that I am now. It is fun being my therapist but it’s far from easy.
Last night I watched two great streaming concerts. The first was a short one from Hadestown. Anaïs talked about it being the first anniversary of the show opening on Broadway then she sang two songs. Then she turned it over to Reeve Carney and Eva Noblezada, Orpheus and Eurydice, for another song. That was tough for them or neither of them knew the instrumental parts. Reeve practiced it on the piano, and they sung it together. They recorded together so I take it that they live together. I didn’t know that. Are they married? I checked; they aren’t. Reeve is Art Carney’s nephew. I’m a terrible fanboy. Actually, I’m not, I always focus on the playwright and composers. Now I’m disturbed that Reeve and Eva were performing together. I watched it again just now. This could have been green-screened. Do any of My Gentle Readers know how this happened? Anaïs? Even if they were together I’ll give them a pass as it was for the greater good, not themselves and it was only two people. Don’t any of you try this at home. The show was short but satisfying. Hadestown is perhaps my favorite musical. Anaïs is on my short list of favorite musicians. The myth of Orpheus is on my short list of favorite Greek Myths. This video is short. Watch it for yourself. It even tells you how far you have to skip to get to the start of the show. This is a good tip for everyone streaming concerts; start the video before you start the show so people can see they are in the right place.
Damn, I can’t embed the video. I can from YouTube but not Facebook. I probably could if i used paid WordPress. I’ll do the next best thing and give you the link, Hadestown Living Room Live Stream
Then I watched RUNA. That did not involve violating lockdown as it was just Shannon and Fionán and they are married. How much do I love RUNA? I set up autocorrect to put the accent mark in Fionán’s name. They were the second to last concert I went to before lockdown. Shannon is the last person I hugged. She or Cheryl, I hugged them as I was leaving the show. By the next morning I decided to stop hugging and didn’t hug LORi. They played for over an hour and were joined by their son Liam on a song. He’s a toddler and played drum and shaker. One comment during the show surprised me, “The vocalist is amazing.” Why did that surprise me, Shannon is amazing. It surprised me that someone was watching that didn’t know that. He should have added that Fionán is amazing on the guitar. RUNA is like Fairport Convention with Sandy Denny and Richard Thompson. You can watch Richard Thompson himself on Sunday at 4PM from his Facebook page.
I ended up missing the Bumper Jacksons and We’re About 9 last night as I decided that eating is important and made myself poutine. I can make it only one more time before I have to go out and buy more beef gravy. I’ll have to go out and buy eggs soon, I might as well do both the same trip. The pandemic is teaching us to balance selfcare and caring for others. We have to consciously think about them now. That is good. It’s not much of a silver lining but I’ll take what I can get. Acceptance is part of selfcare.
Wise Madness 