Speech class was part of my high school curriculum. Our teacher made her grading system clear. I don’t remember how speeches were graded, though probably some mix of content and performance. What sticks in my mind after all these years, were the consequences for not preparing your speech. If you missed a speech, you received 20 zeroes.
I finished reading Theft by Finding by David Sedaris recently. This book of the famous writer’s diary entries from 1977 – 2002, was exactly what my brain could handle during coronavirus isolation time. I didn’t have to carry plot along with me from page to page. If I grew tired of reading, I could quit in the middle of page. Also, since I’m not writing much, reading the diary of a famous writer during the quarantine is perfect since it reminds me of all the things I can’t write, right now and how famous writers struggle sometimes too.
I figured out what my brain is like right now. It is like a rock on the banks of a fast=running stream. Leaves, twigs, branches, logs, even fish and birds pass by, but I have no way of catching them. So, I don’t go anywhere, but still I race after them. It is exhausting to go nowhere, but still be scurrying.
I am still unsettled. I thought I might feel better as this pandemic progressed, but now five weeks into staying at home to flatten the curve, I still feel as if I could always use a few good deep breaths.
This week our governor extended our stay-at-home order to May 26. When I heard it, I felt a mix of emotions. I felt a little down because it meant life as I expected it would not be returning for another five weeks. But I also felt a little relief. At least we had a deadline to look forward to.
We were halfway through. It made me think about what I had done in the first half of being at home. And what I might do in the next.
So today is Easter. Along with everything else, it’s a little different this year. Although, I’m not sure how we would be spending it. My family hadn’t made Easter plans yet before we all locked ourselves indoors about a month ago.
It has been three weeks since I and most others I know have been isolated at home in the hopes of slowing the spread of Covid-19. At least I think so. Even as the sun keeps rising and setting, I like most people, have lost all sense of time.
But I can’t figure out why. I have worked at home for nearly three years. My normal work outfit is yoga pants, a T-shirt, and a sweatshirt. My office is down the stairs. I barely leave the house during a normal week. Yet, everything feels different now. I am struggling to concentrate. It is perfectly quiet, but I feel like everyone is screaming.
For a writer, writing about your parents can be one of the hardest and most rewarding things to do. You may come to understand someone who is part of your life in a way that you have not been able to before. For Kao Kalia Yang, who writes about her father in The Song Poet, it is a way to understand his art in a way she has not before.
If you are weary of coronavirus news and you are stuck at home, there is one bit of good news. March 19 marks the first day in spring. Here are five things you can do now that it’s spring even if you are stuck at home.
Today is International Women’s Day and the theme this year is #EqualforEach. That means a gender equal world in the boardroom, government, and the media. That also means the books we read.
When my husband and I planned our vacation to Laos and Cambodia for the first couple weeks of February, we weren’t thinking about Valentine’s Day. We barely celebrate it when we’re at home and weren’t expecting to think much about it while traveling. Vacation is special enough, who needs to plan a special night?
