Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We have all the best words.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Women: they get shit done

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

I personally stopped the public option…

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Shocking, but not surprising

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

This really is a full service blog.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

This blog is Obama’s Katrina.

This is a big f—–g deal.

It’s not even safe to go out and pick up 2 days worth of poop anymore.

… makes me wish i had hoarded more linguine

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Fuck if i know. i just get yelled at when i try it.

Good luck with your asparagus.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Han shot first.

This is how realignments happen…

Everybody saw this coming.

Tick tock motherfuckers! Tick fucking tock!

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Dispatches From the Quarantine

The Play’s the Online Thing

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Hello, welcome to day 4956 in the hellscape called 2020. I jest, sort of. One of the biggest issues for those of us in the arts, is how to ply our craft under this absolutely ridiculous set of conditions. One of the ways that writing twitter has come up with is Zoom scene studies. What’s a scene study, you ask? Well, some enterprising, brave soul decides to either organize an online Zoom performance of their work or, in the case of one group I have been working with, some outgoing person takes on the task of collecting writers, actors and directors to perform scenes from scripted works for the community. Our little group is called The Thing For AWD because our founder is trying to raise the profile of women directors. Since I know the founder, I accepted the opportunity to direct an episode. Whew. I felt as much stress as my last project. But my hair was flames in my photo.

The Play's the Thing

It’s a very interesting thing to see actors develop their craft in front of you and to  see how different directors bring different techniques to scenes. Artists adapt, unlike me to the lack of block editor when it seems my attempts at inserting html breaks aren’t working, like right now. It’s been fascinating to see how distance learning and performance has embraced tools like Zoom, Twitch, Hangouts or Skype. If you have an interest, there’s probably an activity going on online. Here are a few  cool home options:

I gotta admit, I’m impressed. When I see folks talk about how doomed & fucked we are, I always wonder if they’re deliberately obtuse or just enjoying a good despair wallow. Humans adapt. That’s why we’re a pernicious scourge on every other creature on the planet. We adapt like fucking weeds. We’re life and we find a way. I hope you’re finding a way to connect, enjoy some kulcha and make a little joy in your corner of the world. Know anything interesting, drop it below in thread. I will be narrating the scene setting for the next The Thing for AWD tomorrow afternoon at 4pm PST, so if you feel like watching a scene study for a movie script, sign up to attend. It’s not like we’re out of seats. Open respite thread.

Obligatory artistic cat  pic

Odo yodeling
Odo cat, singing a high note for his on-screen performance

 

 

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Dispatches From the Quarantine

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Today was a lovely day with temperatures reaching the 60’s, so I decided today was a good day to get some groceries. I did a pickup for my parents on Thursday, but when I do theirs I do not like to go into the store. Maybe I am being overly cautious, but when I do theirs, I just go, pull into the spot, call into the store to tell them I’m ready, open the trunk, let them load it, tip them, and drive off. I then go home and put it on their porch, and hope I have not contaminated them.

So I headed off to Kroger, and on the way gave ole Mistermix a call to see how things were going up north. Things up there seem a lot like down here, tbh. Things are doing ok for now in WV. Despite our governor, Jim Justice, holding insanely bad press conferences where he utters absolutely inane gibberish, he has actually been doing the right thing. Schools closed down a few days before our first case, we had our first case and he shut down the restaurants and barbershops and what not, etc. He’s a buffoon, but at least he’s a buffoon who knows how little he knows, so he relies heavily on the medical advice of our experts. Which is good!

I’ve noticed the number of mask wearers is now about 60-75% in the store, which is also good. It’s not 100%, but still good. One perverse benefit of being in such a chronically depressed economic region is that we’re used to the economy being in the shitter and that many of us realize that if we catch the ‘rona, there isn’t going to be anyone rushing to our rescue. We’ll just drop dead, quietly, out of the national headlines, just like we do every day from black lung, diabetes, chemical spills, and opioid addictions, just like every time there is a war and we rush to volunteer. So people are somewhat taking things into their own hands.

Other than that, pretty uneventful. Picked up some nice ferns for the front porch, some meatless meatballs (on sale for 1.49) for dinner, and a general resupply. Playing some WoW tonight with my friends.

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Things I Have Learned During Quarantine, Part 2

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Y’all have not lived until you have opened a can of sauerkraut that apparently did not seal correctly, because yowza.

I have also learned a little bit about myself in that even though my personal life has not changed very much, I apparently really feed off the emotions of others and it impacts my mood. Since this started, I thought it would be a snap because I never really go anywhere anyway, but everyone has been so depressed and so miserable that even I am getting sick of it. I want things to go back to normal, with you all out there doing fun things and living your lives and inviting me to things I will never attend. I find myself withdrawing inward even more- reading less news, viewing fewer blogs, etc. Just sort of walling myself off. Other than work related stuff, talking to the family and Tammy, I’m just sort of being non-communicative in the real world. I still interact with my online family inside of games and what not, but in meatspace I really am isolating myself.

Weird, hunh?

I have not summoned up the courage to try to shave Steve again.

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My First Personal Covid Disaster

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So, it had been a couple weeks since I last gave myself a haircut, and it was getting long, so I got in front of the sink, plugged the clippers in, and went at it. One problem. I had forgotten that I had left the shortest attachment on it the other day. I had it on because I had planned to shave Steve, but I could never find him. Since I never found him, I never put the other attachment back on.

Even with my glasses off I knew I had fucked up because large clumps of hair fell in front of my face and I could see a strip down the center of my head. I tried to fix it, but because I have surgically replaced shoulders I can not reach my entire head. So now I look like a cancer patient with a mostly shaved head and select clumps of unreachable hair.

My First Personal Covid Disaster

How is your Saturday night going.

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