hi

It’s been a moment since I’ve been here! Hard to believe this original blog is something like 20+ years old and things are very different now than they were 20-something years ago – I’m obviously a different person, shaped by 20+ years of life, and the technology that enables communication over the internet has developed far beyond the imaginations of many, becoming more sinister and dangerous than a lot of us thought it could be. We are at the point where we can no longer agree on a shared reality, where we are living through a pandemic that some of us fervently and violently believe is a hoax.

It’s only been four months, but this has been the longest year, a time of reckoning for centuries of injustice, laid bare by the impact of the pandemic and bubbled up to the surface by record unemployment that ironically freed millions from the shackles of work to finally allow them to voice their rage and frustration at the inequity of our current economic and justice system.

A few recent events from the past few months, in no particular order:

  • John Lewis passed away the other day
  • Naya Rivera drowned in a reservoir in LA
  • Donald Trump gave an interview this morning where he bragged about how he did on a cognitive test and would not agree to accept election results in November
  • His niece, Mary Trump, wrote a damning book analyzing her uncle’s various pathological conditions. Net net, we’re all screwed
  • M is able to read some simple books, all on his own. He is a fan of Biscuit.
  • Mason is excited about Animal Crossing: New Horizons
  • My parents sometimes appreciate how lucky they are, sometimes are enraged out how unfair life has been to them
  • My husband and I have managed to hang in there with our respective jobs and homeschooling and family and each other… for now.
  • I’ve given Simon three haircuts. They’re not great, but they’re getting better
  • I now have many pairs of yoga pants
  • Hamilton came out on Disney+ around July 4th (obvs)
  • We have some new management at my company and some is not very good
  • I’m still coming to a reckoning with my own privilege and how much I’m willing to put on the line as an ally
  • oh yeah and did i mention I’m not young anymore? I turned 40 just before the pandemic took hold. I didn’t celebrate since things were so busy. Maybe I’ll get to after this is all over. (If this will ever be over.)

It’s hard to imagine now what life was like before this all happened. My New York and France trips seem like distant memories, but they were only like six months ago. I wonder sometimes if this is basically like AIDS/HIV, where our habits will be forever changed – just as people have generally come to the understanding that it’s not a good idea to have sex without a condom, will all our public interactions in the future be masked? Will our children ever be able to go back to school and have normal social lives?

Anyway, as the title of the post says, “hi.”