March Madness

Office views from FiDi. Getting glimpses of this view helps during 'rona szn.

Evidently the circumstances caused by our current world events - ahem, plural usage isn't proper form here, I meant EVENT, aka the health pandemic that we have been dealing with, and for the foreseeable future will continue to be dealing with, the coronavirus, the rough 'rona, the off-pitched co-rus, ok, I'll stop there - has made me return to blogging. But please note that this is an atypical post. Not one about fashion, shoes, clothes, my neverending desire to conquer my fear of being run over by a puppy stroller (wait, sorry, had I not mentioned that before, omg sorry tmi tmi!). This is about my personal experience with the rough 'rona, which currently warrants a rambling post. To the brave souls reading this, continue on, if you shall dare...

To start this saga, I'm noting that it's quite odd that prior to the coronavirus, I've normally been rather introverted and very much so enjoyed spending time alone, but now, in the midst of this crisis, I find this introversion to be *too* much.

For me, the reason for this swip-swap may be that pre-corona, my introversion was safeguarded by the fact that if I wanted to, I knew I was able to pick a day/night of the week to dress up and go out. And then I'd have a great time out, then use the rest of the week to decompress and recharge alone. And then when I had enough time to myself, I was able to go out for a night again, rinse, repeat. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Yes, I can FaceTime and communicate with friends via social media, Skype/other methods of online communication, etc., and/or offline communication, if e.g. snail-mail is your preferred method of chit-chatting, but neither of these options is nearly equivalent to spending the time to get ready and get all dressed up in anticipation to meet your friends out for a fun night out on the town. Leading me to spending way more time alone than I would like to, thus making me resent introvertedness. That's not a word, but it's 'rona szn, anything goes. That's the mantra now. I digress.

However, now the option to do pretty much anything entertainment-related has been axed. Movies, bars, lounges, restaurants, SHOPPING PLACES (*gasp* how dare) - really, pretty much anything. So while I can enjoy, and am totally okay with, spending five or six days alone in my apartment no biggie, by the time I have had more than sufficient amount of alone time, my brain and body are ready to go out, so the alone time almost becomes irritably intolerable. Aka I would much rather have the option of being able to dress up and go out for a night or two when that mood sets.

Instead, I end up getting a bit stir-crazy and doing sorta weird things like quadruple-checking that the red paint covering my brick walls has dried, even though my apartment was renovated and the paint job was completed over a year ago. Wait a sec, is the color even red??? Or is it burgundy? Maybe it's a charred eggplant mauve???

Am I okay, you ask? In this instance, no. Absolutely not. MY WALLS ARE WHITE.

Do you know what I mean? With this stir-crazy phenomenon? I'm sure you may have some general idea of what I'm talking about. You must. Unless you have full-on immunity to the stir-crazy madness, in which case, what's your number and what type of Avengers-style sci-fi transmission process do we need to complete in order for me to receive this superpower? Email me at stirfrynotstircrazy@gmail.com, pls, thx.

Anyway, we are all under lockdown at this point, with national guidelines of "social isolation" extended to the end of April, based off Dr. Fauci's new statistical modeling with the current rates of positive cases around the nation and likelihood of steepening or flattening or lessening the curve of additional cases.

Or something like that. I heard this on the NPR First podcast, which I listen to every morning, and between me listening to this morning's podcast and me currently typing this post, a lot has happened, not excluding me having my first jog with my new puppy (YES I HAVE A NEW PUPPY... hold your horses, that's for another post), so please don't quote me on the specifics of what I stated re: Fauci's model.

Rather than continue to drone on about the stir-crazy moods from staying under social isolation that we will each inevitably experience at some point or another, I will say that in all seriousness, social isolation is presently the most effective method to knocking this madness away. Or at least the most effective method in ensuring that this demon doesn't spread its venom even more. With death tolls rising & overall escalation to where additional positive-tested patients are narrowly being admitted to already overpopulated makeshift intensive care units, the risk of letting this pandemic rise by not following social isolation guidelines, when we are able to be compliant with continued preventative measures, is not one that we should take.

This is not to say that we shouldn't spend *any* time outdoors, or shouldn't have *any* social interaction. Cautiousness is the name of the game. Six-feet away, gloves, hand wipes, sanitizer, etc. etc. all help the cause. If not for my job, which I still go into the office for, or my new puppy, whom I take out for daily walks, I would likely be holed up inside my apartment nonstop, simply out of habit. So I'm happy to have these as barriers to experiencing 24/7 stir-craziness. Note: with the office, I take cars to/from, and with walking my puppy, I make sure we're not super close to other people.

Basically with extra caution, I think that going out for a little walk, getting some fresh air, or doing a bit of exercising outside, can help with having a sense of normalcy during this lockdown. And for socializing, although it may not be the same as in-person time together, online methods of communicating have been more than positive to be around people. At least these helped me a bit more to adjust.

Also, indoors hobbies is very much so a thing. I say that as though indoor hobbies weren't before, but I'm sure puzzle companies are gaining more traction now than ever... congrats, Puzzle Co., congrats. But yes, puzzles, games, cooking (*everyone* is a Food Network star nowadays), or in my case, typing a rambling post about the coronavirus on my fashion blog at the height of today's stir-craziness. These all contribute to aiding in fighting off this wild time and making it more enjoyable. Thank you, Corona, for allowing me to experience this, so that in ten years' time, when I stumble back on this blog post, I think to myself, what in the world was that madness?

P.s. I've now binged six seasons of 30 Rock within the past two weeks, and have listened to more Celine Dion songs on repeat than I can count. These bits I can't be upset about, pure bliss. Also, don't mind any grammatical or other writing errors. This was all written quite literally rambling style, with me click-clacking away at my keyboard with free-flowing thoughts. It's not a Pulitzer-winning piece nor one that belongs in the MIT Technology Review. Btw, my dog was reading an informative article from MIT Tech Review. I happily include evidence below. You're welcome.

My puppy, Lucky, reading up on the culprit of causing way too many people to post insta-stories involving sautéing veggies. Me being one of them.

Lucky looking up at me like, "Mommy, why are we the only ones here on the block? I want to play with furiends." Sorry baby, it's the 'rona.

From my extensive indoor hobbies list, I am bashful to even say this, but I am now a certified National Geographic photographer. I specialize in aerial shots of animals. Here is an exhibit: 3lb fluffball diving in for some scrumptious food.