A few things have minorly changed, just a HAIR, just a TADPOLE of a tad, since last I newslettered. If you are currently locked down in your home with 9 days of leg-hair growth, drinking concentrated frozen Minute Maid orange juice because that was all the store had, well, we are in the same boat. It could be worse, you could be like my poor friend who is locked in with her roommates and her roommates HAVE DECIDED TO START A SONGWRITING CAREER mid-quarantine. The murder sentences that come out of this period should probably be automatically commuted.
But I wanted to check in with you all, not because I’m going to promise to be better about newslettering to you - though I will *try* - but simply to be a voice in the wilderness. I love that phrase. It brings to my mind a vision of being some sort of Scandinavian shepherdess lost in the dark Nordic woods, searching for a missing sheep, trapped in enclosing darkness beneath the lowering pines, a bloody scratch on my knee, sure to be eaten by wolves - when HARK! A Voice in the Wilderness! A gentle shepherd boy with a halo of curly hair emerges, carrying my sheep!
Anyway, yes, I am that shepherd boy, I hope.
I hope I can bring you a little more cheer from time to time with this newsletter, as we seem to be headed into a wood that is both dark and perilously large. Here’s a few things helping me get through the day, that I hope might also get YOU through the day.
The Fair Green Land of Podcastia
The rumors are true, I have reacted to global tragedy by starting a podcast. *I* know it’s weird, and *you* know it’s weird, but there we have it. Why have I done this? Well, a mere week ago, when things were starting to look Very Bad, I opened the feature script I was working on and was extremely excited about, and said “what the fuck are you doing, who needs this right now, the town is shut down and this is YEARS if ever away from being made.” In short, I was overwhelmed with the desire to do something a little more immediate and helpful to people, and unfortunately laying under my desk and screaming endlessly isn’t particularly helpful.
When we think of dark times in history, we tend to think of them in two ways: the facts we learned in high school, and the personal stories we’ve read about them. Reading about the day Auschwitz was opened is one thing, listening to a Holocaust survivor speak about it is something else. Knowing what happened is useful, but knowing *how people lived through it* is more affecting, in my opinion. It gives us empathy, and from empathy we learn and grow.
So the podcast I started is designed to be a living diary of Coronavirus. I’m talking to people from all over the country and in all different professions - a former Coast Guard worker in Alaska, a Zookeeper in Topeka, a TV writer in LA, a holistic medical provider in Kentucky - to see how they’re surviving and what they’re experienced. It might sound depressing, but so far it isn’t. We get a drink together virtually and dig down into the situation, and there’s a lot of laughs for a podcast about a deadly disease. Would mean the world to me if you checked it out.
I’d also highly recommend Sara Benincasa’s podcast Well This Isn’t Normal, which talks about anxiety and stress-relief techniques during Coronavirus and also more broadly. It’s a great soothing listen right now (and I’m gonna be on it this week!)
Also, for distractions that have nothing to do with Corona, DID YOU LISTEN TO THE INSANE PODCAST ABOUT THE VANISHING SONG???? This is greatly worth an hour of your time, and you may scream at your phone once or twice during it!
Movies I Have Found Helpful During This Crisis
The Martian
Living In Oblivian
The Lord Of The Rings
Bend It Like Beckham
Frozen 2 (We’re going to talk about this one in a subscriber piece goddamn it)
Also New Girl, because New Girl is always pleasant.
I’ll try to check in soon, and also may post some paid-subscriber only podcast content!
Don’t Die, Please.