A Skewed View

Before we get too happy about any news saying the social distancing and sheltering in place seems to be working, keep this in mind: when you're hiding in the closet because you woke to the noise of a burglar rummaging through your house, you don't come out the second the noise stops. You wait. You wait until you're good and sure the virus - I mean burglar - is good and gone. Because right now you're safe in the closet. Come out too quickly, and the hiding will have been for naught.

This weekend, I had planned to go grocery shopping Monday afternoon. I needed to complete my "stock up in case I get sick and can't leave" cupboard. When I went to bed Sunday night, though, I was feeling woozy, my mouth was dry, my heart was racing, and my muscles felt like bricks. Oh no! I thought. It's too late! I'm already sick. After a few minutes, I realized: I'm not sick. I'm panicking . Panicking at the thought of leaving my house to go to the grocery store! See, I'm one of the lucky  ones who work at an entertainment facility that has cancelled its upcoming performances until further notice - which means I can hole up in my apartment without fear the wall will cough on me. (that also means I have no income right now... but that's another rant) As the popular meme floating around says: "Your grandparents were called to war. You're being called to sit on the couch. You can do this." Yes I can! But after a week and a ...

Whenever I see motorists who refuse to pull over for a fire truck or an ambulance or a police car -- because they're on the way to someplace themselves and they don't want to be inconvenienced by any delay -- I always think the same thing: if all you care about is yourself, then do that. Think of yourself. Maybe it's your house on fire. Maybe your kid was struck by a delivery truck. Maybe someone just robbed the gas station where your spouse was filling up and now has them hostage. You don't know it's not in your interest to make way for the emergency vehicle. Pretend it is, and you'll have no regrets later if you find out you were right. Same thing with COVID-19. Sure, maybe for whatever reason you're not at risk. Maybe you work from home anyway and don't interact with many people on a daily basis. Maybe because of that you assume that when you are out in public, precautions aren't meant for you. Only those at risk need wash their hands, or kee...

...We're going to find out! I have never been a team sport chick. Okay, not never. When I worked for the provincial government, I joined a Corporate Challenge volleyball team that was extraordinary because the people were fun AND we'd win! Huzzah! But until now, I haven't really been part of any ongoing team. Now I've joined a dragon boat paddling team! And I'm 50! Really, the only reason I considered it was because it is a team made up of breast cancer survivors. Different ages, shapes, sizes, and fitness levels. My age, shape, size, and fitness level had to fit in there somewhere! Tonight was my first dry land training date. 45 minutes in weight/aerobics training, then 45 at the side of the pool just paddling. As if we think we can move the pool over a few feet if ten of us sit at the edge and put our backs into it. That being said: it was super fun to sit at the edge of the pool and just put our backs into it. I can't wait for May when we can get onto t...

A world leader laughing along with laughing world leaders is accused of not being able to act like a leader on the world stage. And of not knowing how to treat an ally because of what he thought was privately recounting the ridiculous behaviour - not calling the behaviour ridiculous, but recounting behaviour that can only be considered ridiculous - of a man who publicly, proudly, and without apology disregards the needs and endangers the lives and political structure of allies. The hypocrisy is strong with this news cycle. 

In the 90s, I read a trilogy reportedly approved by George Lucas, written by Timothy Zahn, which continued the story of Luke, Leia and Han. In it, Han and Leia married and had twins. A boy and a girl. The twins were strong in the Force. Leia asked her twin Luke to train them to be Jedi. The new Star Wars movie coming out is called "The Rise of Skywalker". We already know one Skywalker is Kylo. Leia's child. Strong in the Force. Trained, at Leia's request, by Luke. Who has a connection to Rey, reminiscent of Luke's connection to Leia. Which is supposed to be inexplicable for someone who never crossed paths with Rey before. Like Luke supposedly never crossed paths with his twin Leia before. Gee. What an absolutely un-crackable mystery this titular Skywalker will turn out to be. (But at least it would explain why Leia hugged her instead of Chewie after Han died) *Yawn*

I've been seeing people embrace and celebrate the phrase "Ok, boomer" lately. I've found that this disturbs me. I've realized it's because I believe people shouldn't be PROUD of being disrespectful. You may think you had cause to disrespect someone else. Perhaps you even feel they disrespected you first. But showing anyone disrespect should not be something you take pride in. It should be something that you look back on, when you look at yourself in the mirror at the end of the day, and say "Well. I could have handled that one better." Especially if your argument is they deserved it by disrespecting you first. Because then you're saying it's wrong when others do it to you, but it's something you take pride in when you do it to others. And if there's one thing I abhor even more than disrespect, it's hypocrisy.