Cover Your Bases 12
8/23/2020 How we keep ourselves stable
#SenatorHarrischeckinginwiththefirefighters
This week: A reflection on something personal and reflective, like how to keep it stable when the world is burning. California is burning, you know that. Here in Oakland, I am debating between packing a Go Bag and dosing myself with a hefty slug of CBD gummies, but instead of either of these, I am sitting inside with the windows closed, listening to my new music discovery, the amazing The Japanese House, aka Amber Bain, a 25-year old whose music is haunting me.
There are so many things I have grief about, and anger, and the hits just keep coming.
And my pain is far from the most intense. Everyone is suffering in their way. One friend, a 60-something, feels hopeless. Another friend, a Black millennial, hasn’t slept well since George Floyd was murdered; he says anxiety and anger are eating his mental health. A third friend, who went through the break-up of a 10-year marriage, returned from a camping road trip and had to evacuate their house, which is in the fire path and may or may not burn down. And I also have friends and colleagues who are losing their businesses, have lost family members, had lost their homes and moved into vans, or in with family, or are camping—and so much more.
And of course, we are not making quick progress with COVID-19. Alameda County inches along towards a marginally better R-1 rate, but COVID is still spreading through families in East Oakland and other parts of our county like another sort of fire.
Sometimes, it feels unbearable. And scary.
When I feel that way, I try to lean into my sense of purpose. I look for calm in reading, writing, listening to music, cooking for others, taking care of plants, Pilates, and being outside--which isn’t possible with the smoke contamination right now.
I also try to imagine the time--even if it is a year or two from now--where we will be in a safer place, with better government and hopefully, more equity, housing, and health for all.
Music and things to watch: Where calm and relief are living for me right now
Movies: Oh Lucy and Juliette, Naked are two of the streaming movies I’ve watched this week that were just perfect.
Directed by Atsuko Hirayanagi, and streaming on Amazon and Hulu, Oh Lucy! Is a treasure of great acting and nuanced reality about finding authentic happiness in middle age. It also has an appearance by one of my 90’s teen heart-throbs, Josh Harnett, that is just so offbeat.
Juliette, Naked, stars my new favorite male actor, Ethan Hawke, who I think I under-rated. Amazing in The Truth with Catherine Deneuve, Hawke is masterful in this shaggy dog role, and Rose Bryne just nails it as well (as does the very funny--and pompous--Chris O’Dowd). This is that movie you watch when you are just miserable but want a film you have not yet seen; it is delightful.
Music: Playlists and players
Abisola Omole, a Black, British blogger and entrepreneur, has great taste in music; I’ve had their Spotify Mellow Summer Evening playlist on repeat for the past two weeks and just love so much of it.
Abi’s playlist also led me to my new favorite obsession, The Japanese House, aka Amber Bain, another British musician. OMG, they are amazing. If you enjoy the music of any two of the following, you will love these sounds for their unique beauty: Mose Sumney, James Blake, Sampha, Frank Ocean, Solange, and recent Billie Eilish.
What music are you turning to for relaxation? How about movies? Any newer ones you’d recommend, or classics to revisit?
COVID-19 READS
MIT Technology review, Covid-19 “long haulers” are organizing online to study themselves, by Tanya Basu, This well-researched and efficiently written piece led me to many more links I learned from about COVID-19 sufferers, many of them women in their 30s and 40s, who self-organized to do more research around the longer-term impacts they were experiencing after the first acute stages of their illnesses. Basu writes:
“...The Slack group allowed the coronavirus long-haulers in the Patient-Led Research group to find one another. It made it possible for them to coordinate their efforts and launch a study of their symptoms. For many, the group has both provided a way to draw medical attention to their condition and served as a form of community during months of quarantine.”
COVID Homecare: One of the resources Basu references, this collection is created by and for COVID-19 survivors. “It contains firsthand experience on what worked for us, verified by our doctors, pharmacists, nutritionists, and other science-backed experts. “ Put together by Hannah Wei. Great read.
COVID-19 Prolonged Symptoms Survey - Analysis Report. Another source from the article. “The goal of this research is to capture and share a bigger picture of the experiences of patients suffering from COVID-19 with prolonged symptoms using a data-driven approach. The survey content and research analysis are “patient-centric,” conducted through participatory type research.”
The Prospect, The Afflictions of the Comfortable, How high-profile writers drop their masks in the pandemic, by Michal Massing. If you need an article that calls out comfortable neoliberal intellectuals for the humblebrags of their cozy suffering, this is the one. Daphne Merkin, Todd Purdum, and Susan Shapiro are members of the creative class that give Massing an easy chance to rake them over the coals of privilege and tone-deaf complacency. As someone who winces at Kardashian wealth porn on Instagram but doesn’t always look away, I enjoyed how gleefully mean (and spot-on) this piece is.
You made it this far, here is something nice: The Japanese House, my new favorite musician, has a moving and fiery song and video about a break-up, Lilo.
Hey—Thanks for reading #12. Lucky #13 hits next Sunday. As we trudge along, what would you like to hear about?
Subscribe if you like it. And tell your friends. I’d love more readers since we’re all just hanging in here, right?
Susan