Day: April 4, 2020

Wow, people are really freaking out about Trump’s model joke. And most of them are middle-aged men.

It’s funny how easily people betray their secret fantasies.

Finally, my agenda for April started filling up with events and I feel less weird.

My bullet journal is languishing in captivity.

I’ve looked at my checking account and it’s really funny. For the past 16 days it’s all Amazon, Amazon, Amazon, Amazon, Indian takeout, Amazon, Amazon, Starbucks drive-through, Amazon, Amazon, Amazon, Amazon, Amazon.

And it’s not physical stuff I buy. It’s mostly content. Amazon is getting an opportunity to steer us all into a model that will benefit it. Which is not to say that Amazon is somehow to blame for any of this debacle. Amazon lives in the future and would like us to catch up. And this kind of crisis is creating a wrinkle in time that brings the future closer.

In the future, more people work from home, more students of all ages never go to a brick-and-mortar school, most of our purchases are intangible goods, most people rely on UBI and a patchwork of temporary, low-paid online gigs for income, we spend a lot more time on social media, kids are forced to be on devices constantly, the consent is manufactured instantly and no dissent is tolerated, people are more suspicious of each other, and everything feels inexplicably apocalyptic.

I take long walks after putting my kid to bed. Five miles a day after sunset around our residential neighborhoods.

Right now I’m wondering. What reduces my chances of being shot by a nervous neighbor, wearing a bandana and looking like a possible robber or not wearing a bandana and looking like a potential COVID threat?

People are really REALLY jumpy around here.

I though it was a joke about sneezing into elbows but now it seems even billionaires do it. From Illinois governor Pritzker:

There’s a reason we’re raised to cover our mouths or use our elbows when we cough and sneeze. It’s a simple gesture to reduce the number of germs you spread to those around you.

I’m really into sneezing but when I do it, I bring both hands to my face and cup the nose with them.

Is the elbow thing cultural? Does anybody else find it bizarre? Are you supposed to walk around with snot on your clothes after you do it?