The TueDo List: My Covid Life

Margit and Karen (and their coworkers Bo and Zeke) get socially distant via Zoom

Hello, TueNighters. First off, we hope you’re all staying safe in this challenging, anxiety-filled moment. Perhaps our newsletter will bring you a bit of respite.

You might notice we are testing out a new platform. (Couldn’t have picked a better time, could we? 🤦‍♀️) We decided to make the leap from Mailchimp to Substack, a newsletter platform we’ve been digging. There’s great audience interaction, nice-n-simple interface and all kinds of other cool free and paid Substacks (if that’s what you call them?) within the network, like Heather Havrilesky’s Ask Molly (Just like Polly, except evil!), Nicole Knows by Nicole Cliffe, and The Main Event by stacy-marie ishmael. Hopefully everything is smooth sailing, but if you experience any hiccups, bear with us — and let us know. We ❤️ you.

—Margit

This Week

We know you are getting plenty of the alarming news about COVID-19 elsewhere, so this week’s links will aim to bring only joy and sunshine. The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago is closed to human visitors, so let penguins Edward and Annie take you on an adorable virtual tour through the rotunda. Thursday, March 19 at 6PM, the Indigo Girls will play a “low key, home grown set of songs” on Facebook Live. We love this advice on social distancing from a nun. A primer on work-from-home fashion choices. We may have watched this video of Arnold Schwarzenegger with Whiskey (a miniature pony) and Lulu (a burro?) encouraging us to stay at home 20 times already. Time to watch Emma. The Metropolitan Opera is streaming their best opera productions for free every night — tonight it’s La Bohème.

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My Covid Life

We asked a group of TueNighters from around the world to share how they are staying sane while adjusting to life in the time of Corona, and hunkering down at home. Here’s what they had to say…

Amina Akhtar — Cottonwood, AZ (@Drrramina)

I’m allowing that panicky and anxious part of me to take over in terms of preparing for a quarantine. I live with my 86-year-old dad so I’m being extra vigilant. No one comes over, and I got most of our shopping done. We have everything OTC to manage a flu-like illness including Mucinex. Mostly, I’m trying to avoid getting sick and spreading it to my dad. As for staying sane, I find it helpful to have the most up-to date information, and then going offline. I read, write, and take the dog for a walk — away from people. I’m trying out new recipes for fun — including some labor intensive Indian desserts. Doing anything that’s enjoyable is going to help you get through this! And remember, if the anxiety gets to be too much, reach out to a friend. We’re all in this together!

Wendi Aarons — Austin, TX (@wendiaarons)

Social Distancing Schedule

8am: Wake up and feel both relaxed and tense that we have no plans for the day. Go to the bathroom. Use only four squares.

9am: Check email. Discover my son was accepted to a certain university because they emailed me their COVID-19 policy.

10am: Try to write a humor piece. Quickly realize I am now an emo poet.

11am-12pm: Group text, Twitter, group text, Twitter.

12:30pm: Restroom. Four squares.

1pm: Read defiant Facebook post from a woman taking her family to Mexico for spring break. Do quick search to see if I know anyone in Acapulco who can spit into her skinny margarita.

2pm: Teenagers want to leave. Explain to them why we’re not letting them socialize. Receive many eyerolls.

3pm-6pm: Group text, Twitter, group text, Twitter.

6pm: Restroom. Four squares.

7pm: Get 7-day free trial of EPIX because we now have the time to watch all two seasons of “Get Shorty”

8pm: Group text, Twitter, group text, Twitter.

10pm: Restroom. I treat myself. Six squares.

Stacy Pratt — Tulsa, OK (@reliquario)

I am a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and I live within our nation in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation declared a state of emergency before the President of the United States did. Our Tulsa mayor has placed restrictions on gatherings of over 250 people, and several of our schools and businesses are closed. Normally, I would be with my family at our Muscogee (Creek) church today (Sunday), but the mother of our church turned 100 years old last month. Last week, I was in contact with musicians from Seattle, so I am staying away from her and all our elders. My heavy metal band (Reliquario) is decorating our practice room for a livestream in case our upcoming gigs are cancelled (not that we are in danger of attracting 250 people…maybe someday).

Crystal Durant — New York City (@djcrystalclear6)

I live in Manhattan, in the best city in the world. So what am I doing instead of singing at a club on the Lower East Side because the show was canceled? I am staying home and enjoying the glow of my television, while I go back in time and watch TV shows that calm my nerves, THAT’S WHAT!

I don’t have cable (because it’s too damn expensive), so I’m at the mercy of my digital antenna.  You’d think that would suck, but it’s the best thing ever. You see, there are channels that are offshoots of the major “Big Three” networks that specialize in reruns of shows from the ’70s. This weekend, I watched a three-day “binge” of  Police Woman on the DECADES Network.  During weekdays I can watch the ORIGINAL Bob Newhart Show, Mary Tyler Moore Show, and others. And at 6:30 pm, after watching the horrible news about this COTTDAMMED VIRUS, I watch an hour of Laugh-In, followed by The Dick Cavett Show!

These shows are like a warm blanket of fond and funny memories from childhood.

This is what I need now, and I suggest you join me. You’ll laugh a lot, and that’s what we ALL need right about now.

Mimi Hui — Mountain View, CA

I put myself in isolation several days before everyone else due to autoimmune issues, and the first week has been rough, especially since I’ve been sick. I'm grateful to have a doggo. So far, I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time trying to buy groceries for my parents, working on my taxes, making pastrami from scratch, working in my community garden plot (deserted by everyone else), cleaning out my closets and the house, sleeping, and setting up teleconferencing check-ins with friends. This week, I hope to spend some time with my hobbies as well as reach out to other single friends. I’m in the midst of a job search and it’s basically put almost everything on hold. Scary. I really am hoping that everyone hunkers down so we can flatten the curve. I’m mostly afraid for my parents who are elderly and my dad especially, who has heart and lung issues.

Tara Phillips — Paris, France (@myyearonmombbatical)

How am I keeping myself sane? In Paris, it's not that hard, actually. Most days, the sun is pouring in from the Juliette balcony onto my 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle of Gustav Klimt's The Kiss, an acquisition from a cool digital exhibition at the Atelier des Lumieres. Although non-essential establishments have been closed here, boulangeries and chocolateries are still open because bread and chocolate are obviously essential to the French. I enjoyed a long walk along the Seine and observed defiant Parisians gathering with their baguettes and wine on her banks. I was even able to pick up une glace en cornet — an ice cream cone — on Ile St. Louis. I have been tracking the news in the United States through ABC News Live and my greatest source of laughs has been watching the sign language interpreters. They do such an important job with flair and expression — a simple pleasure during such strange and stressful times. 

Aparna Mukherjee — Los Angeles, CA (@aparnamuk)

When it comes to staying sane, I know for me it’s about doing and connecting. As a relative newcomer to LA, a city known for disconnection and distance, I’m lucky enough to have a commercial space (an old gumball warehouse with 45-foot ceilings in an ex-PBR factory complex!) in the country’s largest artist-in-residence (AIR) zone: the Brewery Art Lofts.

While I hadn’t really been staying here much, jumping in now, in this period to self-isolate/distance/quarantine, has been ideal in many unexpected ways, especially as a single person, living solo to weather the range of imperfect to crisis times.

I get to help neighbors, running errands for those who can’t go out, and we have our own local gastropub, Barb’s, to safely gather “on campus”; it’s like a middle-aged dining hall with a dozen things on tap. And I get to be alone without being lonely in this quasi-small town of a few hundred creative folk.

Beth Arky — St. Louis, MO (@betharky)

So far, knock on wood, the Coronavirus and self-distancing haven’t hit me all that hard. Given that I’m a freelance writer, plus the fact that I’ve been nursing a broken sacrum (it’s the bone that supports the pelvis) since New Year’s Day, I was already accustomed to being home alone a fair amount of the time. As for stocking up on supplies, I’ve been ordering online and foraging frequently at the stores for light loads I can carry without hurting myself. I do miss seeing friends and family, and this has certainly curtailed my online dating jones; I wish I had a special someone to hunker down with. Alas, that isn’t the case. Instead, I’m actually talking on the phone, texting, chatting with dating site guys, following the news and weighing in on social media, where I’m also finding the funny memes that provide some relief in the midst of the madness. I’m also looking forward to the Zoom chats Facebook friends are organizing. And, of course, I’m crossing my fingers that I — and as many others as possible — will actually save lives by doing the right thing now.

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See you next Tuesday, gals.

Let’s be kind to one another. Let’s help each other.

And Wash Your Hands!