Can We All Agree That Peace Lilies Are The Drama Queens Of The Plant Kingdom And That We Shouldn’t Tolerate Their Wilting Nonsense Any More? And Other Thoughts I Wake Up Thinking, Like A Normal Person
Darlings, there’s fog in San Francisco, I got a full eight hours of sleep, and I switched my homemade cold brew to half-caf so my heart is less humming bird-like. LET’S DO THIS.
Welp, it turns out that one of the nastiest critics of Dr. Fauci, an online troll known for claiming that COVID-19 is a left-wing conspiracy to bring down President Trump and nationwide health departments have no scientific basis for enforcing social distancing and mask wearing, *checks notes* WORKED IN PR/PUBLIC AFFAIRS for the National Institutes of Health, because of course. This fabulous fellow has not only attacked public health work under a pseudonym, but The Daily Beast has discovered that he has passed on internal NIH documents to other conservative writers. Seems like a swell guy.
Speaking of trolls, do you think you have what it takes to spot the difference between a real life human on the internet and a troll spreading disinformation? Take the Clemson University Media Forensics Hub quiz and find out. I wasn’t as good as I thought I was going to be, that’s for sure.
I know you all need to hear this, because I know I do: The Covid-19 pandemic's restrictions disrupted everyone's sense of time. You’re not the only one unable to judge the passing of time; I don’t know about y’all, but the last six months have been simultaneously the shortest AND the longest of my life. Luckily, the article above is by a Harvard Medical School professor of psychology and she’s got some tips on how to cope.
And if you’re worried about how you’ve been coping, you’re also not alone. Also over at NBC, interesting piece on the increasing self-medication via booze by mothers during the pandemic. And a gentle reminder that if you are uncomfortable with how your relationship with alcohol has changed during the pandemic, you are not alone and there are resources and people that can help. And to all my booze-free buddies out there who’ve managed to stay off the sauce during the past six months? That is, and you are, a gosh-darned miracle and I am so happy for and proud of you. Keep going.
And finally, from McSweeney’s, a 2009 reminder that there may still be some small pockets of good we can think about: IT’S DECORATIVE GOURD SEASON, MOTHER[TR]UCKERS. (censored by me for your work filters, I got your back, yo.)
Y’all are lovely. Check in with each other. Be kind to yourselves. And pretty please for the love of whatever deity you pray to, wear your darned masks.
xoxo Amy