Hello, Friends. How are you? What a hard and weird week it’s been. So many people trying to grasp that our world is fundamentally changed, that we really have no idea when calls for self-isolation will end, that we don’t know when our kids will return to school (and many experts say it likely won’t happen this school year), that we can’t quite comprehend what’s coming.
I am mostly okay. I have kids to whom I can direct my attention, and who are an essential reason to remain calm and collected. I have work to occupy my mind. It’s easy for me to find things to be grateful for — like consistent electricity and internet even in the midst of a global pandemic. But still, I find myself sometimes overcome with sadness and discouragement and have to just sit for a minute and breath through it. I’m aware I’m not alone in this.
Sometimes we go to sleep here in France and wake up to major news in the U.S. that we missed while we slept. Today was one of those days. The first headlines I read were about Senators Burr and Loeffler selling off millions of dollars of stocks just before the market crashed, while publicly assuring Americans that everything was fine. I am so angry I can hardly form words about it. (And weirdly I’m grateful for the anger because it’s a great distraction from fear?)
I don’t know if we’ll be able to make it feel like a weekend at our house, but I hope we can. Because for a week where it feels like we didn’t do much, the whole family seems exhausted. I need to figure out a way to make the next couple days restful and restorative so that we can make it through another week of this.
Here are a few things I’ve wanted to share with you. I tried hard to find a good mix of stuff so I won’t depress you. : )
–Mass Panic Is Unlikely, Even During a Pandemic. “Sociologists found again and again and again and again that people are mostly pro-social in a disaster and they don’t panic. They help each other, they seek out information.”
-Despite what you may have read this week, the World Health Organization is NOT warning people against taking ibuprofen.
-As Italy quarantines over coronavirus, dolphins appear in Venice canals.
-“Outbreaks of disease often have gendered impacts…News reports and public health analysis suggest that COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting women in a number of ways.”
-I’m Pinning All My Hopes On The Free Penguins In Chicago.
-The first coronavirus case in the U.S. and South Korea was detected on the same day. By late January, Seoul had medical companies starting to work on a diagnostic test — one was approved a week later. Today, the U.S. isn’t even close to meeting test demand.
– Feeling antsy at home? I find any work using a power-washer is helpful and satisfying. Or, we’ve been doing a lot of wallpaper peeling with a steamer.
-Senators push to let every American vote by mail as coronavirus keeps people home.
-Letting kids stay up as late as they want, as long as they are reading.
Here are a whole bunch of tweets I saved for you:
-A tweet calling for the “most fun books“.
-Yes please Queen Margrethe.
-Keeping occupied during lockdown.
–Something to think about if you’ve signed anything lately that has a “force majeure” clause.
-A masterful thread about totwaffles.
-A “let’s circle back” guy. Hahaha.
–Maybe it should make coffee at home instead of stopping at Starbucks.
–Related. Should Boeing be nationalized?
-Do you have access to a 3D printer? Maybe you can help.
–Hahahaha.
-Important thread on bailing out giant corporations.
-It’s okay to feel disappointed.
-“…not pressuring myself to complete everything.” Hahahaha.
-This is a scary time for so many people in so many ways.
-A helpful thread if you need to connect with your neighbors who maybe you don’t know very well.
-“Almost as if it’s the people at the bottom who create wealth.”
-Have fun Elephants!
I hope you have a restful weekend — whatever “weekend” looks like to you these days. I’ll meet you back here on Monday. I miss you already.
kisses,
P.S. — Here are a bunch of tweets and links about the Republican insider trading news, in case you’re in the mood to feel angry.
Loeffler also purchased between $ 100,000 and $ 250,000 in Citrix, which offers popular teleworking software and has actually seen a slight bump in its stock price.
