Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get Me Down

Actually, I LOVE rainy days.

That said, right now I feel better when it's warm and I can swim. I go for walks with the SO and the dogs every couple of days, but I find it stressful because the SO does not--in my humble opinion--keep enough social distance between us and anyone we happen to meet. He lets the dogs put things in their mouths THEY SHOULD NOT BE PUTTING IN THEIR MOUTHS. He does not understand the point of a retractable leash.

In short--hahahahahahaa (sorry but Spenser is currently chasing his tail in front of me...  He's started doing this again, although he's now six months old and should really know better).

Where was I?

Oh. Right. It's stressful going for walks with the SO. That's the long and short of it. It was easier when it was warm enough for me to swim and I was working my tension out that way.

Don't get me wrong, I am grateful that I have the SO and the dogs to keep me company--and presumably they feel the same. Actually, the SO even said so the other night. "If I have to be in quarantine with someone, I'd choose you."

And they say romance is dead. :-D

I'm worried but not unduly. At least, I don't think it's undue. There's plenty to worry about. But so far we are healthy. There are, as of this moment, 79 cases in our city. Which means that's more like 700, but that's out of a population of 475,000. We have enough food, we have a lifetime supply of fiction, we have streaming services, we are warm and comfortable and so far still able to pay our bills (fingers crossed).

I'm still having trouble working. I can't lie. It's really hard to focus. Really hard to write light-hearted, fun stories about mystery and romance. But it would probably be harder to write something serious. It's not about the work itself, it's about the level of concentration required to create what amounts to a dream state for other people. Because when you get down to it, that's what fiction is. You are creating a dream for others to live in for a few hours. Whether you're a "good" writer or a lousy writer, it demands an incredible amount of extended focus to do that. Right now I have the attention span of a five-year-old during a fire drill.

I'm okay with the isolation. Up to an extent. I mean, I'm a writer so I'm used to working at home, I'm used to being chained to my desk. But I'm also used to walking with my sister and having coffee a couple of times a week, I'm used to getting massage for my back and wrists, I'm used to having my dad over for lunch and a movie (he's really, really struggling with this enforced stay-at-home-order). I'm used to being able to go out for the occasional dinner or to grab something at the market or to meet a friend for lunch... NOT THAT I DO THESE THINGS A LOT. But I could. That's the difference. :-D

I discovered Zoom the other day! The SO did a Zoom get-together for some book-world friends, and I joined in. It's pretty cool! So I think I might do Zoom with my Patreons? I have to figure out the logistics, but it seems to have real possibility.

What else? I tried out Instacart this week! That's a wonderful service. The SO was going out to grab whatever we needed in the way of fresh produce and dairy, and I started to panic because he's high risk. So, to his disgust, I tried out Instacart and it's great. Even so, I couldn't stop him from running out to get celery this morning. HE CAME BACK WITH BAGS OF GROCERIES AND THEN ADMITTED HE HAD TRIED TO GET WATER AND HAD ALSO GONE TO THREE OTHER STORES.

*sigh*

He brought me flowers, which I suspect is his method of keeping me from yelling at him.

It was only partially successful.

Anyway, God bless the essential workers who are keeping us all glued together. Granted, some of us are better glued together than others.

I'm trying not to watch the news, but here I am watching the news again...

(LOL. Does Trump really expect us to rejoice that he's managed to keep oil prices high? :-D Given the profit margin of oil companies? I'm sorry, I just can't cry too much over the idea of an oil company executive having to take a smaller bonus. Because that's what it's really about. They're not going to preserve jobs. They never do. It's always about the profit margin. ALWAYS. Speaking as a former evil corporate overlord. It's always about the PROFIT margin. Let me reiterate: profit MARGIN.)

But I don't want to veer into politics today. It's Good Friday and I'm grateful to be alive and healthy--and grateful that my loved ones are still alive and healthy. SO I HEAR. I'm grateful for many, many things. Really, in the big picture, California always needs rain, so even the rain is something to be grateful for.

I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos on grooming because... Well, no more facials, no more hair salon, no more nails, no more... Did you know there's a whole world of beauty blogging??? I have learned many interesting things. Like how to perm my eyelashes. Yeah, I'm not kidding!

Anyway. The books are coming along. Slowwwwwwwwly but surely.

I'm reading a lot of vintage mystery right now. What does it say that WW2 seems more comforting than current events? Here's what I've got on my nightstand.

How are you doing? Are you hanging in there? What are you reading?