{"id":1262,"date":"2020-04-18T18:02:42","date_gmt":"2020-04-19T01:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/digitalmanticore.com\/?p=1262"},"modified":"2020-04-18T18:02:42","modified_gmt":"2020-04-19T01:02:42","slug":"a-week-in-the-life-april-18-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalmanticore.com\/?p=1262","title":{"rendered":"A Week in the Life: April 18, 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Life is so weird right now. If you don’t pay attention, it can almost seem like things are totally normal. Like I just happened to have bunch of days in a row without needing or wanting to go anywhere. What a coincidence! It’s hard to know how to process all these pandemic thoughts and feelings because it’s ongoing. It’s much easier to make sense of something when it’s over; we can see it’s narrative arc and tell ourselves a story about what happened. Instead, we’re in the thick of it and having to grapple with news like U.S. ‘Perilously Close’ to Meat Shortage After Major Plant Closes Over Coronavirus<\/a>. Neat. I read something like this and think “should I buy meat? Should I stock up on beans instead for when there is no meat?” It’s really hard to think through how to prepare for the rest of this crisis. At the same time, I’m still getting paid and I’m quite comfortable at home. The cognitive dissonance will get you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unrelated to pandemic life, this week I saw a targeted ad on instagram for deodorant. Ads generally aren’t noteworthy, but I had to laugh because the ad featured someone on roller skates. Apparently there are enough rollerskaters on instagram that it’s worth the targeted ad. It also reminded me of something funny (awkward?) from when I was growing up. In this ad, the roller skater is applying deodorant behind her knee. Admittedly that is a sweaty spot but I’m not worried about deodorizing there. When I was an impressionable young 10-year-old, I remember seeing a commercial on TV in which the women applied deodorant to that behind-the-knee spot. I interpreted this to mean that one should be putting deodorant in the pits and the … knee pits? I went to school the next day fully deodorized, but partway through the day a bunch of girls were like “uh, you have deodorant on your legs,” so I ended up trying to wash it off in the bathroom like a fool. This has been a glimpse into me trying to make sense of the world. You’re welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consuming<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here are some things I read, watched, or bought this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"book
The City We Became<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I read N. K. Jemisin’s new novel The City We Became<\/a>. This book is an ode to New York and it’s a great one. Unfortunately for me, I’ve never been to NYC and don’t have much reference for it, so it took me a little while to get into it. However, it is a really good book and once I was more familiar with the city, as personified in the story, I really enjoyed it. The novel takes the concept of the city as a living thing and pushes it to its extreme: once a city matures, it quickens and a human avatar begins to embody it. Unfortunately for poor New York, not everyone in the multi-verse is supportive. This is a fun book and apparently it’s the first in a trilogy, so there will be more!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some reading from the ‘net this week:<\/p>\n\n\n\n