Shipwrecked & Comatose

I don’t like to call myself a movie or TV snob, but I suppose I give off that impression.   It’s not that I am a snob.  I am merely as picky about TV and movies as I am about food and music.  I have particular tastes and particular dislikes.  I am a chronic over-thinker who is quick to notice plot holes, inconsistencies, scientific or historical inaccuracies, poor leaps of logic, and anything else that I feel doesn’t make sense.  I like novelty, so I have little patience for hackneyed, formulaic plots.  I have a low tolerance for violence and gross-outs that don’t advance the plot.  Extended violent action sequences bore me to tears (one reason why my two most hated movies are the much-loved Die Hard and Kill Bill). What do I like?  I like dry humor and witty dialogue. I like speculative fiction.  I like creative stories. I like learning about people, places, and situations I am unfamiliar with.  I like stories that make me think.  I like stories that make me feel things without being

Today I read  an article on Vox about what people would tell their pre-pandemic selves if they could travel back in time.  It made me think about what I would tell myself.  What would Rachel of 2021 tell Rachel of 2020 about the pandemic?  I could think of only one thing to say. Nothing will happen to me.   That is both good and bad. The world will go mad.  I will see my friends lose loved ones.  I will see my friends in healthcare professions pushed to the breaking point.  Face masks will become mandatory.  Businesses will close.  There will be an election season like nothing this country has ever seen before.   The good news is events will happen around me, and they will affect my life in many ways, but nothing will happen to me personally.  Does this sound reassuring?  It’s not meant to be - at least not entirely.  Nothing tragic will happen, but nothing joyful will happen either. Let's take that imaginary time machine back to early 2020.  It’s almost springtime and 2020 Rachel

It's hard to believe a year has gone by since the day I packed up my laptop and left the office, exchanging working at a desk in business attire to working at my dining room table in t-shirts and leggings.  At the time it happened I thought the situation was temporary.  I thought I would be back in the office before summer.  After a month of lockdown, I was going stir crazy, wishing for my pre-quarantine life.  I wasn't expecting it to go on much longer, but I hated the uncertainty of not knowing exactly when it would end.   I look back on that now and try not to be angry with myself for being a whiner .  I could have had it much worse.  I had access to takeout restaurants, parks, stores that allowed socially-distanced shopping, and the internet.  I don't have children, so I didn't have to worry about homeschooling.  The company I work for managed to adapt to the changing needs of our clients, so it stayed in business and thrived while many of our competitors had to ma