Saturday
Apr112020
How you holding up out there?
Saturday, April 11, 2020 at 1:00PM 
We're worried about everyone's mental health. How are you doing during this astonishingly strange moment in our collective history? What new things have you discovered about your home while shut in? Which things do you miss most about the outside world? How are you preventing feeling too isolated? Share tips in the comments.
As for us we're finding virtual happy hours with friends on zoom, skype, or facetime are helping a lot. As is chasing whatever filmic obsessions occur and list-making (April Foolish Oscar Predictions coming very soon... even though we really don't know which films will arrive this year given the shutdown).
Reader Comments (29)
Just your daily (sporadic) reminder that Renée Zellweger is a two-time Academy Award winning Actress.
Staying up late watching old movies to me that's pre 1970.
I did my first virtual Happy Hour yesterday and it helped a lot since I had gotten my furlough notice the day before. It's hard not to feel singled out when not everyone was furloughed. It felt like a giant popularity contest really. Oh well.
I am watching old movies as they show up, but my man is interested in watching Asian "Boy Love" miniseries on Youtube. They are as tame and predictable as old school romances, so it's easy to watch them and not worry about life too much.
Doing a bit of decluttering and trying to avoid the inevitable next step of deep cleaning!
I hope to watch "Shoplifters " , "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" and " A Taxi Driver" this weekend plus do a " Julie and Julia" and try a new dish for Easter.
Such a nice post!
Personally, I'm embracing being all over the place and (besides work and virtual happy hours) I'm just watching movies that randomly come to my mind. Just being receptive to the needs of the cinematic mind.
Rewatching "L'Avenir" (2018) helped me a great deal - a gentle reminder that sometimes, when facing any kind of crisis, the best thing you may do is to just keep on keeping on, read your books, stay classy, maintain your moral spine and let the time work its magic. And that it's okay to direct your emotional bursts onto your pet.
Waiting for the April Foolish Oscar Predictions. Embrace it guys and gals - the more foolish, the better!
Marshako: Portrait of a lady on fire is AMAZING! Shoplifters is also great
But Nathaniel, this will be the ultimate April Fools prediix. No one knows nothing
Exercise helps immeasurably: push-ups to an online video, then maxi climber for 30 minutes while watching television, then abdominal pull-ups on a high bar, sit-ups on a soft mat, all takes an hour, also physical distance walks outside for fresh air. Hot bubbly baths with wine astride, self haircut with Wahls clippers. It's for the best.
Going to the movies semi-regularly was my thing. Now there are no new movies except on streaming platforms which somehow still reek of cheap TV production values.
Dear Academy you deserve the death that ends your legacy at 92 ceremonies since you could never give Glenn Close her glory. Streep you'll never catch up with Hepburn literally.
My work has slowed down quite a bit, though thankfully I'm still working full-time at home. While I'm at the computer during the day to monitor e-mail, I've found I enjoy doing crosswords and online jigsaw puzzles.
I also surveyed all of the pay cable on-demand options and found some gems. I usually ignore their offerings because I have so much to watch, but I'm currently watching around 2 films/day, so I can use the extra entertainment. Cinemax in particular is a goldmine - yesterday I watched He Got Game On Demand (really enjoyable, especially if you like basketball), and they have Love Field, which is tough to find, as well.
Also, the Brooklyn Public Library has a very extensive selection of audio and e-books, and if you're a non-resident, you can access their holdings for $50/year. It's very worth it. I've found I'm reading a lot.
Nathaniel, did you ever get a new cat after sweet Monty's passing? Our furry friends are more dear to us now than ever before.
I'm so fortunate to have a job where I'm able to work remotely. I'm an introvert by nature, so being alone really doesn't bother me - I live on about 5 acres of wooded land, so going outside and enjoying fresh air is thankfully not hard for me. Spring is such a beautiful time of year.
I think this evening I'm going to treat myself to a nice glass of wine and Glenn Close's Grammy nominated reading of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."
I hope everyone is stays healthy!
Being with family is a real help for me since we all support each other emotionally. Apart from that, writing constantly helps escape from more negative thoughts, as well as finding reasons to whittle down the massive amount of unwatched DVDs and Blu-Rays I've been accumulating over the past few years. Right now, rare is the day when I don't watch at least two films.
The cats also offer great company, especially when the spirits go down and it's difficult to see a light at the end of the tunnel. A purring furball demanding your undivided attention in the form of constant petting is a blessed distraction.
I miss the restaurants and the movie theaters, but am using this time for elaborate meals and cinema deep dives.
That Almodovar post of yours got me watching Body Double which is an odd one (and I love De Palma), but Melanie is delicious. And I decided to explore 1995, since we're at the 25th anniversary for those movies, and your top 10 list from that year compelled me to put on Exotica, which I LOVE and hadn't seen in years.
Grateful for the online content here, which we need more than ever when we're trapped inside.
Hope everyone is staying safe and sane.
I'm at quarentine and I'm on the state where I remember all the relationships I've had, wondering how they could have been. I also watched The Last Command which I've found exquisit.
I'm obsessed with the news, and all of the statistics on government websites with corona-data.
Watching Justin Trudeau, and the public health team keeps me calm. (I will not watch any live broadcast with Trump or any of his cabinet - self care)
I'm keeping a diary because we are living through something that no one else for 100 years has lived through. Wine, chocolate, and re-watching everything Jennifer Saunders has done.
Thanks for asking!
Not doing too badly since I have some land around my house that I can work on and not be near anyone so not suffering that closed in feeling many have. And in the house I'm finally doing those projects that I've been putting off!
Movie wise I've been taking a deep dive into what's available on line (and thank God for TCM!!) I've taken a shine lately to mid-century British cinema and have been brushing up on the work of Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins and Michael Craig.
I've also started a sort of challenge to myself to watch one film a day from a performer I like whose birthday falls on that day. Some days it's very easy, others kind of tough but so far I've managed each day.
I have been keeping an eye out and looking forward to those critiques of Only Angels Have Wings and Pollyanna!
I just went out with my mother to pick up groceries and such as well as a few things for my nephew's first birthday tomorrow as we're going to visit him for a bit to celebrate. So far, I've been good as it was good to get out of the house for a bit.
Thank God we can still came to the movies on the home screen. This is very stressful time for everyone- it's like living in an episode of Rod Serling's "The Twilight Zone".
Zoom/Skype/Google Hangouts have been great with friends and family. And I'm lucky enough that my job has been pretty much unchanged (I was already working from home before the pandemic). Hilariously enough, my list of movies/TV shows to watch is pretty much still impossible so that hasn't changed, but I do miss going OUT to eat, watch movies, go to Broadway, etc. But I know I'm one of the lucky ones. So just trying to keep to myself and finding joy in thinking about how it'll all be again once this ends... hopefully it ends.
This is definitely going to be the smallest field of Oscar eligible films in a looooong time, is it not? I’m hoping they don’t cancel next year’s awards no matter how few movies end up eligible. I mean, who knows? A smaller field might even result in more interesting choices, if we’re to look for a silver lining in this.
If not for the lockdown, I would not have discovered Ozark, Bordertown, Outlander, Frontier, Deadwind, La Mante and even this high school drama/thriller/whodunit Elite from Spain. I finished all the seasons except Outlander which has yet to air episodes 8-onwards of Season 5. Elite was recommended by a friend who now writes for a gentleman's quarterly magazine and I have yet to start with Season 3. These shows took time away from me brooding about being away from home. I have been staying in this wonderful villa with a garden during the entire lockdown. Like the last emperor of China, I want to be a gardener someday so I am doing garden work every day in a garden that's not even mine. I would be sad to leave this place when everything will start to grow and flourish and bloom.
I also read an awful lot of non-academic stuff, some non-fiction, poetry and some Daniel Defoe. I bought an awful lot of online books too -- this has to stop.
Being stranded in a foreign territory alone can have its merits because I can sleep until the wee hours of the morning and not worry about going to work the next day. Since there is no lake or pool to swim, I don't do anything for exercise. Food is prepared so I didn't have to cook. I love it here although it was not an easy kind of love. However I hope to be out of here when it is safe to travel long distances again.
Like most here Cláudio’s writing is one of the only thing keeping me sane and comforted, so thank you! You deserve a raise or promotion or daily foot rub by Nathaniel after this is all over.
Tyler -- i never did because my long term relationship broke up shortly after that and i moved in with friends who had a dog. Plus i cat sit a lot. But yes, i really do want another cat now. I wasnt ready for the first two years. Now i feel ready.
Some days I think, I’m doing okay at this quarantine thing, and other days I think, oh wait, I’m not.
I’m trying to appreciate the days I’m happy and accept the days I’m not.
We are on our third zillion piece puzzle, “Merlin and Arthur”.
I’ve stopped cooking because, oh yeah, I still hate to cook. It makes me cranky and hard to live with.
I usually read a lot, but I just can’t focus on anything. So I am working my way through a 750 page dance reference book, “No Fixed Points: Dance in the Twentieth Century”. (“In space, there are no fixed points”).
I read half a chapter, then look up the obscure (to me) dancers online. Yesterday I learned about Niddy Imprekoven (and her mother Freida Imprekoven, “Righteous Among Nations”).
About 7 years ago my wife and I decided we would start watching every Best Picture nominee in a given year, working backwards. We started with 2008 (when the field of 5 last appeared, and we’d seen most of the recent ones anyway).
I took us years to get though to 1990, but since the pandemic we’ve zoomed through 1989 and 1988 and are almost done with 1987 (still need to see Broadcast News and Last Emperor). Finally getting to see classics I never saw, but boy are there some stinkers: Accidental Tourist, Driving Miss Daisy, Godfather III.
I have Bipolar II and Borderline Personality Disorder and it has been ROUGH. My alcohol tolerance belies my small frame and a toxic former relationship has been contacting me when we both know it helps neither of us.
My silver lining is that I have been watching a lot of Mariah Carey music videos and WWE and I am working outside of the home. Thank you for all your posts and I’m so excited for future Supporting Actress Smackdowns!
I can tell you that my friend suffered from it for a long time due to insomnia and stress from work and family. I have been trying to find ways to help him for a long time, and one day I found this site https://westcoastsupply.cc/products/edibles/candies/ where I ordered him cannabis. According to him, it helped to feel better, because this remedy helps the body and head to relax. I hope it will help you too.
Taking a mental health break is important for all of us, but especially so for people who have experienced trauma or abuse. When you're stressed or overwhelmed, it's hard to be productive and creative. Taking a break can help you recharge your batteries and give your brain a chance to rest and refocus. Some supplements like magnesium glycinate can be taken for better physical or mental health. Taking regular breaks also helps keep your energy level up throughout the day, which is important because stress can lead to burnout -- especially when combined with being under too much pressure at work or school.
But I'm pretty sure it's better to try it once than to read thousands of articles about the benefits of mushroom tea. Well, just visit this resource thirdshroom.com/product-category/magic-mushroom-tea/ and consider buying magic mushrooms in tea. I am sure that it will not leave you indifferent and you will discover new and very effective ways to combat stress. This tea really helps me to relax and have a good time.
Navigating these unprecedented times has been a journey, hasn't it? Discovering new facets of my home has been surprisingly rewarding - from experimenting with home-cooked recipes to creating a cozy reading nook. Missing the spontaneity of the outside world, but virtual happy hours have been a saving grace, just like you mentioned! It's heartening to see creative solutions like this helping us stay connected. On a related note, I recently came across an intriguing article on GAINSWave about the health benefits of ejaculation. It discusses the importance of maintaining balance and highlights surprising positive impacts on prostate health and stress reduction. It's amazing how platforms like GAINSWave contribute to our overall well-being. Looking forward to those April Foolish Oscar Predictions – a fun distraction in these uncertain times