#plaguediary

Our beautiful friend @ben_goldberg_bag dedicated his latest track to us from his #plaguediary series. Gifts from friends mean the world these days. https://www.instagram.com/p/CEm_PoIh2Jl/?igshid=gzul8f0nady5

Day 6 - Total confirmed cases in US: 19,624 
Does anyone else hear the rumbling regurgitation bubbling up from the bowels of hell? No? Me neither. 
This virus did not come from hell but from our own dear mother, nature. We have not been very kind to our mother. She deserves a lot better after all she’s done for us. Maybe this is her revenge for burning down her rainforests and killing her coral reefs.

One of the fundamental philosophical disagreements between our divided cultures is on the question of whether or not people are inherently good. Some people believe that we lost our inherent goodness the minute Eve bit into the apple. Some people believe the world is too evil for us to escape its corruption. I believe we are going to see some of the best and worst of humanity over the coming weeks and the number of people who are going to surprise themselves with their compassion and strength is going to far outweigh the number who think of themselves first.

If one of the consequences of the virus is a realization of the inherent goodness of people, with subsequent re-ordering of society in a more loving direction, it might be worth the cost.
. . #plaguediary #writing #inherentlygood #quarantinelife #drawing #sketch https://www.instagram.com/p/B-AF1VrFt1C/?igshid=1tnrltx3i0pg3

Day 5 – Total confirmed cases in US: 14,250

Some of us are not coming back from this. I’m not talking about physical health, although some of us are not coming back that way either. Some of us are not coming back financially, even to the place we were a few weeks ago. Some will lose our jobs and a lifetime of savings for retirement. Some relationships will die, even as others find a new level of intimacy. Some people will die of relatively harmless conditions because routine medical care won’t be available. 
Some of us are going to check out in other ways too. Once a routine gets disrupted, the rationale behind it will be re-examined and not all rationales will stand up to scrutiny. Some of us will never go back to a routine that perpetuated itself, sometimes for years, before the virus. Others will let go and drift away from society the way people do with drugs or grief. It will be as simple as a loss of faith.

The US economy has been bouncing from one bubble to the next for decades, while the wages of working people have been stagnant or worse. The gig economy is being exposed for the sham it always was: adequate in the best of times and devoid of safety nets in the worst. Decades of vilifying and shrinking government have left an anemic and poorly managed system at the precise moment when it is most needed.

There is a popular misconception that, to quote John Kennedy:
“In the Chinese language, the word crisis is composed of two characters,
one representing danger and the other, opportunity.”
The popularity of the misconception only goes to show how the idea resonates. We do tend to believe that there is opportunity in crisis. And not just in the way our Treasury Secretary considers this as “a great investment opportunity.” This crisis has already exposed a lot of weaknesses and misconceptions in our society. Only time will tell what we make of this generational opportunity to reboot our calcifying society. It might even provoke a new kind of revolution.
. . #plaguediary #drawing https://www.instagram.com/p/B99YFSHlmcU/?igshid=nmnuycqvgy5t

Day 4 - Total confirmed cases in US: 9,415 
Today is the first day of Spring. It is also two weeks since I went to work so I am a little ahead of the shelter-in-place curve. 
There are good things that will come of this. They will be heavily outweighed by the bad but they deserve acknowledgment. Air quality has improved in industrialized areas as production shuts down and people stop commuting to work. We are making a radical move from a world of stressful overwork to a world with too much time on its hands.

2020 is an appropriate time for the world to stop, take a long, deep breath and appreciate all the things we have, and have lost, including each other. Every situation that has hit the human race over the last few years has been fodder for our deepening divides. The enemy we are fighting is one the whole human race shares, even if there are some, including our president, who are using it to stir hatred between us. The virus does not care about your political point of view or your religious beliefs. You cannot win an argument against it. 
Among creative people, this is an opportunity to spend some quality time with your muse. Some are already too sick or worried to feel inspired but for anyone who can tap into it, this unique moment offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to concentrate on your art.

There are two kinds of artists: those whose strength is clarity of vision, and those whose strength is collaboration. The first kind will obviously fare better in isolation but the state of media and communication makes virtual collaboration a real possibility. Bowery Poetry is live-streaming their weekly open mic this Sunday from 4-7PM (est) on Instagram. Their "No Desk Poetry Concert" will consist of poets reading original work from the safety of their homes. Arts organizations from the Metropolitan Opera to the Kraine Theater are live-streaming content. 
I have been frustrated for years by the lack of time I felt I could devote to my creative energy. Maybe this is one of those be careful what you wish for things. . . #plaguediary #inspiration #muse #becarefulwhatyouwishfor #art #coronavirus https://www.instagram.com/p/B96zPkgFNWZ/?igshid=h3axtlzr3lbf

Since we can’t go parading or hang out in a pub this St. Patrick’s Day, here’s my take on an old Irish reel that you can listen to from the safety of your sequestered pod. May the luck of the Irish be with us all... . . #stpatricksday #plaguediary #music #tradmusic #irish #irishmusic #cooleysreel https://www.instagram.com/p/B91lQI_lV0n/?igshid=pnwjretg3p40