Month: May 2020

As always, news headlines (these from today’s Washington Post) trouble me: White House wants CDC to revise guidelines to reopen U.S. Top Republican fundraiser and Trump ally named postmaster general, giving president new influence over Postal Service Politicizing science. Tearing down another American institution. It’s always something. To my additional dismay, I’ve watched the very last episode ever of The Good Place. I’ll miss that cast of characters, the clever writing, and the diversion. On […]

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Yesterday I wrote about my desire to find a word for profound and paralyzing boredom. Eleni suggested ennui and Small proposed lethargy, but neither captures the distress. Since it seems there isn’t anything in the English vocabulary, Eleni thought that maybe we should coin something. I welcome suggestions. That reminds me of an article I read about ghost words: those that made it into a standard dictionary even though they’re not real. An intentional fabrication […]

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My mother, Small, sends her three kids a brief e-mail message (subject line only; nothing in the body) early every morning to let us know she’s still kicking. Frequently she announces that she is “Alive and Well”—or “A&W” when she’s in a rush. Today, however, it was “Alive and Bored.” Eleni concurs: “I am soooo f^!*%ing bored today,” she texted. Me, I’m not bored at all. I mean, how could I be when my life […]

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The coronavirus pandemic is pushing America into a mental health crisis, according to the Washington Post today. Federal agencies and experts warn that a historic wave of mental health problems is approaching: depression, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide. Hardly a surprise. Losing a job, being afraid of the potentially infected air we breathe, and of course the isolation: to some degree it’s traumatic for everyone, with lasting effect. I still wonder (as I […]

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