Navigating the Emotional Upsurge in COVID-19 Times: Reflections & Coping Strategies

How are you doing? I have a theory about COVID-19. It heightens everything. If you're an anxious person. You're more anxious. If you're worried. You're more worried. It's the season of the conqueror worm. But you got this. Drop a like if you agree.

My days are filled with an array of activities: meticulously planning lessons, diligently grading papers, leisurely lounging at home, savoring meals, engaging in spirited games of pinochle, delving into the latest Mad magazine, and embracing moments of introspection to reconnect with my inner child. What about you? What have you been up to lately?

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Quotation: On the Experience of Falling in Love

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

— Elizabeth Barret Browning, British Poet, and Writer

Frank Jirouch's 1928 bronze sculpture, "Night Passing the Earth to Day" (Detail)

I Love Him. I Love Him Not.

There is a child's game. Perhaps you know it. You take a petaled flower or clover, and you recite an age-old ditty. "I love him," then you pluck a petal. "I love him not." Whichever you said when you pluck the last petal is fate. You love him. Or you don't. 

Elizabeth Barret Browning's "How do I love thee" reminds me of this child's game. While the ditty is one of sealed fate, a simplistic toy to determine love — all agency is lost in the finality of whatever is said at the last petal. And could you cheat and count the petals beforehand — but perhaps that defeats the purpose of reciting the words, anyway. One plucks the petals because one is in a state of indecision. 

Which way to go? Who to love? 

But Barret Browning's poem is of a different quality. It has the cadence of a ditty, but it suggests something more  — call it agency — or call it freedom. In her poem, she "counts the ways," and she is not about allowing fate to decide the outcome. She loves. And she has an infinite number of reasons, of ways, of patterns, and qualities on a display of that love.

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A Few Notable Quotations on Stupidity and Lack of Thinking

Stupid is as stupid does.

— Tom Hanks in Forest Gump (1995)

\

. . . most people would die sooner than think—in fact, they do so.

— Bertrand Russell

sources: Roth, Eric, Wendy Finerman, Steve Tisch, Steve Starkey, Robert Zemeckis, and Winston Groom. Forest Gump. Hollywood, Calif: Paramount Pictures, 1995. / Russell, Bertrand. The ABC of Relativity. United Kingdom, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1927.

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Video: How To Make Potato Salad The Way My Mother Taught Me

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In this video, I demonstrate how to make potato salad the same way my mother taught me. You're gonna need mayonnaise, whole potatoes, boiled eggs, ground black pepper, celery, mayonnaise, a little mustard for tang, and bacon (pickle bits are optional). . . . . #checkoutmypotatosalad #already #cookinginthekitchen #boiledeggs #love #Cookinglesson #wakeup #potatosalad #sanfrancisco #mothersrecipe via stonesoferasmus.com

A post shared by Greig Roselli (@greigroselli) on Apr 21, 2020 at 4:01pm PDT

First Steps To Make Potato Salad
Good morning, today I am going to show you how to make my famous potato salad. You're gonna want to cut up some green onions, real good. And you're gonna need a jar or two of mayonnaise. I like to boil my eggs first. When you're boiling your eggs one nice tip is to take the eggs out on a spoon and if the water evaporates then the egg is ready. Similarly, with my potatoes, I boil "em for twenty to twenty-five minutes.

Cutting Up All My Ingredients
In the meantime, I am cutting up my green onions — I love the ones with the bulbs at the end. They are so delicious. A good potato salad has celery. Celery is going to give your potato salad some texture — something to chew on and it just tastes good. Going back to my potatoes — that takes the longest time. I keep the skins on 'em. Because I like to eat the skins. But after you boil 'em, if you want, you can take the skins off. It's up to you. Look at that boil. My favorite part is deshelling my hard-boiled eggs. I'm pretty good at it. And you'll get the hang of it too. Today, I bought some brown eggs but any eggs will suffice. Quick fact: eggs are an alchemist's dream in the kitchen. Eggs are perfect for any meal. Ohhh. Just look at that white orb of deliciousness. Cannot wait to cut you up and put you in my salad, honey.

Pot-'O-Potatoes
Alright. Those potatoes are ready. * To show you I got some turkey bacon but really any hog bacon will work just as fine. I guess I'm feeling a little health-conscious. So I bought some turkey bacon. And I fry that up in some olive oil. Crispy-like. You want to make that stuff crunchy. Cuz when you put it in your potato salad — Mmmmm — it's going to give it that — Ohhhhhhhhh — nice, fatty taste that you love. We don't call it comfort food for nothing.

Masher-cize
And here's where the elbow grease comes in. You're going to have to mash those potatoes. I got myself a masher. I don't know if it's ready for potatoes. But it works. Mash those potatoes good. Cut 'em up. Now. If you are like me you don't want your potatoes too mashed. You want to keep some chunk in there. Now when I'm getting ready to mix everything up I do add a little bit of mustard. It tastes good. You don't want to put too much mustard in it. And you're going to mix that mayonnaise inside and you're going to mash it all up. You're going to put your eggs in there. You're going to put your celery in the bowl.

Finishing Touches
Now, you don't want to leave out an important ingredient — black pepper. Not too much. But enough to make it taste good. And there you have it. My momma's favorite potato salad recipe served at your doorstep. Well just kidding. You'll have to make it yourself. But I think I have enough comfort food to last me a month. So let me know if you try out my potato salad recipe and how it works out for you. I'm going to eat this up, honey. Yes!

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Quotation: On Curiosity and Its Opposite

Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous mind.

— Samuel Johnson

Curiosity killed the cat.

— Proverb

"Hungry Stray Cat" Photo by Bing Han on Unsplash

Sources:

"curiosity killed the cat." McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. 2002. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 2 May. 2020 https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/curiosity+killed+the+cat 

Johnson, Samuel, and Hill, George Birkbeck Norman. Wit and Wisdom of Samuel Johnson. Italy, Clarendon Press, 1888.

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COVID-19 Neighborhood: Taking a Walk to Buy Groceries During a Pandemic (In Jackson Heights, Queens)

Taking a walk in Jackson Heights, I stitched together a video as I walked to the grocery store — an essential trip I must take (which has made me ponderous, and sad).

Taking A Walk Today — Spring 2020 in New York City, the Epicenter of the Coronavirus Pandemic

Step outside in New York City and you will see folks wearing surgical masks. Just a month ago that would have looked strange — but it has become the norm almost overnight. Heeding the injunction to stay indoors by my local officials, I still have to venture out to buy essentials like rice, beans, canned chicken and tuna, and other provisions. I have become a maestro at making simple dishes with few ingredients! On my walk, I maintain a six-foot distance but it is hard to keep the mask on my face (it slips down my nose). I am afraid to touch anything — but I know I am safe and I feel privileged.

The Pandemic Has Blown the Lid Off of Social Inequalities that Persist in American Society

What about people who have to commute every day by subway or bus? What about people with kids to feed — how are they coping with this crisis? The pandemic has thrown the lid off of social inequality — that before COVID-19 was easy to brush off — but lays itself bare. In this video, I walk past storefronts, people rushing by, and I think, and I ponder. I hope our city makes it through this chaos, this interruption. I am hopeful. Though. I think we can come through rejuvenated — and I hope we can become more generous, more connected to our neighbor. And oh. Try my mom's potato salad!

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