Featured Refresh
Text & Image
How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
This week I thought I'd concentrate on something positive for a change! At the end of December I decided to do a 6 week get fit, very do-able, workout from Les Mills, which I have an online subscription to. I love those Kiwis - They got me through the first year of the pandemic, but I hadn't worked out for most of the fall and winter. This particular program is bodyweight only. You need no equipment. And I am in a good sweat after twenty minutes of some of this stuff that isn't even the cardio workouts. The workouts are also targeted and short, which is nice. But I wanted to mix up the cardio from the offerings because I missed spin classes. So I reinstated my membership to Fulgaz so I could ride the spin bike with some interesting scenery. The rides are all over the world, and they're not virtual, they are REAL videos that different folks have recorded. The app is made for smart trainers, and I have a spin bike, but I put speed and cadence sensors on the spin bike and I'm getting it to work, meaning the video becomes reactive to your pace and effort - video speeds up as you speed up, stops when you stop, etc. It's really cool. My first ride was through the south of France, and I found it so beautiful I stayed on the bike for an hour. I can't wait to decide what to ride today. And I have NEVER felt that about working out. There! I did it. I journaled something positive in the middle of this shit show of loss and death and disease and democratic devolution. (oops. I just can't help myself, I guess)
January 27, 2022
Text Only
What do you think history books will say about this time? In your view, what's most important for them to include?
Well, I think they will write about how government and society failed in this crisis, making it far worse than it need have been. I think (and who knows, maybe I will write something about this) that they should include the disproportionate effect of the pandemic on the poor, the working class, and people of color (to say nothing of those who fall into multiple categories). I also hope they will avoid facile comparisons to earlier periods in history in history--Americans who lived through World War II ultimately did all they did because the government made them, whether it was military service, blackouts, or rationing, and had the kind of government leadership needed to get through a crisis like this, unlike now.
December 30, 2020