How Are We All Holding Up?

Posted on April 24, 2020 by Amanda Rudd

Hello folks! I hope you are all doing well. How is the quarantine treating you? I’m on day 44 of “self-isolation” – well, sort of anyway. I did have to go into work a few days this week and will again next week, but other than that I haven’t gone anywhere else and most things are still shut down (so no bookstores or movie theatres or window-shopping in Midtown…)

Are you all handling things ok? Are you finding things to keep you occupied? Did you have some kind of income to keep you afloat, or did you lose your job because of the pandemic? It’s all very scary right now and we are all under a lot of stress. Some people are using this time to “better themselves” and others are taking care of their families and still others are just fighting to keep it together. Whatever you are doing, it is ALL GOOD. You are doing the best you can and that’s all anyone should expect of themselves or others in a time like this.

Don’t be too hard on yourself. This is something I have to remind myself as well as anyone else. I have had some really rough days, and some days that have been perfectly fine. That’s totally natural but sometimes we cannot help but feel like we’re not doing enough – even though we know logically that that’s totally silly.

I thought I would share a few things that I’ve been keeping busy with, and if you’d like to share what you’ve been up to, that would be great!

I am still participating in Camp Nanowrimo for the month of April, and doing surprisingly well. I mean, I’m not going to be writing 50k words like some people – I gave myself a SMALLER goal, just 20k words this time. But I have managed to keep up a daily writing streak ALL MONTH, which is the best I’ve done in YEARS, and I have written a little over 16k words so far, which is more than I have written (again) in YEARS. I am very happy about that. While I am in no way minimizing or trivializing the difficulties, tragedies, and death toll of this pandemic, I am trying to be grateful for the small things, and one of those things has been the luxury of free time I haven’t had in quite awhile.

I have also been reading a lot still. Not quite as much as I did the first couple weeks, but still. I finished Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex (book #7 of the series) last night (technically at 2:30am this morning). Unfortunately, because I am borrowing those audiobooks from the library, I now have to wait for the final book of the series to become available and the wait is KILLING ME. In the meantime, I have started the audiobook of The Wee Free Men (one of the Discworld books) by Terry Pratchett. This book will satisfy one of the categories in my “Storm the Castle” 2020 Reading Challenge (which much of my reading these days has not done). I am also slowly working through the nonfiction book The Queens of Animation by Nathalia Holt.

Speaking of my reading challenge, I have now completed 9 out of the 21 books on my challenge. When I finish the two books I’m currently reading, that will put me at 11 and I’ll be halfway through! In addition, when I finish the 8th Artemis Fowl book I will have officially finished the first series in the 2020 Finishing the Series Reading Challenge. And then I’ll move on to the next series (perhaps The Dresden Files, though that I might be TOO ambitious…)

I have also bought a computer game for the first time in, oh… 12 or 13 years… I bought the video game Gris when Steam was having a sale last week. I’ve never been a big gamer, but I did play a couple computer games back in the day and I thought it would be fun to pick it up again. I’m only 3 “chapters” into Gris so far, but I absolutely love it. It’s quiet and calming and the art (which was the main selling point for me, I admit) is absolutely GORGEOUS. I highly recommend it.

In addition, I am doing more cross-stitch work. I’m almost done with this robot design I got from the Etsy shop DianaWattersHandmade. She has great designs for reasonable prices, she ships quickly, and she’s really friendly as well!

Anyway, those are some of the things (besides work and house-cleaning) I’ve been doing to keep busy and calm. How about you guys? Found anything fun? Read anything good lately? Please do share! I’d love to hear about it!

General Updates

Posted on April 6, 2020 by Amanda Rudd

Hello all! I am personally on Day #25 of social distancing/mostly-quarantining. In the last 25 days, I have gone into work once because it simply needed to be done (and in between have been a little work from home), gone to the grocery store twice, and three times left the house just long enough to pick up a food order from my favorite local/family-owned restaurant. And that’s pretty much it. I will have to go into work for a least a couple days around April 20th, but other than that I suspect I will continue on as I have been for the last almost-month.

For the most part, I continue to do ok with the isolation (my brother, no so much). However, last week proved less-than-stellar and particularly non-productive. I spent most of April 1-4th feeling pathetic and self-pitying and I got almost no work done, barely any reading, etc. But the thing is, it had very little (perhaps nothing) to do with the current pandemic situation. It was more just my usual personal brand of brain chemistry bullshit rearing its ugly head at a most inopportune time.

I’m hoping (fingers crossed) that this week will be a bit better. At the very least I have more fun books waiting for me. And on that note, I wanted to share my recent acquisitions:

Docile by K.M. Sparza

Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

The Empress of Salt and Sorrow by Nghi Vo

Sword in the Stars by Cori McCarthy and Amy Rose Capetta

When Gods Die and Why Mermaids Sing by C.S. Harris

I am looking forward to reading all of these! But I’m currently kind of stuck because I’m still reading both Artemis Fowl Book #6 AND The Queens of Animation, and I really shouldn’t be starting yet another book until I finish at least ONE of those. And I don’t even know which of my new ones I want to read first – I mean, I want to read them ALL first. So… (shrug)

In other news, I have managed to stay on schedule with Camp Nano so far. I gave myself a goal of 20,000 words (the official Nano goal is usually 50,000), which means aiming to write approximately 666 words per day. So far I have managed an average of about 700 words per day, so at least that’s going well for the moment. I am not looking for miraculous levels of writing, but I am hoping I can develop more of a consistent habit again.

As we all continue with this quarantine situation, one of the small things that makes me a little sad is birthdays. I mean, I realize that in the grand scheme of things this is a very minor issue, and its definitely up there in terms of “first world problems” but it still makes me a little sad for all of us who have birthdays during this situation. A couple friends of mine had birthdays in mid-to-late March, my brother’s fiance’s birthday is tomorrow, I have another friend whose birthday is in late April, and my birthday is exactly a month away. None of us have been, or will be, able to celebrate. I haven’t even been able to buy my brother’s fiance a gift: even ordering on Amazon doesn’t really work right now since they have mostly suspended non-essential shipping.

Admittedly, I haven’t done anything much for my birthday in YEARS. Since I started college, it has always landed right in the middle of Spring Semester finals – first as a student, and then as a professor. Besides which, I don’t really have any local friends I’ve been able to celebrate WITH in over fifteen years. Usually, the most I can hope for is a nice dinner with my mother and my brother – barely on my actual birthday but usually a few days or a week later, after finals are over and I can breathe again. This year, I won’t even get that much. None of us will.

Again, I know this is a very silly minor problem in the face of pandemic and death and people losing their jobs and economic collapse, but I’m still allowed to be a little bummed about it, right?

Anyway, how are you all doing? Everyone keeping it together ok? Anyone found themselves learning some random new hobby or doing anything particularly strange in the face of their isolation and boredom? I’m curious to hear!

Quarantine Check-In!

Posted on March 27, 2020 by Amanda Rudd

Hello everyone! How are we all doing with the quarantine situation? I’d love to hear from you folks! Feel free to sound-off/share/commiserate in the comments!

I have spent the last two weeks vacillating between deep anxiety and surprising calm. I am enormously worried for friends and family and from the general population at large. I feel so much concern and gratitude for all the people who are still going into work because they are essential services: this, of course, includes doctors and nurses and pharmacists and techs and janitors and cooks and other hospital support staff; it is also includes EMTs and grocery store workers and postal workers and truck drivers and food delivery drivers and fieldhands who are keeping farms (and thus our food supply) moving.

On a personal level, I have a cousin who is an EMT in Austin, TX and a very close friend who is a pharmacy tech at a hospital in Ohio, and I am very worried about both of them. They are the frontlines of this situation. They face the possibility of contamination every day and its terrifying.

I am also very worried about the financial fallout of this situation. I do not care about big corporations or the stock market or whatever else the death cult that calls itself the GOP is concerned about. I’m worried about normal people who are losing their jobs, or if not losing them outright, are at least losing income for weeks or months. I am worried about small businesses like family-owned restaurants and little boutiques and mom-and-pop grocery stores and indie bookshops who have lost business or been shut down completely. I am worried about artists who live commission to commission at the best of times. And debut authors whose first books are coming out right now and who may never get another book contract if sales are bad enough during this slowed down market.

And yet… personally, I’m doing ok. Pretty well, actually, all things considered. And I feel a bit guilty about that. My job is already part-time and inconsistent so I’m not doing any worse than I already was, and the job will still be there when things settle down. My mother, who is my financial support system, is working from home and her employer is working at reduced capacity, but otherwise she’s ok. We’re all staying home as much as humanly possible. No one I know personal has gotten sick (yet, fingers crossed). And I am, for the most part, enjoying all this sudden downtime. For which, again, I feel guilty.

I have read 2 novels, a novella, a graphic novel, and an audiobook. I have written quite a few blog posts/book reviews. I have sat comfortably in my front garden with the flowers. I have cuddled with my various cats. I have taken advantage of the Met Opera’s free streaming previews and have now seen Carmen, La Boheme, Das Rheingold, Die Walkure, and Siegfried for the first time ever! (And loved them!) And I have taught myself to cross-stitch. All while keeping up with laundry, and dishes, and dusting/sweeping, and cooking dinner.

I have always been an introvert who enjoys staying at home. As long as I have the internet and books, I’m good. The only things I really miss so far are: walking around at the park (which my mother and I usually do quite often), going to the movie theatre, and window-shopping at the mall or some such place.

And again, I feel guilty about mostly enjoying my self-isolation. Even though it in no way negates my anxiety, fear, and anger over the state of things: the people who are suffering physically or mentally or financially because of this; the people who have or are going to die because of this. I am absolutely blindingly-furious about the callous, evil, and incompetent responses from the federal government writ large. I have several rants about all of that, which I have shared with friends and on my facebook, but which I am (for the moment) going to avoid sharing here. I will try to avoid letting this blog devolve into moral and political ranting. But if this situation continues much longer in the directions that certain political figures have allowed it to, I may reverse that decision. We’ll see…

Anyway, please tell me how you all are doing? Good, bad, in between! No judgement here! Only empathy, understanding, and commiseration. I’m sending virtual (safe-distance!) hugs to you all! Be safe and smart!

Addendum: A few more fun things to do while social distancing

Posted on March 19, 2020 by Amanda Rudd

Since I wrote my last post on Tuesday, a few more interesting/fun things have popped up on my feeds and various articles. Apparently a BUNCH more museums have made their collections virtual for online viewing, and so forth. So I thought I would just add an addendum here.

According to Google, approximately 2500 museums and galleries have now made all or part of their collections available for virtual viewing on the

The National Aquarium in Baltimore has now joined the Georgia Aquarium in making livestreams of various habitats available online. Fun fact: I lived in the D.C. area from 1st through 6th grade and the National Aquarium in Baltimore was and remains to this day one of my favorite places in the world.

There is also such a thing on VIRTUAL RIDE-ALONGS for various Disneyland rides. And as a Disney-fanatic (as mentioned in previous posts), I love this more than words can say.

The ebook/audiobook app Scribd is offering 30 days access to their entire library for free, without needing to put in credit card info or anything (so you don’t even have to worry about canceling your promo subscription for fear of being charged their monthly rate later!) Though, honestly, their monthly rate is pretty reasonable!

For more reading options, Humble Bundle has a great collection of Science Fiction/Fantasy ebooks from Tachyon for a minimum donation of $15! (Humble Bundle does, of course, also have enormous collections of video games, etc but I’m not a gamer so I can’t speak to that).

Lastly, for now, BroadwayHD is offering a free trial or their streaming service of Broadway musicals and plays. Now, this one is only a 7-day-free-trial, which under the circumstances is not that much, but its still a chance to maybe watch a few musicals you’d been hoping to catch but hadn’t managed to yet.

If you’ve seen something cool that I have missed here, please feel free to share it in the comments! It’s impossible to catch it all, and I’d love to see what else is out there!

Some Fun Things To Do While Self-Isolating

Posted on March 17, 2020 by Amanda Rudd

There have been a few of these posts and articles floating around the internet, but I thought it would be fun just to compile and share a few of the things I’ve found to keep you entertained, to keep you indoors, to keep your anxiety under control, etc…

Keep in mind that these are just things I’ve managed to find, and things that I personally find fun or cool or whatever (I’m sure you’ve seen many of these and more besides in other places).

First off, I love museums! So, here’s an article about 12 museums that offer virtual tours, including the British Museum in London, the Van Gogh Museum, and the Guggenheim!

And since we’re talking about museums, we can’t forget that these Paris Museums have put 100,000 images online for free unlimited viewing!

Next, I love music. I love going to concerts in genres ranging from classic rock to indie alternative to classical! I regularly attend concerts at the Houston Symphony. I was hoping they might do something online for audiences, but I suppose they didn’t have the setup necessary for it. Instead, the Seattle Symphony has done something very cool and is sharing previously recorded concerts for free streaming on YouTube and Facebook. More information can be found on their website here.

In for more classical music, you have probably heard that the Met Opera is doing free viewings of some of their previous Met Opera in HD programs (which they usually broadcast via Fathom Events in movie theatres and on their Subscription App). You can find more information, including a schedule on their website here.

Yesterday (Monday, March 16th) they streamed Carmen, which I watched and really enjoyed. Tonight (Tuesday, March 17th) they will be streaming La Boheme. Just fyi: you can stream these performances straight from the website, however due to more site traffic than they were prepared for, the Met Opera recommends streaming from their On Demand App. The App does technically cost money, however you can access the free broadcasts without signing up by going to the “Browse and Preview” option! It’s a tiny bit glitchy (again, due to more traffic than they’re used to) but it worked me just fine!

For more fun, the Georgia Aquarium has live cams in many of their habitats so you can visit with the fish and animals going about their lives without any clue of the turmoil currently going on among us crazy humans.

I recommend watching some Mister Roger’s Neighborhood if your anxiety or restlessness is especially bad. Amazon Prime has quite a few episodes. And the Fred Rogers Productions website releases 5 new episodes twice per month for free.

I always, of course, recommend reading. If your local library has been forced to shutdown due to the social distancing efforts, I recommend looking for their digital collections. You’ll find that most (though not all) libraries have a partnership with one of the two e-catalog apps for ebooks and audiobooks: Overdrive and Libby. Keep in mind that you do need a library card from your local library to access the collections, but many libraries allow you to apply for a digital-only “card” on their websites that will give you a code or number to use the digital collections.

Speaking of books, I also HIGHLY recommend Levar Burton Reads. Obviously this is going to appeal to the millennials who grew up on Reading Rainbow, but really anyone who likes fiction would probably enjoy this. It’s a podcast that Levar Burton started awhile ago where he chooses a short story to read. It’s a delight!

And, of course, there are plenty of tv series and movies to watch on cable and on the myriad streaming services available these days. Perhaps I’m wrong, but I think it’s generally safe to assume that most people have at least ONE of the major streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, or DisneyPlus. Just for the fun of it, here are a handful of television series that I really enjoy:

The Good Place (seasons 1-3 on Netflix)
Community (on Hulu)
Lost in Space (the new one on Netflix)
The Umbrella Academy (on Netflix, and the wait for season 2 is killing me!)
Hilda (Netflix, animated and family-friendly)
Futurama (one of my all-time favorites, on Hulu)
Adventure Time (another favorite, also on Hulu)
Amphibia (a really cute new-ish animated series on DisneyPlus)
Gargoyles (if you want to go old-school on DisneyPlus)
Good Omens (on Amazon Prime, based on the novel by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, and possibly the best thing to come out of 2019)

And for the anime fans: Fairy Tail, My Hero Academia, Soul Eater, Tada Never Falls in Love, Golden Time, Inuyasha, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, and Yu Yu Hakusho (to name just a few…)

Also, a friendly reminder that STAR TREK exists and has gifted the universe with seven different series, 13 movies, and more novelizations than you can shake a stick at.

I might also suggest something to help keep you calm and balanced, such as meditation. There are a ton of meditation books, videos, and apps. But I personally use and really like an app called Stop, Breathe, and Think. It has both a free and a paid premium version, and contains quite a lot of guided meditations and some short videos for yoga and such as well.

So that’s what I have! I would love to hear about some of things you have found, either online or elsewhere, to keep you busy, calm, and/or entertained! Please feel free to share in the comments!

The Joys of “Social Distancing”

Posted on March 16, 2020 by Amanda Rudd

I’ll be honest, when this whole COVID-19 thing was first becoming an issue, I wasn’t that concerned. I knew it was spreading fast but the effects didn’t seem all that severe for the majority of cases. No worse than a bad cold, it seemed to me. I knew there was reason for caution and concerned, but I figured as long as people used some common sense, it would be fine.

Now that we’re several weeks into the spread and it is officially a pandemic, it looks far more serious. The numbers coming out of places like Italy and France are, frankly, horrifying. And the U.S. as a whole is not dealing with the issue very well at all, even if some individual cities are trying their best. It is pretty shocking to watch all these huge events and things being canceled: sports events, conventions, etc.

I was really surprised when the Houston Rodeo was canceled! (I live in Houston fyi). The rodeo is THE biggest event in the city every year, and one of the biggest events in the state, right behind SXSW in Austin. The financial cost of such a cancelation has to be ENORMOUS. A lot of comic/pop-culture conventions are being canceled around the country too. And of course, all sports events have been suspended. I don’t watch a lot of sports, but I am a tennis addict so I’m REALLY feeling that loss (especially since Indian Wells, one of the bigger tournaments of the year, was supposed to start last week…).

Now that the situation has proven itself more serious that I initially thought it would be, we are all being asked to practice “social distancing.” My mother’s employer has shut down all their offices and her entire company is now working from home (she’s currently holed up in her room with 3 computer monitors, doing conference calls remotely). I work for a small online retail business and asked my employer (who is also a friend) if I could take the week off from shipping items in order to help support the whole “social distancing” thing. So I’ll be home all week too.

I’m not hugely concerned about my own health. I get sick a little easily but I’m pretty sure IF I got COVID-19 I’d probably get through it ok like I would the flu. But mother is definitely in the high-risk/immunocompromised category (with diabetes, asthma, a history of getting pneumonia at the drop of a pin, and several other co-morbid issues), so I am trying to be extra-careful not to bring anything home to her.

So we haven’t much left the house since Friday. We did do some grocery shopping yesterday – we are trying not to panic-buy and hoard but we definitely needed SOME things. And I did – in a kind of show of solidarity with the Asian community who has been so hit by racism in the midst of this – go to Chinatown for lunch at one of my favorite restaurants on Friday. My mother and I were the only people in the restaurant. It was sad. I know as more and more people self-isolate that ALL restaurants and retail stores are going to be taking a financial hit, but Asian communities are definitely getting the worst of it right now.

What have been I doing with isolation, then? I read a whole novel and a graphic novel so far. I’ve watched quite a few episodes of Fairy Tail (an anime, for the uninitiated). I did a bunch of laundry and dishes. I cleaned every flat surface, door handle, light switch, and remote in the house. Several times. I played Clue with my mother, my brother, and my brother’s fiancé (I’m not a big fan of board games overall but my mother and brother love them and they begged, so…. *shrug*).

This week I have plans to read a bunch more. Write some blog posts. Watch some movies. Maybe work on a puzzle I started months ago but never got far on. I do have some work-related things to do from home – logging receipts and basic bookkeeping things mostly. But I am hoping to take advantage of my time off to do some ME-things. *fingers crossed*

So how about you folks? How are you all managing the situation? Are you able to work from home, or are you in the unfortunate category of people who have no choice but to go in to work? If you’re self-isolating, what are you doing to pass the time?

Flatten the curve, my friends! Flatten the curve!

Amanda Haimoto Rudd

Writer. Editor. Book Reviewer.

Tag Archives: covid19

How Are We All Holding Up?

General Updates