Jessica Zafra's Blog, page 9

Journal of a Lockdown, 29 April 2020

Hell, detail from The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch Warning: Graphic and depressing. The vice-president of the Mariah Carey Fan Club had spent the last 44 days, including most weekends, in what felt like a continuous, enervating video conference with his office, and on the day before his birthday he was consumed with […]

Journal of a Lockdown, 28 April 2020

In a break from Covid-related news, the Pentagon has officially released videos taken by US Navy pilots of unidentified flying objects. It’s good news if you want to believe that there’s intelligent life out there (Because whether there’s any in here is debatable), and bad news if you think extraterrestrials are going to enslave or […]

Journal of a Lockdown, 26 April 2020

You can still watch the movie and discussion online, and please donate what you can to the film workers—electricians, carpenters, PAs, utility men and others—who cannot work during quarantine. * * * With so many people vying for the top prize in the Ultimate Douchebag Reality Show, how can we keep track of all the […]

Journal of a Lockdown, 25 April 2020

Finally the dreaded laundry was done. It took just over a hour, including the soaking (babad). So many dreaded tasks would not be daunting at all if we did them immediately, instead of putting them off so they grow more and more intimidating with each day. I am writing this with a fountain pen. I’d […]

Journal of a Lockdown, 24 April 2020

Journal of a Lockdown, 22 April 2020

I have lived in the same apartment for half my life, and I’ve never really paid attention to its spaces. I’ve treated it like a hotel, three-star at best, to sleep and bathe in, and from which to launch myself into my daily life. At best I am a boarder; the real residents are my […]

Journal of a Lockdown, 21 April 2020

I got email from a representative of J.D. Salinger’s literary trust demanding that I take down a photo, from a blog post in 2011, of a letter Salinger had written in reply to a fan. I first heard of the letter from the excellent Letters of Note, and I linked to an auction house that […]

Journal of a Lockdown, 20 April 2020

A stranger called my friend’s landline and started talking about the Bible. No doubt she thought she was giving comfort, and I don’t deny that religion is a source of comfort in dreadful times (especially when religious groups lend their facilities to hospitals and frontliners), but she could have asked before launching into her sermon. […]

Journal of a Lockdown, 18 April 2020

Drogon protests rationing, but feline overlords must also check their privilege. Obviously it’s the pizza’s fault. It arrived unexpectedly, like a time traveler from the past (February), a signal that I could extend my vacation from present reality for another day. I may even take the whole weekend off. After I sweep the floor, because […]

Journal of a Lockdown, 17 April 2020

A scene from The Green Ray (1986) and Say Anything (1989) I’m taking a day off from living in extremely interesting times and pretending that it’s my old, quiet, fairly uneventful life before lockdown. I’m bored already. Boredom is a state to be desired, free of fear, anxiety, and existential dread—a luxury. I will never […]